Do you not see he is only bones in a bag of skin? He must
rest and feed."

"That will be no difficulty," returned the wizard, "for the feast is not
to be held for twice seven days. By that time the Kablunet will be
well, and getting strong. Of course he must rest and be well stuffed
just now. So I will go back, and say that you are coming, and tell them
also what you have found--a Kablunet. Huk!"

"Yes; and he speaks our language," said Okiok.

"That was not our language which he spoke when I came in."

"No; yet he speaks it."

"I should like to hear him speak."

"You must not wake him," said Okiok, with an assumed look of horror.
"He would be sure to kill you with a look or a breath if you did. See;
he moves!"

Rooney certainly did move at the moment, for the conversation had
tickled him a good deal, and the last remark was almost too much for
him. Not wishing, however, to let the angekok go without some
conversation, he conveniently awoke, yawned, and stretched himself. In
the act he displayed an amount of bone and sinew, if not flesh, which
made a very favourable impression on the Eskimos, for physical strength
and capacity is always, and naturally, rated highly among savages.

Our shipwrecked hero had now heard and seen enough to understand
something of the character of the men with whom he had to deal. He went
therefore direct to the point, without introduction or ceremony, by
asking the angekok who he was and where he came from. After catechising
him closely, he then sought to establish a kind of superiority over him
by voluntarily relating his own story, as we have already given it, and
thus preventing his being questioned in return by the wizard.

"Now," said Red Rooney in conclusion, "when you go home to your village,
tell the people that the Kablunet, having been nearly starved, must have
some days to get well. He will stay with his friend Okiok, and rest
till he is strong. Then he will go to your village with his friends,
and join in the feast and games."

There was a quiet matter-of-course tone of command about the seaman,
which completely overawed the poor angekok, inducing him to submit at
once to the implied superiority, though hitherto accustomed to carry
matters with a high hand among his compatriots. His self-esteem,
however, was somewhat compensated by the fact that he should be the
bearer of such wonderful news to his people, and by the consideration
that he could say his to