"I will have Poalu!" he said, suddenly. He climbed to his feet. "Yes!" he said. "I will have Poalul"

The tabuk trotted away.

"The tabuk have gone," I said.

"But I am shy," he said. "You must help me."

"The tabuk have gone." I said.

"You must help me," he said.

"Very well," I said. 'The tabuk have gone," I added.

"I knew I could count on you," he said.

"The tabuk have gone," I said.

"Yes, I know," he said.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked.

"I am too shy to do it," he said.

"You are too shy to do what?" I asked.

"I am too shy to carry her off," he said.

"You want me to carry her off?" I asked.

"Of course," he said. "Do not worry. No one will mind."

"What about Poalu?" I asked.

He frowned. "Well, I do not know about Poalu," he admitted. "Sometimes she is moody."

"Perhaps you should carry her off yourself," I suggested.

"I am too shy to do this," he said, miserably.

"I suppose it might be done," I mused, "under the cover of darkness."

"But then you could not well see what you are doing," said Imnak. "Besides it will not be dark for several weeks."

"I know," I said. "We could wait."

"No, no, no, no, no," said Imnak.

"You want her carried off in full daylight?" I asked.

"Of course," he said. "That is the time for carrying girls off."

"I did not know that," I said. "I am new in the north." I looked at him. "Do you not occasionally run into problems." I asked, "like being speared in the back by her brothers?"

"Poalu has no brothers," said Imnak.

"That is lucky," I said. "What of her father? He is inept and weak, I trust."

"He is a great hunter, Kadluk," said Imnak. "He can throw a harpoon into the eye of a sea sleen from a tossing kayak."

"What if Kadluk docs not approve of my carrying off his daughter?" I asked.

"Why should he disapprove?" asked Imnak.

"Oh, I do not know," I said. "It was just a thought."

"Do not fear," said Imnak, reassuringly. "All the arrangements have been made."

"Arrangements?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Kadluk, then, knows that I am to carry off his daughter?"

"Of course," said Imnak. "Surely one would not wish to carry off Kadluk's daughter without his permission."

"No," I said, "from what I have heard of Kadluk, I think not."

"That would not be polite," said Imnak.

"True," I granted him. Also I did not want a harpoon in my head. The thought of the steely-eyed Kadluk drawing a bead on me with his harpoon was unnerving. I could not get the sea sleen out of my mind.

"Does Poalu know she is supposed to be carried off?" I asked.

"Of course," said Imnak. "how else could she be ready on time?"

"I just was not thinking," I said.

"That is all right," said Imnak, generously.

"Well," I said, "let us return to the tent. The tabuk are gone and I am soaked and freezing. I will well relish a hot cup of Bazi tea."

"Ah, my friend," said Imnak, sadly, "I am sorry there is no Bazi tea."

"Recently," I said, "there was a great deal of it."

"True," said Imnak, "but now there is not."

"You used the tea to buy Poalu?" I asked.

Imnak looked at me, horrified. "I made a gift to Kadluk," he said.

"Oh," I said.

"Also," said Imnak, "there is no sugar left, and few furs."

"What of the gold pieces you took for trading?" I asked.

"I gave them to Kadluk, too," said Imnak. "and most of the wood."

"At least we have the tabuk slices from the kills we made earlier," I said, glumly.

"Kadluk likes tabuk," said Imnak.

"Oh," I said.

We trudged back, wet and miserable, to the encampments of the People.

As luck would have it we encountered Poalu.

"Ah," she said, "you have been hunting."

"Yes," said Imnak.

"I see that your shoulders are heavy with game," she said.

"No," said Imnak.

"I see," she said. "You made many kills in the fields and have marked the meat. You will later send out your girls to cut steaks for all of us."

Imnak hung his head.

"You surely do not mean to tell me that you have returned to the camp with no meat," she said, disbelievingly.

"Yes," said Imnak.

"I cannot believe that," she said. "A great hunter like Imnak comes back without meat! It is just too hard to believe!"

Imnak looked down, shuffling.

"Can my father be wrong?" she asked.

Imnak looked up, puzzled.

"He says Imnak is a great hunter! I think it is true. It is only that Imnak is not too smart and leaves all the meat out in the fields for the jards."

Imnak looked down again.

"It is fortunate," she said, "that you are only a miserable fellow with no wife. Think how embarrassed she would be. She speaks to her guests, "Oh, no, Imnak has forgotten to bring back the meat again." "Not again," they say. "Yes," she says. "He is a great hunter. Only he always forgets to bring the meat home. He is not too smart. He leaves it in the fields for the jards.""

"Are you sure she expects to be carried off?" I asked Imnak.

"Of course," said Imnak. "Can you not see she loves me?"

"Yes," I said, "it is certainly clear."

Then Poalu looked at me. She whipped a knife out from her furs. "Do not think you are going to carry me off," she said. "I will cut you to ribbons!"

I stepped back, in order not to be slashed with the knife. Imnak, too, leaped backward.

Poalu then turned about and walked away.

"She is moody sometimes," said Imnak.

"Yes," I admitted.

"But she loves me," he said, happily.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes," said Imnak. "She cannot hide her true feelings." He nudged me. "Did you not notice that she did not stick the knife into us?" he asked, secretively.

"Yes," I said, "she missed."

"Did Poalu not love me," he said, smiling, "she would not have missed."

"I hope that you are right," I said. "She did not miss Naartok," he said. "Oh," I said.

"He was in his tent for six weeks," he said. "Who is Naartok?" I asked.

"He is my rival," said Imnak. "He still loves her. He may try to kill you."

"I hope he is not good at throwing harpoons into the eyes of sleen," I said.

"No," said Imnak. "He is not so good a shot as Kadluk."

"That is good," I said.

"Yes," said Imnak.

14.

The Courtship Of Poalu; What Followed The Courtship Of Poalu It is not easy to knock at a tent.