“Bully! But why ever don’t you set nets?”
Copper Eskimos never use fish nets; Kak had never seen one. In fact he scarcely understood what the stranger meant, and to cover his ignorance he pretended not to hear. The fat boy raised his voice:
“Say, why don’t you set nets? This looks too much like work for me! You’ll be all day getting your breakfast. Come along down to the beach and I’ll catch you some fish.”
It sounded horribly boastful and patronizing, but the words stirred Kak’s curiosity more than his pride; so caching his fish under a couple of stones, he shouldered his spear and followed the stranger.
HE COULD BARELY SQUEEZE INTO HIS FATHER’S BOAT.
Kommana, for that was the boy’s name, picked up a kayak from the shore and turning it over his shoulder, as you would carry a canoe, brought it to the water. Then he proceeded to get into it. The kayak is a long, narrow boat completely decked with skin except for a round hole at the middle large enough for the owner to sit in. This boy was so bulging fat he could barely squeeze into his father’s boat, and he looked so funny doing it, and made such silly faces at himself, Kak laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks. He was secretly rather impressed by Kommana, who was some years older than himself, and thought he had never met anybody so independent. With everything shipshape the fat boy pushed off and paddled to where a row of wooden floats strung themselves across the river’s mouth. Here he stopped, pulled up a few feet of fish net and commenced to empty it. The numbers and size of the fish that came tumbling out made Kak open his eyes.
Kommana let them all flop back into the water as if they were of no value, and finally, when he had tired showing off, he grabbed a few, strung them on a line, swung this over the side of his boat, and paddled to shore.
Kak ran to meet him crying: “Go on, go on! Why don’t you take them all?”
His new friend only grinned. “Not on your life! I don’t work unless I have to; I was just fooling to show you. Presently they will drag the nets to shore and get the lot. Want these?” He held the catch out to Kak, and while the other’s eyes were gloating over it, yawned and stretched. “Guess I’ll go in and have a little more sleep. The village will be waking up soon, and they’re so beastly active. So long! See you again sometime.”