[Illustration: ADRIFT. Page 162. ]

ADRIFT IN THE ICE-FIELDS. 

BY

CAPT. CHARLES W. HALL, AUTHOR OF "THE GREAT BONANZA, " ETC. 

_ILLUSTRATED. _

BOSTON:LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. NEW YORK:CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM. 1877. 

COPYRIGHT:BY LEE AND SHEPHARD. 1877. 

PREFACE. 

To open to the youth of America a knowledge of some of the winter sportsof our neighbors of the maritime provinces, with their attendantpleasures, perils, successes, and reverses, the following tale has beenwritten. 

It does not claim to teach any great moral lesson, or even to be a guideto the young sportsman; but the habits of all birds and animals treatedof here have been carefully studied, and, with the mode of theircapture, have been truthfully described. 

It attempts to chronicle the adventures and misadventures of a party ofEnglish gentlemen, during the early spring, while shooting sea-fowl onthe sea-ice by day, together with the stories with which they whiledaway the long evenings, each of which is intended to illustrate somepeculiar dialect or curious feature of the social life of our colonialneighbors. 

Later in the season the breaking up of the ice carries four hunters intoinvoluntary wandering, amid the vast ice-pack which in winter fills thegreat Gulf of St. Lawrence. Their perils, the shifts to which they aredriven to procure shelter, food, fire, medicine, and other necessaries, together with their devious drift and final rescue by a sealer, are usedto give interest to what is believed to be a reliable description of theice-fields of the Gulf, the habits of the seal, and life on board of asealing steamer. 

It would seem that the world had been ransacked to provide stories ofadventure for the boys of America; but within the region between theStraits of Canso and the shores of Hudson's Bay there still lie hundredsof leagues of land never trodden by the white man's foot; and thefolk-lore and idiosyncrasies of the population of the Lower Provincesare almost as unknown to us, their near neighbors. 

The descendants of emigrants from Bretagne, Picardy, Normandy, andPoitou, still retaining much of their ancient patois, costume, habits, and superstitions; the hardy Gael, still ignorant of any but thelanguage of Ossian and his burr-tongued Lowland neighbors; the people ofeach of Ireland's many counties, clinging still to feud, fun, and theirancient Erse tongue, together with representatives from every Englishshire, and the remnants of Indian tribes and Esquimaux hordes, --offer anopportunity for study of the differences of race, full of picturesqueinterest, and scarcely to be met with elsewhere. 

The century which has with us almost realized the apostolicannouncement, "Old things are passed away; behold, all things havebecome new, " with them has witnessed little more than the birth, existence, and death of so many generations, and the old feuds andprejudices of race and religion, little softened by the lapse of time, still remain with their appropriate developments, in the social life ofthe scattered peoples of these northern shores. 

Regretting that the will to depict those life-pictures has not beenbetter seconded by more skill in word-painting, the author lays down hispen, hoping that the pencil of the artist will atone, in some degree, for his own "many short-comings. "

CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE

I. OUR COMPANY 9

II. BUILDING THE ICE-HOUSES. --MATTHEW COLLINS'SGHOST 19

III. THE SILVER THAW. --A FOX HUNT. --ANTHONYWORRELL'S DOG 55

IV. THE GRAND FLIGHT. --A GOOD STRATAGEM. --THEPACKET LIGHT 75

V. A MAD SPORTSMAN. --SNOW-BLIND. --A NIGHT OF PERIL 95

VI. ADDITIONS TO THE PARTY. --AN INDIAN OUTFIT. --ACONTESTED ELECTION 110

VII. A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER. --BREAKING UP OFTHE ICE. --JIM MOUNTAIN'S FIGHT WITH THE DEVIL 136

VIII. FLOAT-SHOOTING. --A GENERAL FIELD-DAY. --CHANGESOF THE ICE 148

IX. ADRIFT 158

X. THE COUNCIL. --PASSING THE CAPE 169

XI. TAKING AN INVENTORY. --SETTING UP THE STOVE 175

XII. DOCTORING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. --AN ANXIOUSNIGHT. --FROZEN UP 187

XIII. THE CHAPEL BELL. --THE FIRST SEAL. --THENORTH CAPE. --A SNOW-SQUALL 199

XIV. THE PACK OPENS. --MYSTERIOUS MURMURS. --LOVESCENES AND SOUNDS 207

XV. A SAIL. --THE SEALING GROUNDS. --THE ESQUIMAUXLAMP. --AN INDIAN LEGEND 220

XVI. THE BREEDING-GROUNDS OF THE SEAL. --ACURIOUS SIGHT. --A SHARP ENCOUNTER. --ICE CHANGES 230

XVII. ENLARGING THE BOAT. --WINGED SCAVENGERS. --NOTICETO QUIT 244

XVIII. A CHANGE OF BASE. --BUILDING A SNOW-HUT. --THEVIEW FROM THE BERG. --A STRANGE MEETING 254

XIX. THE RING. --THE BURIAL. --A MAUSOLEUM OF ICE 263

XX. A STRANGE LIFE-HISTORY. --AMONG THE RED INDIANS 271

XXI. NORTHWARD AGAIN. --THE STEAMER. --TAKINGTO THE BOAT 287

XXII. THE FORECASTLE OF THE SEALER. --A SEALER'SSTORY. --THE LAST HUNT. --ARRIVAL AT ST. JOHN'S 303

XXIII. THE CAPTAIN'S VISIT. --HOMEWARD BOUND. --BROTHERAND SISTER 313

ILLUSTRATIONS:

Adrift. 

Map of Prince Edward Island and the Northumberland Straits. 

Adrift in the Ice Fields. 

Capt. Lund headed a Party to assist their Friends

Gie me my Guse, Mon, and dinna delay me

Well, George, you're here at last

And the next Second the glittering Teeth were about to close upon hishelpless Victim

On the Top of the Berg they felt repaid for the Fatigue of their Journeyand Ascent

Kneeling beside it, the Lad bowed his Head as if in silent Prayer

In His Hands La Salle Waved the Banner

[Illustration]

[Illustration: (map of Prince Edward Island and the NorthumberlandStraits. )]

[Illustration: ADRIFT IN THE ICE FIELDS. ]

CHAPTER I. 

OUR COMPANY. 

Five hundred miles away to the north and east lies the snug littleIsland of St. Jean; a beautiful land in summer, with its red cliffs ofred sandstone and ruddy clay, surmounted by green fields, which stretchaway inland to small areas of the primeval forest, which once extendedunbroken from the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the waters ofthe Straits of Northumberland. 

Drear and desolate is it in winter, when the straits are filled withice, which, in the shape of floe, and berg, and pinnacle, pass inghostly procession to and fro, as the wind wafts them, or they feel thediurnal impetus of the tides they cover, to escape in time from thenarrow limits of the pass, and lose themselves in the vast ice-barrierthat for five long months shuts out the havens of St. Jean from the opensea. 

No ship can enter the deserted ports, over whose icy covering thefarmer carries home his year's firing, and the young gallant presses hishorse to his greatest speed to beat a rival team, or carry his faircompanion to some scene of festivity twenty miles away. Many spend thewhole winter in idleness; and to all engaged in aught but professionalduties, the time hangs heavily for want of enjoyable out-of-dooremployment. It is, therefore, a season of rejoicing to the cooped-upsportsman when the middle of March arrives, attended, as is usually thecase, by the first lasting thaws, and the advent of a few flocks of wildgeese. 

Among the wealthier sportsmen great preparations are made for a springcampaign, which often lasts six or eight weeks. Decoys of wood, sheet-iron, and canvas, boats for decoy-shooting and stealthy approach, warm clothes, caps, and mittens of spotless white, powder by the keg, caps and wads by the thousand, and shot by the bag, boots and moccasonswater and frost proof, and a vast variety of small stores for the innerman, are among the necessaries provided, sometimes weeks in advance ofthe coming of the few scattering flocks which form, as it were, theskirmish line of the migrating hosts of the Canada goose. 

It is usual for a small party to board with some farmer, as near aspossible to the shooting grounds, or rather ice, for not infrequentlythe strong-winged foragers, who press so closely on the rearguard of theretreating frost king, find nothing in the shape of open water; butafter leaving their comrades, dead and dying, amid the fatal decoys onthe frozen channels, sweep hastily southward before cold, fatigue, hunger, and the wiles and weapons of man, can finish the deadly work sothoroughly begun. 

Such a party of six, in the spring of 186-, took up their quarters withCaptain Lund, a pilot, who held the larger portion of the arable land ofthe little Island of St. Pierre, which lies three miles south of themouth of the harbor of C. , and ends in two long and dangerous shoals, known as the East and West Bars. 

The party was composed of Messrs. Risk, Davies (younger and older), Kennedy, Creamer, and La Salle. Mr. Henry Risk was an English gentleman, of about fifty-five years of age, handsome, portly, and genial, a keensportsman, and sure shot with the long, single, English ducking-gun, towhich he stuck, despite of the jeers and remonstrances of the owners ofmuzzle and breech-loading double barrels. 

Davies the elder, an old friend of the foregoing, had for many yearsbeen accustomed to leave his store and landed property to the care ofhis partners and family, while, in company with Risk, he found in thehalf-savage life and keen air of the ice-fields a bracing tonic, whichprepared them for the enervating cares of the rest of the year. The twohad little in common--Risk being a stanch Episcopalian, and Davies anuncompromising Methodist. Risk, rather conservative, and his comrade aready liberal; but they both possessed the too rare quality of respectfor the opinions of others, and their occasional disputations neverdegenerated into quarrels. 

Ben Davies, a nephew of the foregoing, and also a merchant, was anathletic young fellow, of about five feet eight, just entering upon histwenty-second year. A proficient in all manly exercises, and a keensportsman, he entered into this new sport with all the enthusiasm ofyouth, and his preparations for the spring campaign were on the mostliberal scale of design and expenditure. In these matters he reliedchiefly on the skill, experience, and judgment of his right-hand man andshooting companion, Hughie Creamer. 

Hughie was of Irish descent, and middle size, but compact, lithe, andmuscular, with a not unkindly face, which, however, showed but tooplainly the marks of habitual dissipation. A rigger by occupation, asailor and pilot at need, a skilful fisherman, and ready shot, with aroving experience, which had given him a smattering of half a score ofthe more common handicrafts, Hughie was an invaluable comrade on such aquest, and as such had been hired by his young employer. It may beadded, that a more plausible liar never mixed the really interestingfacts of a changeable life with well-disguised fiction; and it may bedoubted if he always knew himself which part of some of his favorite"yarns" were truths, and which were due, as a phrenologist would say, "to language and imaginativeness large, insufficiently balanced byconscientiousness. "

Kennedy was a wiry little New Brunswicker, born just across the St. Croix, but a thorough-going Yankee by education, business habits, andnaturalization. "A Brahmin among the Brahmins, " he believed in the NewYork Tribune, as the purest source of all uninspired wisdom; andbitterly regretted that the manifold avocations of Horace Greeley hadthus far prevented that truly great man from enlightening hisfellow-countrymen on the habits and proper modes of capture of the_Anser Canadiensis_. As, despite his attenuated and dry appearance, there was a deal of real humor in his composition, Kennedy wasconsidered quite an addition to our little party. 

La Salle was--Well, reader, you must judge for yourself of what he was, by the succeeding chapters of this simple history, for he it is whorecalls from the past these faint pen-pictures of scenes and pleasuresnever to be forgotten, although years have passed since theiroccurrence, and the grave has already claimed two of the six, --Risk, therobust English gentlemen, and Hughie, the cheery, ingenious adventurer. It is not easy to draw a fair picture of one's self, even with the aidof a mirror, and when one can readily note the ravages of time inthinning locks and increasing wrinkles, it is hard to speak of therobust health of youth without exaggeration. At that time, however, hewas about twenty-three, having dark hair and eyes, a medium stature, and splendid health. Like Hughie, in a humbler sphere, he was a dabblerin many things, --lawyer, novelist, poet, trader, inventor, whatnot?--taking life easily, with no grand aspirations, and no disturbingfears for the future. In the intervals of business he found a keendelight in the half-savage life and wholly natural joys of the anglerand sportsman, and ever felt that to wander by river and mere, with rodand gun, would enable him to draw from the breast of dear old MotherEarth that rude but joyous physical strength, with the possession ofwhich it is a constant pleasure even to exist. 

It was late at night when, by the light of the winter moon, the boatsand decoys were unloaded from the heavy sleds, and placed in position onthe various bars and feeding-grounds. The ice that season was of unusualthickness, and gave promise of lasting for many weeks. As under theguidance of Black Bill, they entered the farm-yard of his master, theelder Lund, they found the rest of the family just entering the house, and joining them, attacked, with voracious appetites, a coarse but amplerepast of bacon, potatoes, coarse bread, sweet butter, and strong blacktea. After this guns were prepared, ammunition and lunch got ready forthe coming morning, for, with the earliest gleam of the rising sun, theywere to commence the first short day of watching for the northwardcoming hosts of heaven. 

The exact manner in which the ingenious Mrs. Lund managed to accommodatesix sportsmen, besides her usual family of four girls, three boys, and ahired man, within the limits of a low cottage of about nine smallapartments, has always been an unsolved mystery to all except members ofthe household. To be sure, Risk and the elder Davies occupied aluxurious couch of robes and blankets in the little parlor, and a hugesettle before the kitchen stove opened its alluring recesses to Ben andhis man Friday, while one of the elder sons and Black Bill shared withKennedy and La Salle the largest of the upper rooms. In later years, thequestion of where the eight others slept, has attained a prominent placeamong the unsolved mysteries of life; but at that time all were tiredenough to be content with knowing that they could sleep soundly, at allevents. 

Few have ever passed from port to port of the great Gulf, withoutmeeting, or at least hearing, of "Captain Tom Lund, " known as the mostskilful pilot on the coast. 

 "Alike to him was tide or time, Moonless midnight or matin's prime. "

And when his skill could not make a desired haven, or tide over athreatened danger, the mariners of the Gulf deemed the case hopelessindeed. 

Every winter, however, the swift Princess lay in icy bonds, beside thedeserted wharves, and the veteran pilot went home to his farm, hislittle house with its brood of children, his shaggy horses, Highlandcows, and long-bodied sheep, and became as earnest a farmer as if he hadnever turned a vanishing furrow on the scarless bosom of the ocean. Always pleasant, anxious to oblige, careful of the safety of his guests, and with a seaman's love of the wonderful and marvellous, he played thehost to general satisfaction, and in the matter of charges set anexample of moderation such as is seldom imitated in this selfish andmercenary world. 

After supper, however, on this first evening, an unwonted cloud hungover the brow of the host, which yielded not to the benign influence offour cups of tea, and eatables in proportion; withstood the sedativeconsolations of a meerschaum of the best "Navy, " and scarcely gave waywhen, with the two eldest of the party, he sat down to a steaming glassof "something hot, " whose "controlling spirit" was "materialized" from abottle labeled "Cabinet Brandy. " After a sip or two, he hemmed twice, toattract general attention, and said, solemnly, --

"It is nonsense, of course, to warn you, gents, of danger, when the iceis so thick everywhere that you couldn't get in if you tried; but markmy words, that something out of the common is going to happen thisspring, on this here island. I went over to the Pint, just now, afteryou came into the yard, to look up one of the cows, and saw two men inwhite walking up the track, just below the bank. I thought it must besome of you coming up from the East Bar, but all of a sudden the menvanished, and I was alone; and when I came into the yard, you were allhere! Now something of the kind almost always precedes a death among us, and I shan't feel easy until your trip is safely over, and you are allwell and comfortable at home. "

"Now, Lund, " said the elder Davies, "you don't believe in any suchnonsense, do you?"

"Nonsense!" said Lund, quietly but gravely; "little Johnnie there, myyoungest boy, will tell you that he has often seen on the East Bar thewarning glare of the Packet Light, which often warns us of the approachof a heavy storm. It is nearly thirty years since it first glowed fromthe cabin windows of the doomed mail packet, but to all who dwell uponthis island its existence is beyond doubt. Few who have sailed the Gulfas I have, but have seen the Fireship which haunts these waters, andmore than once I have steered to avoid an approaching light, and afterchanging my course nearly eight pints, found the spectre light stilldead ahead. No, gentlemen, I shan't slight the warning. If you valuelife, be careful; for if we get through the breaking up of the icewithout losing two men, I shall miss my guess. "

"Come, Tom, " said Risk, quickly, "don't depress the spirits of theyoungsters with such old-world superstitions. As you say, they couldn'tget through the ice now if they would, without cutting a hole; and whenthe ice grows weak, will be time enough for you to worry. Take anotherruffle to your night-cap, Tom, and you youngsters had better get to bed, and prepare to take to the ice at six o'clock, after a cup of hot coffeeand a lunch of sandwiches. Here's luck all round, gentlemen. "

The toasts were drank by the three elderly men, and re-echoed by theyounger ones, who chose not to avail themselves of the profferedstimulant, and then all sought repose in their allotted quarters. Fifteen minutes later the house was in utter darkness and silence, through which the varied breathings of sixteen adults and children wouldhave given ample opportunities for comparison to any waking auditor, hadsuch there been; but no one kept awake, and to all intents and purposes"silence reigned supreme. "

[Illustration]

CHAPTER II. 

BUILDING THE ICE-HOUSES. --MATTHEW COLLINS'S GHOST. 

At daybreak the gunners arose, and without disturbing the members of thefamily, took some strong, hot coffee, prepared by the indefatigableCreamer, and ate a breakfast, or rather lunch, of cold meats and breadand butter, after which all proceeded to don their shooting costume, which, being unlike that worn in any other sport, is worthy ofdescription here. 

In ice-shooting, every color but pure white is totally inadmissible; forthe faintest shade of any other color shows black and prominent againstthe spotless background of glittering ice-field and snow-covered cliffs. Risk and his partner wore over their ordinary clothing long frocks ofwhite flannel, with white "havelocks" over their seal-skin caps, andtheir gray, homespun pants were covered to the knee by seal-skinEsquimaux boots--the best of all water-proof walking-gear for coldweather. Risk carried the single ducking-piece before mentioned, butDavies had a Blissett breech-loading double-barrel. They had chosentheir location to the north of the island, near a channel usuallyopening early in the season, but now covered with ice that would haveborne the weight of an elephant. With much banter as to who should countfirst blood, the party separated at the door; the younger Davies andCreamer, with Kennedy and La Salle, plunging into the drifted fields tothe eastward, and in Indian file, trampling a track to be daily usedhenceforward, until the snows should disappear forever. The two formerrelied on over-frocks of strong cotton, and a kind of white night-caps, while La Salle wore a heavy shooting-coat of white mole-skin, seal-skinboots reaching to the knee, and armed with "crampets, " or small ironspikes, to prevent slipping, while a white cover slipped over hisAstrachan cap, completed his _outre_ costume. Kennedy, however, outshoneall others in the strangeness of his shooting apparel. Huge "arctics"were strapped on his feet, from which seemed to spring, as from massiveroots, his small, thin form, clad in a scanty _robe de chambre_ ofcotton flannel, surmounted by a broad sou'wester, carefully covered by avoluminous white pocket handkerchief. The general effect was that of agigantic mushroom carrying a heavy gun, and wearing a huge pair of bluegoggles. 

La Salle alone of the four carried a huge single gun of number sixgauge, and carrying a quarter of a pound of heavy shot to tremendousdistances. The others used heavy muzzle-loading double-barrels. A briskwalk of fifteen minutes brought them to the extremity of the island, andfrom a low promontory they saw before them the Bay, and the East Bar, the scene of their future labors. 

Below them the Bar, marked by a low ridge, rising above the level of thelower shallows, --for the tide was at ebb, --trended away nearly a leagueinto the spacious bay, covered everywhere with ice, level, smooth, andglittering in the rising sun, save where, here and there, a huge whitehummock or lofty pinnacle, the fragments of some disintegrated berg, drifted from Greenland or Labrador, rose along the Bar, where the earlywinter gales had stranded them. Leaping down upon the ice-foot, theparty hastened to their respective stands, nearly a mile out on theBar--Davies being some four hundred yards from that of La Salle. 

The "stand" of the former was a water-tight box of pine, painted white, and about six feet square by four deep, which was quickly sunk into thesnow-covered ice to about half its depth; the snow and ice removed bythe shovel, being afterwards piled against the sides, beaten hard andsmooth, and finally cemented by the use of water, which in a few momentsfroze the whole into the semblance of one of the thousands of hummocks, which marked the presence of crusted snow-drifts on the level ice. 

La Salle, however, had provided better for comfort and the vicissitudesof sea-fowl shooting; occupying a broad, flat-bottomed boat, furnishedwith steel-shod runners, and "half-decked" fore-and-aft, furtherdefended from the sea and spray by weather-boards, which left open asmall well, capable of seating four persons. Four movable boards, fastened by metal hooks, raised the sides of the well to a height ofnearly three feet, and a fifth board over the top formed a completehousing to the whole fabric. La Salle and Kennedy swung the boat untilher bow pointed due east, leaving her broadsides bearing north andsouth; and then, excavating a deeper furrow in the hollow between twohummocks, the boat was slid into her berth, and the broken masses of icysnow piled against and over her, until nothing but her covering-boardwas visible. 

A huge pile of decoys stood near, of which about two dozen were of wood, such as the Micmac Indian whittles out with his curved _waghon_, orsingle-handed draw-knife, in the long winter evenings. He has littlecash to spend for paint, and less skill in its use, but scorches thesmooth, rounded blocks to the proper shade of grayish brown, and, with alittle lampblack and white lead, using his fore-finger in lieu of abrush, manages to imitate the dusky head and neck with its snowy ring, and the white feathers of breast and tail. 

These rude imitations, with some more artistic ones, painted in profileon sheet-iron shapes, of life-size, and a few cork-and-canvas"floaters, " were quickly placed in a long line heading to the wind, which was north-west, and tailing down around the boat, the southernmost"stools" being scarce half a gun-shot from the stands. 

By the time these arrangements were completed it was nearly midday, andthe sky, so clear in the morning, had become clouded and threatening. The chilly north-west breeze, which had made the shelter of their boatsvery desirable, had died away, and a calm, broken only by variable puffsof wind, succeeded. 

"We shall have rain or snow to-night, " remarked La Salle to Kennedy, who, after a few moments of watching, had curled himself down in the drystraw, and begun to peruse a copy of the Daily Tribune, his inseparablecompanion. 

