19161 BACK ACROSS ELLESMERE LAND 249 



Feeding our dogs and loading the remaining meat 

 onto our sledges, we plugged along toward camp. When 

 our dogs were hitched for the night they had full bellies. 

 The singing Primus stove was lit, the door was closed, 

 pipes were pulled out, and contentment reigned. Scarce- 

 ly were we tucked away in our sleeping-bags when a 

 sharp yelp from one of the dogs held us at attention. A 

 few hurried whispers of " Nanook-suah!^* ("Big bear!") 

 were followed by E-took-a-shoo jumping out of his bag 

 and clapping his eye to the peephole over the door. 

 *' I-shoO'WOor* ("Sure enough!") he said, under his 

 breath. In the twinkling of an eye I was alone. My 

 Eskimos had gone, leaving their clothes behind, merely 

 slipping on their kamiks (boots). 



I followed as quickly as I could and beheld a striking 

 picture — three naked, brown, muscular bodies standing 

 on a mound of ice with rifles to their shoulders, all taking 

 careful aim. I hastened toward them. 



The short bark of the Remington automatic and the 

 snappy report of the Winchester .401 were followed by 

 the crash of E-took-a-shoo's " I-mean-business " .35. 

 Nanook became a huge white ball of hair, claws, and 

 snapping teeth in his endeavors to bite holes in his hind 

 quarters, now crimson with blood. Down, up, and 

 down again. Then with a hop, skip, and a jump he 

 headed for the Sound. E-took-a-shoo ran for his clothes, 

 and Arklio for his dogs, while Noo-ka-ping-wa squatted 

 on his hams and yelled with delight as he saw that 

 silvery white turn to red. 



E-took-a-shoo, now dressed, ran south toward North 

 America, and with a good prospect of making it, I 

 thought, if the bear continued on his course. 



Noo-ka-ping-wa, our youngest and most active man. 



