“Indeed, my dear, I wish so too,” answered the old woman; “but how could one little girl do what all the wise people in the village have not been able to accomplish?”
But the little girl kept on thinking about it and wishing she could bring the young man back to his unhappy parents; until at last she could think of nothing else, and could neither eat nor sleep for thinking of it.
One night, while her grandmother slept, the little girl lay looking at the old stone lamp, dreaming of the sadness that had come over her village because the boy, whom they all loved, was lost. She fancied the flickering light, from its wick of moss, winked at her, as much as to say, “I know something you would like to know.” So she began to talk to it in a low voice, that she might not awaken her grandmother. “Lamp, dear Lamp, can’t you go and find that boy? Your eyes are so bright, and you look so wise. Won’t you please go and find him?”
She sat up on her little heels, with her hands clasped, speaking eagerly.
The old grandmother stirred uneasily among her bear skins on the floor. The lamp twinkled and flickered, then, trembling a little, began to hop with short quick hops at first, then higher and higher, until at last, waving a bright goodby to her, the little lamp shot right out through the hole that is in the roof of every Eskimo house, and went straight up to heaven to get the young man, and bring him home.
“O Grandmother!” cried the little girl. “Our lamp has gone after him.”
The grandmother shivered, for without the lamp which supplied their heat and light, she felt cold. Drawing the little girl down beside her, she snuggled under the big fur rugs and went to sleep.
When the lamp reached heaven it went straight to the house where the young man was. It hopped so quickly through the ventilator, into the house, that some of the oil spilled out on the floor. The man who lived there tried to grab it, but each time he thought he had caught it, the lamp slipped from his fingers, and hopped away through the air, beckoning to the young man to come. Quickly jumping into the bowl of the lamp, the boy sat there and was carried straight down to the little girl.
When the little girl opened her eyes in the morning, she was disappointed to see the old lamp twinkling away in its accustomed place, looking very innocent indeed. The child thought it must have been a dream. Then a shadow came between her and the lamp, and she saw the boy standing, smiling down at her and the grandmother, and she knew that her dream had come true.
When they had recovered from their astonishment, and the boy had asked all about his parents and his friends, they talked a long while together and arranged a fine plan to give his father and mother a surprise.