NOMADS 169 



middle of the stream, and possibly at an angle down 

 again, but as often as not you come out all right at last. 



And Ni-arr-way did this for us. Into the water he 

 went, and puzzled out the track. He might not swim ; 

 that was forbidden. Whenever he came to a deep place 

 he turned, and tried another tack. Close behind him 

 followed Mekolka, standing up on a pilot sleigh. They 

 were a long time about it, but at last they emerged on 

 the farther side some three hundred yards above. 



Meantime the women had been crnawino- bones and 



o o 



horns, and the children running about picking dead 

 grasses to put in their shoes. This grass they call 

 ' sti-el-ka,' — a pretty name. 



Now it was our turn to cross. We went over easily 

 and well. As Uano and I were the first over, I was 

 able to sit and watch the lon«f train of sleighs as it wound 

 its way across. Twenty sleighs mean some eighty rein- 

 deer, so it took some time for all to cross. And what 

 do you suppose happened then ? Why this. A wretched 

 white puppy, quite big enough to swim if he had had an 

 ounce of pluck, was found to be running up and down 

 on the farther bank, and squeaking miserably. ' Tasso ' 

 is 'puppy' in Samoyed. But not a soul called 'Tasso,' 

 only Mekolka turned again and drove all the way 

 across for the creature ; and then, with the perverseness 

 of puppyhood, this little stupid would not trust his de- 

 liverer, but wriggled away out of reach, careered around, 

 and took as much catching as an autumn grasshopper. 



