Suddenly he burst into a volume of wild song, and made his way through
the crouching Eskimos to Jan.

"For the love of Heaven, play no more of that!" he cried in the boy's
ear. "Play something fast!"

Jan lifted his head as if from a dream. In an instant he perceived the
strange effect of his music, and his bow raced across the strings of
his violin in a rhythm swift and buoyant, his voice rising shrill and
clear in words familiar to them all:

"Oh, ze cariboo-oo-oo, ze cariboo-oo-oo,
He roas' on high,
Jes' under ze sky,
Ze beeg white cariboo-oo-oo!"

With a yell Cummins joined in, waving his arms and leaping in the
firelight. The spell was broken. Williams and Mukee and the rest of
the company's men burst forth in song; Jan's violin leaped in
crescendos of stirring sound; and where before there had been a silent
circle of awestruck men there was now a yelling din of voices.

The dogs lowered their heads again, and licked their chops at the
odors in the air. With a yell Mukee and three Crees dashed toward the
fire, long-hooked poles in their hands; and as the caribou carcasses
were turned upon their huge spits, and their dripping fat fell
sizzling into the flames, the wild chorus of men and dogs and Jan's
violin rose higher, until Cummins' great voice became only a whisper
in the tumult.