Long ago, in the village of Na-ki-a-ki-a-mute, there lived a strong man, or chief, with his wife, to whom he was very devoted. They had no children, but among their neighbors was a little girl who lived in a tiny house with her grandmother. These two were very poor, but the chief was rich, and the chief’s wife loved the little girl and had her often with her. Indeed the child used to come every day to fetch water for the chief’s wife, from the water hole through the ice in the river nearby.

One day the man went off hunting, and when he came back with a fine fat seal for their food his wife was gone. He called and called her, but she did not answer. Then he went to all his neighbors seeking her, but no one had seen her, and no trace of her could he find anywhere. There was not even a footprint to show in which direction she had gone.

The poor man was nearly crazy with grief and anger, for he felt sure some one must have taken his wife away from him. He became fierce and sullen, brooding over his troubles and loneliness, and would speak to no one. In fact no one dared to come near him for fear of being killed.

All day long he would sit out in front of his house with his big bow and quiver full of arrows, watching; and at night he did not sleep, nor could he eat.

One day the old grandmother said to the little girl, I am sorry for that poor man; he is so unhappy. You go to him and ask him to come and eat with us. His wife loved you. He will not hurt you. Try to bring him back with you.

Very timidly the little girl obeyed, for in her heart she was afraid to go. When she got near the chief’s house she stopped and felt like turning back, for he sat there looking so fierce and gloomy that she was frightened; but when he saw the child standing there he motioned to her to come. Then she felt no longer afraid, but went and sat beside him, and told him what her grandmother had said. The chief answered nothing, but when she slipped her little hand in his, he got up and went with her to her home, where the old woman had already cooked him a fine supper of reindeer meat.

The poor man had not eaten for so long that he was starving, and when he had finished all the meat the old woman had, he sent the little girl to his own house to get some more.

As soon as the little one had gone out of the room, the grandmother said to him, I sent for you because you have been kind to us, and I believe I can help you to find your wife. You must make a good strong staff of driftwood, then take this bunch of charms and tie it firmly to the stick, and she gave him a little bunch of charms. These charms were ivory animals and faces and some tufts of feathers from sea birds.

Next she said that he must set the stick upright in the ground, in front of his house, very firmly, so that the wind could not blow it over. When he had done this he should go to bed and sleep. In the morning he must examine the stick carefully, and go in the direction in which the stick leaned. Wherever he stopped for the night he must set the stick up in the same way, and in the morning the stick would point in the direction he must follow to find his wife.

If you obey my instructions, said she, the stick will lead you straight to your wife.

Then the little girl came in with some more reindeer meat, and the man ate until he was satisfied, and went home.

As soon as he reached his house, he made a fine staff, tied the charms to it and planted it firmly in the ground before the door. Then he went in, and rolling himself up in a big bear skin, fell asleep.

He woke up in the morning feeling well rested, and more like himself than at any time since his wife’s disappearance. It was late and the sun had already risen. He hurried out anxiously to look at his stick. It was bent directly toward the North, so he pulled it up and started on his journey, with the staff moving along before him.

For two days and two nights he traveled without rest, having a hard time to keep up with that stick, which hopped along in front of him. Then, being tired, he stuck the staff into the ground and went to sleep.

When he woke, the stick was again pointing North. This time it leaned over more than before.

For three days and nights he traveled, then he slept, and in the morning his faithful staff was bending way over, still toward the North.

Now my wife cannot be very far away, he thought.

That night he slept again, and when he awoke, the staff had leaned so far over that the tip almost touched the ground; so he felt sure he must be near his journey’s end.

About noon, when the sun hung very round and very red, low down in the sky, he came to a huge snow house, the biggest house he had ever seen. Right by the house stood four posts close together, and on these posts was hung the skin of an enormous bird.

Hiding himself among some willow bushes, he watched to see what would happen.

Pretty soon a very tall man came out of the house and went to the posts. Climbing up on them, he took the skin, put it on, and flew away over the sea.

When the bird man was out of sight, our friend took his faithful staff and went into the house. There he found his wife, who was very happy to see him.

I knew you would come and find me, she said. That terrible big bird carried me away in his claws; that is why you could not find my footprints in the snow.

Her husband wanted her to come home with him at once, but she told him that it would be better if she could first see the bird man, who would come back soon again. Her plan was to send the bird man on some far distant fight, so that they might get away during his absence. She gave her husband some food, and he went back to his hiding-place to wait for the bird man to come and go.

After a short time the bird came back with a walrus in one claw and a seal in the other. Flying to the rack, he took off the bird skin, hung it up, and went into the house.

When he came in, he found the woman crying. What do you want? said he.

I want a white whale and a hump-back whale. I didn’t want any seal. I am tired of seal and walrus meat. Boo-hoo! and she howled and wailed dismally.

Only be quiet, said the bird man, and I will get you what you want. And he came out again and, putting on his bird skin, once more flew out over the sea.

When the bird was out of sight, the woman ran from the house to her husband, who put her on his back and started for home as fast as he could go. He was the swiftest runner in his village, and covered the ground pretty fast; but, after all, legs are not wings. It was not long before they met the bird man coming back with a whale in each of his talons. When he saw the man carrying the woman away on his back, the bird was very angry, and circled about in the air over their heads, calling out to them, I shall kill you. First, however, I am going to take these two whales home, then I shall come back and kill you. And away he flew.

The man ran as fast as he could, but just as they reached the banks of a big river the bird came in sight.

The man and his wife dug a cave in the river bank, and hid in it while the bird flew by looking for them. Nowhere could the big bird find those two people, although he was sure they must be hiding somewhere nearby. Suddenly he circled about, and flew down to the water. I shall set my great wing across the river like a dam, and the water will rise and drown them, cried he; so he stretched his great wing across the river and the water rose over the wing, and crept nearer and nearer to where the man and his wife were hidden.

The two poor people were in despair. They thought that surely they would be drowned, when suddenly the man remembered his father, who was a witch doctor, and some magic words came to his mind:

Kluk-a-luk.
Muk-a-luk.
puk-a-luk.
Freeze up hard,
Or you must run dry.

He said these words over three times aloud. At that moment the water of the river began to freeze. It was the month called Naz-ze-rak-sek by the Eskimos, which means October.

At last the river froze so hard and solid, that the bird’s wing was frozen fast into the ice and he could not pull it out. Then the husband killed the wicked bird, and plucking one of the long feathers from its wing for a charm, took his wife safely home without any further trouble.

They brought the old grandmother and the little girl to live with them, and they were all happy the whole winter long with the meat of the big bird for food.