UNDER THE POLAR STAR 99 



"Let Olaf choose for himself," said the Doctor. 

 " He has a story in mind and knows what he needs to 

 illustrate it." 



Olaf took six pictures from the portfolio ; the first 

 three were of a Polar Bear, a Caribou, and the Musk 

 Ox, a shaggy, brown beast with drooping horns, that 

 looked half sheep and half Buffalo. The other three 

 were of Sea Lions, Seals, and a Walrus. 



"They are all strange, far-away, cold country ani- 

 mals," said Rap ; " just the right sort for a winter 

 story." 



"Mine is a tale of ice and snow, long nights and 

 short days, of a country whose north border sleeps in 

 the twilight a third of the year, if it were not so the 

 people would be sightless from the snow blindness, 

 a land of hunger and cold, of sore famine, and then 

 brutal hunting. We may call this place Fur Land, 

 and it lies under the Polar star and is the place where 

 the white Bear rug and sealskin jacket are at home." 



"Please, Olaf," interrupted Dodo, "if you know 

 about this far-away, cold country, can you tell if the 

 Reindeer that Santa Claus drove have any American 

 cousins, and why children never see him driving over 

 the roofs or coming down the chimneys any more ? " 



" Yes," said Olaf, hesitating a moment ; " those Rein- 

 deer have cousins living with us. They are called the 

 Caribou, and grow of two varieties, one short-legged 

 and stunted, that tracks the treeless Barren Grounds, 

 and the other here pictured, the Woodland Caribou. 

 But 4 why do children no longer see the good Santa 

 Claus ? ' That question has a sad, sad answer, coming 

 from unfair hunting, which drives so many fine things 