"Yes, I dare say. Greeley says--"

What Greeley said was never known, for at that moment a distant soundrung like a trumpet-call on the ear of La Salle, and amid the gatheringvapors of the leaden eastern sky, his quick eye marked the wedge-likephalanx of the distant geese, whose leader had already marked the longlines of decoys, which promised so much of needed rest and welcomecompanionship, but concealed in their treacherous array nothing butterror and death. 

"There they are, Kennedy! Throw your everlasting paper down, and getyour gun ready. Put your ammunition where you can get at it quick; ifyou want to reload. Ah, here comes the wind in good earnest!"

A gust of wind out of the north-east whistled across the floes, and thenext moment a thick snow-squall shut out the distant shores, thelowering icebergs, the decoys of their friends, in fact, everything ahundred yards away. 

"Where are the geese?" asked Kennedy, as, with their backs to the wind, the two peered eagerly into the impenetrable _pouderie_ to leeward. 

"They were about two miles away, in line of that hummock, when thesquall set in. I'll try a call, and see if we can get an answer. "

"Huk! huk!" There was a long silence, unbroken save by the whistle ofthe blasts and the metallic rattle of the sleety snow:

"Ah-huk! ah-huk! ah--"

"There they are to windward. Down, close; keep cool, and fire at thehead of the flock, when I say fire!" said La Salle, hurriedly, forscarce sixty yards to windward, with outstretched necks and widespreadpinions, headed by their huge and wary leader, the weary birds, eager toalight, but apprehensive of unseen danger, swung round to thesouth-west, and then, setting their wings, with confused cries, "scaled"slowly up against the storm to the hindmost decoy. 

"Hŭ-ŭk! hŭ-ŭk!" called La Salle, slowly and more softly. 

"Huk! hū-uk!" answered the huge leader, not a score of yards away, andscarce ten feet from the ice. 

"Let them come until you see their eyes. Keep cool! aim at the leader!Ready!--fire!"

Bang! bang! roared the heavy double-barrel, as the white snow-cloud waslit up for an instant with the crimson tongues of levin-fire, and thehuge leader, with a broken wing, fell on the limp body of his dead mate. Bang! growled the ponderous boat-gun, as it poured a sheet of deadlyflame into the very eyes of the startled rearguard. 

A mingled and confused clamor followed, as the demoralized flockdisappeared in the direction of the next ice-house, from which, a fewseconds later, a double volley told that Davies and Creamer had beenpassed, at close range, by the scattered and frightened birds. 

La Salle reloaded, and then leaped upon the ice, and gave chase to thegander, which he soon despatched, and returning, picked up Kennedy'sother bird, with three which lay where "the Baby" had hurled her fourounces of "treble B's. " Composing the dead bodies in the attitude ofrest among the other decoys, he returned to the boat, and for the firsttime perceived that the geese were not the only bipeds which hadsuffered in the late bombardment. 

Leaning over the side-boards of the boat, the fastenings of which werebroken or unfastened, appeared Kennedy, apparently engaged in deepmeditation, for his head was bowed until the broad rim of hispreposterous head-covering effectually concealed his face from view. 

"Here, Kennedy, both your birds are dead, and noble ones they are. "

"I'm glad of it, for I'm nearly dead, too, " came in a melancholy snufflefrom the successful shot, at whose feet La Salle for the first timeperceived a huge pool of blood. 

"Good Heavens! are you hurt? Did your gun burst?" asked La Salle, anxiously. 

"No, I've nothin' but the nose-bleed and a broken shoulder, I reckon. Braced my back against that board so as to get good aim, and I guess thepesky gun was overloaded; and when she went off it felt like a horse hadkicked me in the face, and the wheel had run over my shoulder. "

"Didn't you know better than to put your shoulder between the butt of agun like that and a half ton of ice?" asked La Salle. "Why, you'vebroken two brass hooks, and knocked down all the ice-blocks on thatside. Can't I do anything to stop that bleeding? Lay down, face upward, on the ice. Hold an icicle to the back of your neck. "

"No, thank you; I guess it will soon stop of itself. A little while agoI cut some directions for curing nose-bleed out of the Tribune, and Iguess they're in my pocket-book. Yes, here they are: 'Stuff the nostrilswith pulverized dried beef, or insert a small plug of cotton-wool, moistened with brandy, and rolled in alum. ' I'll carry some brandy andalum the next time I go goose-shooting. "

"Or provide a lunch of dried beef, " laughed La Salle; "but you hadbetter keep your shoulder free after this, and you'll have no trouble. There, the bleeding has stopped, and you'd better load up, while I cleanaway this blood, and cover the boards with clean ice. "

In a short time the marks of the disaster were removed, and the huntersagain took shelter from the increasing storm, which had set in harderthan ever. The snow, however, inconvenienced the friends but little, andas Kennedy could not read, they talked over the cause of his littleaccident. 

"I had no idea that a gun could kick with such force. I shan't dare tofire her again, if another flock puts in an appearance, " said thedisabled goose-shooter. 

"Had your shoulder been free, you would not have felt the recoil, which, even in a heavy, well-made gun, is equal to the fall of a weight fiftyto sixty pounds from a height of one foot, and in overloaded ordefective guns, exceeds twice and even three times that. It is a wonderthat your shoulder was not broken, and a still greater wonder that youkilled your birds. "

At this moment a hail came from the direction of the other boat, whichwas answered by La Salle, and in a few moments, after several halloosand replies, two human forms were seen through the scud, and Ben andCreamer made their appearance, gun in hand. A brace of geese, held bythe necks, dangled by the side of the latter, and showed that theirshots had not been thrown away. 

"This storm will last all night, " said Davies, anxiously, "and we'reonly an hour to sundown. Creamer, here, started a little while ago tofind out what you had shot. He lost his way, and was going right out tosea past me, when I called to him, and I thought we had better try toget ashore before it gets any darker. "

"Does any one know in just what direction the Point lies?" askedCreamer, with that "dazed" expression peculiar to persons who have been"lost. "

"Our boat lies nearly in a direct line east and west, and a lineintersecting her stem and stern will fall a few rods inside of theisland. We are about three quarters of a mile from the house, and bycounting thirteen hundred and twenty paces in that direction, we shouldfind ourselves near the shore, just below the house, if our course wascorrect, " said La Salle. 

"Yes, " said Creamer, "but no man can keep a straight line in a stormlike this, when one hummock looks just like another, and there isn't astar to lay one's course by. "

"I once saw in the Tribune, " said Kennedy, eagerly, "a way to lay afarm-line by poles stuck in the ground. It also recommended 'blazing'trees in the woods for the same purpose. "

"To blazes with yer poles and blazed trees, Mr. Kennedy, saving yerpresence; all the newspapers in Boston can't teach me anything in layinga straight line where I can have or make marks that can be seen; butthere are no poles here, and we couldn't see them if we had them. "

"Creamer, don't get so desperate. Kennedy has furnished the idea, and Ithink I can get the party ashore without any trouble. Now let all getready to start, and I'll lay the course for the others. "

In a few moments the decoys were stacked to prevent drifting, and theboat covered so that no snow could penetrate. A pair of small oars werefirst, however, removed, which were set upright at either extremity ofthe boat, and in direct line with the keel. 

"There is our proper direction, " said La Salle. "Now, Creamer, take yourbirds, gun, and one decoy, and align yourself with these oars when youhave counted one hundred paces. When you have done so, face about andturn the beak of the decoy towards the boat. Now, Ben, " continued he, when this was done, "walk up within twenty yards of Creamer, and let mealign you; Kennedy will go with you, and, counting one hundred pacesbeyond Creamer, will be aligned by you. You will then be relieved by me, and placing yourself behind Kennedy, will direct Creamer to the rightposition, when he has paced one hundred yards farther. At every otherhundred yards an iron decoy must be placed, pointing towards the boat. "

The plan thus conceived was carried out until thirteen hundred paces hadbeen counted, when La Salle, begging all to keep their places, hurriedto the front. It was now nearly dark, and nothing but driving snow wasanywhere visible. Creamer was at the lead, but disconsolate andterrified, having utterly lost his reckoning. 

"We're astray, sir, completely, " he said, hopelessly. "Mother ofHeaven!" he ejaculated, as a dim radiance shone through the scud alittle to their rear, "there's the 'Packet Light, ' and we are lost men. "

Buffeted by the heavy gusts and sharp sleet which froze on the face asit fell, La Salle felt for a moment a thrill of the superstitious fearwhich had overcome the usually stout nerves of his companion; but hiscooler nature reasserted itself, although he knew that no house stood inthe direction of the mysterious light, which seemed at times almost todisappear, and then to shine with renewed radiance. 

"There is nothing earthly about that thing, sir. Macquarrie's house is along piece from the shore, and Lund's is hidden by the woods. See; lookthere, sir, for the love of Heaven!" and the stout sailor trembled likea child as the light, describing a sharp curve, rose ten or twelve feethigher into the air, where it seemed to oscillate violently for a fewseconds, and then to be at rest. 

"Let us hail it, any way, " said La Salle; "perhaps we have made somehouse on the opposite shore. "

"We haven't gone a mile, sir; and as for hailing _that_, sir, I'd assoon speak the Flying Dutchman, and ask her captain aboard to dinner. "

"Well, I'll try it, anyhow. --'Halloo! Light, ahoy!'" he shouted, placinghis hands so as to aid the sound against the wind, which blew across theline of direction between them and the mysterious light. Again and againthe hail was repeated, but no answer followed. 

"You may call until doomsday, but they who have lit that lamp will neveranswer mortal hail again. They died thirty falls ago, amid frost andfalling snow, ay, and foaming breakers, on this very bar, and the men onshore saw the light shiver, and swing, and disappear, as we saw it justnow. "

"Well, I don't believe in that kind of light, and I, for one, am goingto see what it is. Now, don't move from your place, but watch the light, and if you hear the report, or see the flash, of my gun, answer it oncewith both barrels, counting three between the first and second shots. IfI fire a second time, call all hands and come ashore. "

"Well, Master Charley, I wouldn't venture it for all on the face of theearth; but we must do something, and the Lord be between ye and harm. See, now, " he added, in a lower tone, "you're a heretic, I know, theVirgin pardon ye; but I'll say a Pater and two Aves, and if you nevercome back--"

"There, there, Hughie, old fellow, don't go mad with your foolish fears. Pray for yourself and us, if you please, for it is a terrible night, andwe may well stand in need of prayer; but do your duty like a man. Standin your place until I summon you, and then come, if a score of ghostsstand in the way. "

The next second Hughie stood alone, watching the tremulous radiance ofthe mysterious beacon, which La Salle rapidly approached, not withoutfear, it may be, but with a settled determination superior to theweakness which he felt, for the danger, exposure, and settled fears ofhis companion had almost transmitted their contagion to his own mind. Ashe drew nearer, however, the apparition resolved itself into a largereflecting lantern, suspended from a pole, in the hands of Captain Lund, who had headed a party to assist their friends to find the shore. Theapproach of our hero was not at first noticed, as he came up the bank alittle to the rear of the party. 

"I'm sure, gentlemen, I don't know what to advise; and yet we can't letthem perish on the floes. We had better get the guns, and build abonfire on the cape below; perhaps they may see it; but it wasn't fornothing that I saw those men the other night. Poor La Salle laughed atit, but if he was here now--"

[Illustration: CAPT. LUND HEADED A PARTY TO ASSIST THEIR FRIENDS. Page32. ]

"He is here, captain, thanks to your lantern, although Hughie, who isout on the ice yonder, shivering with fright and fear, vowed that it wasthe 'Packet Light, ' and would scarcely let me come to see what it was. But this is no time to tell long stories; so I'll give the signal atonce. "

Creamer, fearfully watching the luminous spot, saw suddenly beside a jetof red flame, as the heavy gun roared the welcome signal that all waswell; and scarcely a half moment later a still heavier report called theperplexed and wearied party to the shore, where they found themselvesbut about ten minutes' walk from the house. 

Half an hour later, the bustling housewife summoned them to the spacioustable, which was crowded with a profusion of smoking-hot viands, amongwhich two huge geese, roasted to a turn, attracted the attention of all. Mr. Risk saw the inquiring looks of the others, and "rose to explain. "

"Davies and I claim 'first blood, ' as you see, having killed this pair, which, early in the morning, flew in from the westward, and were justlighting among our decoys, when we each dropped our bird. We came inearly, seeing the storm brewing, and, being warned by Indian Peter, weescaped much inconvenience, if not danger, and were able to supply abrace of hot geese for supper. We shall expect a similar contribution tothe general comfort from each party in rotation, in accordance with theancient usage of professors of our venerable and honorable mystery. 

"Well, Lund, " he continued, "the omen is not yet verified, although theparty was nearly lost, and would have been altogether, if Hughie herehad had his way, when he took your lantern for a ghost. "

"Well, it does seem foolish, now that it is all over; but I have seenthe 'Packet Light' myself too often not to believe in it, and so I wasas simply frightened at the captain's lantern as the people of Loughreawere at Matthew Collins's ghost. "

La Salle noted the look of annoyance which clouded the usually placidbrow of their host, and hastened to allay the threatened storm. Risingfrom his seat, he begged the attention of the company. 

"As we are to spend our evenings together for some weeks, it seems to methat it would not be a bad plan to require of each of our company, inrotation, some tale of wonder or personal adventure. Hughie has justreferred to what must be an interesting and little known local legend ofhis mother isle. I move that we adjourn to the kitchen, and pass an hourin listening to it. "

The proposition met with general favor, and rising, the company passedinto the unplastered kitchen, through whose thin walls and poorlyseasoned sashes came occasional little puffs of the furious wind, whichwhistled and howled like a demon without. The gunners seated themselvesaround the huge fireplace, in which a pile of dried gnarled rootsfilled the room with light and warmth, and lighting pipe or cigar, asfancy dictated, gave a respectful attention to the promised story. 

As will be gathered from the preceding conversation, Creamer spokeexcellent English, but as is often the case when excited, he lapsed attimes into a rich brogue. This he did to a considerable degree inrelating what he was pleased to call the story of

MATTHEW COLLINS'S GHOST. 

"I was only a babe in arms when my father crossed the ocean to settledown on the Fane estate as one of the number of settlers, called for bythe terms of the original grant. His father was a _warm_ houlder inErrigle-Trough, and had my father been patient and industhrious, hewould in a few years have rinted as good an hundhred acres as there wasin that section. But the agent tould of land at a shillin' an acre, withwood in plenty, and trees that grew sugar, and game and fish for everyone, and my father thought that he was provided for for life, when, withhis lease in his pocket and a free passage, he stepped on board the ouldship that bore us to this little island. 

"He wasn't far wrong, for he died when I was fifteen, worn out withclearin' woodland, and working all winter in the deep snow at lumbering, to keep us in bread and herrin'. He was a disappointed, worn-out old manat forty, and it was only when he told of the good old times of hisyouth that I ever seen him smile at all, at all. 

"Matthew Collins was a well-to-do farmer of the neighboring parish ofErrigle-Keeran, and had a snug cottage and barn, with a good team ofplough-horses, a cow, two goats, and a pig, beside poulthry enough tokeep him in egg-milk, and even an occasional fowl or two on a birthday, or holy feast. He married Katty Bane, one of the prettiest girls andgreatest coquettes in the whole parish. She, however, made him a goodwife and careful manager, until the events of my sthory. 

"One day, late in the fall, Matthew harnessed his horses in ahay-riggin', and drove off to the bog, five miles away, to haul in hiswinter's firin'. He wrought all day, getting the dried turfs into apile, and had just half loaded his team, when a stranger, decentlydressed, came up to him, and asked if his name was Matthew Collins. 

"'That, indeed, is the name that's on me, ' said Matthew; 'and what mightyou be wantin' of me?'

"'I've sorrowful news for you, Mat, ' said the stranger. 'Your sisterRose, that married my poor cousin Tim Mulloy, beyant the mountains, isdead, and I'm sint to bid ye to the berryin' to-morrow. '

"For a few moments Matthew gave way to a natural feeling of grief at theloss of his sister; but he soon bethought himself that he was five milesfrom home, and that a circuitous road of at least twenty miles laybetween his house and the parish of his sister's husband. 

"'I can never do it, that's certain, ' said he to the stranger. 'It'sfive miles home, and there's changin' my clothes, and a twenty-miledrive over a road that it's timptin' Providence to attimpt in the dark. '

"'It's a great bother, intirely, " said the stranger, reflectively. 'Musha! I have it. Take my clothes, and take the short cut across theDevil's Nose. In three hours you'll be at the wake, and I'll dhrive theteam home and tell the good woman, and be round with a saddle-horsebefore mornin'. '

"'Faith it's yourself that's the dacent thing, any how; and I'm sorrythat I can't be at home to thrate you with a bottle of the rale poteen. Never mind; tell Nancy it's in the thatch above the dure; and you'rewelcome to it all the same as if I were there myself. '

"'We won't part without a glass, any how, ' said the stranger, laughingly. 'I've a pint bottle of the rale stuff, and some boiled eggs, and we'll soon have a couple of the shells emptied, in the shake of alamb's tail, and thin we'll change clothes and dhrink to your safejourney. '

"Accordingly the two exchanged clothes, and sat for half an hour, whilethe stranger described the last illness of the deceased, and the respectshown her memory by the people of her parish. 

"'Divil a whole head will be left in the parish, if they dhrink all thewhiskey; and there's stacks of pipes, and lashin's of tobacky, with tayand cakes, and the house in a blaze with mould candles. Is the road azyto find?' continued he. 'For I'm goin', mylone, where I never wasafore. '

"'It's as plain as a pikestaff to the very door. Only take tent of thebridge at the slough, two miles beyant; for there's a broken balk thatmay upset ye. '

"'I'll warrant I'll look out for that. Have one more noggin. _Here's asafe journey and a dacint berrin' to us both. _'

"With this rather Irish toast, the two separated, Matthew seeing thestranger safe off the moss, and then commencing his short but fatiguingjourney over the narrow mountain path which lay between him and hisdestination. 

"Long before sunset, the careful Katty had had the delph teapotsimmering among the hot peat ashes; and the well-browned bacon and mealypotatoes, carefully covered to retain the heat, only awaited the returnof 'the master' from the distant bog. They had no children; but Andy, Katty's brother (a _gossoon_ of thirteen), eyed the simple supperanxiously, going from time to time to the door to see if he could seethe well-known gray horses coming by the old buckthorn, where the littlelane joined the main road. 

"The sunset, the night, came on, and Katty became hungry and out oftemper. 

"'Andy, _alannah_, ' said she, 'run to the hill beyant, and try can yousee aught of the masther; for I'm tired wid the day's spinnin', andhungry, and wake. '

"The boy went, but returned, saying that no team was in sight. 

"'Thin, Andy, jewel, we'll have our supper anyhow; for the tay'll beblack wid thrawin', and the bacon and praties spilt intirely. '

"Accordingly the two sat down and finished their evening meal, expectingevery moment to hear the cheery voice of Matthew as he urged his_garrons_ with their heavy load up the steep lane beside the cottage. 

"About nine o'clock, the wife became alarmed, and with Andy went to aneighbor's. Tim O'Connell, the village blacksmith, had just fallenasleep after a hard day's work, and woke in no very amiable frame ofmind as Katty rapped at the door. 

"'Who's there at all at this time of night?' said he, gruffly. 

"'Only meself, Katty Collins, and Andy, ' said Katty, rather dolorously, for she was now thoroughly alarmed. 

"'Alice, _colleen_, up and unbar the dure. Come in, neighbor, and tellus what is the matther at all. '

"'O, Tim! Matthew's been gone all day to the bog, and isn't home yet. Could ye go wid the lad down the road, and see if anything has happenedto himself or the bastes, the craters?'

"It was not like Tim O'Connell to refuse, and, calling his assistant inthe forge, young Larry Callaghan, he lighted a tallow candle, which heplaced in a battered tin lantern, and hastened out on his neighborlyerrand, while Katty was easily persuaded by Mrs. O'Connell to 'stay bythe fire' until the men returned. 

"The party saw nothing of the team or its owner until the dangerous roadled into a narrow but deep ravine, at whose bottom an ill-made causewayled across a dangerous slough. 

"'Holy Virgin, boys, but he's been upset! There's the cart across theroad, and one of the bastes in the wather; but where's the masther atall? Come on, b'ys; we'll thry and save the _garrons_ any way. '

"They found the cart upset as described, and one of the horses exhaustedwith struggling under the pole. The other, saved only from drowning bythe fact that its collar had held its head against the bank, hadevidently kicked and splashed until the water was thick with the blackmuck stirred up from the bottom. 

"It was only the work of a few moments to free the horse in the road, and then the three proceeded to unloose the other, and draw him to aless steep part of the embankment, where, making a sudden effort, with amighty plunge, he gained the road, and stood trembling and shakingbeside his companion. 

"'Well done, our side, ' said Tim, exultingly. 'Now for the masther. They've run away I doubt, and he's. --What's the matter with you, Andy, at all? What do you see? Mother of Heaven! it's himself, sure enough!'

"Tossed up from the shallows by the convulsive plunge of the steed, whose heavy hoofs, in his first mad struggles, had beaten the head outof all shape of humanity, in the narrow lane of light cast through thedoor of the open lantern, lay the dead farmer, with his worn frieze coattorn and blackened, and his black hair knotted with pond weeds, andclotted with gore. 

"It was scarce an hour later that the emptied cart, slowly drawn by itsexhausted span, bore to the little cottage a dead body, amid the wailsof scores of the simple peasants, and the hysterical and passionategrief of the bereaved wife. It was with the greatest difficulty that shewas induced to refrain from looking at the dead body; although soterribly was it mangled that the coroner's jury performed their dutieswith the greatest reluctance, and the obsequies were ordered for thevery next day. 

"The body was accordingly placed in a coffin, above which deals, supported on trestles, and covered by white sheets, bore candles, platesof cut tobacco, pipes, and whiskey. Although but little of the nightremained after the coroner had performed his duties, yet so quickly didthe news of the accident spread that hundreds of the neighbors came inbefore morning 'to the wake of poor Matthew! God rest his sowl. '

"The following evening, an unusually large procession followed theremains to their last resting-place. Nothing could have been moreheart-broken than the bearing of the widow. Tears, sobs, and criesproclaimed her anguish incessantly, notwithstanding the attempts offriends to assuage her sorrow. 

"As they drew near the graveyard, one Lanty Casey, an old flame ofKatty's, tried to comfort her in his rough way. 

