In December, when the days were at their 

 shortest, the sun showed for barely three hours 

 above the horizon, and was so low in the south 

 that it afforded little warmth. During stormy 

 weather the light was very faint, and the people 

 in their dark houses did not always bestir them- 

 selves in the morning. Kanuakut and Tumnia- 

 sok usually came to the schoolhouse by ten 

 o'clock; but many of the others would sleep 

 over a day, unless I went to louse them. They 

 appeared to be dormant, like hibernating ani 

 mals. 



At length, I made a practice of setting off at 

 nine o'clock every morning, with my lantern 

 and schoolroom bell, to arouse and summon our 

 pupils. I would ring the bell in front of each 

 house till signs of life were shown. 



But with all this, they often failed to come to 

 school until my wife invented a novel kind of 

 reward of merit. She made dozens of crumpy 

 little " cookies," and gave one to each pupil who 

 reached the schoolhouse at ten. These were a 

 great success. 



The fact is that these poor children were now 

 going hungry, and that is one reason why they 

 did not like to stir forth in the cold. "Poorga" 

 had followed "poorga," and these snow gales 

 had so packed the ice about St. Lawrence Island 

 that neither seal nor walrus appeared at sea. 

 The hunters could find nothing. Even fishing 

 was impracticable. 



At the schoolhouse we had a year's supply of 



food and fuel, and by making everything snug, 

 contrived to keep comfortable; but almost be- 

 fore we were aware, the natives were on the 

 brink of starvation. We looked over our pro- 

 visions, and found we could spare a dozen cans 

 of baked beans to give our pupils a dinner after 

 school. It was pitiful to see them eat, all the 

 raoi'e so as nearly all of them tried hard not to 

 appear greedy. 



x^s I was dealing out the hot beans to them 

 I noticed that they regarded the bright labels 

 on the cans curiously, and therefore I gave Kan- 

 nakut, Poosay, Tummasok and six or seven others 

 each an empty can. To our surprise, they at 

 once stopped eating and put their beans back 

 into the cans. When we asked them why they 

 did so, Poosay replied that they wished to take 

 the beans home to their families, who were as 

 hungry as they. Would white children be more 

 thoughtful or self-denying than this ? 



During the latter part of January these poor 

 villagei's boiled and ate all the walrus hide 

 which they jiossessed as well as the skins of 

 their summer tents, and even their dog har- 

 nesses and whips. Our pupils now often looked 

 blue and pinclied, and we gave them every mor- 

 sel of food that we dared spare. 



While school was in session one day, about 

 twelve o'clock, we heard shouts throughout the 

 village. The men appeared to be hastening to 

 and fro. A great crack had opened in the ice- 

 fields, some thi-ee miles at sea. The open water 



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