Ilatsiak - 27
Shanks began caughing during the night and David tried to get him to drink some of the left-over soup they had had for supper, however he would have none of it. David could see he was shivering still and found his blankets none too warm. The fact they had managed to get wet somehow didn’t help the situation. Finally David got up and walked outside to relieve himself only to discover it had been snowing heavily. All Shanks clothes had blown down from where he had carefully set them out to dry and were now wetter than ever. He set about collecting all those he could find and returned into their little shelter. It was clear that the recent snow storm had allowed snow to find its way inside and David began to look for holes to patch here and there.
None too pleased to see his snowy, wet clothes, Mr Shanks nevertheless said nothing. He rolled over and, still caughing, tried to find a comfortable position on the hard, stoney ground. David looked around wondering what to do, then went out again and sat down in the shelter of the containers and stared out to sea. It was going to be a long boring time if Shanks' caughing fits became worse or he was unwilling to find ways to dry out his clothes. It would mean being stuck here at the depot for the whole two weeks instead of exploring the area. David was certain that the Eskimo they had met a couple of days ago must have a camp nearby and he was anxious to visit and learn more about these mysterious people he had been waiting so long to meet. He made up his mind that regardless of Shanks condition, he would do some exploring further along the beach especially towards the south. That seemed to be the direction the Eskimo man was heading when they last saw him. With David gone for a few days, Shanks would have to begin helping himself and that would no doubt be a good thing. After having Lt Irving picking on him the way he had, David was anxious to have a break from playing the servant routine to people who had no business asking him for services.
(Author's Note: I've used the word 'Eskimo' in this story as it was used during the period of the book, however the proper term is 'Inuk' for the singular and 'Inuit' for the plural)
None too pleased to see his snowy, wet clothes, Mr Shanks nevertheless said nothing. He rolled over and, still caughing, tried to find a comfortable position on the hard, stoney ground. David looked around wondering what to do, then went out again and sat down in the shelter of the containers and stared out to sea. It was going to be a long boring time if Shanks' caughing fits became worse or he was unwilling to find ways to dry out his clothes. It would mean being stuck here at the depot for the whole two weeks instead of exploring the area. David was certain that the Eskimo they had met a couple of days ago must have a camp nearby and he was anxious to visit and learn more about these mysterious people he had been waiting so long to meet. He made up his mind that regardless of Shanks condition, he would do some exploring further along the beach especially towards the south. That seemed to be the direction the Eskimo man was heading when they last saw him. With David gone for a few days, Shanks would have to begin helping himself and that would no doubt be a good thing. After having Lt Irving picking on him the way he had, David was anxious to have a break from playing the servant routine to people who had no business asking him for services.
(Author's Note: I've used the word 'Eskimo' in this story as it was used during the period of the book, however the proper term is 'Inuk' for the singular and 'Inuit' for the plural)
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