DANIEL AS COOK 



When the pile of shavings had grown large 

 enough to earn a contemplative nod of satisfaction, 

 he betook himself to his heap of stones. He cleared 

 a space on the wet floor of the boat, and laid a big 

 flat stone upon it, then he built a wall of smaller 

 stones around it, and filled up the hollow with 

 shavings and wood. Then he knelt down and struck 

 a match, and carefully lit his fire, poking and puffing 

 at it to make it burn. In a few minutes a trail of 

 smoke was streaming away into the air behind us, 

 and Daniel came to the triumphant climax of his 

 joke. 



" Pujolik, pujolik " (a steamer), he yelled. 



The two men chatting in the bows jumped up 

 with a start ; the steersman awoke from his apathy 

 and gazed about him ; even the man sprawling across 

 the oar roused himself and raised his sleepy eyes ; 

 and Daniel roared with glee at the success of his 

 little plot. " Pujolik," he shouted, pointing to the 

 smoke, and we all entered into the spirit of the thing 

 and laughed boisterously. 



Soon the sleepy head dropped again ; the steerman's 

 eyes once more took on their dreamy stare ; the men 

 in the bows scraped and filled their pipes, and 

 returned to their chatting ; and Daniel turned to 

 his fire with a chuckle, and said, " Now, me cook." 

 He seemed to have everything at hand, for he 

 produced a kettle and a keg of water from apparently 

 nowhere with the unconcern of a professional con- 

 juror, and then he foraged in the provision-box for 

 the tin of tea. Oh, Daniel ! where did you learn to 

 make tea? I am thankful that the Eskimos like 

 their tea weak, for Daniel's method was to put a 

 pinch of tea in the kettle, fill it up with cold water, 



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