The men who came to the igloo used to play rough-and-tumble with Whitie and wrestle and box with him. This made him so boisterous that Eiseeyou finally forbade their engaging him in these rough plays, for fear he would injure his small master. But with Oumauk the bear was always most gentle. He seemed to understand in a dim way that the small Eskimo boy was his master and that he should protect and be gentle with him. Oumauk's little sister was very much afraid of Whitie for a long time, and Oumauk used to tease her by telling her that bears often ate small girls, if they didn't mind their brothers.
With the inactivity of winter it was surprising how rapidly Whitie grew. But he was not so inactive as were the humans; for he often wandered far from Eskimo Town, even when he was a yearling.
With the return of Spring, Eiseeyou, Oumauk and Whitie were again seen on the hilltop setting up their net for the auk, and this spring Oumauk could help more than he had the year before. When they finally packed up their belongings and again started for Eskimo Village, Oumauk and Whitie were the most excited members of the party. This time Oumauk rode all of the way on Whitie's back. He could do anything with the shaggy white beast, although his mother was by this time afraid of the bear.
Arrived at Eskimo Village, the tents were again set up and the women and men got busy fishing and drying fish. Whitie now evinced a desire to roam and often was gone for half a day. The first time that he failed to appear at night Oumauk was heartbroken and thought he had lost him forever, but very early in the morning he was awakened by something soft passing over his face and opened his eyes to see the white bear standing over him.
One eventful day Eiseeyou took Oumauk on an expedition to a nearby island where he and several other Eskimos went for eider ducks' down and eggs. They took several sacks in which to bring home the eggs and the down. They went in one of the large square-ended boats, called women's boats.
Oumauk rode all the way on Whitie's back.