THE COMING OF THE SHIP 



at their sealing-places are certain to see the ship 

 first and give some signal ; but it relieved our feel- 

 ings, and that was something. We wrote our letters, 

 we made room in the store for the new cargo of 

 supplies, we talked and talked and talked about 

 the ship we could talk of nothing else until at 

 last there came a sudden shout, sudden in spite of 

 all our waitings. " Pujoliarluit " (the big steamer) 

 it roared and shrilled from all parts of the village. 

 Guns banged; people came running, shouting as 

 they ran, racing for the jetty ; and out on the 

 bay a man was paddling home as if for dear life. 

 As soon as he was near enough to be heard he 

 yelled "A fire on Parkavik." That was enough; 

 a fire on the beach might be cookery, but a fire 

 on the hill was the signal; and he in his kajak 

 had seen the smoke and had fired the two bangs 

 with his gun that the people understood. Boats 

 came bustling across the bay, with sails spread 

 and oars all busy: and in half-an-hour the quiet 

 village was populous again. Every house seemed 

 to have a flag, from the big red ensign on the 

 Mission flagstaff to the bandanna handkerchief that 

 was fluttering on an oar out of somebody's window. 

 Even the old widow in the hut behind the hospital 

 was entering into the spirit of the day ; she had 

 no flag, but she had sacrificed her red petticoat, 

 and was scrambling up her roof to pin it to a 

 tentpole propped against the eaves. 



It was an hour or more before the ship came 

 into sight, and then, when the tall masts came 

 peeping over the rocks of the point and the little 

 black hull slipped silently into the mouth of the 

 bay, the shouting and banging began afresh. The 



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