Page:The white czar; a story of a polar bear (IA whiteczarstoryof00hawk).pdf/145

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Then he doubled the number of his foxtraps, but several deep snows fell so that he had no luck trapping. At last hope had nearly left him, although he was still on the lookout for the chance to earn the great sum of money, which looked like a mountain of gold to the poor Eskimo.

So it was that the weary winter wore away and spring again came. When Eiseeyou proposed to Oumauk that he again go with him to set up the net for the auks, the boy said that the long night was still with them, and that the auk would not come back until the sun shone again. So he would not go. When he finally ventured from the igloo and felt the warm air of springtime, he was much puzzled. Spring had really come, but the long night was still there.

It was just after the return of the auk and other spring birds which meant so much to the Eskimo that Eskimo Town was visited by two white men. They came upon small ponies and were a great curiosity to the simple Snow People.

They were the agents of several large cities to the south, both in Canada and the