For three hours I kept on my way without being caught up by my guide. Darkness was fast approaching and the gale increased, turning into a regular blizzard.
Tired out, anxious to make camp, I began to worry seriously about my companion. I was certain that I had not strayed from the route he had shown me, but I was afraid something might have happened to him somewhere behind me.
Seeing a small depression behind a rocky ridge where I knew I would find a certain amount of shelter, I drove my dogs to it and unhitched. Still no sign of my man! Leaving my dogs curled up beside the sleigh I started back on the trail. I walked for about ten minutes, stopping now and then to listen. Nothing but the wailing of the wind and the angry hiss of the driven snow.
I was frightened! Suddenly, a strange noise reached my ears through the howling gale. I thought I heard someone singing! In a few minutes the song increased in volume. I waited! Then I saw, emerging from the depths of the swirling snow, a team of five dogs, straining at a sledge. On the top of the load sat my Eskimo friend apparently oblivious to his surroundings. He was singing at the top of his voice and the words I heard, distinctly, were English—“It’s a long, long way to Tipperary, it’s a long way to go.” I stood there paralyzed with astonishment until he saw me, stopped and gave me a lift to camp.
As soon as I recovered from my surprise I started to question him in English. Not an answer could I get from him, except a chuckle and the same words I heard him singing.
Two weeks or so later, on our return trip, we stopped at one of our outposts. Our trader was entertaining a small group of natives with a gramophone and the tune was “Tipperary”. Then, and only then, did I get the explanation of my Eskimo’s sudden but limited outburst in English.
He had listened so often to the well-known tune that he had eventually mastered the words of the chorus which he could repeat by heart.
He had no idea of their meaning and those words were the only ones he actually could pronounce in the English language.