"'Katty, _avourneen_, don't cry so, _avillish_. There's may be happinessfor you yet, and there's them left that will love ye as well as himthat's gone--if they'd be let. '

"Lanty was a noted lad at fair and pattern, but he got a box on the earthat made his head ring until the body was safely deposited in thegrave. 

"'Who are ye that talks love to a broken-hearted woman at the verygrave? O, Matthew, Matthew, that I should live to see this day! _Ochone, ochone!_ are you dead? are you dead?'

"On her way home to her solitary hearth, Katty saw ahead of her thehapless Lanty, and hastened to overtake him. 

"'Lanty, _avick_, " said she, sweetly, 'what were you saying therebeyant, a while agone?'

"'What I'm not likely to say again. I'm not fond of such ansthers as yegev me; an' if ye don't know when you're well off--'

"'There, there, Lanty, dear; I'm sorry for that same, but what wud thepeople say, an' my husband not berrid? But I mustn't be seen talkin'more wid you. I'll be alone to-night when the _gossoon_ is asleep, andye can dhrap in, and tell me what ye like, av ye plaze. '

"At about ten o'clock that night, the Rev. Patrick Mulcahy, whiletalking over the funeral, and the sad events which had led to it, wasasked for by the young lad, Katty's brother. 

"'Well, Andy, lad, what's wanting now? Is your sister feeling better, _avick_?'

"'Yes, sir; and she sint me, your riverence, to see wud ye come down andmarry her to Lanty Casey the night. '

"'Are your wits gone _ashaughran_, ye _gomeral_? Or is Katty run madaltogether?'

"'It's just as I say, your riverence; and she says she'll pay you apound English for that same. '

"'And I say that if I go down there to-night, that I'll take my whipwith me to the shameless hussy. The Jezabel, and she nearly dyin' withgrief this evening. '

"'An' you won't marry them, sir?'

"A staggering box on the ear with a heavy slipper flung from across theroom sent the unfortunate messenger whimpering out of the door; whilethe priest, honest man, stormed up and down the room until thehousekeeper entered with a waiter, on which were arrayed a decanter, some tumblers, a lemon, and a large tumbler full of loaf sugar. 

"'Come, Peter, ' said he, more calmly, 'reach the kettle from the hob, and we'll let the jade go. Perhaps she's out of her head, poor thing!and will forget all about what she says to-night by to-morrow morning. What are you grinning at there?'

"'Do you remimber the coult ye won from me whin I bet that ye couldn'tlight your pipe wid the sun?'

"'Yis, Pether. Ah, I had ye thin, sharp as you count yourself!'

"'Well, now, I'll bet the very moral of him against himself thatKatty'll send up again--if she don't come herself. '

"'Done! for twice as much if you will. She doesn't dare--'

"'Good evening, your riverence, ' said a woman's voice. And in thedoorway stood Lanty Casey and Katty Collins. 

"'We've come up, your riverence, to see if you'd plaze to marry us thisnight. They tould us you wor angry, sur, and, indade, I don't blame you;for you don't know all. The man who lies dead beyant was able to give mea home, and to keep a roof over the heads of my poor father and mother, and I gave up Lanty here for him. Now, sir, if you'll marry us, I'llgive you the pig down below--and a finer's not in the parish; and ifnot--'

"The speaker paused, and, touching the arm of her companion, whoevidently feared to speak, retreated into the kitchen to await thedecision of Father Patrick, who was almost bursting with chagrin at theloss of his wager, and anger at the boldness of his parishioner. 

"Peter laughed, silently enjoying his brother's discomfiture, and thensuddenly broke out, --

"'Now, what's the use, sir, of spitin' yourself? You've lost the coult, and the woman is bound to have her way. Sure, an' if you don't tie theknot, all they're to do is to sind over to Father Cahill--'

"'The hedge priest--is it? No, I'll marry them. Let them come in, Mrs. Hartigan, but no blessin' can come on such a rite as this. '

"Without a word of congratulation, the priest performed the service ofhis church, and in silence the pair proceeded to the cottage of thebride, where they fastened the doors and windows securely, and retired. The rising moon lighted up the surrounding scenery, and the priest andhis brother sat later than usual over their 'night-caps' of hot Irishwhiskey. 

"'Peter, ' said Father Mulcahy, 'sind young Costigan down for the pig. Perhaps to-morrow Katty will rue her bargain, and we won't get thecrathur. '

"Costigan (a tight little lad of fourteen), roused from the settle-bedby the kitchen fire, soon procured a short cord and a whip, and set offon his rather untimely errand. 

"A few moments before, a man dressed in holyday garb tried the doorsand windows of the cottage, and, finding them securely fastened, murmured, --

"''Tis frighted she is, an' I away, an' tired, too, wid spinnin', I'llbe bound. Well, I'll not rise her now. There's clane sthraw in the barn, an' I'll slape there till mornin'. '

"The tired traveller had hardly laid himself down, with his head on asheaf of oats, when he saw a youth enter the barn, and, deliberatelytaking a cord from his pocket, proceed to affix it to one of the hindlegs of his much-prized pig, which resented the insult with a tremendoussquealing. 

"Matthew rose quietly, and lowered himself to the floor, catching abridle rein, and getting between the trespasser and the wall. 

"'I don't know what thievish crew claims ye, but I'll lay they'll seethe marks of my hand-write under your shirt to-morrow, ' said Matthew, savagely; but to his surprise the lad gave a single shriek, and sankdown as if in a fit. A dash of water from the stable bucket recoveredhim somewhat, although his mind seemed to wander. 

"'Holy angels be about us!--an' him dead and berrid--his very self--comeback again!' And broken sentences of similar import were hurriedlymurmured with closed eyes, as if to shut out some hideous sight; and theangry farmer was disarmed completely by the evident terror of the boy, who at last rose, fearfully opened his eyes, and looked around. 

"'Yes, ye little thafe of the world, I've come in time--'

"With a meaningless yell, or rather shriek of terror, the boy rushed outof the door, fell on the frosty roadway, tearing his clothes and cuttingthrough the skin of both knees; and heeding nothing but the terrorbehind, sprang again to his feet, and rushed down the lane and along themoonlit road, until, panting, bleeding, and breathless, he rushed intothe priest's dining-room. 

"'O, yer riverince, he's come back!' was all that the boy could findbreath to say for a moment; and Peter, who was rather irascible, took upthe discourse at once. 

"'It's yourself that's come back in a fine plight, you graceless, rioting, fighting, thaving young scullion. Whose cottage have ye beenskylarkin' round now? And where's the pig ye was sint for, at all, atall?'

"'Peace, Pether, and let me discoorse him. Don't ye know that when Isent ye for the dues of the church, ye was engaged in its sarvice, --inholy ordhers, as it were? And how comes it, then, that you come backwithout the pig, and looking as frighted as if Matthew Collins himselfhad come back?'

"'And so he has masther, dear, ' said the poor boy. 'O, _wirra_, _wirra_, but afther this night I'll never be out mylone again. I shall alwaysthink that I see him forninst me, as I met him beyant, the night. '

"'Met Matthew Collins? The gossoon's crazy, ' said the priest. 

"'The young devil is lying, more likely. The dead don't come back tofrighten honest folk, who want only their own, ' said Peter, scornfully. 

"'Now, Costigan, go back at wanst, and fetch the pig, ' said FatherMulcahy, firmly, but kindly. 'Ye'll be ready enough to ate him thiswinther. '

"'O, masther, don't send me again! Ate that pig? An' if the pope himselfsaid grace, I'd sooner starve than ate a collop of the crater. Why, either his sperit, or the devil in his shape, kapes watch over it; andall the money in Dublin wouldn't timpt me there agin after dark. '

"'Well, sir, ' said Peter, savagely, 'the boy's frikened at somethin', that's certin'; and we shan't get the crather up here the night at all, unless it's done soon. It's only a stip just, and I'll go and get thepig, and find out what frighted the lad--a loose horse or cow, I'll bebound. '

"Accordingly, Peter set off on his errand, accompanied by Costigan, whowent only on condition that he should not enter the barn, and onlyconsented to go at all under threat of a tremendous thrashing if herefused. 

"Scarcely an hour, therefore, had elapsed before Matthew was againawakened from sleep by the intrusion of a second midnight visitor. 

"'Where is the baste, any way?' asked the man, in gruff, angry tones. 

"'He's right at the ind of the haggard, in the right hand corner, 'tremulously answered a boyish voice from the distance of a few rods. 

"'Faith, but the villains is intent on my pig, any how, ' muttered theperplexed but angry Matthew, as he saw the struggles of his favoritewhen the robber attempted to secure a cord to her hind leg, which heseemed to find a difficult task. 

"'The curse of Crom'll upon ye for an unaisy brute, any how, Ned! NedCostigan, I say, come, ye little divil, and help me tie the knot, yefrikened _omadhaun_. There's nothing here to be afraid of, barrin' thegray horses an' the ould cow. Come, I say. --The Vargin and St. Patherpresarve me! Are ye come back?'

"'Yes, I've come back, and ye'll go back to whoever sint ye, with mymark on yer shoulthers, ' said Matthew, grimly, as, suiting the action tothe word, he drew a stout stick from his sleeping-place, and brought itdown with emphasis upon the head and shoulders of the priest's brother, who, though ordinarily considered 'as good a man' as there was in theparish, could scarcely persuade himself that he was not the victim of aterrible dream. Although he mechanically grappled and strove with hisfearful antagonist, he felt the fierce breath of a demon, as his breastpressed against that of the dead, and the fierce eyes of a fiend, or anavenging ghost, glared into his, as they fought and wrestled, now inthe dark shadows, and now in the narrow lane of moonlight, which peeredthrough the open door. It was no wonder that even the instinct ofself-preservation failed to nerve him to meet such a foe, and thatMatthew found it a surprisingly easy matter to give him a terriblebeating. 

"Fifteen minutes later, Peter, wan and covered with cuts and bruises, entered the priest's house, and swooned on the threshold. It was nearlydaylight before he recovered himself sufficiently to corroborate thestory of the lad, that the ghost of Matthew Collins jealously watchedover his favorite pig. 

"'An' why didn't he watch his wife too, Peter?' asked the priest, archly. 

"'Faix! an' I dunno. But the same man set great store by that samebaste--bad scran to her! I wish you had been wid us to discoorse theshpirit, and sind him back to _his place_. '

"'Faith, and only that it's daylight now, an' near time for matins, I'djust step over, and show ye the powers that are delegated to the clargy, avick. I'd like to see if Matthew Collins would dare to face me aftherI've buried him dacently. '

"'An' married his wife again, ' said Peter, with a feeble attempt atpleasantry. 

"'I've doubts if I did wisely there, Peter. Sure and if theungratefulness of those they love is enough to keep the dead fromresting quietly, Matthew Collins should be one of the first to comeback and haunt his dishonored homestead. '

"'But if all the dead min that lave wifes aisily consoled for theirloss, were to come back, there'd be plinty of haunted houses, ' saidPeter, pithily. 

"'Well, we'll watch there the night, and try to find out the mysthery, 'said the priest. 'But I'm off to matins. Be sure and see that Mrs. Hartigan has the breakfast ready when I return. '

"The bell calling the peasantry to their morning service awoke Matthew, who hastened to his cottage, which he found as closely barred and boltedas the night before. 

"'She's gone to chapel long before this. Well, I'll have a wash at thespring, and away to church. ' Saying which, he carefully picked the strawfrom his coat, cleaned his dusty shoes with a wisp of dry grass, andafter a thorough washing of face and hands, he took up the worn felt hatof the stranger, and set off down the lane. 

"As he got nearly to the main road, a group of neighbors passed along;but instead of answering his cheerful greeting, they crossed themselves, and hastened on with longer strides, turning from time to time, andlooking at him in a most puzzling manner. 

"'Sure, the folks are mad, ' muttered poor Matthew, 'or else 'tis late weare--that must be it. Well, we can run, any way. ' And suiting the actionto the word, he began to run after his neighbors, who, terriblyfrightened, strove with all their might to preserve undiminished thedistance between them. 

"'Faix, half the people is late--or is it a fire is ragin'? Well, Idunno, but I'll be on hand any how. ' And Matthew, taking a long breath, pressed on after the flying crowd, which grew larger each moment, asgroup after group of staid and devout worshipers recognized the featuresof their dead neighbor, and joined the panting crowd, which, crossingand blessing themselves, and shrieking and praying with terror, soughtthe protection of the church, and having, as they deemed, found a refugefrom the apparition, sank exhausted into their seats, to thank God for aplace of safety. 

"But they had reckoned without their host, for the next moment the deadman strode through the arched door, and deliberately glided towards hisaccustomed seat. In speechless horror the people, with one accord, aroseand rushed to the altar for protection, while many rushed out throughthe rear entrances, to carry the terrible news far and wide. 

"Pale, but resolute, attended by two trembling altar boys with bell andcenser, Father Mulcahy advanced in front of the astonished cause of thisunwonted disturbance. 

"'In the name of the Blessed Thrinity, I command you to retire from thisblissid an' sacred church to the place from whence you came. '

"'An' why wud I go back, your riverince? Shure, the body's buried, an'I've no call there now. '

"'Why, then, can you find no rest in the grave?'

"This last question 'broke the camel's back. '

"'H---- to my--There, the Lord forgive me for cursin', and in thisblessed an' howly place. But are all the people mad--prastes and clarks, payrents and childher? Or am I losin' my sinses, or enchanted by thefairies?'

"'Matthew, ' said the priest, solemnly, 'are you alive an' well?'

"'Yis, your riverence, if I know meself I am. '

"'Will you go to the font an' thrink a taste of the holy wather?'

"'Yes, your riverince, an it's plasin' to ye. '

"It was with much doubt that Father Mulcahy awaited the result of histest; but Matthew drank about a pint of the consecrated water, and ashort conversation made all plain to the priest, and to poor Matthew, towhom the various events were far from being a matter of mirth. 

"Accompanied by the priest, he went home, to the unutterable horror ofthe newly-married pair, which was little lessened when they found thattheir unwelcome visitor was not from another world. 

"'I am dead to you, Katty, ' said he, with a gentle sadness, so differentfrom the burst of passion which the priest had feared, that he knew thathis heart was broken. 'All the happiness I had was in your love, andthat was false. Go with your new love where I may see you no more. '

"Matthew died years after, a soured and misanthropic man; but fewlegends are better known in his native district than the story ofMatthew Collins's ghost. "

 * * * * *

As the story ended, Risk thanked the narrator in behalf of the auditory, adding, "The storm will probably change to a thaw before morning, and ifit does we must be on hand bright and early, for it will bring the mainbody of 'the first flight. '"

As the company rose to retire, Ben approached La Salle. "Will you tellme why you made us leave decoys at every hundred yards?"

"To help us find the way back, should we fail to reach the shore. Wecould have lived out a night like this in my ice-boat, but we shouldlong since have been sleeping our last sleep beneath the snow-wreaths, had we lost our way upon the floes. "

At daybreak La Salle awoke, but turned again to his pillow, as he notedthe snow-flakes form in tiny drifts against the lower window panes; andit was nine o'clock before the tired sportsmen completed their hastytoilet, and seated themselves around the breakfast table. 

CHAPTER III. 

THE SILVER THAW. --A FOX HUNT. --ANTHONY WORRELL'S DOG. 

The snow at nine o'clock had ceased to fall, but had given place to athick hail, which rattled merrily on roof and window pane, but soonbecame softer, and mingled with rain as the wind veered more to the eastand south. 

"We are in for a heavy thaw, " said the elder Davies, "and to-morrow weshall have good sport. It is hardly worth while to get wet to the skin, however, for what few birds we shall get to-day. "

"Charley, " said the younger Davies, "let us go down to the bar and lookup our decoys, for if we have a heavy thaw they may all be washed awayand lost. "

Putting on their water-proof coats, boots, and sou'westers, the youngmen took their guns and started for the eastern end of the island. Thedrifts were very heavy along the fences and under the steep banks whichoverhung the eastern and northern shores of the island, and hugehummocks, white, smooth, and unbroken, showed where the snow hadentombed huge bergs and fantastic pinnacles. Facing the storm with somedifficulty, they got out as far as the ice-boat of La Salle, which theyfound completely covered to the depth of two or three feet. 

"We should have been smothered if we had taken refuge there last night, "said Ben, as he proceeded to search for the buried decoys. 

"I think not; for men can breathe below a great depth of snow, and Ihave heard of sheep being taken alive from a heavy drift after anentombment of twenty or thirty days. "

The decoys were soon gathered, and they proceeded to the farther stand, where they took the same precaution against the expected flooding of thefloes, piling the decoys into the box until a pyramid of clumsy woodenbirds rose several feet above the level of the ice, which was fastbecoming soft, and covered with dirty pools of snow water and nasty"sludge. "

A FOX HUNT. 

"Here is the track of a fox, " cried Davies, "and here is where he haskilled a goose this morning;" and La Salle, on hastening to the spot, found a fresh trail leading from the main land, and beside the lastdecoy a slight depression around which loose feathers and clots of bloodtold in unmistakable terms that a single bird, and not improbably awounded one, had alighted amid the decoys, and trusting to the vigilanceof his supposed companions, had fallen an easy prey to his soft-footedassailant. 

"Here comes one-armed Peter on his track, " said La Salle; and in a fewmoments a tall, finely-built, middle-aged Micmac came noiselessly up, bearing in his only remaining hand, not a gun, but an axe. 

"Where's your gun, Peter?" said Ben, carelessly; "you don't expect tokill a fox with an axe--do you?"

The Indian's brow contracted a little, and instantly relaxed, as heanswered, "That not fox track at all; that Indian dog, I guess. MartinMitchell have dog; lun alound like that. No good dog that. Sposum mine, kill um. "

"Yes, Peter, I've no doubt you'd like to kill that dog very well. See, he finds his own living for himself. He killed a goose here last night, I see. I s'pose your Indian dogs will eat geese raw, but mine neverwould. He sat down here a moment after he had killed his bird, and leftthe marks of a very bushy tail. Here's some of the hair, too. Bythunder! 'tis the hair of a black fox. "

The Indian laughed silently, with no little admiration of the closeobservation of the other visible in his countenance. "Yes, that blackfox. I see his track last night; trail him two tree mile dis morning. Nouse try to fool you; fool other white man over back there; you knowtrail well as Indian. No use carry gun, I think; fox in wet weather getin hollow tlee, or under big loot. I cut down tlee and knock on headwith axe. But if fox on island, I lose him; no tlee there at all bigenough. "

"Well, Peter, his trail is straight for the end of the point, and hemust be in the swamp at the other end of the island. We'll go with youand surround the swamp while you enter it. If you fail to tree him, we'll shoot him when he breaks cover, and we'll divide equally whetherone or two help to kill him. " And La Salle, resting the butt of hisheavy gun on his boot, drew his load of loose shot, and substituted anEley's cartridge, containing two ounces of large "swan-drops. "

A cloud settled upon the smiling face of the Indian, and he broke forthvehemently, "I no want you to help me. I need _all_ that money; you gotplenty. I been sick, had sick boy, sick old woman, --bery sick. I seethat fox two time. No got gun; borrow money on him to pay doctor, andget blead. I borrow gun one day; sit all day, no get nothing; go home, nothing to eat. Next day, man use his own gun, kill plenty. I know foxin wet day find hollow tlee; no like to wet his tail. I say to-day Ikill him, get good gun, get cloes, get plenty blead and tee. I _know_ Ikill that fox. "

"Well, Peter, we won't trouble you. We'll go to see you kill him, andwatch out to see that he don't get clear, " said Davies; and the Indian, rather hesitatingly, assented. 

There was little woodcraft in following the "sign, " for the tracks weredeeply impressed in the soft snow, and the heavy body and long neck ofhis prey had left numerous impressions where the fox had rested for amoment. In the course of half an hour the party had gained the shore, and, passing through several fields, found themselves in a heavy growthof beech and maple. 

The fox, however, had not halted here, but emerging into a small meadow, had crossed into a close copse of young firs and elders, in whose midsta huge stump, whitened and splintered, rose some twenty-five feet intothe air. 

Peter groaned audibly. "That old fox mean as debbil. Know that place nogood. No hollow tlee, only brush and thick branch. Fox get under loot, and eat, watch twenty way at once: well, I try, any way. "

Ben and La Salle hastily passed around the woods surrounding the glade, until they reached the opposite side of the motte to that which Peterwas now entering. Noticing that only a narrow space of open groundintervened at one point, Davies crept noiselessly down to the very edgeof the underbrush, about sixty yards from La Salle. 

He had scarcely drawn himself up from his crouching position, when amagnificent black fox crossed the opening almost at his very feet, followed by the light axe of the Indian, which, thrown with astonishingforce and precision, passed just above the animal, and was buried almostto the helve in a small tree not a yard from Davies's head. 

Flurried out of his usual good judgment, Ben drew both triggers, withuncertain aim, and the fox, swerving a little, passed him like a shot. La Salle, springing forward through the narrow belt of woods, saw thefrightened animal a score of rods off, making across the fields for theWestern Bar. A fence bounded the field some six score yards away, underwhich the fox must pass, and whose top rail, scarce three feet above thelevel, marked the necessary elevation to allow for the "drop" of thetiny missiles used. La Salle felt that all depended on his aim, and thathis nerves were at the utmost tension of excited interest; but he forcedhimself to act with deliberate promptitude at a moment when the mostfeverish haste would have seemed interminable dallying. Steadily theponderous tube was levelled in line of the fleeing beast, until thebeaded sight rested on the top rail above him. An instant the heavyweapon seemed absolutely without motion; then the report crashed throughthe forest, and the snow-crust was dashed into impalpable powder by ahundred riddling pellets. 

The shot was fired just as the fox sprang up the slight embankment onwhich, as is usual, the line of fence was placed. For an instant heseemed to falter, then leaped the top rail, and disappeared beyond theenclosure. 

Peter and Davies had seen the shot, and with La Salle rushed forward tonote its effect, although neither hoped for more than a wound whosebleeding would ultimately disable him, when patient tracking wouldsecure his much-prized fur. As they ran to the fence they noted thedeeply-cut scores in the icy crust which marked the first dropping shot, and Peter became loud in his praises of the weapon. 

"I never see gun like that; at hundred yards you kill him, sure; but nogun ever kill so far as you fire. See there, shot strike dis stump. Hah!there spot of blood on bank. Damn! here fox dead, sure enough. "

"Hurrah! the Baby forever for a long shot. Charley, old boy, shake handson it. Peter, don't you wish you hadn't been so sure of killing himwithout our help?"

