STARTING THE HOSPITAL 



had my boot- needle threaded with ivalo (reindeer 

 sinew), and I sewed my thumb with that, so that it 

 no longer bleeds ; and now I have come to let you 

 bind it up." And there and then the brave old 

 woman unwrapped her handkerchief and displayed 

 her hand, with a long wound neatly sewn up, stitch 

 upon , stitch, in proper bootmaker's style ! And I 

 think that the ending of the story is appropriate, for 

 old Rebekah's vitality and power of repair proved as 

 great as her fortitude. 



This just serves to illustrate the native indifference 

 to pain ; and even in the worst of sufferings their 

 attitude is the same. I have seen them, men and 

 women, in dingy little huts and in leaky calico tents, 

 lying on rough beds of moss and reindeer skins, silent 

 and uncomplaining, though their faces were blanched 

 and the beads of perspiration stood out under the 

 strain of physical suffering. The very thought calls 

 forth one's sympathy; and the pictures that crowd 

 before me as I write pictures of people toiling up 

 the steps of the new hospital, with the marks of pain 

 upon their faces and a dumb and eager hopefulness 

 shining in their eyes has left an impression on my 

 mind that time will never efface. A strangely attrac- 

 tive folk : with children's fears and childhood's quaint 

 ideas, and childhood's whims and fancies and un- 

 reasoning demands, but with a manly bravery in the 

 face of pain or danger, and a manly mastery of the 

 terrible rigours of their daily work, that call for 

 admiration. 



Before very long the people were well enough 

 used to the working of a hospital to make the nine 

 o'clock hour a busy one ; and as I was slowly getting 

 a grip on the more everyday parts of the Eskimo 



268 



