FUR-TRAPPING 



wood ; it would mean no boots and clothing, no 

 frozen meat, no blubber, no lamp oil ; it would, in 

 a word, mean absolute destitution of just those 

 things that an Eskimo needs the most. 



I remember the first day that he left his bed, 

 for I went into the hut and found him sitting on a 

 box, propped against the wall ; his wife was quietly 

 crying over a pair of boots that the missionary had 

 given her to make, and the children were sitting 

 as quiet as mice upon the floor. M61e was the 

 most cheerful of all. " Ilia," he said ; " God has given 

 me back my health, and for that I am thankful." 



" And what will you do now, M61 ? " 



"Atsuk; I shall trust my Father I can do 

 nothing else." 



I thought that his simple expression of faith 

 was admirable, and it was with a queer lump in my 

 throat that I turned and left the poor contented* 

 fellow. I could not help thinking that few folks, 

 however well-to-do, are blessed with so much peace 

 of mind. 



The hand of God, I think, is strangely near to 

 these simple nature peoples for so it seemed in 

 Mel6's case. On New Year's Eve he took his first 

 walk out of doors, and, being a practical-minded 

 man, he thought to turn his walk to good account 

 by shouldering his fox-trap. He slowly made his 

 way to the nearest trapping-place, a piece of broken 

 ground dotted with stunted trees, and hidden behind 

 the hills, and there he set and baited his trap. He 

 walked home again, and peacefully went to sleep 

 on his hard bed of boards and reindeer skins. 



On the next afternoon I went into Mela's hut 

 to see how he was getting on, and was surprised to 



228 