The thoughtless triumph of the young Englishman recalled the memory ofhis obstinate refusal to accept the proffered aid of the sportsmen tothe mind of the poor Indian. Such a look of utter disappointment tookthe place of his joy at the successful shot, that La Salle couldscarcely contain his sympathy. 

"So it is always. White man win, Indian lose; white man get food, Indianstarve; white man live, Indian die. Once, all this Indian land. No whitepeople were here, and many Indians hunt and find enough. Now, the Indianmust buy the wood which he makes into baskets. He cannot spear a salmonin the rivers. The woods are cut down, and the many ships and gunsfrighten off the game. "

He looked a moment at the dead fox, smoothed its glossy fur with a handthat trembled with suppressed emotion, and then, with a curt "goodevening, " turned to go. 

"I wish, Peter, you would come down to the house and skin this beast forme, " said La Salle. "If you will do so carefully, and stretch it fordrying in good style, I'll give you a pair of boots. "

Without a word the Indian seized the dead animal and strode ahead ofthem, like one who seeks in bodily fatigue a refuge from anguish ofspirit. 

"What will you give for such a skin, Davies?" asked La Salle. 

"I will give you one hundred and fifty dollars for that one. It is thelargest, finest, and blackest that I ever saw. "

"You have another gun like your own in your store at C. --have you not?"

"Yes, exactly like my own. I can only tell them apart by this curl inthe wood of the stock. "

"What is she worth?"

"I will sell her to you for fifteen pounds. "

"That would be fifty dollars. Well, Ben, I'll tell you what, we mustgive Peter one half of the fox. I should never forgive myself if wedidn't. I know he has been sick all summer, and his disappointment mustbe very hard to bear. Are you willing to give him half?"

"Do just as you please, Charley, " said the warmhearted hunter. "I don'tclaim any share, for we are all on our own hook, unless by specialagreement; but I shall be very glad if you are kind enough to sharewith him, poor fellow!"

"Well, Ben, you are to take the fox at your own price, giving Peter anorder on your partner for the gun, and credit to the amount oftwenty-five dollars more. The other seventy-five we divide. You haveonly to give me credit for my moiety, as I owe you nearly that amount. "

"I'm satisfied if you are; so let us hurry up, and see Peter prepare theskin, and send him home happy. "

"The finest skin I ever saw, " said Risk. "It's worth three hundreddollars in St. Petersburg, if it's worth a cent. "

"Who killed him?" said the elder Davies. "If you did, Ben, I'd like tobuy the skin. "

"I bought it myself of La Salle for one hundred and fifty. He killed it, and sold it to me. I guess I can sell to good advantage. "

In the mean time Peter had drawn his _waghon_, or curved Indian knife, from his belt, and, carefully commencing at the rear of the body, skinned the animal without forming another aperture, removing the mask, and ears attached, with great nicety. With equal dexterity he whittled apiece of pine board to the proper shape, and, turning the skin insideout, drew it tightly over the batten, fastening it in place with a fewtacks. His task completed, he handed it to La Salle, and rose to go. The latter restrained him, saying, --

"Hold, Peter; you must have your pay first. Here is a pair of rubberboots and some dry stockings. Put them on, and throw away those oldmoccasons, and take these few things to your wife. "

"You very kind, brother, " said Peter, simply, taking the small bundle oftea, sugar, bread, cake, and jellies which could be spared from theirlimited stock of "small stores. "

"And, Peter, " continued La Salle, "Ben and I have concluded to sharewith you in the matter of the fox. We have no wives yet, and thereforethink about one half the price ought to go to you. This paper will getyou that double-barrel of Ben's father to-morrow, if you feel like goingover for it; and you will also be allowed to purchase twenty-fivedollars' worth more of ammunition, food, and clothing. "

The tears came into the poor fellow's eyes. 

"Damn! I know you hite men. I know you heretic. I say I no hunt withyou. I try cheat you on the trail, and you make Peter cly like squaw. Iwish--I wish--you two, tlee, six fathom deep in river. I jump in for youif I die. "

And, seizing the bundle and the precious order, he dashed the moisturefrom his eyes, and took the road homeward. 

"He will never repay your kindness, " said Lund. "Them Indians is nevergrateful for anything. "

"I think he will repay it, if it is ever in his power, " said Risk. "Peter is one of the most honest and industrious of his tribe, and it isnot his fault when his children want food. "

"Well, boys, " said the elder Davies, "I suppose you have done right, andthat you will receive as much gratitude as we give to our heavenlyFather; but, as men look at things, you have, indeed, 'cast your breadupon the waters. '"

"If it is so, Mr. Davies, " said La Salle, with a solemnity unusual withhim, "our reward is sure; for the promise is, 'Thou _shalt_ find itafter many days. '"

"But, " said Lund, with a quiet twinkle in his sharp gray eye, "I'd liketo bet five shillin' that, when you are repaid, it won't be in Indianbread. "

"Pretty good!" laughed Kennedy, who had taken the day to finish up alarge pile of "back numbers" of his favorite daily, "but I think hardlyjust to the Indians. Horace Greeley has given a great deal of thought tothis Indian question, and although he would disapprove of supplying themwith arms and ammunition, yet in all other matters would indorse yourpolicy. "

"You don't mean to say that Greeley would disapprove of letting poorPeter have a gun to shoot game to help support his family--do you?"asked Ben, in astonishment. 

"Certainly I do. With that fifty dollars, he could have procured toolsand seed, and started a farm on Indian Island. Instead of that, you givehim the means of continuing a savage, instead of encouraging him tobecome a farmer and a civilized being. Horace Greeley would havetried--"

"To attempt an impossibility, " said La Salle, excitedly. "As well mayyou expect to raise a draught horse from a pair of racers, or keep aflock of eagles as you would a coop of hens. The French have been theonly people on this continent with an Indian policy founded in reason, and a just estimate of the character and capabilities of theaborigines. "

"And yet they were completely driven from this continent, " said Kennedy. 

"True, sir; but their Indian policy made their scanty population of twohundred thousand Europeans a dreaded foe to the nearly three millioncolonists of English descent. They made of their savage allies an armthat struck secretly, swiftly, and with terrible effect, and a defencethat kept actual hostilities a long distance from their mainsettlements. I believe, sir, that the philosophers of the future willcondemn alike our policy of extermination, and the impossible attempt tomould hunters, warriors, and absolutely free men, into peaceful, plodding citizens of a republic. "

"What else can be done with them?" asked Kennedy, sharply. 

"It seems to me that in generations to come, it will be said of us, 'They did not try in those days to yoke the racer to the plough, nor tochain the hound to the kennel, while they urged the mastiff on the trackof the deer; yet they failed to see that the Creator, and peculiarconditions unchanged for centuries, had moulded the races of men todifferent forms of government, modes of life, and varieties ofavocation. The Roman conqueror of the world knew better than to put inhis heavily-armed legions the flying Parthian, the light-armed horsemanof Numidia, or the slinger of the Balearic Isles. The American of thepast had at his disposal a race capable of being the skirmish line ofhis march of civilization to wrest a continent from the wilderness. Astrappers, hunters, and guides; as fishermen and slayers of whale andseal; as the light horseman, quick, brave, self-sustaining, andself-reliant, the Indian was capable of valuable services to a peoplewho offered him but two alternatives--extinction, or a dull, plodding, vegetative, unnatural existence. '"

"Well, La Salle, if you two Yankees can let your argument rest a little, we'll go down to the shore, to take a look at the ice, and see whatto-morrow has in store for us, " said Risk; and, as it was nearlysundown, the party hastened down to a part of the bank clear of trees, from whence they could discern the bay and the surrounding shores. 

The rain was falling in gentle and melting showers; the south wind, laden with penetrating warmth, borne from lands hundreds of leaguesdistant, cut down drift and ice-hill with its fatal kisses; from therocky cliff a thousand tiny cascades wept and plashed; and over the icybonds of every brook and river another stream ran swiftly to the sea. Over the icy levels of harbor and bay rippled another sheet of freshwater, which each moment grew deeper and wider as the warm rain fellmore heavily, and the withering south wind came in increasing strength. 

"If this lasts all night, boys, " said Lund, oracularly, "it will openthe spring-holes and oyster-beds, and give the geese, which are sure tocome with this wind, a certain amount of feeding-grounds which are notlikely to be frozen up this winter. Come, " continued he, turning away;"the geese will be getting cold, and we want to have time to hear a goodyarn before we go to bed. "

"It's your turn to-night, Mr. Risk, " said Ben; "and we must have a storyas different as possible from the last. You know all about the oldnotables of the country, who used to own thousands of acres, and keephorses and servants as they do on large manors in the old country. Tellus a story about some of that set, as you used to tell father and uncleDan, down at Morell. "

"I won't try to back out, gentlemen, " said Risk, laying aside hismeerschaum; "for the sooner I tell my story the better, as you will'have it over with, ' and hear a great many good stories before itbecomes my turn to bore you again. My story is about

"OLD ANTHONY WORRELL AND HIS NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. 

"In my young days, a number of the immediate heirs of the originalproprietors were resident here; and among them this Major Worrell, whoseestate has since been purchased by the government. He was a little, nervous, black-haired bachelor, who shared his chamber with a favoriteblack Newfoundland retriever, named Carlo. 

"One or two domestics did the housework, and helped the farm-hands inhaying, harvest, and potato-digging; and over all presided Mrs. Sims, atall, stout, and resolute widow, with a heavy hand and a shrewishtemper. With a huge bunch of keys at her side, and an eye quick todetect the smallest waste and the slightest irregularity, she kept thehousehold in terror, and her master (poor little man!) in almost abjectvassalage. A specimen of one of their daily breakfast dialogues may beworthy of reproduction. 

"_She. _ 'Good mornin, ' sir. 'Ope you're well this morning. '

"_He. _ 'Yes--quite well. Breakfast ready, eh?'

"_She. _ 'Almost. Heggs just boiling when I came in. That Gillbear(Gilbert, a little, French orphan) sucks heggs, hi'm sure. Hi wonder youkeep 'im hon the place. '

"_He. _ 'Well, you know, Mrs. Sims, he's an orphan, and--'

"_She. _ 'Well, hi like that. Han horphan! hand 'is father lives hup hinhas good a farm has there his hin Tracadie. '

"_He. _ 'Well, his father Gilbert died, and Lisette, his mother, marriedFrançois: and then Lisette, his mother, died, and François married hiscousin Christine; and then François died, and Christine married Jacquesthe blacksmith; and so he hasn't any father or mother, and no home, andI let him stay here. '

"_She. _ 'Yes, hand you'd 'ave the place heaten hup with lazy, dirty, thieving beggars hif hit wasn't for me. Hi told your brother when 'esent me hover. Says 'e, 'My brother his too heasy, han' needs some un tosee that 'e hisn't himposed hupon. ' Says hi, 'Wen hi'm hunable to do myduty, hi've honly to return 'ome to Hingland. Wich hi've just 'ad aletter from my sister; han' hif hi must slave for sich, hi'd rather givewarnin' for to-morrow come four weeks. '

"_He_ (nervously). 'Why, my dear Mrs. Sims--'

"_She. _ 'Yes, sir; hand that dratted dog Carlo, hevery mornin', when higoes to hair your sheets, gives me ha start with growlin' hat me fromhunder the bed-clothes, wich 'e wraps 'isself hup hin hevery mornin', sir, like has hif 'e were a Christian. Now, sir, hi'm ready to slavehand wear myself hout for you, but has for slavin' for a dirty cur and aFrench brat, hi've no need to, han' hi won't. '

_He. _ 'Well, well, Mrs. Sims, we'll see what can be done--what can bedone. I'll get a chain for Gilbert, and send the dog away. No, I meanI'll--No, I'll--Confound it, madam, let's have breakfast. '

"On the same afternoon Mr. Grahame, the nearest magistrate, called onbusiness, and to him Worrell related his domestic troubles. 

"'I can't do without her, for she is a splendid cook, and keeps myclothes in first-rate order. I can't bear the thought of the cookery Ishould have to eat, and the dirt and disorder I should see around me, ifshe does go away. But she's a regular Tartar, and I've no authority atall in my house. '

"'Well, Worrell, it's a hard case; but I would chain up that dog. As topoor little Gilbert, do what you think is right in spite of her. If sheleaves--Ah, I have it. Go into town, and propose to one of the F. Sisters. They are all good cooks and amiable women, and you'll be rid ofyour Tartar. '

"'Wich I'm much hobleeged to you for the name, an' the good advice yougive the master, stirrin' hov 'im hup against a lone, friendless widow, wat's slaved an' worked this six years come St. Michaelmas. '

"Mr. Grahame, of course, with the _mauvais honte_ which men toogenerally display towards angry and unreasonable women, took an awkwardleave of the angry widow, and poor Worrell, whom she treated to alecture of half an hour, ending with a lively fit of tears andhysterics. As the poor little man turned away, leaving her in the handsof a servant, he caught her last broken objurgations. 

"'An hungrateful fool, marry an' turn me hoff; ugh, ugh! fix 'im, hany'ow. '

"The following morning Worrell rose early, and passing through thebreakfast-room, received a sulky greeting from his housekeeper, and wentout to over-look the labors of his men. Feeling a little unwell, hereturned to his room, and finding his dog in his bed, flung him into aspare room, and getting into bed, went to sleep. Now, both dog andmaster had a very unhealthy habit--that of keeping the head covered withbed-clothes; and so it happened that when Mrs. Sims entered the room, she saw, as she supposed, the black ears and head of the hated Carlo. 

"Revenge urged her to undue and overhasty punishment; her overchargedfeelings sought relief on some object, and a stout-handled broom was inher grasp. At last vengeance was within her reach; should she relinquishit? No, a thousand times no!

"'You dirty brute!' she yelled, in fury. 'You hold rascal, I'll pay youout! I'll murder you! I'll kill you!'

"Such was the preface of a shower of blows, which suddenly broke therest of the defenceless Worrell. Half stunned, astounded, almostparalyzed, he heard, as if in a terrible dream, the threats whichaccompanied the merciless blows of the assailant. 

"'I've got you! Sleep again, will you? I'll kill you, you hold fool!I'll murder--Good Lord! hit's my master;' and as a bruised and bloodyface, surmounting a meager figure, in remarkably scanty drapery, vanished out of the room, Mrs. Sims drew a long breath, and fainted inreal earnest in one corner. 

"Worrell never stopped until he reached Grahame's, who rather hastilycaught up a shawl, and wrapping him in it, got him to his chamber, andinto a suit of his own clothes, only about twice too large, for Grahamewas one of the tallest men in the county. 

"When he had composed himself sufficiently, a complaint was duly enteredagainst Mrs. Sims for 'assault with intent to kill;' and Mrs. Sims, despite her piteous entreaties, was arrested and brought before themagistrate. Her appeals for mercy were heart-rending. 

"'Ho, mercy, your washup; mercy, Mr. Worrell. Wich I thinks hit werethat dratted dorg. Don't 'ang me. I never hintended--' But Worrell wasinexorable. 

"'But you said you would kill me, you would murder me, and you nearlydid murder me. '

"'Wich I told your brother--ugh, ugh! an' I've slaved, an', ugh, ugh!an' wich it were all a mistake--ugh, ugh! 'ave mercy, gentlemen. '

"'But you said you would murder me, and you nearly did murder me, and--'

"'Peace, Mr. Worrell, ' said Grahame, impressively; 'the hour of yourredemption draweth nigh. Prisoner at the bar, ' continued he, 'the crimewhich you have committed has always been held in just aversion andhorror by the English nation. Repaying the trust and confidence of yourmaster with unkind persecution and a shrewish tongue, you have finishedthe measure of your misdeeds by what might have proved a most brutalmurder. Your unsupported statement, that you mistook Mr. Worrell for hisdog, would have little or no weight on any unprejudiced jury. We, however, incline to mercy; and I therefore bind you over, in the sum ofone thousand pounds, to keep the peace for six months. '

"'Wherever can I find so much money?' asked the despairing prisoner. 

"'On condition that you will leave for England, I will find bail foryou. Understand, however, that they will give you up, should you fail todepart at the earliest opportunity. '

"Poor Mrs. Sims went in the next ship 'bound home;' but the story gotabroad at once, and Worrell never married. Great amusement, of course, was created by the recital, and it became a favorite of the members ofthe bar on circuit, who, however, generally expressed one regret, viz. , 'that Worrell escaped alive, as the world thereby lost a most remarkablecriminal case. '

"Well, that's all there is of it; and as it's nine o'clock, and we wantto be up early, I think I'll conclude by bidding you all 'good night, and pleasant dreams. '"

CHAPTER IV. 

THE GRAND FLIGHT. --A GOOD STRATAGEM. --THE PACKET LIGHT. 

At sunrise the next morning, the sportsmen hurried through their frugalmeal, and hastened to their various "ice-houses;" for a great change hadtaken place in the weather, which, although the rain had ceased and thesky had cleared somewhat, was still mild and spring-like. Even as theylit their cigars at the door, they heard far up the cove the calls ofthe wild geese, and a scattering volley which told that the Indians hadbeen early at their posts. Above the others arose two heavy reports, which Davies declared could come from no other gun than Peter'snewly-acquired double-barrel. 

With hastened steps the East Bar party took the ice, La Salle drawingbehind him a long "taboggin, " or Indian sled, consisting merely of along, wide, half-inch board, turned up at one end, and forming, in fact, a single broad runner, which cannot upset, and will bear a heavy loadover the lightest snow without sinking too deeply. On it were placed, besides his own gun and that of Kennedy, a heavy target rifle, a largelunch-box, and an ample bucket containing ammunition. 

"You mean to 'lay them out' to-day, I guess, Charley, " said Creamer, good-humoredly. "You ain't apt to want ammunition, any way. "

"What will you take for to-day's bag, cash down?" asked Ben, laughing. 

"Here are our decoys, " said La Salle, pointing to several dark objectspartially imbedded in the ice, but marking an almost perfect straightline from the boat to the inner shore of the island. 

"We had a rather narrow escape, " remarked Kennedy, picking up one of thedecoys; "and it was well thought of to secure a retreat to our boat, incase we had failed to reach the shore. "

Little time, however, was lost in conversation. The "boat" and "box"were to be cleared of the snow which had drifted inside, and concealedby fragments of ice, in place of those which the rain had melted away. The decoys were to be rearranged, heading to windward, and at least halfan hour was consumed in making these necessary arrangements. At last allwas ready, the guns, ammunition, &c. , were placed in the boat, and LaSalle had gone to hide the sledge behind a neighboring hummock, when, turning his head, he saw Davies and Creamer running hastily to theirbox, and Kennedy frantically gesticulating and calling on him to do thesame. 

With the best speed he could make on such slippery footing, La Sallecrossed the intervening space, and threw himself down into the boat, panting and breathless with exertion. After a moment's breathing space, he slowly raised his head so that his eyes could just see over the edgeof the shooting-boat. To the east he heard the decoy-calls of Creamerand Davies, and, somewhere between himself and them, the low, questioning calls of the wished-for geese. 

"They are near us somewhere, Kennedy, " he whispered, "and, I guess, coming in to our decoys. Don't fire until I tell you. Here they come. No, they sheer off. Yes, there's one scaling down; there's another. They're all coming. We've got them now. "

The goose is far from being the silly fowl which popular belief supposeshim to be, even when tamed and subdued, and, in a state of nature, isone of the most wary of birds. The flock in question, flying in from thenarrow, open channels of the Gulf, had seen the decoys, and heard thecalls of Ben and Creamer, who had not yet completed their preparations. Swooping around the box at a safe distance, the wary leader decided thatall was not right there, and swung over the leading decoys of La Salle, and doubtless wondering at the apathy of the strange geese which refusedto answer his calls, gave a signal which caused his flock to describe acircle around the boat, full forty rods away. Still nothing could beseen which could warrant a well-founded suspicion; and one or two of theyounger birds, impatient of restraint, and anxious for rest and food, set their broad pinions, and, with outstretched wings, scaled down tothe decoys, alighting on the ice not twenty feet from the muzzles of theconcealed guns. Their apparent safety decided the rest, and in twentyseconds as many geese, with clamorous cries, were hovering over theheads of La Salle and his companions. 

It takes a quick eye, steady hand, and good judgment, to kill apartridge in November, when, with a rush of wings like an embryowhirlwind, he gets up under your feet, and brushes the dew from theunderbrush with his whizzing wings. It is not every amateur that cankill woodcock in close cover, or well-grown snipe on a windy day; butthere are few, who can do these things, who can kill with both barrelsin their first goose-shooting. The size and number of the birds, thewary and cautious manner of their approach, the nice modulationsnecessary to "call" them successfully, and the reckless sweep with whichthey seem to throw aside all fear, and rush into the very jaws ofdeath, --all these combine to unsettle the nerves and aim of the novice. 

All this Kennedy experienced, as he saw above him twenty outstretchednecks, with jetty heads, whose eyes he felt _must_ discern the ambush;twenty snowy bellies, against which as many pairs of black, broad, webbed feet showed with beautiful effect, and forty broad pinions, whichseemed to shut out the sky from view, and present a mark which no onecould fail to hit. At the word he pointed his heavy gun at the centre ofthe thickest part of the flock and fired. At the first barrel a deadbird fell almost into the boat; but the second seemed without effect. LaSalle "lined" four as they flapped their huge wings hurriedly, strivingto flee from the hidden danger, killing three and breaking the wing of afourth, who fluttered down to the ice, and began to run, or, rather, towaddle rapidly away. 

Kennedy seemed about to go after the wounded bird, but La Salle laid hishand on his arm. 

"Don't move, Kennedy, and he will get us another bird, " said he, reloading his heavy gun with a long-range shot cartridge. "We can getthat bird any time; and there is his mate flying round and round in acircle. "

"You won't get a shot at her, " said Kennedy, as she warily kept out ofordinary range, and finally alighted near the gander, which, weak withpain and loss of blood, had lain down on the ice about one hundred andfifty yards distant. 

"I should not despair of killing her with 'the Baby, ' charged as she nowis, even at a far greater distance; but I have a surer weapon for such amark in this target-rifle. "

As he spoke, he drew from under the half-deck of the boat a heavysporting-rifle, carrying about sixty balls to the pound, and sightedwith "globe" or "peep" sights. Taking a polished gauge which hung at hiswatch-chain, he set the rear sight, and, cocking the piece, set thehair-trigger. Noiselessly raising the muzzle above the gunwale, he ranhis eye along the sights. A whip-like crack echoed across the ice, andthe goose, pierced through the lower part of the neck, fell dead by theside of her wounded mate, which, frightened by the report, hastened toincrease the distance between him and such a dangerous neighborhood. 

