business, of which I have spoken and whereof thou knowest nothing. Go,
thou son of a thousand fools, and drink of the hooch that Neewak brews in
his igloo, and thank thy gods that thou hast a white man's wisdom to make
soft the bed thou liest in. Go! and when thou hast drunken, return with
the taste still on thy lips, that I may know.'

"And two days after, Neewak sent greeting and invitation to his igloo.
Moosu went, but I sat alone, with the song of the still in my ears, and
the air thick with the shaman's tobacco; for trade was slack that night,
and no one dropped in but Angeit, a young hunter that had faith in me.
Later, Moosu came back, his speech thick with chuckling and his eyes
wrinkling with laughter.

"'Thou art a great man,' he said. 'Thou art a great man, O master, and
because of thy greatness thou wilt not condemn Moosu, thy servant, who
ofttimes doubts and cannot be made to understand.'

"'And wherefore now?' I demanded. 'Hast thou drunk overmuch? And are
they sleeping sound in the igloo of Neewak, the shaman?'

"'Nay, they are angered and sore of body, and Chief Tummasook has thrust
his thumbs in the throat of Neewak, and sworn by the bones of his
ancestors to look upon his face no more. For behold! I went to the
igloo, and the brew simmered and bubbled, and the steam journeyed through
the gooseneck even as thy steam, and even as thine it became water where
it met the ice, and dropped into the pot at the far end. And Neewak gave
us to drink, and lo, it was not like thine, for there was no bite to the
tongue nor tingling to the eyeballs, and of a truth it was water. So we
drank, and we drank overmuch; yet did we sit with cold hearts and solemn.
And Neewak was perplexed and a cloud came on his brow. And he took