214 ICE-BOUND ON KOLGUEV 
You see it was close on midnight, and Uano and old 
Ustynia had gone to bed. Their tent would just hold 
three sleepers, cheek by jowl. And, as my entertainers, 
they had laid a special white reindeer skin just between 
them, which was to be my bed. 
‘Sdorova ?’—‘ How d’ye do ?’—they said without rising, 
and then tapped the skin between them and said, ‘ Here 
your bed.’ 
Well, I didn’t want to hurt these poor people’s feelings, 
but I felt I wasn’t up to studying Samoyed life quite so 
closely as all that. I laughed, and said it was too hot 
to-night, I would sleep outside; and, under cover of 
this, retreated. 
I found an old boat, which, turned on its side, would 
do very well, and under this I spread my macintosh, 
and lay down to sleep. 
Now see how kind these people are. Rain-showers 
(and nasty ones) had come on, and yet I saw Katrina 
and little Zornka busy about the fire in the open, and 
Verrmyah plucking a goose. But I didn’t take much 
notice beyond wondering that they should trouble to do 
that in the rain. 
But after a bit littke Wanka comes up to the boat with 
a wooden bowl of smoking hot goose, saying ‘pillet’ (ze. 
plate), an English word he was very proud of. But I 
was afraid to eat goose-stew at that moment, so then he 
brought me ‘yah’; and I was afraid to drink the * yah.’ 
For I knew that if I was to go goose-hunting to-morrow 
