another day," murmured Tanana from his lounging
place. "The teacher is wrong. He makes that loud sound when school
begins. The wise man says the teacher must not make that sound any
more, for it will prevent our people from catching foxes and seals."

"It is the school-bell," answered Anvik, knowing that the Eskimo
sorcerer had gone to the teacher but a few days previous, to
prophesy evil concerning the ringing of the bell. "The foxes and the
seals care not for it. Go to school with me, Tanana, to-morrow. The
teacher wants you."

Tanana did not answer. He drew a bottle from out of his skin suit
and drank. Anvik looked at his mother. The odor of the liquor spread
through the small round house. Anvik had not noticed the odor when
he came in, being then too excited over his prize to have room in
his head for any other idea. But now he felt a great sadness of
soul. Tanana and their father were both beginning to learn to drink.
The sailors who came to the shore had liquor with them sometimes,
and traded it to the natives.

The teacher at school had told the boys never to touch the sailors'
liquor. The teacher said it would steal the boys' souls. Anvik did
not understand that very well, but he knew liquor made Tanana and
their father cross and lazy, and the laziness kept them poor, and
the mother was sad.

Anvik lay long awake that night, on the raised platform of snow in
the igloo, and thought.

"My teacher said he heard that at one Eskimo village a canoe came
with whisky and the Eskimos pounded on a drum all night, and
shouted," thought the lad. "When the morning came, the people were
ashamed to look in the face of their teacher. My teacher said I must
pray the dear Lord Christ to save Tanana and my father from
drinking."

And Anvik prayed in the dark igloo.

The next day came, and Anvik went again to school, but Tanana and
the father went off to look at the ice-traps wherein Eskimos catch
any stray wolves or foxes.

When Anvik came back at night to the igloo, he met his father and
Tanana rejoicing over a bear cub that they had killed. They were
bringing it home with them, and were laughing, and shouting, and
singing, not so much from joy as from drinking together from the
bottle that Tanana had procured.

"We have a bear cub, a bear cub!" shouted Tanana in maudlin tones to
his brother. "See how strong the hot water we drink makes us! We
come home with a bear cub! Hot water, let us drink hot water!"

Now by