on the floor of her snow-hut,
and rubbed his oily visage lovingly over her not less oleaginous
countenance. Need we enlarge on this point? Have not all mothers acted
thus, or similarly, in all times and climes?

From pole to pole a mother's soul
Is tender, strong, and true;
Whether the loved be good or bad--
White, yellow, black, or blue.

But Toolooha's love was wise as well as strong. If all else failed, she
was wont to apply corporal punishment, and whacked her baby with her
tail. Be not shocked, reader. We refer to the tail of her coat, which
was so long that it trailed on the ground, and had a flap at the end
which produced surprising results when properly applied.

But the howling condition of life did not last long.

At the age of five years little Chingatok began to grow unusually fast,
and when he reached the age of seven, the tribe took note of him as a
more than promising youth. Then the grand spirit, which had hitherto
sought to vent itself in yells and murderous assaults on its doting
mother, spent its energies in more noble action. All the little boys of
his size, although much older than himself, began to look up to him as a
champion. None went so boldly into mimic warfare with the walrus and
the bear as Chingatok. No one could make toy sledges out of inferior
and scanty materials so well as he. If any little one wanted a
succourer in distress, Skreekinbroot was the lad to whom he, or she,
turned. If a broken toy had to be mended, Chingatok could do it better
than any other boy. And so it went on until he became a man and a
giant.

When he was merely a big boy--that is, bigger than the largest man of
his tribe--he went out with the other braves to hunt and fish, and
signalised himself by the reckless manner in which he would attack the
polar bear single-handed; but when he reached his full height and
breadth he gave up reckless acts, restrained his tendency to display his
great strength, and became unusually modest and thoughtful, even
pensive, for an Eskimo.

The superiority of Chingatok's mind, as well as his body, soon became
manifest. Even among savages, intellectual power commands respect.
When coupled with physical force it elicits reverence. The young giant
soon became an oracle and a leading man in his tribe. Those who had
wished him dead, and in the centre of an iceberg or at the bottom of the
Polar Sea, came to wish that there were only a few more men like him.