THE WORLD OF ICE. 217

self-possession, resumed his part the imstant there was
a calm, and carried it successfully to a close.

Just as he ended, Fred waddled on, in the guise of
an Esquimau woman; and so well was he got up that
the crew looked round to see if Aninga (who, with
her husband, had been allowed to witness the play)
was in her place. Fred had intentionally taken
Aninga as his model, and had been very successful in
imitating the top-knot of hair. The baby, too, was
hit off to perfection, having been made by Mivins,
who proved himself a genius in such matters. Its
head was a ball of rags covered with brown leather,
and two white bone buttons with black spots in the
centre did duty for its eyes.

The first thing Whackinta did on coming forward
was to deposit the baby on the snow with its head
downwards by mistake, whereat it began to scream
vociferously. This scream was accomplished by Davie
Summers creeping below the stage and putting his
mouth to a hole in the flooring close to which the
baby’s head lay. Davie’s falsetto was uncommonly
like to a child’s voice, and the effect was quite start-
ling. Of course Whackinta tried to soothe it, and
failing in this she whipped it, which caused it to yell
with tenfold violence. Thereafter losing all patience,
she covered its face and stuffed its mouth with a
quantity of snow, and laying it down on its back,
placed a large block of ice on its head. This, as
might be expected, had the desired effect, and the
baby was silenced—not, however, until Whackinta