“I am not an old man,” said Cheenbuk at length in a solemn tone, “but I have seen most of the wonderful things in this world, yet have I never seen a track like that!”
He pointed to the track in question, and turned a look of blazing inquiry on Anteek.
“And I am not an old boy,” returned the other, “but I too have seen a good many of the wonderful things of this world, yet have I never even dreamed of the like of that!”
It will doubtless strike the reader here, as an evidence that Eskimos are under similar delusions to the rest of the human family, that these two referred to that world of theirs as equivalent to the world at large!
“What can it be?” murmured Cheenbuk.
“The very biggest bear that ever was, come to frighten the wisest people that ever lived, out of their wits,” suggested Anteek.
The face of the elder Eskimo underwent a sudden change, and an intelligent expression flitted over it as he said—
“I know now—I remember—I guess. You have often heard me talk of the Fire-spouters, Anteek? Well, the snow where they live is very deep and soft—not at all like the snow here, except when our snow is new-fallen—so that they cannot travel in the cold time without great things on their feet. That,”—pointing downward—“must be the track of those great things, and there must be a Fire-spouter not far off.”
“Perhaps a number of Fire-spouters—a war-party,” suggested Anteek, becoming excited.
“I think not, for there is only one track.”