"I'll save you a half-mile run, Kennedy, " said La Salle, raising "theBaby" to his face. 

The wounded bird suddenly paused, drew himself up to his full height, and spread his wings, or rather his uninjured pinion. The huge gunroared. The closely-packed _mitraille_ tore the icy crust into powder, fifty yards beyond the doomed bird, which settled, throbbing with amortal tremor, upon the ice, shot through the head. 

"That was a splendid shot of yours, La Salle, " said Kennedy, inamazement. 

"You are wrong in that statement, Kennedy, " replied he. "The shot anyone could have made, but the reach of that gun, with Eley's cartridge, is something tremendous. When I first had her I fired at a flock atabout four hundred yards distance. Of course I killed none, but I pacedthree hundred and twenty-five yards, and found clean-cut scores, fourand five inches long, in the crust, at that distance; and I have morethan once killed brant geese out of a flock at forty rods. "

"Look, Charley! What a sight!" interrupted Kennedy. The sky had cleared, the sun shone brightly, the wind had gone down, and the strangestillness of a calm winter's day was unbroken. From the west high abovethe reach of the heaviest gun, and almost beyond the carry of the rifle, came the long-expected vanguard of the migrating hosts of heaven. Flockupon flock, each in the wedge-shaped phalanx of two converging lines, which ever characterize the flight of these birds, each headed by awary, powerful leader, whose clarion call came shrill and clear downthrough the still ether, came in one common line of flight, hundreds andthousands of geese. All that afternoon their passage was incessant, butno open pool offered rest and food to that weary host, and in that fine, still atmosphere it was useless to attempt to deceive by crudeimitations of the calls of these birds. And so, as the leaders of themigratory host saw from their lofty altitude the earth below, for many aleague, spread out like a map, from which to choose a halting-place, themarksmen of the icy levels had little but the interest of the unusualspectacle for their afternoon's watching. Now and then, in answer totheir repeated calls, a single goose would detach itself from the flockand scale down through the air, as if to alight, but nearly always wouldrepent in time, and with quickened pinions return to its companions. Still, occasionally, one would determine to alight, and setting itswings, circle around one of the stands, and finally be seen, by theoccupants of other ice-houses, to sweep close in to the concealedambush. Then would follow a puff or two of smoke, a few distant reports, and the dead bird, held up in triumph, would convey to his distantfriends the sportsman's fortune. 

Several birds fell in this way to the lot of our friends of the EastBar, and La Salle and Kennedy got one each; but the sport was tootedious, and La Salle, taking a bullet-bag and powder-flask from hisbox, proceeded to count out ten bullets, which he laid carefully beforehim. 

"I am going to try to bring down at least one goose from those flockswhich pass over us nearly every moment. They are certainly four hundredyards high, and I shall aim at the leader of the flock in every case, giving him about ten feet allowance for headway. "

The first ball was without effect, although the leader swerved like afrightened steed as the deadly missile sung past him. The second cut afeather from the tail of the bird aimed at; and the third failedlikewise. At the fourth shot the leader swerved as before, and then kepton his way. 

"You might as well try to kill them a mile off, as at that distance, "said Kennedy, disparagingly. 

"I hit a bird in that flock, and I think the leader, at that; for Iheard the rap of the ball as it struck. It may have been only throughhis quill-feathers. No; there's the bird I hit. See, he can't keep upwith the flock. "

The huge gander last fired at had hardly gone a hundred yards, ere, despite his endeavors, he had lowered several feet below the flock. Inthe next decade, the distance was increased to sixty feet, and in thethird to as many yards. In the last hundred yards of his flight he sankrapidly, although struggling nobly to regain the flock; and when aboutfifty yards above the ice, he towered up a few feet into the air, andfell over backward, stone dead, with a rifle-shot transfixing his body, in the region of the heart. On weighing him he turned the scale atfifteen pounds. 

Of the remaining six shots but one was effective--breaking the wing-tipof a young female, which was secured for a live decoy. 

Kennedy now proposed a plan for approaching a large flock, which hadalighted about a half mile distant on the sea-ice. Taking the taboggin, which was painted white, from its concealment, he tied to its curvedfront a thin slab of snowy ice, and laying his gun behind it, approachedthe flock as near as possible, under cover of the hummocks. About threehundred yards of level ice still intervened, and lying down behind hissnow-screen, he slowly moved his ingenious stalking-horse towards theflock. Had he understood the nature of the birds thoroughly, it isprobable that his device would have succeeded splendidly; but when hewas still about a hundred yards distant, the wary leader becamesuspicious, and gave a note of alarm. In an instant the whole flock, with outstretched necks, stood prepared for flight. Had he lain still, it is probable that the birds would have relaxed their suspiciouswatchfulness, and allowed him to get nearer; but thinking that he shouldlose all if he tried a nearer approach, he fired, killing one andwounding another, both of which were secured. 

Just before dark a slight wind sprang up, and a few flocks, flying lowabout the harbor, came in among the decoys, and for a time the fire wasquite heavy, and the sport most exciting. Taken all round, this day wasthe best of the season. Ben and Creamer received fifteen, La Salle andKennedy twelve, and Davies and Risk eighteen birds--in all, forty-fivegeese. On arriving home they found a hearty supper awaiting theirattention, after a due observance had been paid to the rites of thetoilet. This observance seemed to demand much more time than everbefore, to the great amusement of Lund, who had anticipated as much allday. 

"Are all you folks going sparkin', that you are so careful of yourcomplexions? Goodness! why, you've more pomatums, oils, and soaps thanany court beauty!"

There was some truth in this latter charge, for Ben and Creamer, afterwashing and a very gingerly use of the towel, anointed their flamingvisages with almond oil. Kennedy, in his turn, approached the onlymirror the house afforded, and applied to his blistered nose andexcoriated cheeks the major part of a box of Holloway's Ointment; andeven La Salle's dark face seemed to have acquired its share of burningfrom the ice-reflected rays of the sun. Davies and Risk, when called tosupper, smelled strongly of rose-scented cold-cream; and Lund wasunsparing in sarcastic remarks on the extreme floridness of complexionof the entire party. 

"Ben, don't have any powder lying round loose to-morrow, with such aface as that. As for Creamer, he can't have any cotton sheets to-night, for fear of a conflagration. I don't think I ever saw anybody burn asbad as Kennedy has; and this is only the first day, too. A few days morelike this would peel him down to an 'atomy. As to La Salle, he's tooblack to take any more color, but Risk and Davies won't dare to go homefor a good two weeks at least. "

In truth, the whole party had received a notable tanning, for thewinter's sun, weak as it is compared with its summer fervor, has neversuch an effect upon the exposed skin, as when its rays are reflectedfrom the millions of tiny specula of the glistening ice-field. The freeuse of soothing and cooling ointments will prevent the blistering andtan, to a great extent; but many on their "first hunt" lose the cuticlefrom the entire face; and many a seal has been lost on the floes, owingto the rapid decomposition produced by the sun's feeble rays thusintensified. 

Notwithstanding their "tanning", however, the party were in splendidspirits, and ate their roast goose, potatoes, and hot bread with a gustowhich far more delicate viands at home would fail to provoke. As themeal proceeded, and the merry jest went round, all feelings of fatigue, pain, and discomfort were lost in the revulsion of comfort which a fullmeal produces in a man of thoroughly healthy physique. How few of us inthe crowded cities know, or indeed can appreciate, the pleasures of thehardy sportsman. To bear wet, cold, and discomfort; to exercisepatience, skill, and endurance; and to undergo the extreme point offatigue, was the sum of nearly every day's experience of the members ofthe party; but when their heavy guns and cumbrous clothing were laidaside, the rough chair and cushionless settle afforded luxurious rest, the craving appetite made their coarse fare a delightsome feast, andwhen, warm, full-fed, and refreshed, they invoked the dreamy solace ofthe deity Nicotiana, the sense of animal pleasure and satisfaction wascomplete. 

"Is your pipe filled, Creamer?" asked Lund, carelessly. 

"Yes; but you'll not get it until you give us the story you're to tellus this night. Faith, there's not one of us can beat you at the sametrade, and it's little of fact that you'll give us, any how. "

"For shame, Hughie, to malign the credibility of an old friend in thatway, and me the father of a family. I'm almost ready to swear that youshan't have a yarn from me for the whole spring. To accuse me ofyarning--me that--"

"That humbugged the whole Associated Press of the United States nolonger ago than the war with the southerns. I mind myself how you toldthem at Shediac, that the Alabama was down among the fishermen in thebay, like a hawk among a flock of pigeons. Faith, you had twenty of themtaken and burned before you stopped that time, and the telegraphoperator at Point de Chêne was hopping all the evening between the boatand the office, like a pea in a hot skillet, " retorted La Salle, laughing. "Ah, Lund! you mustn't plead innocent with us, who have beenhumbugged by you too many times already. But come, captain, draw on yourimagination, and give us a regular stunner--one without a word of truthin it. "

"Well, gentlemen, " answered Lund, deliberately, "I ain't got anything tosay to that young jackanapes, for nobody _that_ ever heard _him_ tellstories will ever believe anything he says again. But I mean to have myrevenge somehow, and so I'll tell you a story that is as true asgospel, and yet you'll hardly believe a word of it. We who live here onthis little island call it the story of

"THE PACKET LIGHT. 

"About thirty years ago, my wife's father, old Mr. Bridges, lived in asnug little log house down in the next field, towards the Point. He wasa young man then, and my wife here was a little girl, unable to do morethan to drive home the cows, or help mind the younger children. Theisland is uncivilized enough now, sir, but in those days, besides theold French military road to St. Peter's, and a government mail route toSt. Eleanor's, there was nothing but bridle-paths and rough trailsthrough the woods. Men came to market with horses in straw harnesses, dragging carts with block-wheels sawn from the butt of a big pine; andoften when twenty or thirty of them were drinking into old KattyFrazer's, the beasts would get hungry, and eat each other loose. 

"It was next to an impossibility to get any money in exchange forproduce or labor, and everything was paid for in orders on the differentdealers for so many shillings' or pounds' worth of goods. In winter awhale-boat on runners carried the mail between the Wood Islands andPictou, and in summer a small schooner, called the Packet, sailed withthe mail, and what few passengers presented themselves, between thecapital and the same port. 

"It was in the last of November that year that the Packet made her lastcruise. The weather was freezing cold, with a thick sky, and heavysqualls from the south of west, when she struck on the East Bar, nearthe main channel. They put down the helm, thinking to slide off; but sheonly swung broadside to the waves, and as the tide was at ebb, she wassoon hard and fast, with the sea making a clean breach over her. 

"Captain Coffin, with the four other men, got into the rigging with aflag of some kind, which they fastened at half mast, as a signal ofdistress. It was about midday when they ran on the bar, and Bridges sawthem, and realized their danger at once; and their cries for help attimes rose above the roar of the ravenous seas. With the help of hiswife he launched a light boat, but long before he got into the sweep ofthe heavier breakers, he saw that she could never live on the bar, andit was with great difficulty that he regained the shore. At nightfall, although the hull was badly shattered, no one had perished, and the tidehad so far abated that the party could easily have waded ashore; andCaptain Coffin and another man, after vainly attempting to induce theother three to accompany them, started themselves. 

"The others charged them with cowardice in leaving the vessel, said thatthe wind would go down, and they could get the craft off at flood-tide, and so prevailed over the better judgment of the captain and hiscompanion that they returned to the fated vessel, and prepared, as wellas possible, for the returning tide. 

"As the tide rose, the sea came with little, if any, diminution of fury;and until nearly midnight Bridges watched the signal lantern, whichcalled in vain for the aid which it was not in the power of man tobestow. Intense cold was added to the other horrors of their situation, and the heavy seas came each hour in lessened fury, as the waterthickened into 'sludge. ' At eleven o'clock the tide was at its height;the seas had ceased to sweep across the hogged and sunken hull, and asheet of thin ice reached from the shore to the vessel's side. CaptainCoffin tried the ice, and, finding that it would bear his weight, decided to try to reach the Blockhouse Light, which shone brightly threemiles away. 

"He summoned the others; but two of the others, who had persuaded him toremain on board, were already frozen to death; the third decided to makethe attempt, but walked feebly and with uncertain steps, and about amile from the vessel succumbed to the piercing cold, falling into thatfatal sleep from which few ever waken, in this life at least. Coffin'scompanion, a strong, hardy sailor, reached the light-house alive, butswooned away, and could not be resuscitated; and Coffin barely escapedwith his life. He was terribly frost-bitten, but was thawed out in apuncheon of cold water, the right foot, however, dropping off at theankle; but he escaped with life, after terrible suffering. 

"The schooner sank, in the spring, at the edge of the channel, when themoving ice forced her into deeper water; and at very low tides herbattered hull may still be seen by the passing boatman. But ever sincethat fatal night, whenever a storm from that quarter is threatened, aball of fire is seen to emerge from the depths where lies the fatedpacket, and to sway and swing above the water, as the signal lantern didon the swaying mast of that doomed vessel. Then, if you but watchpatiently, the ball is seen to expand into a sheet of crimson light, terribly and weirdly beautiful, until the eye can discern the shadowyoutline of a ship, or rather schooner, of fire, with hull and masts, stays and sails; and then the apparition again assumes the shape of aball, which is lost in the sea. 

"At times it appears twice or thrice in the same night, and often theherring-fisher, after setting his nets along the bar, sees behind hisboat, as he nears the shore, the apparition of the 'packet light. ' Sincethat night of wreck and death, no dweller on this island has passed ayear without seeing it, and it is so common that its appearance awakensno fear; and among the fishers of Point Prime, and the farmers of theopposite shores, there are few who will not bear witness to the truth ofmy story. "

 * * * * *

"It is a little singular, " said Risk, "that a ship is the onlyinanimate object ever seen as an individual apparition. There are notmany of these ghostly ships on the seas, however. I do not remember tohave heard of more than one--that of the celebrated 'Flying Dutchman, 'off the Cape of Good Hope. "

"It's no wonder, sir, " said Lund, warmly, "that sailors suppose ships tobe haunted, and also to be capable of becoming ghosts themselves, whenyou sit down and think how differently every one views a vessel, ascompared with a house, or store, or engine. Why, there are no two shipsalike, and two were never built just alike. There are lucky and unluckyships, and ships that almost steer themselves, while others need a wholewatch at the tiller in a dead calm. But I think that you are mistaken asto the 'Flying Dutchman' being the only other 'flyer, ' as the sailorscall them, for they are often seen in the Pacific, in the 'Trades. '"

"I can't swear to the truth of Mr. Lund's story, but I can affirm thatthe 'fire ship' is a myth, universally recognized among the sea-goingpopulation of our coast, from the Florida Keys to the mouth of the St. Lawrence. Off the coral reefs, the crime-accursed slaver or piratehaunts the scene of her terrible deeds. Amid the breakers of BlockIsland, the ship wrecked, a generation ago, by the cruel avarice of menlong since dead, still revisits the fatal spot when the storm is againon the eve of breaking forth in resistless fury. The waters of Bostonharbor, two centuries ago, presented to the wondering eyes of 'diverssober and godly' persons, apparitions similar to those narrated by ourveracious friend, the captain. The lumberers of the St. John tell, withbated breath, of an antique French caravel, which sails up the CarletonFalls, where no mortal vessel or steamer can follow. And the farmers andfishermen of Chester Bay still see the weird, unearthly beacon whichmarks the spot where the privateer Teaser, chased by an overwhelmingEnglish fleet, was hurled heavenward by the desperate act of one of herofficers, who had broken his parole. As for the Gulf, the myth exists ina half dozen diverse forms, and all equally well authenticated byhundreds of eye-witnesses, if you can believe the narrators. "

"Well, La Salle, I see you don't put much more faith in my story than inthe thing I saw the night you came here. Now, I hope it won't be so, forit is borne in my mind, and I can't get over it, that I shall see someof you vanish into mist, as I saw those men. So, gentlemen, be verycareful, for I fear that some of us are very near their fate. "

 * * * * *

There is a cord of fear in every man's heart which throbs more or lessresponsively to the relation of the wonders of that "debatable land, "which, by some, is believed to lie "on the boundaries of another world. "La Salle felt impressed in spite of himself, and the whole party seemedgrave and unwilling to pursue the subject. The silence was, however, broken by Kennedy. 

"I am going home to-morrow, " said he, "and therefore am not likely to beone of the unfortunates over whom a mysterious but melancholy fateimpends. I have never found in the Tribune anything calculated toencourage a belief in ghosts of men, or vessels either; and what HoraceGreeley can't swallow I can't. But I shall make minutes of this littlematter, and if anything does happen, will forward a full account, indetail, to that truly great man. Come, La Salle; it's time we were abed. Good night, gentlemen. "

[Illustration]

CHAPTER V. 

A MAD SPORTSMAN. --SNOW-BLIND. --A NIGHT OF PERIL. 

The next morning shone bright and clear, and the gunners were at theirposts in expectation of a good day's sport. They looked in vain, however, for any indications of open water, and a hole, sunk with theaxe to the depth of eighteen inches, failed to reach salt water, although several layers of sweet, fresh water were struck; and thelittle hollow furnished them many draughts of an element nowhere morewelcome than upon the spring ice. The sun shone brightly, their faces, still sore and feverish with yesterday's exposure, became sorer thanever, and the neck became chafed wherever it rubbed against the coatcollar. 

Still, these were minor evils amid the excitement of their occupation, for many flocks of wild geese were seen; and the appearance of a flock, however remote, is always the signal for every gunner to get under coverat once. A small flock of seven were completely destroyed that morning, in a manner that deserves recording here. 

They were first seen striking in from the Gulf, and swinging well toleeward, --for the wind was westerly, --scaled in to the stand occupied byDavies and Creamer, who were lying down taking their noon lunch, andreceived no warning of their approach until they saw the flock scalingover their heads. Seizing their guns, both fired as quickly as possible, Ben a little the first. His first barrel missed, but the second, aimedat the same bird, brought it down. Creamer's first barrel went off inthe act of cocking, in the hurry and agitation of the surprise; andletting the muzzle of his gun drop, he stood stupidly gazing at thedeparting flock, until roused by Davies's "Give them t'other barrel, anyway. " Raising his gun, he fired instantly, and killed a fine gander, which fell dead a hundred and twelve yards from the stand. 

As if blinded by the unexpected danger, the remaining five swung justinside of the ice-boat, where La Salle and his companion, who had seenthem from the first, picked out a brace at long but practicable range, while the retreating birds flew up the channel towards Nine Mile Creek, where two more fell to Risk and the elder Davies. For over an hour theremaining bird flew with clamorous cries about the scene of hisbereavement, until a stranger, who had erected an ice-house, and placeda few rude decoys a few hundred yards from the bar, called him down, andfired a shot which dropped him on the ice. 

[Illustration: "GIE ME MY GUSE, MON, AND DINNA DELAY ME. " Page 97. ]

He seemed to be little hurt, however; for, getting to his feet, hewalked rapidly away in the direction of the sea ice, followed by thestranger, who did not attempt to use the long gun which he carried withhim even when the bird took wing and flew heavily between the ice-houseson the East Bar, where a long shot from La Salle's gun brought him downdead. La Salle brought in the bird, and while reloading his gun, thestranger came up and claimed it as his. 

He was a tall, lean, sharp-featured man, with long, lank hair, a darkcomplexion, and large lack-luster eyes, imbedded in cavernous hollows. His gun was not loaded, nor did he wear either shot-bag or powder-horn;and his weapon, an ancient Highland Scotch "fusee" changed topercussion, seemed as worn out and dilapidated as the owner. 

"Gie me my guse, mon, and dinna delay me, for I hae much to do the day, and I munna be hindered in my mission, " was the strange salutation ofthe original, as he leaned upon his gun at the side of the boat. 

"You are welcome to your goose, friend, although I fear that you wouldhave had a long chase, if the Baby there had not put in her word in thematter. Here is your bird, sir;" and La Salle handed the body to theunknown, who, after examining it closely, sighed heavily, andreplied, --

"It's a braw bird, but it's nae the king o' the geese. "

"The king of the geese, friend? What do you mean?" said Kennedy, sharply. 

"O, naething; that is, naething to ye, sirs; but to me, O yes, to meeverything. Ah, " said he, plaintively, "how mony days hae I sat throughstorm, and frost, and sleet! how mony nights hae I watched in the stillmoonlight, amang the reedy creeks! how mony times I hae weized a slugthrough a bird a'maist amang the clouds! but I hae had a' my labor invain, in vain. "

"But how do you know that you have not already shot the king of thegeese?" said La Salle, anxious to investigate the peculiar monomania ofthis poor lunatic; for such, indeed, he evidently was. 

"Why, mon, " said he, evidently surprised at the absurdity of thequestion, "by his croun, of course. The king has ae braw croun o' whitean black fedders, an' I'se reckon ye's never seen a guse like thatava'--hae ye now?" he asked, anxiously. 

"I have never seen any such bird, " said La Salle; "but why do you careso much about shooting this rare bird?"

"Weel, I'll tell ye, sin ye were kin' till me, an' did na keep the gusefra' me. Ye must promise me that ye will na try to kill it wi' your ainhands, for I must kill it mysel'. "

"We promise, " said La Salle, encouragingly, while Kennedy gave ahalf-pitying nod of the head. 

"Weel, when I was young I cared for naething but the gun, an' mony abeating I got for wark negleckit, an' schule-days wasted in the woods, or on the ice. As I grew older I cared more an' more for huntin', an'although I killed mair than ony three in the settlement, I was neversatisfied. Ance I sat here on a could day in April; the ice had gane offthe bar, but the flats were yet covered, and I knew that until the win'changed the ice would not be carried off. 

"Sae, as I sat an' saw the breakers roolin' in an' breakin' an' heavin'the outer ice, I saw mony flecks pass under the lee of the Governor'sIsland, an' then I grew mad like, an' swore an' cursed at my ill luck. 

"'Ay, my lad, but you're right;' an' turnin', I saw an ould man wi' darkeyes an' a coat of black furs stannin' beside me. 

"'I've seen i' the Bible, ' said I, 'that man was gi'en "dominion owerthe beasts o' the earth an' the fowls o' the air, " but I canna do as I'dwush wi' thae cursed geese ower there. '

"'Verra richt; ye're verra richt, young man, ' said he. 'What wud ye gieto be able to kill as mony fowl as ye list, an' never miss ava?'

