134 BY ESKIMO DOG-SLED 



began to clamber in. But oh, the treacherous, 

 wobblesome thing : it danced upon the water 

 like a cork, and careered off sideways as soon 

 as I set foot upon it, and rolled from side to 

 side as though it would upset, while I clung 

 to it with one hand and to Johannes with the 

 other, and he himself could hardly stand upon 

 his feet for laughing. But at last I managed 

 to get in : Johannes held the crazy thing 

 while I crawled along the deck and seated 

 myself in the hole in the middle with its 

 padded cushion of dogskin. Then things were 

 better ; for I found myself seated on the floor 

 of the canoe, well below the water line, and I 

 felt fairly safe. I took Johannes's paddle in 

 both hands, and off I went, down the long 

 pool in front of the houses. Then the up- 

 roarious glee ! Men came running from their 

 homes to see the fun ; they howled with 

 delight, and sat upon their doorsteps to laugh 

 the louder. " Hai," they shouted, " who are 

 you ? and where do you come from ? have 

 you paddled here from Nain, or is it Hebron 

 where you live ? " with fresh yells of laughter 

 as I dipped my paddle and the nose of the 

 canoe went dodging from side to side. They 

 knew me well enough, for had I not been 

 binding up their wounds and attending to 

 their aches and pains for many a day ; but it 

 tickled their fancy to see me in an Eskimo 



