98 AN ESKIMO VILLAGE 



kettle was already on the boil, so the Eskimo house- 

 wife dropped in more handfuls of snow, and stuffed 

 more dry twigs into the fire that blazed in the shelter 

 of a snow fireplace, while I stood by the travelling 

 box groping for tea and meat and bread among the 

 snow that had drifted through the chinks beneath 

 the cover. Little John touched me gently on the 

 shoulder. 



"They ask," he said, "will you please read ?" 



"By all means," said I and I took the New 

 Testament from its snug place among the clothing 

 "by all means. Let them sit down and we will 

 read while we wait for the kettle." 



Little John was a man of invention. He tumbled 

 the box off the sledge and wiped the snow away with 

 his sealskin glove, and there he had a bench all 

 ready^my big travelling sledge, sixteen feet and 

 four inches long. 



So they sat themselves down in a row. And I 

 could not help the quaint thought coming to me as 

 I watched them. What a tumble there would be if 

 the dogs were to rise up suddenly and drag the 

 sledge away ! But the dogs were happy to lie still 

 and lick the frozen snow from the pads of their feet, 

 too weary to think of such a thing as rising up and 

 running. So the listeners sat secure and safe. 



We read from the Book, and ever and anon the 

 housewife rose quietly to mend the fire or to raise 

 the lid of the steaming kettle ; we sang our hymn 

 together, and our voices rang in the sharp, clear 

 air and echoed from the rocky walls behind us ; we 

 bowed our heads in prayer, and surely God, who 