"It seemed as I were mad at th' thocht. 'I'd gie my saul, ' said I. 

"'Well, hae your wish, laddie, ' said he; 'it's a sma' penny fee for sodear a bargain;' and, turnin', I fand mysel' alone, an' not a saul uponthe ice, far or near. Weel, that day I killed birds until I had nae mairpouther an' grit-shot; an' ilka day I went I had the like luck; but mymin' was ill at ease, an' I grew sad, an' dared na gae to prayers, orthe kirk; for then hell seemed to yawn under me. At last they said I wasmad, an' I went awee tae th' 'sylum yonder i' th' town, an' then I gatsome sleep; an' ane nicht I saw in a dream a woman a' in white, an' shelaid her cool, moist han' on my hot forehead, an' tauld me she wouldsave me yet. 'It was th' auld enemy that ye forgathered wi' on th' ice, an' ye are his until ye can kill th' king o' th' geese; an' then ye kenwhaever carries his croun o' black an' white feathers can unnerstand th'language o' all fowl, an', wha' is more, call them to himsel', sae thathe canna' fail to hae his wull o' them. Then, laddie, ye wull hae earnedyoursel' th' penny-fee for whilk ye hae perilled your saul. 

"'But, ' said she, 'my ain bairn, when ye hae won the croun, use it na'at all, though a' the fiends fra' hell tempted ye, but carry it to thekirkyard at mirk midnight; an' when ye hae cannily lichted a bit bleeze, burn the king's croun, an' say wha' I shall tell ye. "I gie back morethan I hae taken, an' I rest on Christ's smercy;" an' then shall ye besafe an' happy if ye fail na' to be constant in gude warks. '

"Then, sirs, the vision faded, an' I woke calmer an' happier than formany a lang day; an' a few days after, they aye sent me hame, but thefolk say I've a bit bee in my bannet yet. But sin' that time, I haehunted a' I can. I get mony birds, an', " lowering his voice, "yesterdayI killed thretty-seven. "

A long whistle from the astonished Kennedy broke up the conference, andthe offended lunatic walked angrily away. 

"He hasn't had a gun until to-day, to my certain knowledge, " saidKennedy; "and I saw him yesterday afternoon taking aim at a goose thathad lighted among his decoys, along the helve of his axe. "

"Well, well! No one believed him, of course; but, for Heaven's sake, when you express incredulity again, wait until the lie is finished, if Iam in the party!" grumbled La Salle. 

"Well, never mind; he got through with the best part of it; and thegreat wonder is, how a distempered brain could imagine all thatimpossible but well-connected delusion. "

"Kennedy, " said La Salle, with unusual gravity, "how can we decide thatit is all a delusion? Few men, indeed, have claimed to see the devil, towhom they sell themselves daily for trifles lighter than the hunter'smeed of unrivaled success; and who can say that the story of yondermadman is more or less than the fruit of the idle habits and unbridledtemper which burned up happiness, and consumed his reason? There are fewwho go mad who would have done so had they at the first governed anddenied themselves, and been content to enjoy in reason the benefits ofthe great Giver. "

"There is much that is true in what you say, and I've got a piece inthis very Tribune which bears on that point. I'll read it to you. Hangme if ever I saw the like! Where's Davies' ice-house? Is there a fogcoming up, or am I dizzy?"

"O, that's nothing, " said La Salle, laughing. "You're only goingblind--snow-blind, I mean. You know that Kane tells about his peopleusing goggles to prevent snow-blindness; and you left yours offyesterday and to-day. "

"Well, it's a curious thing. I can barely see you now; and I know Icould not find my way home to save my life. But what shall I do? Will itlast long?"

"If I had but a handkerchief full of clay, I could cure it in half anhour; but lie down in the straw, and get your head under the half-deck, where you can see neither sun nor snow, and I think you will restyourself enough to see pretty well by the time we want to go home. "

But Kennedy was fated to lie in impatient helplessness during theremainder of the afternoon. Several fine flocks came in to the decoys;and La Salle, using the double-barrel first, and firing the hugeduck-gun at long range, killed three, and sometimes four, out of eachflock, while Kennedy groaned in anguish of spirit. At last he could bearit no longer. 

"Keep close, Kennedy; there's another flock coming, and the finest I'veseen this year. There's twenty at the least, and they're coming rightin. "

"Give me my gun, Charley. I can't see much, but I can a little, and Ican fire where I hear them call. This is my last day; for Patrick iscoming out to-night with the boys, and I go in with them. Where are thebirds now?"

"Right dead to leeward. Ah-h-huk! ah-h-huk! Here they come, low down, and ready to light. Ah-h-huk! ah-h-huk! Now, Kennedy, can you see them?"

"Yes; that is, I see something like flies in a black gauze net. Arethose geese?"

"Yes, and close to us; so up and fire. "

Bang! bang! crashed the heavy double-barrel, with both reports nearlyblended in one, and Kennedy was driven back by the recoil against therear top board of the boat. Nearly bursting with laughter, La Salle"lined" the flock as they swung off, killing and wounding three. 

"Are you hurt, Kennedy?" he inquired, jumping out of the boat to catchthe wounded birds. 

"Dot buch, but by dose bleeds a little, a'd I've cut by lip. How baddyhave I killed, Charley? for I cad see dothing, " inquired the victim, anxiously. 

"One, two, three, four, FIVE, by jingo! Faith, you've beat the crowd, sofar, this spring, and when you were stone-blind, almost, at that. Well, it's pretty dark, and we'd better be getting home now, I think. "

The geese were picked up, and, with the others, --about twenty inall, --were loaded upon the "taboggin, " which the two hunters with somedifficulty drew through the drifts to the house where, on their arrival, they found that Pat had arrived from the city with some small stores, papers, letters, &c. , but the boys had not accompanied him. 

"They'll be out on skates wid Carlo and his slid on Monday, " he said. "Now, Misther Kennedy, whiniver you're ready, ye'll find me to the forein the kitchen. "

"Mr. Kennedy mustn't go until he gives us a story in his turn. Now themoon rises to-night, at about nine o'clock, and it will be muchpleasanter and safer on the ice by moonlight. What say you, Pat?"

"Faith, I'm agreeable, and I'd a little rather, to tell the truth; forthere's an ugly bit of road across the Pint there. "

"Well, Kennedy will have time to eat supper, and then we'll have hisstory, when it will be time for us to go to bed, and just right for himto start for town. "

"Or, in other words, " said La Salle, "it will be 'time for honest folkto be abed, and rogues on the road. '"

All sat down to supper, including Pat, to whom a plate of roast gooseand two or three cups of strong, hot, black tea were very refreshingafter his ten-mile drive; and then, after the little preparations forthe next day's shooting, and Kennedy's little arrangements for hisdeparture, the little group gathered round the blazing hearth, andKennedy, with some little hesitation, began the story of

"A NIGHT OF PERIL. 

"I am but a short man, and, as my time is short, you must not complainif my story is short, too. 

"I am not so imaginative as the captain; I haven't pestered all the oldmen and women of the island to death for legends and stories, like myfriend Charley here, who will surely bore you to death when his turncomes; I am sure I cannot make you laugh as Hughie and Mr. Risk havedone with their very interesting narratives, and I can only detail alittle adventure which I unexpectedly got into on this coast lastsummer, and which I as unexpectedly got out of alive. "

"You mean your crossing the straits in a sixteen-foot boat?" saidCaptain Lund. "I want to hear about that myself. "

"Well, in the early part of last August, my wife and I decided to visitsome friends, who reside a few miles up the River Jean, on the oppositeside of the straits, I suppose about twenty miles from here. We couldreach no port by steamer that was nearer our destination than Pictou, and there remained a long, tedious stage ride when we got there. Iconcluded to take a boat, and procured of Frank Stanley a littlerow-boat, with a spritsail for running before the wind; for I intendedto choose my own time for crossing. We set out from C. Early onemorning, and arrived in the afternoon after a very pleasant passage, andwe enjoyed our visit to that section very much. 

"After waiting a day or two for a fair wind down the river, we set sail, but, owing to the lightness of the breeze, were nearly all the afternoonin getting down. Still, on reaching the harbor, I determined to proceed, as the lights on both shores could be plainly seen, and I did not liketo lose a favorable wind. 

"Accordingly I put boldly out, heading for Point Prime Light, althoughmy mind misgave me a little as I got clear of the lee of the land; forthe sea rose rapidly, and a tremendous breeze, each moment growingstronger, carried us on with frightful rapidity. When we were about halfway across, the wind was blowing a gale, and it was only for a moment, while on the crest of the waves, that I could see the light for which Iwas steering. 

"The spray was breaking over us so that my wife had to bale continuallyto keep our craft free, and I dared not leave the helm to lessen sail, although I expected that each slat of the canvas, as we took the wind onthe crest of a wave, would run us under, or carry away the mast, andleave us at the mercy of the waves. 

"On we went before the breeze, darting down into the hollow between twoseas, toiling heavily up the next wave, with death apparently closebehind on the crests of two or three pursuing breakers, and then, with apuff which made every timber and plank quiver, the gale would almostlift us through a breaking wall of white foam, and, with more or less ofthe sea aboard, away we would go down the incline, a plaything of aboat, with a frightened little man at the tiller, and a little womanbaling incessantly, with nerves that never gave way for a moment in ourlong struggle for life. 

"I felt that if I could get that sprit down we were safe; but my wifedared not attempt it, and she would not trust herself at the tiller. Fortunately the boat steered 'very small, ' and seizing my opportunity, Iset the tiller amidships, darted forward, cleared the end of the spritfrom its becket, and got back just in time to meet her as she began tobroach to, on the crest of a wave, which nearly half filled us withwater. 

"I felt now as if we were safe; for no longer cumbered with a press ofsail, we shipped less water, and had a better chance to lay out ourcourse. Keeping Point Prime Light, as I supposed, well to starboard, Iheaded up the bay, seeking to make the Blockhouse Light, when suddenly Isaw the coast dead ahead, and a bar, which must have been the West Bar, which I dared not attempt to cross. 

"I therefore bore away until I made a harbor, and running in, got aboarda vessel, from whose captain I learned that we had mistaken theBlockhouse Light for that on Point Prime, and had at last made CrapaudRiver. "

"Leaving the boat to be brought around by the next steamer, we drove upto town the next day, and found, to our surprise, that we had crossedclose on the heels of that hurricane, which unroofed so many buildings, and uprooted so many trees. I consider that passage as the most stirringincident in my short life, gentlemen, and in the language of an oldstory, 'my wife thinks so, too. '"

 * * * * *

"And you may well think so, Mr. Kennedy, " said Lund. "For all the moneyin the banks of C. Wouldn't tempt me to run the risk, the almostcertainty, of death, I mean, that you two did. Your wife is a bravewoman, sir, and there are very few men who would have borne themselvesas she did. "

"Well, gentlemen, I see Pat is ready, and I must bid you good night. Charley, I'll give the boys the list of things you want them to bringout Monday. I suppose you'll get through in a couple of weeks, and comeback to civilized life. Good night. "

Followed by a dozen expressions of adieu and goodwill, the travellersentered the sleigh, and drove merrily off on the ice. Charley stoodstill a moment alone in the moonlight, listening to the last tinkle ofthe bells as they died away in the distance. 

"What nonsense to stand here bareheaded, and getting cold! and yet itseems as if something urged me to go back to the city. Yet, why should Idread anything here? or rather, why should I fear anything with such aprospect as I have before me?"

He turned, and entered the house; a dainty letter from his betrothed, brought that night from the city, lay upon his breast; but honey andgall mingled strangely in its offerings, and many a bitter word boreheavy on his heart. No one of all that merry party was readier for song, or jest, or manly sport, than he; and yet he, too, had his share of thatbitter cup which mortals call sorrow. 

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VI. 

ADDITIONS TO THE PARTY. --AN INDIAN OUTFIT. --A CONTESTED ELECTION. 

The following day was Sunday, and was spent as most Sabbaths are spentby similar parties in such out-of-the-way places. A few members of thehousehold drove off across the ice of the Western Bar to a littlecountry church; but the goose-shooters cared not to display their halfsavage dress, and tanned and blistered faces, to the over-closeinspection of the church-going farmers and their curious "_womenfolks_. "

Accordingly, Risk passed most of the day luxuriously stretched out onthe sofa, reading the Church Magazine, while Davies, on the oppositeside of the fire, in the recesses of an arm-chair covered with a buffalorobe, devoted the larger portion of his time to the Weekly Wesleyan. Creamer, after a cursory glance at a diminutive prayer-book, spent mostof the day in a comparison of sea-going experiences and apocryphaladventures with Captain Lund, in much the same manner as two redoubtablemasters of fence employ their leisure in launching at each other'simpregnable defence, such blows as would prove mortal against lessskilled antagonists. 

By the middle of the afternoon Lund had related his sixth story, beingthe veracious history of how one Louis McGraw, a famous fishing-skipperof Mingan, rode out a tremendous gale on the Orphan Bank, with bothcables out, the storm-sail set, her helm lashed amidships, and the crewfastened below as tightly as possible. It is hardly worth while todetail how the crew were bruised and battered by the terrible rolling ofthe schooner; it may be left to the imagination of the intelligentreader when he learns that, when the storm abated, the skipper found, besides innumerable "kinks" in the cables, and sea-weed in the rigging, _both topmasts broken short off_, indubitable proof, to the nauticalmind, that the Rechabite had been rolled over and over again, like anempty barrel, in that terrible sea. 

Creamer had just begun, by way of retaliation, his favorite "yarn" ofthe ingenious diplomacy of one Jem Jarvis, his father's uncle, who, being wrecked "amongst the cannibals of Rarertonger, " with a baker'sdozen of his shipmates, escaped the fate of his less accomplishedcomrades by his skill on the jewsharp, and an especial talent fordancing the double-shuffle, so that they gave him a hut to himself, twowives, and all he could eat, until he broke his jewsharp, and got fatand lazy, and then there was nothing to do but to run for it. 

How Creamer's paternal relative extricated himself from his precariousposition will never be known, as, at this juncture, Ben and La Salle, respectively, weary of playing a limited _repertoire_ of psalm-tunes onthe concertina, and reading the musty records of a long-forgotten"_Sederunt_ of the quarterly Synod, " as detailed in an old number of thePresbyterian Witness, interrupted the prolonged passage at arms by aninvitation, to all so disposed, "to take a walk around the island. "

Lund, who had misgivings as to his ability to give Creamer "a Roland forhis Oliver, " rose at once, and Creamer acceding more reluctantly, thefour set off, through a narrow wood-path, to a cleared field near thewestern extremity of the island. 

At the verge of this field, a cliff of red sandstone, ribbed and seamedby centuries of weather-wear and beat of sea, overlooked the ample baywhich opens into the Straits of Northumberland at their widest point. Before them it lay covered with huge level ice-fields, broken only wheretide and storm had caused an upheaval of their edges, or a berg, degraded and lessened of its once lordly majesty, it is true, but stillgrand even in its decay, rose like a Gothic ruin amid a snow-covered anddesolate plain. 

The sun was declining in the west, but his crimson rays gave warmth tothe picture, and the still air had, as it were, a foretaste of thebalmy revivifying warmth of spring. In the woods, close at hand, wereheard the harsh cawing of the crow, the shrill scream of the blue-jay, and the garrulous chatter of many a little family of warm-furred, pine-cone-eating little red squirrels. 

Neither was animal life wanting elsewhere to complete the picture. Onthe ice could be counted, in different directions, no less thanseventeen flocks of Canada geese, some of them apparently on the watch, but the major part lying down, and evidently sleeping after their longand wearisome migration. In a single diminutive water-hole below thecliff, which probably marked the issue of one of the many subterraneansprings of the islet, a half-dozen tiny ouac-a-wees, or Moniac ducks, swam and dove in conscious security. 

"I can't see any open water yet, " said Creamer, "although it looks to mea little like a water-belt, alongshore, inside Point Prime. "

"There's no more water-belt there, " said Lund, "than there was music inyour great-uncle's jewsharp; but there's a spot off to the sou'-westthat looks to me a little like blue water. "

"Blue water, indeed!" retorted Creamer; "who ever saw blue water onsoundings! I'll lay a plug of navy tobacco there isn't open water enoughthere away to float La Salle's gunning-float comfortably. "

"Well, Hughie, " slowly replied the practiced pilot, who was reallylittle disposed to vaunt his knowledge of coast and weather, "the tidewill soon decide whether you or I, or both of us, are right. It is justfull flood now, and the ice is pressed in so against the land, that Iknow there can be no openings along the Point, and but very small oneswhere I think it looks like one. It seems to me that a water-vapor isrising out there, by yonder high pinnacle just in range of the poolbelow the ice-foot; but the tide will soon let us know if there are anylarge leads open within a dozen miles. "

"There's a sign in your favor, " cried La Salle, pointing in thedirection of the supposed 'lead. ' "There's a flock of Brent geese, andthey can't live away from open water. See, Ben, they are heading rightin for the East Bar, and if we were only there we might depend upon ashot. "

La Salle was right; the flock of birds, identified plainly by theirsmaller size, their tumultuous order of flying, and especially by theirharsh, rolling call, like a pack of hounds in cry, swept in from sea, wheeled around one of the resting flocks of Canada geese, alighted nearthem, took flight again, and, sweeping in an irregular course over andamong the higher points of the icy labyrinth, disappeared behind theeastern promontory, as if in search of the open water, which winter hadso securely locked up in icy bonds. 

As the sun sank behind the neighboring firs, his reddening light fell ona bright blue streak, which seemed to glow like a stream of quicksilverbetween two heavy bodies of "piled ice. " With the ebb, the narrow, glittering canal began to widen, piercing nearer to the islet, until, heading towards the westward, it lay little more than four miles fromthe interested spectators. The shadowy pinions of many flocks ofwater-fowl were seen exploring its course, and the neighboring geese, one by one, took flight, and, with clamorous calls, winged their way toits borders. 

"I give it up, " said Creamer. 

"Never mind, Hughie, " said Ben, "I'll pay the wager; for, with openwater so close to us, the first good storm will soon sweep the bay clearto the bar. "

"Yes, a sharp north-easter would soon do that for you; but all the heavywinds may be northerly and westerly for three weeks to come yet, " saidLund; "I've known the ice to hold here until the first week of May. "

"Well, " returned La Salle, "I'm sure I hope it won't be so late thisyear, for the stock of flour on the island is very small, and many ofthe poor folks can't afford to buy any, and are living on potatoesalmost altogether. They say, too, that there is much suffering among thefarmers at the North Point. "

"Yes, " said Ben; "I saw a man from Lot Ten last week, and he said thatthe French were eating their seed-grain, and feeding their cattle, orsuch as were left alive, on birch and beech tops. "

"That has happened often, since I can remember, " said Lund, "and Isuppose is likely to after I am gone; but it seems to me that thosestupids might learn something by this time. "

"It will occur to a greater or less degree, just as long as the islandis shut out from the rest of the world for nearly half the year. Thereare few men who have any just estimate of the amount of provisions andfodder necessary for the sustenance of a family and its cattle for solong a period as a half year, and when accident, or the unwontedbackwardness of the season, increases the number of mouths, or thelength of the cold term, it is hard for the farmer to decide onsacrificing the life of even a superannuated horse, or weakly yearling, in time to benefit the more valuable survivors. "

"You're right, Charley, " said Creamer; "that's what my father's unclesaid, when he was a mate on board the Semyramsis, in the Ingy Ocean. Theship was lost in a harricane, sir, and only seven was saved in thecaptain's gig--six able-bodied seamen and one passenger, a fat littlearmy ossifer. So my great-uncle, who were bosin, made an observation, and says he, 'There's just ten days' provision for seven men, and we'retwenty days to looard of Silly Bes (Celebes), if we only row ten miles aday. Now, we must row twenty miles a day; an' to do that, we must havefull rations an' somethin' to spare. Besides, the boat ort to be lighterto row well. So, as passengers don't count along of able-bodied seamen, I move we just get rid of the major on economical principles. All infavor say "Ay;" and they all said "ay" except the major, an' he justturned as white as a sheet. ' An' then my great-uncle asked him if he'dgot anything to say why the resolution o' that meetin' shouldn't becarried out. Well, the major just grinned kind o' uggly, an' said that'he liked to see things done methodistically, if it were a littleirregular, an' he'd give his 'pinion after the rest. ' So my uncle wenton, an' said, 'All contrary say, "No. "' Well, no one said 'no;' an' thenmy great-uncle said, 'Well, major, nothin' remains but to carry out ourresolution; so please to vacate this boat; although, seein' as it's notdinner time for some hours yet, there's no need of hurry, unless youwish to have it over with. '

"'But, ' says the major, 'your action is altogether unparlymentary. Youhaven't heard a word from _my_ friends. '

"'Friends! there ain't any one here on your side o' the question. '

"'You're mistaken, my friend, ' said the major; an' he drew from his belta long Indian dagger that had been hid under his coat; 'there's one, anyhow. '

"'That ain't much account against a boat-hook, ' said one of the men, ashe took one with a sharp spike from beneath the gunwale. 

"'Lay that down, you beggar!' cried the little red-coat; and he pulledout of each side-pocket a four-barreled pistol, --for there were norevolvers in them days, --and the man laid down the boat-hook as quick asa flash. 'Now, men, ' said the little ossifer, 'you'll see that we numberat least ten, and there's only six of you. Ah, here's to make us alittle more ekil;' and he just fired at a noddy that was flying over, and dropped him right into the stern-sheets. 'That'll help out ourrations some, ' says he; 'and besides, you don't see what I'm sittin'on;' and, sure enough, he had histed into the boat a basket of port an'a whole case of cap'n's biscuit. 'Now, ' says he, 'reconsider yourvardick. '

"An' they all voted down the first resolution, and he gave them a bottleof port to mix with their water every day, and when they were drinkingthe last bottle, they made Silly Bes, and got ashore all right; but myuncle always said that his calculations was right, and that it showedgreat weakness on the part of the men not to carry them out. "

"Well, Hughie, " said Ben, "you've kept us here a good half hour laterthan tea time, and Mrs. Lund will think we've done well to waste hertime in listening to your stories. "

"Well, we can see enough to assure us that the ice won't break up on thebar to-morrow, " said Lund; "but you may get your ice-boats ready atonce, for the next thaw, with a north-easter after it, will leave allclear along the ship channel to the harbor's mouth. "

There was quite a pleasurable excitement among the stay-at-homes at thetea table, when the incipient breaking up of the ice was declared; foron the proximity of narrow feeding-grounds to the ice-houses dependedthe hopes of good sport of our adventurers. To be sure they had thus farhad nothing to complain of; but the geese killed had been merely"flight" geese, weary with long migration, thin with want of food, andseeking among the treacherous lures only a rest from their longwandering in the safe companionship of their own kind. 

