They
are happy and contented _when they don't know any better_.

The only relatives we knew about, were brothers and sisters, father and
mother, and our grandparents. As for other relatives, such as uncles,
aunts and cousins, we knew nothing about them. We lived in small
settlements of thirty or forty families. No one seemed to take any
interest in finding out how many settlements there were, or how many
people lived in them. We had only one name each, just as you name
animals in this country. My father's name was Krauker. My name was
Olwar. Before we left Iceland, the whole family were baptized. They
named my father Salve Krarer, and they baptized me Olof Krarer, making
the Iceland names as near like the Esquimaux names as they could, but
giving my father a new name, Salve, which means something like "saved."

THE END.

EPITOME.

On Iceland's damp and stormy shore,
Mid Geyser's throe and Ocean's roar,
A sturdy race on sterile soil,
Pursue their unremitting toil;
Struggling against stern poverty,
And Denmark's hostile mastery.
Farther northward, bleak and cold,
Bound by Winter's icy hold,
Where eternal snows abound,--
There the Esquimaux is found.
House of ice and suit of fur;
Food, the flesh of polar bear;
Tusks of walrus, the only arm,
Ferocious beasts alone alarm;
A dog-sleigh ride his only pleasure;
A piece of flint his choicest treasure;
Ambition's height to steal a wife,
For her he dares to risk his life.
He tells no lie nor ever swears;
For neighbor, as for brother, cares.
The golden rule he never heard,
But tries to keep its every word.
Father to son the story told,
How sailors hardy, brave and bold,
Far back in bygone centuries,
Sought to explore the Northern seas;
Storm-bound, shipwrecked and cast-away,
By horrid fate compelled to stay,
They yielded not to grim despair,
But bearded Winter in his lair;
Bravely building their snow house domes,
They settled into northern homes.
Lost to their ken is old Norway,
But cherished still in their memory.
The rising sun began the year;
Four months his rays shone full and clear;
A month he gave a milder light,
'Twixt the long day and longer night.
For half the year Aurora's beams,
The moon's soft ray, and starry gleams,
Guided the hunter to his home,
Whene'er he chose afar to roam.
Foremost among his tribe and clan,
There