aux to pitch their camp on the point below;
after which they were to assemble in the yard, for the double purpose of
palavering and receiving a present of tobacco.

That night was spent by the inhabitants of Fort Chimo in rejoicing. In
her own little room Edith entertained a select tea-party, composed of
Arnalooa, Okatook, Peetoot, Chimo, and the baby; and really it would be
difficult to say which of them made most noise or which behaved most
obstreperously. Upon mature consideration we think that Chimo behaved
best; but that, all things considered, is not saying much for him. We
rather think the baby behaved worst. Its oily visage shone again like a
lustrous blob of fat, and its dimples glided about the surface in an
endless game of hide-and-seek! As for Peetoot, he laughed and yelled
until the tears ran over his cheeks, and more than once, in the excess
of his glee, he rubbed noses with Chimo--a piece of familiarity which
that sagacious animal was at length induced to resent and put a stop to
by a gentle and partial display of two tremendous rows of white ivory.

In the hall Stanley held a levee that lasted the greater part of the
evening; and in the men's house a ball was got up in honour of the
giant's return with his long-lost Aneetka.

Ah, reader! although the countenances of the men assembled there were
sunburnt and rough, and their garments weather-worn and coarse, and
their language and tones unpolished, think not that their hearts were
less tender or sympathetic than the hearts of those who are nurtured in
softer scenes than the wilds of Ungava. Their laugh was loud and
uproarious, it is true, but there was genuine, heartfelt reality in it.
Their sympathy was boisterously expressed, mayhap, if expressed at all,
but it was truly and deeply felt, and many an unbidden tear glanced from
the bronzed cheeks of these stalwart men of the north, as they shook
their gigantic comrade by the hand and wished him joy, and kissed his
blooming bride.

Aneetka had long since laid aside her native garb, and wore the more
graceful and womanly costume of the Indian women, and Maximus wore the
capote and leggings of the voyageur. But there were not wanting
gentlemen from the camp at the point whose hairy garments and hoods,
long hair and beards, did honour to the race of the Esquimaux; and there
were present ladies from the same place, each of whom could a _tail_
unfold that would have been the admiration and envy of tad