Very shortly after supper the whole household retired, but, save theaccustomed prayers, which few, either Catholic or Protestant, forget inthat still "unsophisticated" land, it is to be feared that the Sabbathwas to them little but a literal "day of rest, " in its purest physicalsense. 

Monday morning a glassy look to the snow-crust induced the youngermembers of the party to use their skates in going to their stands, andas La Salle drew his from his feet to deposit them in his undisturbedstand, his eyes caught, amid the distant ice-spires, the mazy flight ofwhat he took to be a flock of brent, headed in-shore. 

Signaling to Davies to get under cover, he sprang into his own stand, and, crouching amid the straw, hastily drew over his black fur cap hislinen havelock, and looking well to the priming of his gun, sought thewhereabouts of the swift-flying birds. 

Unlike the slower Canada geese, these birds seldom fly high above thesurface of the water or ice when seeking food; and several times he lostsight of the flock, as it darted around a berg, or swung round thecircle of some secluded valley of the ice-field. 

"H-r-r-r-r-huk! H-r-r-r-r-huk!" Their barbarous clamor, insufficientlyrendered in the foregoing, suddenly sounded close to leeward, and closeup against the light north-wester then blowing came the beautifulquarry, their small, black heads and necks showing as glossy as araven's wing, in contrast with the asheous hue of their wings, and thepure white of other parts of their plumage. With a wild, tumultuousrush, they circled in head-on over the decoys; and it was so quicklydone, that they had swept on fifty yards before La Salle could realizethat the leader of the flock was heading for Davies, and had nointention of surging around to his lures again. 

"It will never do to let them get the first brent, " muttered La Salle. "She has a long-range cartridge in, and I'll try them. "

Turning on his knees, he raised the ponderous gun until it "lined" theretreating flock, but elevated at least five feet above the birds, nownearly two hundred yards away. The heavy concussion reverberated acrossthe ice, and the fatal cartridge tore through the distant flight, picking out two of the twelve which composed the flock; and some of theshot, as both Davies and Creamer afterwards averred, rattled smartly inamong their decoys nearly four hundred yards away. The remaining birds, hurrying away from the dangers behind them, passed within range ofDavies and his companion, and left several of their number dead anddying on the ice; but the first brent of the season had fallen to LaSalle's gun. 

The day was mild and without wind, and as but few birds were flying, LaSalle coiled himself down in the sunny corner of his stand, and drawingfrom his pocket the letter of which we have spoken in the last chapter, gave it a careful and deliberate perusal. As he closed, a smile, strangely expressing contempt, pity, and admiration, curled his lips, asin low but audible tones, as is often the habit of the solitary hunteror fisherman, he communed with his own heart. 

"Ah, Pauline! time has brought no change to thy passionate, impulsive, unreasoning heart; and what thy biting tongue may not say, the pen willutter, though lapse of years and the waves of the Atlantic roll betweenus. Is it not strange that a woman's letter to her betrothed, beginningwith 'My own love, ' and ending 'Until death, ' can contain eightdouble-written pages of unreasonable blame, cruel innuendos, anddespicable revenge on the innocent? Well, we are betrothed, and shouldhave been married years ago, had not Fate or Providence stood in theway; and I suppose her life at home is far from pleasant, for herstep-mother is not one to let a good marriage go by, without remindingpoor Paulie of my general worthlessness; but I must say that my betterfinancial and matrimonial prospects offer little hope of addedhappiness. "

His eye lit up a moment, and an expression of keen and almost cruelintent contracted his gaze; then, with a look of disdain, he seemed tothrow off some evil influence, and a look of pity softened his face. 

"Yes, if I were to resent these affronts--for such they are--with onehalf the virulence which animates them, her pride would alienate usforever, and I should be free. There are few who would blame me, andmany who would scorn to do aught else. In truth I am almost decided toanswer this precious _billet-doux_ in the same vein in which it waswritten. Ah, it was not all delusion that made yonder madman think thatevil spirits haunt these icy wastes. It was not thus I felt whentogether we voyaged across that summer sea; and the vows we plightedthen may not lightly be broken. I will answer patiently, and as becomesthe past. As to the future, it will bring due reward or punishment hereor hereafter. "

From these somewhat morbid self-communings, which we introduce for apurpose hereafter to be disclosed, La Salle started, seized hisglittering skates, and taking his gun, glided with long, powerfulstrokes across the inner bay towards the ice-houses of the other party, which lay within the embouchure of Trois-Lieue Creek. The ice wasalmost perfectly level, save where a heavy drift had formed a smallmound around which it was better to steer, although the sleety crust hadfrozen so hard that the broad-runnered Belgian skates would run almostanywhere. At the first ice-house he found Risk and Davies, who had donelittle or nothing for some days, and talked of going home at the end ofthe week. 

"Indian Peter gets about all the geese that go through here, and there'slittle show for us, " said Davies. 

"Where is his ice-house?" asked La Salle. 

"Just up the cove--the nearest of those two, " answered Risk. 

"I guess I'll have a look at his outfit, and then go and meet the boysat the block-house, for they have never been here before, and the trackcan't be very plain now. " So saying, La Salle skated up to the Indianstand, almost half a mile distant. 

"One-armed Peter, " as he was commonly called among his tribesmen, hadneither the means nor the inclination to deviate much from thetraditionary usages of his tribe, and was found kneeling, or, rather, "sitting man-fashion, " as the vernacular Micmac hath it, although wecall it "tailor-fashion, " within a circular, fort-like enclosure, sometwelve feet in circumference, and with walls about three feet high. 

The latter were composed of thick slabs of ice placed on edge, andcemented together by frozen water, while tiny apertures, cut here andthere, enabled the crouching hunters to note every foot of the approachof their wary game. A few of the decoys were of pine wood, rudely carvedout and _burnt_ to something like the natural coloring of the bird theywere intended to represent; but a large proportion of them were"sea-weed" or "spruce" decoys; that is, bunches of the weather-boundsea-wrack, or bundles of evergreen twigs, made about the shape and sizeof the body of a goose. 

These were elevated on blocks of snow-ice, which strikingly imitated, ata little distance, the hue of the under feathers, and a fire-blackenedstake set in the ice, at one end, with a collar of white birch bark atits junction, completed the rude but effective imitation. Such are theappliances which a hundred years ago brought the geese in thousandsunder the arrows of all the many tribes which range between the Straitsof Canso and the most northern inhabited regions about Hudson's Bay. 

Within the enclosure a few armfuls of fir branches--laid upon the hardice, and kept carefully clear of snow, formed a soft floor, on which nowsat three hunters, Peter, and Jacob, and Louis Snake, much younger menthan he of the one arm. Each sat enveloped in the folds of a dingyblanket, and their guns rested against the icy walls--two of themrickety, long-barreled flint-locks; but Peter's new acquisition, a true"stub-twist, " Hollis's double, was as good a fowling-piece as anysportsman needs. 

True to their customs, the Indians were taciturn enough, although Peterthanked La Salle rather warmly for his new weapon. 

"I find 'em good gun; not miss since I got 'em. Give t'other gun mynethew. " And he pointed to the worst looking of the two antiquatedweapons, as Cleopatra may have surveyed her rather costlydrink-offering, with visible misgiving as to such reckless liberality. 

"You were very kind, Peter. I suppose he has no family, " said La Salle, smiling. 

"Yes, me _berry_ kind my peeple, " suavely responded the chief, a justpride beaming in his eyes. "That young man no family yet--only squawnow. "

"It is evident that the average Indian doesn't understand a joke, "muttered La Salle, as he said "Good by" to the motley trio, and dartedoff to meet a distant group, which he rightly judged to be the expectedboys. 

Twenty minutes later he had joined the little party, who were proceedingat a slow dog-trot around the shores, instead of taking the directcourse across the ice, which, being deemed unsafe by them, had wiselybeen avoided; for no one can be too cautious on ice of which they knownothing. 

George Waring, the only son of La Salle's employer, skated ahead of hiscompanion, who was evidently of other than Caucasian origin, in part atleast. The skater was a tall, fresh-complexioned, slender youth, ofabout seventeen, bold, active, and graceful in his movements, but havingthe appearance of one whose growth had been a little too rapid for anequal development of health and strength; and indeed it was only oncondition that he should submit carefully to the directions of La Sallethat his father had consented to the present expedition. 

His companion was, perhaps, a year older, but rather short andthick-set, with features in which the high cheek-bones and coppery hueof the American showed very prominently. La Salle had fallen in with himat the Seven Islands, on the Labrador coast, the year before, andemployed him as a pilot to the Straits of Belle Isle. He called himselfRegnar Orloff, was of tremendous strength for one of his years, andalthough apparently lazy, and somewhat fleshy, could move quicklyenough, and to purpose, in time of need. 

Now, however, he rested one knee on the only unoccupied portion of alarge, light sled, drawn by the third member of the party, a powerfuldog of the Newfoundland species, which he was evidently training intosome little excellence as a sledge-dog. It was only an added virtue, even if complete; for noble old Carlo had already excellences enough tocanonize a dozen individual canines. He was strong, sagacious, peaceablyinclined, but a terrible foe when aroused; could eat anything, carry aman in the water, watch any place, team, or article, hold a horse, beatfor snipe or woodcock, lie motionless anywhere you might designate, retrieve anywhere on land, water, or ice, and loved a gun as well as hisyoung master, La Salle. 

[Illustration: "WELL, GEORGE, YOU'RE HERE AT LAST. "--Page 127. ]

"Well, George, you're here at last, " cried La Salle, as he came up. "Howis everything in town, and what's the news?"

"O, nothing out of the common. All are well. The governor gave a ballWednesday, and the House dissolves next week. We've had plenty of geeseto eat, but we wanted to kill some; and so here we are. "

"How are you, Regnie? Getting tired of civilization, and wanting to getback to the ice?"

"Ha, ha, ha! Yes, master, just so. After I see Paris and Copenhagen, Ido very well, keep quite satisfied. But when I shut up in large citylike C. , I think it too much. I feel lonesome, want to get back to thewild'ness. "

"And how does Carlo learn sleighing?"

"O, he does well enough. He can't be taught right, for it would be toobad to use Greenland whip; but I make this little one, and can drivevery well;" and as he spoke, he held up a wand of supple whalebone, tipped with a slender "snapper" of plaited leather, and lightly touchingthe noble animal with the harmless implement, the dog gave a playfulbark, and started off on an easy trot. 

"We strike off here for those black specks yonder, " said La Salle; "butwhat is coming behind us, George?"

"O, that is Dolland, Venner, and that set; and I guess they'll have 'ahigh old time, ' and no mistake. "

"Well, let's take an observation, boys, and then we'll set off. "

And, stopping, the party turned to survey a spectacle truly annoying toany true sportsman, whatever may be his views on the temperancequestion. 

Advancing in their rear came a truck-sled, loaded with what, althoughevidently a miscellaneous freight, was largely composed of liquor; for agoodly ale-keg formed the driver's seat, a bottle-hamper the pinnacle ofthe load, and a half dozen young men, who were perched wherever a seatpresented itself, filled the air with loud, and oft-repeated shouts androaring songs, whose inspiration could plainly be traced to certainbottles, jugs, and flasks, with which each in turn "took an observation"of the heavens, at about every other hundred yards. An expression ofdisgust on La Salle's deeply-tanned face gradually gave way toresignation, and then a well-founded hope irradiated his features; a newmovement of the crowd attracted his attention. 

"Well, boys, " he exclaimed, "you're in luck to have such a gang to comeout with, and you may count on having little or no sport to-day andto-morrow; but they'll have to go in, in three days at farthest. "

"Why so?" asked the boys, in a breath. 

"Because their rum won't last them more than forty-eight hours, especially with the amateur aid they'll get from the driver; and twelvehours after that event takes place, they'll be in town again. But come, they are getting near us, and are loading their guns; so let's leavebefore the vicinage is dangerous. "

"Why, Charley, " said Waring, in astonishment, "there's no danger. Thosefellows wouldn't shoot at us. I know them. "

"And so do I, my dear fellow; and that's just the reason I want to getout of the way. If I didn't know what drunken men will do in the way of'sporting casualties, ' or felt certain that their object was to shootus, I should feel perfectly easy on the subject;" and setting off atfull speed, followed by Waring and the sledge, La Salle led the way tothe ice-houses, which they reached about an hour before sunset. 

Drawing up by the boat, La Salle examined the load of the day, and fromit took a little case made of a candle-box with stout hinges and apadlock. He opened it, and found, as he had ordered, a "Crimeancooking-lantern, " with spring candlestick and a pound of candles, asmall tin canister of coffee, another of sugar, some pilot bread, andseveral boxes of sardines. Taking all but two of the latter from thebox, he relocked it, and carefully removing the matted straw in thestern of his boat, placed the box under the decking, and replacing thecompressed straw, effectually hid it from sight. 

"We can now have a lunch, with a hot cup of coffee, whenever we please, and you will find some weather even yet when it will be very welcome. Come, let us go home to-night, and get ready for to-morrow's_charivari_, for noise will not be wanting, although game may;" andadding his brent to the load, La Salle covered his boat, and, joined byDavies and Creamer, who greeted the boys warmly, all went up to theirwelcome, if somewhat narrow, quarters. 

After tea, which boasted of fried bacon and eggs, the usual circle wasformed, and Mr. Davies, being called upon to entertain the company, saidthat he was "not much of a story-teller, but had learned some factsrelating to a terrible political tumult, which took place years ago, butwas still spoken of everywhere on the island as the great 'BelfastRiot. ' I shall term it, unless some one offers a better name, the mostlively specimen we ever had of

"A CONTESTED ELECTION. 

"It need hardly be said, in this company, that an election among us is afar more exciting occasion than among our less-favored Americanneighbors, who ignore the superior advantages of voting _viva voce_, andadopt the less manly and unobtrusive medium of the ballot. 

"Why, gentlemen, I venture to say, that our little capital town of C. , with its thousand votes, presents more stir, makes more noise, drinksmore whiskey, and is the arena of more fistic science and club play, during an ordinary election, than any city in New England, of four timesthe population, during a presidential struggle. The open polling-boothsin the heart of the city surrounded by crowds of intelligent (andhighly-excited) voters; the narrow gangways crowded, rain or shine, bythose immediately claiming the right of suffrage; the narrow precinctsof the sheriff's court, the sublime majesty of that important officer;the ineffable serenity of the city clerk; the various bearings of thecandidates or their representatives; the frantic efforts of a fewuniformed police to keep order; the evident and good-natureddetermination of the crowd that the aforesaid officials shall 'havetheir hands full;' the loud voices and sharp questions of thechallengers and their victim; the dainty bits of family history madepublic property; the overbearing insolence of the old lawyers, and theoverweening impudence of the young ones; the open taverns; the rivalcarriages for the accommodation of doubtful, drunken, and lazy voters, together with the lively little incidents which diversify the picture asthe culminating glory of these various provocative elements, --form apicture which it hath not entered into the heart of the average Americancitizen to conceive of. 

"But, however lively the picture, an election in these degenerate laterdays is but a tame affair compared with those which took place duringmy first years of labor in political matters. As all know, the islandwas given away on one day to certain individuals, on conditions of whichnothing more may be said here than that one was, that a certain numberof settlers were to be placed on each estate within a given number ofyears. Accordingly, from almost every section of the British Isles, theproprietors sought out such emigrants as could most easily be procured. 

"The result was, that we still have settlements in close proximity toeach other, whose peoples use different languages in daily conversation, who vary radically in religious belief, have few natural traits incommon, and are almost, if not altogether, 'natural enemies' each toeach. Thus we have a settlement of Protestant Highland Scotch close by alarge estate peopled with Monaghan or Kilkenny Irish Catholics; andperhaps a little farther on is a hamlet of Low-landers, or a village ofthrifty English folk. 

"But in those days these distinctions were yet more marked, and thefeuds of Orange and Ribbon-man, Scotch and Irish, Englishman and FrenchAcadian, had not then given way before the softening and concealing handof 'Time, the great leveler;' and so some twenty years ago, during aclose contest between the then rising liberal party and theconservatives, a riot took place near the polling-booth in the HighlandScotch settlement of Belfast. All the combined strength of both partieswas present; the canvassing had been of the most thorough nature, andall the antipathies of race and religion appealed to for electioneeringpurposes. 

"It is said that the Catholics went there expecting a fight, each armedwith a well-balanced, tough _shillelagh_, and that they made a generalattack on the Scotch. At all events, it is certain that the largernumber of the latter had to betake themselves to the nearest availableweapon, and that many were cut and bruised by the skilfully-handledweapons of the active Irish cudgel-players. One Scotchman, however (afellow of unusual stature), seized a fence-rail, and, by his single arm, stayed the tide of flight in his part of the fray. Almost frantic withapprehension, rage, and the desire for revenge, he wielded his ponderousweapon as if it were an ordinary club, striking such tremendous blowsthat tradition has it that not one of a half-score of the best andbravest of the Irish leaders survived the effects of those terrible andcrushing blows. Profiting by his prowess, the Scotch procured the heavystakes of their sleds, tough poles, pieces of firewood, and similarponderous weapons, and, headed by the hero of the day, made a charge, returning with terrible severity the comparatively slight damageinflicted by the light cudgels of the Irish. 

"The details of that day of blood--how the fray began, and between whom;the varying records of its progress as victory inclined first to oneside, and then to the other; the number of the killed and wounded, andthe names of the fallen--have never been generally known, and probablynever will be; for many of the principal actors in that savage dramahave passed away 'into the dread unknown. '

"But it is still commonly believed, and so reported, that over a scoreof the Irish were killed on the field, or died of their wounds; that noScotchman perished; that the field where the deadliest part of the workwas done became accursed, and has lain barren to this day; and that theleader of the Scotch became insane with the memory of his own terribleprowess. 

"Among those who have reason to remember that dreadful affair, however, may be numbered C. " (Here the narrator named an influential and wealthybusiness man. ) "He was travelling in that section, and being ignorant ofwhat had taken place, stopped at a country town to bait his horse, andwarm and refresh himself. Entering, he found the reception-room filledwith Irish, whose harsh features were inflamed with varied passions, while the persons of many bore marks of recent injury. No one replied tohis friendly greeting, and their whole conversation was carried on inErse, although every intonation and gesture was replete with passion. Suddenly he saw the landlady beckoning him out of the room, and, rising, he approached her as if to give directions about his horse. 

"Trembling with agitation, she addressed him:--

"'O, Mr. C. , for the love of Heaven, run to your sleigh, and leave atonce, or your life isn't worth an hour's purchase!'

"Then, in a few words, she gave him some idea of the day's events, andtaking the measure of oats provided, Mr. C. Passed on through hisenemies to the shed, where, beside a number of rude country sledges, stood his own fleet horse and light cutter. Taking the bells off hishorse, he backed him out of the shed, and was ready for flight. On thenearest sledge was bound a long, oblong parcel, covered with a rug. Curiosity proved stronger than fear, and lifting a loose corner of thescanty covering, Mr. C. Found himself face to face with a corpse!

[Illustration]

"Springing into his sleigh, he put his horse to his utmost speed, andwhen day dawned was a score of miles from the scene of his unexpecteddanger and appalling night adventure. "

CHAPTER VII. 

A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER. --BREAKING UP OF THE ICE. --JIM MOUNTAIN'S FIGHTWITH THE DEVIL. 

The boys awoke somewhat disappointed the next morning, for the heavyrain was falling, and the wind blew hard from the south-east, so that noone in his senses would think of facing such discomfort for the sake ofsport. 

"Don't look blue, George, " said La Salle; "we've enough to do to preparefor the open water, which this gale will probably lead up to the outeredge of the bar, at least. There's the float to be painted and fitted, and the floating decoys to be put in order; and while I use the whitepaint, you and Regnie must rope and repair the decoys. "

Accordingly the four sought the barn, whither Ben and Creamer hadpreceded them on a similar errand. La Salle's boat was a flat-bottomed"sculling-float, " twelve feet long by three feet beam, and ten inchesdeep, with a hole through the stern-board, through which, with a short, crooked oar, a man could silently propel himself within shot of a flockof fowl. Davies's boat aimed at the same end in another way, being alarge side-wheel paddle-boat, propelled by cranks, for two persons. Bothboats were painted white, so as to be indistinguishable from thefloating ice at a little distance. Besides these two, there were adouble boat with centre paddle-wheel, and a side-wheel worked by thefeet on the velocipede principle, belonging on the island. 

The forenoon was spent as proposed, and as the bad weather still held, atarget was set up for practice with the rifle, and many excellent shotswere made from the great door of the barn. At last, however, theimpatience of the party overcame all fears of exposure, and, donningtheir water-proof clothing, all went down to the East Bar to watch itseffect on the ice. 

The huge floe had given way at last, and broken into many floatingislets of varied size, had become a scene of life and animation, instriking contrast to its late icy desolation. In every direction geese, singly and in flocks, fed along the edges of the still immovable innerice-fields; swam placidly among the narrow leads, or in huge bodiesblackened the open pools or the projecting points of ice. Among them, too, wheeled many flocks of clamorous brent, while, from time to time, the desolate cry of the Moniac duck, or the shrill, monotonous, stridentflight of the "Whistler" warned the sportsmen that new visitants wereabout to greet their vision. 

