A TEEASUEY OF ESKIMO TALES 



She poured water on the mud floor and said, 

 " Step into this puddle, and do not be frightened 

 at anything that happens." 



He stepped into it, and immediately the earth 

 opened and he sank out of sight, but the next 

 moment he rose near the beach and swam about 

 as a young seal with a wonderfully smooth, shin- 

 ing skin. 



Some one saw him and called out that there 

 was a yearling seal close to shore. The men all 

 ran to their kayaks eager to secure the beautiful 

 creature. But the boy-seal swam lustily away as 

 his grandmother had told him to do, and the men 

 continued to pursue him. Whenever he rose to 

 the surface to breathe, he took care to come up 

 behind the kayaks, where he would splash and 

 dabble in order to lure them on. As soon as he 

 had attracted their attention and they had turned 

 to pursue him, he would dive and come up farther 

 out in the sea. The men were so interested in 

 catching him that they did not observe how they 

 were being led far out into the ocean and out of 

 sight of the land. 



It was now that the grandmother put forth her 

 powers. Suddenly a fierce gale arose; the sea 

 foamed and roared and the waves upset their 

 frail vessels and plunged them under the surface. 



4 



