Having satisfied himself that the axe was free from all approximation to
rust, he stuck it into a belt of raw hide, which he put on for the
express purpose of sustaining it, as Esquimaux do not generally wear
belts. He then sallied forth, and walked with the air of a man who
wears the grand cross of the Legion of Honour. As he went to the hut in
which lived the oldest man of the tribe, the shade of anxiety, which had
clouded his brow more than once during the day, again rested on his
face. On entering, he observed the old Esquimau listening with anxious
countenance to the young girl whom we have already introduced to the
reader.

Now this girl--Aneetka by name--was by no means an angel in Esquimau
habiliments. Among civilised folk probably she would not have been
deemed even pretty. Nevertheless, in the eyes of her lover she was most
decidedly beautiful, and round, and fat, and rosy, and young, awkward,
and comfortable! And the giant loved her--never so strongly, perhaps,
as when he saw her striving to allay the fears of her old grandfather.
But this same grandfather was obstinate. He wanted her to become the
wife of an Esquimau who lived far to the westward, and who once had
dealings with the fur-traders, and from whom he expected to derive
considerable advantages and gifts of bits of hoop-iron and nails. But
_she_ wanted to become the giant's wife; so there the matter stood.

"The spirits o' the wind and sea protect us, and may the god o' the mist
cover us!" said the old man, as the young Esquimau sat down on a dead
seal beside him. "Is it true that you saw the men of fire?"

This was, of course, said in the language of the Esquimaux, and we
render it as literally as possible.

"Yes, it is true," replied the young man. "I saw them at the rapid
water in Caniapuscaw, and I took kayak to bring the news."

Various exclamations of mingled surprise and anger escaped from the
compressed lips of several stalwart natives, who had crowded into the
tent on hearing of the arrival of their comrade.

"Yes," continued the young man, "we must go away this night. They had
fire-tubes, and there were thirty men. We have only ten."

Again a murmur ran through the listeners, but no one spoke for a few
seconds.

"Did they see you?" asked the old man anxiously.

"No. I came on them suddenly, when I was chasing deer, and almost ran
into their camp; but I saw, and fell in the grass. I thought the chief
raised his he