54 BY ESKIMO DOG-SLED 



the whole thing in hand, from start to finish, 

 and next morning were off to the woods at 

 daybreak in search of a big, straight tree for 

 the runners. I happened to tell the store 

 keeper about their objections to the old sled, 

 and he, being a man well used to the ways of 

 the Eskimos, smiled rather broadly. &quot; The 

 sled is not so bad,&quot; he said ; &quot; our postman 

 carried the mails to Nain with it last week ; 

 but the postman made that sled, and your 

 water-men did not. That makes a good deal 

 of difference.&quot; 



&quot; Just so,&quot; I thought ; &quot; the Eskimos are 

 like everybody else : every man likes his own 

 handiwork the best ! &quot; 



In the dark of the evening Jerry and Julius 

 came home from the woods, helping the 

 dogs to haul an enormous tree-stem. I was 

 astonished that such a big tree was to be 

 found in Labrador ; but the men only smiled. 

 They had been a good many miles that day, 

 struggling through the soft snow of a sheltered 

 valley that they knew, where the trees are 

 shielded from the winds and have managed, 

 in the course of centuries, to reach a useful 

 size. 



Next morning I found them sawing the tree 

 into planks ; Jerry, being the more learned 

 man, was playing top-sawyer and guiding the 



