XXIV 

 THE RED BEAR 



ON the tundra south of the mouth of the 

 Yukon River an orphan boy once lived with his 

 aunt. They were all alone with no house within 

 sight ; but the boy had heard that there were peo- 

 ple living farther up the river. One summer day 

 he got into his kayak and rowed up the river hop- 

 ing to find other human beings. He traveled on 

 until he came to a large village where he saw 

 many people moving about. There he landed 

 and began calling to the people expecting to 

 make friends with them. 



But instead of being friendly, they disliked all 

 strangers and, running down to the shore, they 

 seized him, broke his kayak to pieces, tore his 

 clothing off him, and beat him badly. Then they 

 took him up into the village and kept him there 

 all summer, beating and ill-treating him very 

 often. In the fall one of the men took pity on 

 him and made him a kayak, and helped him to 



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