os, and had to cut deep down in order to get
into them. For some time past the natives had been unsuccessful in
their seal-hunting; and as seals and walruses constituted their chief
means of support, they were reduced to short allowance. Edith's
portion, however, had never yet been curtailed. It was cooked for her
over the stone lamp belonging to an exceedingly fat young woman whose
igloo was next to that of the little stranger, and whose heart had been
touched by the child's sorrow; afterwards it was more deeply touched by
her gratitude and affection. This woman's name was Kaga, and she, with
the rest of her tribe, having been instructed carefully by Edith in the
pronunciation of her own name, ended in calling their little guest
Eeduck! Kaga had a stout, burly husband named Annatock, who was the
best hunter in the tribe; she also had a nephew about twelve or fourteen
years old, named Peetoot, who was very fond of Edith and extremely
attentive to her. Kaga had also a baby--a mere bag of fat--to which
Edith became so attached that she almost constituted herself its regular
nurse; and when the weather was bad, so as to confine her to the house,
she used to take it from its mother, carry it off to her own igloo, and
play with it the whole day, much in the same way as little girls play
with dolls--with this difference, however, that she considerately
restrained herself from banging its nose against the floor or punching
out its eyes!

It was a bright, clear, warm day. Four mock suns encircled and emulated
in brilliancy their great original. The balmy air was beginning to melt
the surface of the snow, and the igloos that had stood firm for full
half a year were gradually becoming dangerous to walk over and unsafe to
sit under. Considerable bustle prevailed in the camp, for a general
seal-hunting expedition was on foot, and the men of the tribe were
preparing their dog-sledges and their spears.

Edith was in her igloo of ice, seated on the soft pile of deerskins
which formed her bed at night and her sofa by day, and worrying Kaga's
baby, which laughed vociferously. The inside of this house or apartment
betokened the taste and neatness of its occupant. The snow roof, having
begun to melt, had been removed, and was replaced by slabs of ice,
which, with the transparent walls, admitted the sun's rays in a soft,
bluish light, which cast a fairy-like charm over the interior. On a
shelf of ice which had been neatly fitt