-field, could be seen, like white bee-hives, the temporary snow-huts
of these wandering Eskimos.

Well might the eye, as well as the head, of the so-called savage rise
upwards while he pondered the great mystery of the Maker of all! As he
stood on the giddy ledge, rapt in contemplation, an event occurred which
was fitted to deepen the solemnity of his thoughts. Not twenty yards
from the point on which he stood, a great ice-cliff--the size of an
average house--snapped off with a rending crash, and went thundering
down into the deep, which seemed to boil and heave with sentient emotion
as it received the mass, and swallowed it in a turmoil indescribable.

Chingatok sprang from his post and sought a safer but not less lofty
outlook, while the new-born berg, rising from the sea, swayed
majestically to and fro in its new-found cradle.

"It is not understandable," muttered the giant as he took up his new
position and gazed with feelings of awe upon the grand scene. "I wonder
if the pale-faced men in the floating islands think much about these
things. Perhaps they dwell in a land which is still more wonderful than
this, and hunt the walrus and the seal like us. It is said they come
for nothing else but to see our land and find out what is in it. Why
should I not go to see their land? My kayak is large, though it has no
wings. The land may be far off, but am I not strong? They are
pale-faced; perhaps the reason is that they are starved. That must be
so, else they would not leave their home. I might bring some of the
poor creatures to this happy land of ours, where there is always plenty
to eat. They might send messengers for their relations to come and
dwell with us. I will speak to mother about that; she is wise!"

Like a dutiful son, the giant turned on his heel, descended the cliffs,
and went straight home to consult with his mother.

CHAPTER TWO.

UNEXPECTED MEETINGS, ALARMS, AND CONFIDENCES.

"Mother, I have been thinking," said Chingatok, as he crept into his hut
and sat down on a raised bench of moss.

"That is not news, my son; you think much. You are not like other men.
They think little and eat much."

The stout little woman looked up through the smoke of her cooking-lamp
and smiled, but her big son was too much absorbed in his thoughts to
observe her pleasantry, so she continued the cooking of a walrus chop in
silence.

"The Kablunets are not to be seen, mother," resumed Chingatok. "I ha