"
And so Skipper Ed and Jimmy Sanderson formed their partnership, and
Jimmy, with his own and his father's kits, went ashore with Skipper Ed
in Skipper Ed's boat, which he insisted was half Jimmy's, under their
partnership agreement, and the next day the schooner sailed away and
left them. And with the passing weeks, Time, as Skipper Ed had
predicted, and as he always does, healed Jimmy's sorrow, and he came to
look upon Skipper Ed as the finest man and the finest partner in the
world, and they two loved each other very much.
Abel and his wife and Skipper Ed and his partner lived upon terms of
intimacy and good comradeship, as neighbors should. And because they had
no nearer neighbors than Abraham Moses, an Eskimo ten miles to the
southward, and the people of the Moravian Mission and Eskimo settlement
at Nain, twenty miles to the northward, the two families were dependent
upon one another for human companionship, and therefore the bond of
friendship that drew them together was the stronger.
And so it happened that early on the morning following the return of
Abel and Mrs. Abel with Bobby, Skipper Ed and Jimmy walked over to
welcome their neighbors home, and to discuss with them the fishing
season just closed, and the seal hunting and the trapping seasons which
were at hand.
Abel was engaged in cutting and shaping the sticks from which he was to
build Bobby's little bunk, when he heard Skipper Ed's cheery:
"_Oksunae!_"[A]
"_Oksutingal!_"[A] exclaimed Abel, delightedly, grasping Skipper Ed's
hand and then Jimmy's hand and laughing with pleasure.
Pages:
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31