The Eternal Maiden

flowers that bloom in the rare days of early summer. Her eyes played

sharpened harpoon points with bits of flint. Tateraq busily cut long lashings from tanned walrus hides. Maisanguaq deftly took these and pieced them together into long lines, which were rolled in coils lasso-fashion. Arnaluk and a half dozen others sat on their haunches, between their knees great balls made of the

the human race. Now and then it was drowned in the raucous, deafening shriek

tossing up his arms and dancing, his brown f

mimicry of striking, and darted it up and down in the air. "Walrus!

lrus," echoed Arnaluk. "Aveq tedi

a group, Papik before them, his arms poi

rs, poured a rich and colorful light over the sea-it was a light without warmth. In the turquoise sky overhead, the moving clouds changed in hue from crimson to silver, and straggling flecks, like diaphanous ribbons, became stained with mottled dyes. Against the horizon, the arctic armada of eternally moving icebergs drifted slowly southward and

f the natives s

e fragments of great floes, like catapults, are tossed by the inrushing sea. Above, in summertime, rises and falls constantly a black mist resembling shifting cloud smoke. Millions of auks swarm from their moss-ensconced grottos; an oppressive clamor

ep nasal bellowing from the f

th, green and mottled gold. The air swam with frigid fire. As the tribe stood in silence along the shore, a roar as of gatling guns pealed from the mist-hidden heights. After a taut moment of silence, a frightened scream rose from every living thing on land and sea. Yet the group o

their weapons, leather lines, floats and drags. More than twoscore boats were drawn over the land-adhering ice to the edge of the sea

far away," th

ned. "Walrus too far away-Perdl

found and then only in the far inland valleys. Some blight of nature seemed to have exterminated even the animals of the sea. The natives had lived mainly on the teeming bird life. From the scrawny bodies of the arctic birds, however, neither food that could be preserved nor fuel to be burned in the lamps could be secured. On musk oxen the tribes depend chiefly for hides and meat, and on walrus for both food and fuel. The ammunition, brought by Danish traders the summer before, was exhausted, so in the hunt they had for many sleeps to rely

mpatient haste lest the walrus drif

h! Oo

unters, was missing. All the young men would gladly have started without Ootah

f flushed the heart of each brave hunter. For whoever brought back the most game, so they believed, stood the best chance of winning the hand of Annadoah. Of all the unmarried maidens

sten thou! The walrus

he village and paused

!" he

rom withi

drifts-the walrus a

" replie

on the face of the young hunter. He smiled radiantl

vividly red, a nose, small, with nostrils dilating sensitively, and eyebrows heavily lashed, it possessed something of the softness of a woman. His glistening

tur

ms grow strong as the wind, and my hand swift as an arrow for love of thee, Annadoah. The joy the sight of thee gives me is greater

s arms, but Annadoah shyly dr

ilient and buoyant, his slim body moved with the grace of an arctic deer. He looked back as he reached the icy shore. Ann

pale golden hue. Her cheeks were flushed delicately with the soft pink of the lichen flowers that bloom in the rare days of early summer. Her eyes played with a light as elusive, as quick as the golden radiance on the seas. Her dark silken hair straggled luxuriantly from under the loose hood of immaculate white fox fur which had fa

ing the shore. They called back to her. Some of

behind, approache

With the needles the white men brought thee, thou hast made ga

plied, laughing gaily. "But thy fingers a

for to him this

I speed the arrow wit

speed the arrow, when thy hands will be robbed of their cunning. When ookiah (winter) comes with his lashes of frost he will smite t

ly on his arm, and a brief

to a tribesman. He knew, as all the natives knew, that sooner or later during a long winter his fingers would inevitably freeze, then he would lose his skill with weapons; conse

vent freezing in this northern region only when the extremities are short; thus a man with long feet is almost for a certainty doomed to lose his toes, and the most fortunate is he whose feet and hands are short, whose nose is stubby and whose ears are small. The exigencies

thee, Annadoah,"

ek thou another maiden; thou dost not touch my h

e assembled maidens he paused momentarily and greeted them. He made a brief

ke the bear when thy fingers are gone? How wilt thou s

o spoke was e

winter comes? How wilt thou warm the little baby when thou art li

ose! may thy nose

in selecting a wife, a native comes down to the practical consideration of choosing a maid who will likely grow fat, so that, during the long cold winters, her body will

kayak, Ootah turn

sun, Annadoa

es, Ootah." And she laughed gaily. Then she turned her back to Ootah, bent her head coyly and did not turn around again. To

is veins. He felt himself mast

ls for the hand of Annadoah. His face twisted with jealous rage as he heard Annadoah calling to the spee

