8/23 "_Oksutingai_! I am glad to see you, and how have you been ?" [Footnote A: "_Oksunae_" is the Eskimo greeting when one is addressed, and, literally translated, means "You be strong." "_Oksutingai"_ is addressed to two--"You two be strong." "_Okiusee"_ to more than two--"You all be strong."] Abel spoke his native language, for his tongue was awkward with the few English words he had learned. He and Skipper Ed, indeed, always conversed in Eskimo, and Jimmy, though he usually spoke his native English at home when he and Skipper Ed were alone, also understood the Eskimo tongue perfectly. |