THE LONG NIGHT 83 



safety of the hunters. A rapid driving of the ice 

 pack to the southward had raised a fear that the men 

 had gone adrift on it a haunting, ever-present fear 

 wKen a sudden shifting of the ice occurs while hunters 

 are abroad. 



I dropped into Kulutinguah's igloo one evening 

 and amused the kooner by making cigarettes, which 

 she gave her three year old pickaninny. The little 

 one puffed them with a relish which diverted and 

 pleased the mother for a time, but presently Kudlar's 

 kooner came in and the two women began to cry and 

 moan, "Pea me nodoo isickey! Pea me nodoo is- 

 ickey!" [Give me my man! Give me my man!] 

 I felt exceedingly sorry for the poor things, but there 

 was nothing I could do to help them. They were 

 very short of food, and that day had killed three of 

 their dogs to eat. This was an additional cause for 

 worry. 



At half -past one that night I was awakened from 

 a sound sleep by a woman shouting at the top of her 

 voice shrill and startling, like one gone mad. I 

 knew at once what it meant some one had gone 

 problokto. I tumbled into my clothes and rushed out. 

 Far away on the driving ice of the Sound a lone 

 figure was running and raving. The boatswain and 

 Billy joined me, and as fast as we could struggle 

 through three feet of snow, with drifts often to the 

 waist, we gave pursuit. At length I reached her, 

 and to my astonishment discovered it was Tongwe, 

 Kulutinguah's kooner. She struggled desperately, 

 and it required the combined strength of the three of 



