"Yes," said the other, "he is my cousin, so is Spotted Seal and Oogrook, the big seal, and Little Light Brown Seal, and goodness knows how many more! We are a large family. I am told that we have cousins living down in the Aleutian Islands who are very aristocratic indeed. They go by the name of Hair Seal. Why, their coats, I am told, are so valuable that Omnok, the hunter, would risk his life to get one of them! For my part, I prefer this simple coat which no man would steal, unless he needed it to make a pair of boots. But you must be hungry, and so am I. Just wait a minute."
"Now," he said, when he had finished fishing, "we will have dinner." Page [38]
Master Barred Seal disappeared in the water, reappearing from time to time with a fish in his mouth.
"Now," he said, when he had finished fishing, "we will have dinner." Before Little White Fox was spread the most tempting array of fish he had ever seen.
"This is the finest home in the world," said Barred Seal proudly. "Your dinner comes right to your front door. Look!"
Little White Fox looked, and sure enough, there in the water were plenty more fish swimming round and round.
"But what if Omnok, the hunter, should find us here?" Little White Fox shivered suddenly.
"What if he should?" repeated the other. "There are four feet of solid ice between us and the top. He will not come down in the water to get us, so what could he do?"
"But very soon, Mother tells me," said Little White Fox, "the ice will all melt, or the wind will blow it out to sea."