ver _there_?"

Rooney pointed to the southward, the direction of which he knew from the
position of the sun and the time of day, which latter he guessed
roughly.

The Eskimo nodded. From the special character of the nod it was evident
that he meant it to express intelligence. And it did!

"Well," continued Rooney, "you may have heard that big, big--tremendous
big--kayaks, or rather oomiaks, have come to that country, an' landed
men and women, who have built houses--igloos--and have settled there to
trade?"

At this his host nodded with such decision, and so frequently, as to
show that he not only knew of the Kablunet settlements, but was deeply
interested in them, and would be glad to know something more.

"Well, then," continued the sailor, "I came out from a great and rich
country, called England, in one o' these big tradin' canoes, which was
wrecked close to the settlements, and there I stayed with my mates,
waiting for another big kayak to come an' take us off; but no kayak came
for two winters--so that's the way I came to understand an' speak the
Eskimo--"

At this point, as if it could endure the stranger's voice no longer,
Tumbler set up a sudden and tremendous howl. He was instantly seized,
half strangled, metaphorically sat upon, and reduced to sobbing silence,
when the sailor resumed his narrative.

"All that time I was workin' off and on for the--"

He stopped abruptly, not having any words in the native language by
which to name the Moravian Missionaries. The Eskimos waited with eager
looks for the next word.

"Well, well," resumed Rooney, with a pathetic smile, "it _is_ a pity the
whole world don't speak one language. I was workin' for, for--these
Kablunets who have come to Greenland, (that's the name we've given to
your country, you must know)--who have come to Greenland, not to trade,
but to teach men about God--about Torngarsuk, the Good Spirit--who made
all the world, and men, and beasts."

At this point the interest of Okiok became, if possible, more intense.

"Do the Kablunets know God, the Good Spirit? Have they seen him?" he
asked.

"They haven't exactly seen Him," replied the sailor; "but they have got
a book, a writing, which tells about Him, and they know something of His
nature and His wishes."

Of course this reference to a book and a writing--which Rooney had
learned to speak of from the Moravians--was quite incomprehensible to
the Eskimo. He understood enough of what w