Part 12 (1/2)

This was glorious news to the twins. They ran down to the beach with Koko as fast as their legs could carry them.

They got there just in time to hear Koko's father say to Kesshoo, ”I think it's safe to start. The ice is pretty well out of the bay, and the reindeer will be coming down to the fiords after fresh moss.”

All the men listened to hear what Kesshoo would say, and the twins listened, too, with all their ears.

”If it's clear, I think we could start after one more sleep,” said Kesshoo.

III.

The twins didn't wait to hear any more. They flew for home, and dashed down the tunnel and up into the room.

Koolee was gathering all the knives and spoons and fis.h.i.+ng-things and sewing things, and dumping them into a large musk-ox hide which was spread on the floor.

The musk-ox hide covered the entrance hole. The first thing Koolee knew something thumped the musk-ox skin on the under side, and the knives and thimbles and needle cases and other things flew in all directions.

Up through the hole popped the faces of Menie and Monnie!

”Oh, Mother,” they shouted. ”We're going off on the woman-boats! After only one more sleep, if it's pleasant! Father said so!”

Koolee laughed. ”I know it!” she said. ”I was just packing. You can help me. There's a lot to do to get ready.”

The twins were delighted to help. They got together all their own treasures--the sled, and the fis.h.i.+ng rods, the dog harnesses, and Annadore, and bound them up with walrus thongs. All but Annadore.

Annadore rode in Monnie's hood as usual.

Koolee gathered all her things together again and wrapped them in the musk-ox hide. She took down the long narwhal tusks that the dog harnesses were hung on.

These were the tent poles. She and the twins carried all these things to the beach. The men stayed on the beach and packed the things away in the boats. The other women brought down their bundles from their igloos. There was room for everything in the two big boats.

Only the skins were left on the sleeping bench in the hut. When everything else was ready, Koolee and the twins went up on top of the igloo.

They pulled the moss and dirt out of the c.h.i.n.ks between the stones that made the roof, and then Koolee pulled up the stones themselves and let them fall over to one side. This left the roof open to the sky.

”What makes you do that?” Menie asked.

”So the sun and rain can clean house for us,” said Koolee.

Everybody else in the village got ready in the same way.

At last Kesshoo came up from the beach and said to Koolee, ”Let us have some meat and a sleep and then we will start. Everything is ready. The boats are packed and it looks as if the weather would be clear.”

Koolee brought out some walrus meat and blubber for supper, though it might just as well be called breakfast, for there was no night coming, and the twins ate theirs sitting on the roof of the igloo with their feet hanging down inside.

Once Menie's feet kicked his father's head. It was an accident, but Kesshoo reached up and took hold of Menie's foot and pulled him down on to the sleeping bench and rolled him over among the skins.

”Crawl in there and go to sleep,” he said.

Monnie let herself down through the roof by her hands and crept in beside Menie. Then Kesshoo and Koolee wrapped themselves in the warm skins and lay down, too.