like, expressionless, dull; such are the eyes of dead seal. His face was brown and cracked like old leather, and was covered with a crust of dirt; his gray-streaked hair was matted and straggled ove

s Sipsu's conjurations for recovery had resulted in few cures; his heart was not in them; but with greater vehemence did he enter upon seances of malediction. With almost unerring exactness he prophesied many de

se of death upon one who g

m of years Sipsu

ing found voice. It

chattered. "Thou bearest no one good will. S

aisanguaq impatiently

ar the hill spirits speaking? Did he not carry food to them, and wood and arrow points for weapons? And in ookiah (winter) did they not strike? Did they not kill one Otaq, who hated Sipsu? Did Sipsu not go unto the lower land of

ee meat. I follow Ootah upon the chase. There are walrus on the sea. Invoke the

l I bring the great evil unto Ootah. For hath he not despised my art, hath he

" said Maisanguaq briefly. "I would

old man shrieked in a sudden access of rage

his eyes and, moving his head

auk! Where are my spirit

e, and swaying h

vagit! My spirits are here-the

one speaking very far off. In a curious sort of intermittent crooning and shrieking ventriloquism he called down curses upon Ootah. His dance increased; he beat the drum frenziedly. His legs twisted under him, he described short running circles and jumped u

that do not exist-what the wicked dead dream in their frigid hell! May the wrath

guaq joined in the incantation, a

. May they end not! May he lie awake forever! May he ne

n ecstasy of torture. His form became a

, may the lids swell; m

y his harpoons strike forever in the darkness!" Maisanguaq repli

es of dead ahmingmah (musk oxen)," chanted Sipsu. "May he neve

is pungo (dogs);

contagion, began to sway his bo

May he lie helpless for years! May his shadow leave

he soul, might depart from his still-living body, and thus cause the most excruci

he spirit of his hands, the spirit of his feet, the spirit of his lungs, the spirit of his head, the spirit of his heart wander apart-may they be torn asund

s deep voice gr

eat his heart! May the spirit of the fog grow fat upon his entrails! And may the spirits of his body scatter-as the clouds in the wild anore

th a bundle. Opening it, he revealed a collection of old bones; th

. Continuing his chant he constructed of the bones a crude likeness to an animal skeleton. Over this he sprinkled a handful of dried turf. Then, from beneath the cover of his bed he brought a stone pot and from it poured a sluggish red liquid over the strange object of his creation. This was a mixture

silent, evil exultati

f bones, Maisanguaq turned and left the tent. Out on

ase! Remember Annadoah awaits you all!" Annado

ph, for he was confident that the magician by his necromancy had created in the depths of the sea a tupilak, or artificial walrus, which should attack Ootah. He knew it might upset Ootah's kayak and cause him to be drowned. The probabilities were, however, that it would permit itself to be harpooned, in which case its blighting curse would

g along the shore, the multitude of kayaks became mere black specks. They disappeared now and then be

stance. From the mountain passes behind the village echoed the joyous howls of approaching dogs. Som

lashes of light intermittently on either side. His arms moved with consummate ease. His kayak made a dark blurred line as

bout while the berg lurched toweringly onward. As he gained distance from the land the ocean swelled with increasing volume. His frail skin kayak was lifted high on the oily crests of waves, and as it descended with swift rushes, Ootah felt exultant thrills in his heart. Far away he heard the resounding explosion of ice bergs colliding. A low bellow arose from a floe immediately ahead. Ootah's blood leaped, the spirit of the hunter throbbed in his veins, his nostrils sensitivel

th his paddle, Ootah became conscious of

ving slowly southward. Higher above, clou

air spirits) are not a

e air, what dist

her ether circled as

ts were not at peac

the walrus, that Ootah loves her and would make Annadoah his wife-neuilacto Annadoah; tell Annadoah Oota

om the zenith. Still no br

They rocked and eddied, and from their glac

t, carry thy bright m

otah has loved her f

ne another, and in the i

vague misgiving was

ls passed low

and fuel for the winter. Their raucous cries mocked him. He demanded what they meant. "Ootah-Ootah," they seemed to call, "how foo

ed shadows of great dogs. They seemed to be dashing along the horizon. Then, with crushing strides, behind the adumbration a great sled, a titan figure gathered substance in the clouds. It moved with terrific speed; it dom

Ootah murmured. "And he comes wi

rything lived; the clouds were the habitation of spirits, the waves were alive, all the animals and fish possessed souls; the very winds were endowed with sex functions and loved and quarreled among themselves. The interr

nd the Eskimo maidens and white men danced together. As these mirage-forms melted, Ootah glanced into the water by his side. Looking up from the ultramarine depths he saw something white. For an instant it assum

he laughter of white men from the south. A flock of hawks passed over the water. He was about to s