Page:The white czar; a story of a polar bear (IA whiteczarstoryof00hawk).pdf/77

 the women and also the children would be seen often watching from the top of the high hill for some signs of the returning hunting party.

If they were anxious, yet they gave no sign. The allotted time had already been consumed and their return was confidently looked for.

On the eleventh day after the hunting party had disappeared over the frozen barrens, just as the arctic dusk was about to descend, one of the watchers at the top of the hill described three small specks away on the distant horizon. They were so small that they had no seeming shape, but to the trained eyes of the Eskimo they had both shape and meaning. Without waiting further than to satisfy himself, he ran wildly through Eskimo Town shouting at the entrance of each igloo and hailing every one that he met joyously.

In less time almost than it takes to tell, half the inhabitants of Eskimo Town were watching at the top of the hill. The winds were blowing briskly and the thermometer