This thong I clutched with both hands,
like an organ-grinder's monkey; for the flesh of my body was raw and in
great sores from where the thong had cut in.
"A low cunning came to me, and I made myself agreeable and servile.
That night I danced and sang, and did my best to amuse them, for I was
resolved to incur no more of the maltreatment which had plunged me into
darkness. Now the Deer Men traded with the Sea Men, and the Sea Men
with the whites, especially the whalers. So later I discovered a deck
of cards in the possession of one of the women, and I proceeded to
mystify the Chow Chuen with a few commonplace tricks. Likewise, with
fitting solemnity, I perpetrated upon them the little I knew of parlor
legerdemain. Result: I was appreciated at once, and was better fed and
better clothed.
"To make a long story short, I gradually became a man of importance.
First the old people and the women came to me for advice, and later the
chiefs. My slight but rough and ready knowledge of medicine and
surgery stood me in good stead, and I became indispensable. From a
slave, I worked myself to a seat among the head men, and in war and
peace, so soon as I had learned their ways, was an unchallenged
authority. Reindeer was their medium of exchange, their unit of value
as it were, and we were almost constantly engaged in cattle forays
among the adjacent clans, or in protecting our own herds from their
inroads.
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