And with him lived Tuktu, the Caribou, and
Kugyiyuh, the Swan.
Pituluk closed his burning lids, then opened them
because they smartedthe more. It was the next night when the call came.
Followed a staccato of barking, the gasps of a
scufflingfight, and a long howl of pain. By this time the wedge hadtaken up its
appointed order, the order it would hold for the Arctic.
Why then should you care if Istop
hunting?
The caribou were fat, and his guests
bettertempered. The meat in his stomach had thawed, and he experiencedsharp
pains.
Kugyiyuk thrust the weapon into his hands. In his
left hand heheld one end of a thong at which the old woman jerked
impatiently.
He was a big bear, said Tuktu regretfully, and
without doubt there wasmuch meat on him.
A moment later the stranger pitched on his face
andlay still. Where his eyes used to be were two lines ofsticky white. By this time
the wedge hadtaken up its appointed order, the order it would hold for the
Arctic.
She glanced at the igloo, of which the ivory dome
was just visible.
Five hundred miles from the South American coast a,
tremor of expectationran through the flock. Then the linetightened, and in a flash
Tuktu was snatched forward and twitched into thedepths.
It is many years now sincePituluk got angry about
that girl and came away. His closed eyes exuded apaste that froze on his
wind-whipped cheeks.
Ah, said Tuktu, if Pituluk could only see now! I
went out to find if I could perhapssee, but everything is black.
He was a big bear, said Tuktu regretfully, and
without doubt there wasmuch meat on him.