"'Tis a strange language an' I'm wonderin' how they understands un,"
he observed as he turned over to go to sleep.
Very early the next morning he heard Akonuk calling to Matuk to wake
up. Then for a little while the two Eskimos conversed together and
finally the lamp was lighted. Over this a snow knife was stuck into
the side of the igloo and the kettle hung upon the knife in such a
position that it was directly over the flame, and snow, cut from the
side of the igloo near the bottom, was melted for tea, and thus the
simple breakfast was prepared without going out of doors.
When Bob came out of his bag to eat he realized that a storm was
raging outside, for he could hear the wind roaring around the igloo,
and Akonuk made him understand that a heavy snow-storm was in progress
and a continuation of the journey that day quite out of the question.
When daylight finally filtered dimly through the igloo roof, he
removed the snow block that closed the entrance, and crawled to the
outer world, where he verified Akonuk's statement.
The air was so filled with snow that it would be quite useless to
attempt to move in it. The previous night the dogs had dug holes for
themselves in the bank and were now completely covered with the drift,
and invisible, and the komatik, too, was quite hidden.
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