als were heard fawning round him as he
spoke to them.

"Ujarak!" exclaimed Okiok, in a low voice.

"Is Ujarak a friend?" asked the sailor.

"He is an angekok," said the Eskimo evasively--"a great angekok, but not
so great as Angut."

Another moment, and a man was seen to creep into the tunnel. Standing
up when inside, he proved to be a tall, powerful Eskimo, with a not
unhandsome but stern countenance, which was somewhat marred by a deep
scar over the left eye.

CHAPTER FOUR.

OKIOK BECOMES SIMPLE BUT DEEP, AND THE WIZARD TRIES TO MAKE CAPITAL OUT
OF EVENTS.

Of course Ujarak, wise man though he was esteemed to be, could not help
being struck dumb by the unexpected sight of the gaunt foreigner.
Indeed, having so long held supposed intercourse with familiar spirits,
it is not improbable that he imagined that one of them had at last come,
without waiting for a summons, to punish him because of his deceptive
practices, for he turned pale--or rather faintly green--and breathed
hard.

Perceiving his state, it suddenly occurred to the sailor to say--"Don't
be afraid. I won't hurt you." He inadvertently said it in English,
however, so that Ujarak was none the wiser.

"Who is he?" demanded the angekok--perhaps it were more correct to call
him wizard.

Okiok, expecting Rooney to reply, looked at him, but a spirit of silence
seemed to have come over the stranger, for he made no reply, but shut
his eyes, as if he had dropped asleep.

"He is a Kablunet," said Okiok.

"I could see that, even if I had not the double sight of the angekok,"
replied the other, with a touch of sarcasm, for Eskimos, although by no
means addicted to quarrelling, are very fond of satire. They are also
prone to go straight to the point in conversation, and although fond of
similes and figurative language, they seldom indulge in bombast.

With much solemnity Okiok rejoined that he had no doubt of Ujarak's
being aware that the man was a Kablunet.

"And I am glad you have come," he added, "for of course you can also
tell me where the Kablunet has come from, and whither he is going?"

The angekok glanced at his host quickly, for he knew--at least he
strongly suspected--that he was one of that uncomfortable class of
sceptics who refuse to swallow without question all that
self-constituted "wise men" choose to tell them. Okiok was gazing at
him, however, with an air of the most infantine simplicity and
deference.

"I cannot tell you