"You will have to change your location, Risk, " said Lund, who hadaccompanied them; "for you must shoot on the water-line, now the ice hasopened. "

"Davies and I go home to-morrow, " answered he. "I regret to leave withsuch a prospect before us, but business presses; and besides, there arenew dangers now which I care not to face. "

"Ay, ay! you're right, Mr. Risk, " said Lund; "and although I am glad tohave you around me, I shall be glad this year when I see the last of yousafely across the Western Bar. "

"There, there, Lund, " said Risk; "they're young, smart, have good boats, and, what is more, know well how to use them; and if I were less clumsyand old, I would no more fear any danger here than I would at home. Don't frighten the young lads with your nonsense, but let us get home tosupper, and, as it is our last night together, have a cosy evening inthe kitchen, and a good story from Ben and Charley here. "

The proposition was acceded to, and after supper, Ben, with littleurging, commenced a legend of the North Shore, even now related by thefarmers around the winter's hearth with full faith in its veracity. Hetermed it by its local name

"JIM MOUNTAIN'S FIGHT WITH THE DEVIL. "

"Fifty years ago Jim Mountain, of Goose Creek, was as stout and jovial ayoung farmer of twenty-five, as there was in his section. No ship-launchframe-raising, logging-bee, or dance, was considered complete withouthim, and while his strength was almost equal to that of any two of hiscompanions, his merry laugh was so infectious that even envy couldn'tresist joining in, when public opinion pronounced him 'the best man inthe county. '

"He soon married the daughter of a well-to-do farmer, and then, for thefirst time, it appeared that his love of 'divershin' and whiskey, hadgrown by what it fed on, and poor Mary dreaded the approach ofmarket-day, as he seldom returned from the shire town altogether sober, and often not until late into the next day. 

"It was in vain that his blooming Mary entreated, coaxed, cried, andthreatened; he never lost his temper; often, indeed, promised amendment, but did in the end about the same as usual. At last the merchant withwhom he traded, a man of some little medical knowledge, finished theirbusiness interview with the following bit of advice:--

"'Jim, it's none of my business, but you are ruining your health andbreaking your wife's heart. You are not one of the kind that show howmuch they do drink; but no man in your district can match you, and whenyou do get sick, I shan't expect to see you alive. '

"'An' do ye think so, then, Mr. B. ?'

"'I am almost sure of it, for Long Tom Cunningham, the big shipcarpenter that you've heard your father tell of, was just such a man, and the first touch of "the horrors" carried him off. '

"'Well, sir, I'm much obliged for your good will, any how, and after mycousin Johnny McGrath has his bit of a spree, I'll try and leave it offfor a while, any way. '

"Johnny McGrath's 'spree, ' a fulling-frolic, came off one Saturdaynight, about a fortnight after this; and while the web of strong, coarsehomespun cloth, which was to furnish Mac and his boys with their year'sstock of outer clothing, was being duly lifted, rubbed, banged on abench, and twisted by the strong hands of about thirty men and women, Jim led the roaring choruses, and manipulated his end of the cloth witha vigor which at once delighted and alarmed the fair weaver thereof. 

"In the dancing and whiskey-drinking which followed, Jim was in hiselement; and it was nearly midnight before the party broke up, and hewas left alone with the rest of his relative's household. 

"'Well, Johnny, ' said he, 'you've done the decent thing this time, andI'm glad my last spree has been at your place, for I'm going to quitgrog for a while. Give me a coal for my pipe, Jane, for it's late, andI've a good five miles' of beach atween me an' home. '

"'Is the man mad?' said Jane, good-naturedly. 'Surely, John, you'll notlet him out of the house to-night. '

"'No, no, Jim, ' said McGrath, getting between him and the door; 'out ofthis you don't stir to-night; so sit down, have another drop, and tak' aquiet night's rest. '

"'Come, John, don't anger or hinder me, for I feel strangely to-night, and I must go home. '

"'Faith, that's all the more reason I have to keep you here. Come, sitdown, you obstinate fellow, and don't be waking the wife up just beforedaybreak, only to let in a man that must be out walking all night. Confound it, would you hit me, Jim? Sure, now, you're not angered--areyou?'

"'No, I'm not angry; but I'll not be treated like a child, nor lectered, neither. Let me go, I tell you, or there'll be ill blood between us. Home I'll go, I tell you!' shouted the excited man. 'Home I'm going, _although the devil tried to stop me_;' and flinging his cousin aside asif he were a child, he rushed out of the house, and took a narrow pathwhich led down to the moonlit sea-beach. 

"About an hour after, a despairing cry at the door awakened McGrath andhis wearied household, and, opening it, they found a bruised, bloody, and literally naked man, lying senseless on the threshold. With somedifficulty they recognized the features of Mountain, and it was broaddaylight before he came to himself. His story was short, but strange. 

"'I took the path down to the beach, thinking to wade the narrow run atEel Pond, and so save a mile or two of road. It was light as day, and Iwent along well enough, though I felt sad-like, an' as if somethin' wereabout to happen me. 

"'It's an unchancy place there, near the pond, where the great san'-hillblew over the birch grove an' killed the trees; and last night, as Iwent through them, the tall, white, broken trunks seemed almost alive. Why, man, I'd have sworn that some of them had a dozen faces grinnin'and laughin', and I felt all the while as if I was a fool; for, wheneverI stopped an' looked close, there was nought but knots, an' bark, an'gnarly limbs. Still, although I'd been through them a thousan' times, Ifelt afraid, for it seemed to me as if there was somebody near me _thatI couldn't see_. 

"'Well, at last I got through the dead grove, an' came to the san'-plainwher' the ribs of the old ship are stannin', an' I got to thinkin' whatshe might hev' bin, fer none o' us know how many years she lay in thesan' before the great gale swept the san' off of her white bones. Ilooked at her close as I passed, an' although I saw nauthin' but herribs, she made me think o' a 'natomy; an' I looked all around, but sawno one, an' went down into the water, hevin' first ta'en off my shoes. 

"'The cool water did feel nice; an' as I stepped ashore, I whistled up"The Devil's Dream, " an' struck out across the beach, when, lookingback, I saw, between me an' the stream, a man who made at me withterrible ferceness. I can tell you nauthin' about him, 'cept that hisclothes were black an' strange, his face dark an' savage, an' his eyesalmost like fire. I had no doubt that he meant me harm, an' as he cam'up, I struck out wi' all my strenth. Ye mind when I hit big Jack Ready, an' thought I should have to flee the country. Well, I hit _him_ twicetas hard, an' he never stopped, but came in an' clinched. My God! I'mbreathless now wi' the squeezin' I got there. I'm afraid of no manstandin' within twenty mile, at ayther Ingin hug, collar an' ilbow, orside-hold, but I was like a child in its grip. 

"'Still I fought on, though the san' flew into the air; an' through it, like a fog, I saw the old wrack an' the dead grove, an' the fiery eyesthat glared into mine, an' I felt the grasp of a han' that seemed toburn into my hip; an' then I knew I couldn't fight fair wi' _that_. Idrew my knife an' opened it, an' three times I thrust it to the hiltinto the side o' the black man, or devil, an' he only glared at mefercer, an' took a stronger hold on my hip. Just at this moment I feltthe cool water at my feet, an' wi' one tremendous effort, I whirledmyself into the stream to fight it out there. A moment I lay on my backin the shallow stream, an' then I rose to my feet. I was alone wi'nauthin' o' what had happened, save the open knife in my han', thetrampled beach, an' my torn an' ruined clawthin'. 

"'Then I remembered that old McGregor used to say that nauthin' badcould pass runnin' water, an' I thought I'd get back to ye if I could. Iremember somethin' of tearin' through the lonely beach an' blastedwoods, of seein' more faces in the trees, an' hearin' quick footsteps onmy track, but I remember nauthin' more. Look at my hip, will you, wi'the cannle there? It hurts me awfully. '

"The candle fell from Jane's shaking hands, but was caught by herhusband before it was extinguished. 

"'As God lives, ye have spoken the truth, for there is the mark o' thedevil's grip;' and greatly to the terror of all, there appeared on thehip of the exhausted man the black imprint of a thumb and four fingers. 

"My informant told me that, fifty years later, after Mountain had raiseda large family of children, and passed a life subsequently innocent ofhis youthful excesses, the same indelible marks were left to tell of theterrible conflict of that memorable night; and none of his neighborsever doubted the literal truth of his strange story, save one. 

"That man was B. , who never undeceived Mountain, or tried to do so; butin detailing the story to my father, closed the recital thus: 'I havealways thought that he had an attack of delirium tremens, and that hefancied the assault of the goblin; for I forgot to tell you that nextmorning they followed his track, finding his shoes and fragments of hisattire on the opposite side of the run, which was torn up, with themarks of a terrible struggle and many feet. Probably he tore off his ownclothes in the fancied fight, drew his knife, struck at "an air-bornfantasy, " and was finally partially restored by falling into the water, after which he completed his exhaustion by running back to the house. '

"'Have you seen the marks?' asked my father. 

"'Yes; I saw them at the time, ' slowly answered Mr. B. 

"'Were they as described?'

"'Very like the grip of a hand; one dark impression on the back of theleft hip, and four smaller ones in a row on the front, ' said B. 

"'And how do you account for those?' asked my father. 

"Mr. B. Hesitated, and then answered candidly, 'I don't know what tothink of that myself. I have sometimes thought that a fall among themany roots and fallen trunks of trees, which then strewed that desolateplace, may have caused such injuries; but why did they remain apparentlong after discolorations of such a nature should have disappeared?Perhaps imagination may have had its effect, and made the impressionsindelible. But if there _is_ any truth in old-world stories, few placesfitter for such horrors can be found than was that drear waste of sand, destitute of all signs of man's proximity, bounded on one side by ablackened forest, on the other by the sailless sea, and containing onlythe whitened ribs of a long-forgotten wreck. None of the folk aroundhere, sir, join in my doubts as to the reality of Mountain's fight withthe devil. '"

 * * * * *

As Ben closed, a sound of sleigh-bells came up the road, and Lund openedthe door, at which appeared a light sleigh driven by one of Risk's sons. 

"You and uncle are wanted in town at once. L. Has sent you this letter, and says--" And he whispered a few words in his father's ear. 

"I came out to-night, for the ice is getting very bad, and a horse waslost crossing the North River at Duckendorff's to-day. It is freezingto-night, but the moon shows at times through the clouds, and we can gethome before one o'clock. "

An hour later, Risk and the elder Davies bade a regretful farewell totheir young companions. "I am sorry, " said the former, "that as yet wehave had no story from you, La Salle; but I hope to see you at my housein C. , and hear it there when your trip is over. Take care of yourself, and make Lund out a false prophet. Good night, captain, you oldcroaker;" and the sleigh disappeared in the shadows of theforest-covered lane which led to the beach. 

"Well, boys, " said La Salle, "the best of our evenings are over, and wemust look to boat and gun for our best sport. "

"We must have your story, though, " said Ben. 

"O, of course; but not to-night, for we have much to do to-morrow, toget our boats down for the open-water shooting. "

With this no one disagreed; and half an hour later, all were fastasleep. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

FLOAT-SHOOTING. --A GENERAL FIELD-DAY. --CHANGES OF THE ICE. 

The next morning, the boats, which were all provided with runners, weredrawn to the bar, and Carlo's sled carried, besides the lunch andammunition of the party, a dozen wooden duck decoys, weighted and roped, for open water. 

Davies and Creamer gave up their box and outfit to one-armed Peter, asthey were about to try their new paddle-boat. She was duly launched, andBen placed himself forward, between the paddle-boxes, ready to do thesteering and shooting, while Creamer acted as the motive power, transmitted by a belt and pulleys. Although somewhat high out of water, she moved off easily, and made little noise when running slowly; andtaking the first of the ebb, the pair moved eastward into the openingice. 

George and Ben Lund, in their new-fashioned centre-wheel, made poorerprogress, but hurried out "to get ahead of the skimmin'-dish, " as theystyled La Salle's light, shallow craft. He let them go, and stationingGeorge and Regnar in the ice-boat, put out his floating decoys in thenearest waters, and, cutting slabs of ice, built a high wall around hisown boat, which he drew up on the ice. Carlo incontinently plunged intothe straw under the half-deck of the larger boat, and soon all was readyfor the expected birds. 

Meanwhile, upon the stranded berg which lay immovable off the southernface of the island, gathered the new comers, whose Bacchanal approachhas of late been chronicled. Had they had any outfit of decoys, andknown how to use them, they could not but have had good sport; and evenas it was, so many birds passed and repassed them, that a good shotcould not have failed to secure at least a few ducks. But, howeverunfortunate in securing any trophies, they failed not in the weight orconstancy of their fire. 

Not a flock passed within a quarter of a mile but received a volley; nota loon that showed his distant head above water but went down under thefire of a platoon; and not a frightened duck darted overhead but heardthe air behind him torn with whistling shot enough to have exterminatedhis whole tribe. 

From time to time a lull in the storm would occur, and then peals oflaughter would come across the intervening waters; and looking up, theirritated sportsmen generally beheld a tableau of invertedpocket-flasks, and feats of strength with a rapidly lightening ale-keg. But, although our friends bore the proximity of these city gunners withgreat patience for a while, an event soon occurred which brought mattersto a focus. 

A flock of geese were seen approaching from the eastward, and La Salle, cautioning the boys, crouched down in his boat and "called. " Peterfollowed suit, and so did the party on the bergs. The flock swung withina hundred yards of Peter, who held his fire, and then, seeing thefloating decoys, swung round to leeward of them, and setting theirwings, scaled slowly in, passing within about two hundred and fiftyyards of the party on the berg. 

Of course they opened fire at once, with shot of all sorts and sizes, doing no execution but sending a bullet from one of their guns straightover the heads of La Salle and his friends. A flock or two of ducks andbrent made similar attempts to alight, but every shot was spoiled in thesame way. 

La Salle was indignant, and the boys were at a white heat, when, withoutany birds being between them, the report of a heavily charged gun washeard, and a few heavy shot struck the ice near the boats, while thedrunken crowd yelled in triumph as the water, by its ripples, showed thegreat distance attained by the shot. 

"I'll shoot, too, the next chance, and so may you, boys. Elevate well, and fire when the birds are between us and the berg, " said La Salle. 

It was not long before three geese attempted to scale in as the othershad done, and were fired at as before, the bullet this time striking thewater in line of the boat, and whistling a few feet above it. The birds, somewhat frightened, got within a hundred yards before swinging off, andall three discharged their large shot simultaneously. A single goosefell with a broken wing, and Carlo, springing out of the boat, plungedinto the water. Charley watched the effect of his shot on the party onthe berg. One stood just then in bold relief against the distanthorizon, displaying the broader part of his physique to view whiletaking an observation with a brandy-bottle. Suddenly a faint yell washeard, the bottle dropped on the berg, the hands that had held itfrantically clutched at the coat-tails of the victim, and an agonized_pas seul_ told that the "Baby" had well avenged the wrongs of herowner. 

Half an hour later, the party had evacuated their position, bag andbaggage, "carrying their wounded, " who, from the stern-sheets of theirboat, shook his fist in savage pantomime at the innocent La Salle andhis amused companions. Some weeks later he learned that a single largeshot had, without piercing the cloth, raised a contusion about the sizeof a pigeon's egg, on muscles whose comfort, for a fortnight after, emphatically tabooed the use of chairs, and made a feather bed anindispensable adjunct to repose. 

After a long chase Carlo secured his bird, and swimming to the nearestshore, ran around the edge of the ice, in a way which showed hisappreciation of the difference between running, and swimming against afive-knot tide. Securing the bird, he was allowed to shake himself, andwas then called into the boat, from which a good lookout was kept, asthere now existed some chance for good management and skilful shooting. 

The first victims were a flock of black ducks, which with the usualreadiness to decoy of these birds, had flown in and lit among the decoysbefore La Salle could warn his boys, who had their backs turned at thetime. They managed, however, to hear him, and poured in a sharp volley, killing four in the water, while La Salle picked a brace out on thewing. 

Regnar, who had a breech-loader, got ready in time to kill a brace ofMoniac duck out of a flock which swept past uttering their singularlydesolate call of "Ouac-a-wee, ouac-a-wee!" and by the time these birdswere retrieved, several faint reports to the eastward were heard, and avast cloud of geese of both kinds rose just above the floating ice, andswept up towards the bar. Most of these settled down among the floes;but one large flock of brent swept over Peter, in answer to his almostperfect calling. The leaders of the flock were in the very act ofalighting when he fired, and a dozen, at least, lay dead when the whitesmoke of his volley cleared away. 

"I must have one turn with my float, " said La Salle, after the three hadtaken lunch and had their share of a pint of hot, strong coffeeprepared in the Crimean lantern. "The tide will soon turn, and I shallwork out into the ice and come up with it. You, boys, must look out forthe flying birds, and take in the floating decoys before they arecrushed or lost. "

Launching the light boat, he fitted his rowlocks, and with a light pairof sculls rowed for an hour out into the Gulf, taking care to keep wellto the eastward. At the end of that time he unshipped his sculls, tookin his rowlocks, fitted his sculling-oar into its muffled aperture, andgetting himself comfortably settled, grasped his oar with his left hand, and with his eyes just peering over the gunwale, let the light boatdrift with the returning tide, and its fantastic burden of water-worncongelations. 

He had not floated two hundred yards, before a change of the icerevealed a small flock of seven geese, quietly feeding along the borderof a low piece of field ice. Cocking his gun and laying it ready tohand, La Salle drifted nearer and nearer, keeping barely enough headwayto steer her, bow on. The gander, a noble bird, suddenly raised his headto gaze at the advancing boat. All the rest instantly raised theirsready for immediate flight. The anxious sportsman lay motionless, ceasing the play of his scull, and the birds, gradually relaxing theirnecks, turned and swam rapidly away. 

Still, La Salle tried not to pursue, and the gander, finding that theboat did not get any nearer, stopped, looked, started, stopped, andwent to feeding again, followed in all things, of course, by hiscompanions. Then the delicate oar began its noiseless sweep, andgradually the sharp prow crept nearer, passing, one by one, sluggishfloes and fantastic pinnacles, until again the wary leader raised hishead as if in perplexity and doubt. There, to be sure, was the bit ofice he had taken fright at before, nearer than ever; but it floated asharmlessly as the cake just beside it, from whose edges he had gleanedrootlets of young and tender eel-grass not half an hour ago. So the poorovermatched bird doubtless argued; and ashamed of his fears, which werebut too well founded, and doubtful of his instincts, which he shouldhave trusted, the gander turned again to the little eddy of sea-wrackamid which, with soft guttural love-calls, he summoned his harem to manya dainty morsel. 

Triumphantly shone the deadly eye which glittered beneath the snowy cap;noiselessly swung the ashen oar, and as unerringly set as Destiny, andremorseless as Death, the knife-like bow slid through the black waters. One hundred, ninety, eighty, seventy, fifty, forty yards only, dividethe doomed birds from the boat, and the white gunwale is hidden fromtheir view by the interposition of the very floe along whose edge theyare feeding. Steadily La Salle drives the prow gently against the ice, then drops his oar, and grasps his heavy gun. He hazards a glance: thebirds, scarce thirty yards away, are unsuspectingly feeding in a closebody; he rises to a sitting posture, raises his gun, and whistlesshrilly and long. Instantly the birds raise their heads, gatheringaround their leader. Bang! The thunder-roll of the report, reverberatingamid the ice, is the death-sentence of the flock. Not one escaped; thedistance was too short, the aim too sure, the charge of _mitraille_ tooclose and heavy. 

[Illustration]

A flying shot at a flock of eider duck added a male, with snowy crest, and three plump, brown females; and a successful approach to a smallflock of brent made up fifteen birds under the half-deck of the littlecraft. It was almost dark when, with little time to spare, La Salle cameflying through the fast-coming ice, and dashed across the narrow lane ofwater, between the immovable covering of the bar, and the advancing, tide-borne ice-islands. 

The boys had just drawn in their decoys, and loaded their sled with thebirds taken from the boat, besides three geese and a brent, which theyhad shot during his absence. The other boats had already landed, andbeen drawn in far up on the ice. Regnar did not know if the centre-wheelhad got anything, but Davies and Creamer had four geese, five brent, anda black duck. Peter had gone home with a sled-load of fowl, and, inshort, the day had been generally satisfactory all round. 

That night, however, all were tired, wet, and half blind with theceaseless glare of the each-day-warmer sun; nor did any care to spend inlistening to idle tales, the hours which might better be given to sleep. Such, for more than a week longer, was their experience, varied only bya few brief frosts, during which, however, the hot coffee made in theirlantern-stove was unanimously voted "just the thing. "

"Snow-blindness" set in, and Ben had once or twice to leave the ice;while George Waring experienced several attacks, and had a linen clothfull of pulverized clay--the best application known--kept in the boatfor emergencies. 

By the middle of the next week, a narrow channel had opened up to thecity; and Creamer and Davies, piling their decoys beside their desertedbox, and leaving Lund to haul them to the shelter of his woods, took thefirst flood, and paddled briskly homeward, leaving Indian Peter and LaSalle in the latter's stand; while Regnar, who had become a proficientwith the small boat, struck out for the broken ice lying to the east. 

"Good by, Charley; when shall I tell them to expect you?" said Ben, ashe started his wheels, and the boat, heavily laden with fowl, movednorthward. 

"O, at the end of the week, at farthest. Much obliged to you for takingthose birds. I'll have a load Saturday. Good by. "

"Good by, " said Hughie and Ben, once more; and then they bent to theirtask, churning into foam the rippleless surface, which bore them on itsswift but unnoticeable tide towards home, leaving behind their comrade, his savage companion, and their boyish associates, to experienceadventures without parallel in all the strange hunting-lore of thosenorthern seas. 

CHAPTER IX. 

ADRIFT. 

About midday, Captain Lund drove down on the ice to draw up the boatowned by his sons; after which he was to return a second time for thedecoys and shooting-box of the homeward-bound sportsmen. The floe wasfast wasting under the April sun, and his horses' iron-shod hoofs sankdeep into the snow-ice, which the night-frosts had left at morn as hardas flint. 

He drove with his habitual caution, sounding more than one suspiciousplace with the axe, and at last came to a long tide-crack, through whichthe open water showed clear, and which seemed to divide the floe as faras the eye could reach. 

"I come none too soon, " said the deliberate pilot; "and I must warn LaSalle not to trust his boat here another night. "

"Well, captain, what think you of the weather?" asked La Salle, as theshaggy pony and rough sled halted near the boat. 

"It looks a little cloudy, but I guess nothing more than a fog may beexpected to-night. You had better have your boat ready to get ashoreright away; for the ice, though heavy enough, is full of cracks, andwill go off with the first northerly gale which comes with the ebb. "

"Well, I'll be getting the boat clear of the ice, and you may come forus the last of all. "

And Lund, driving down the bar to his own boat, left La Salle busily atwork, with axe and shovel, clearing away the well-packed ice which hadfor the last three weeks concealed the sides of the goose-boat. 

By the time that Lund had hooked on to his own boat and driven up again, a large heap of ice and snow had been thrown out; but the runners wereevidently frozen down, and the boat was immovable. 

"I shan't have her clear until you get through with Davies's outfit; butI guess we shall be ready for you then. "

Lund drove on, dragging the heavy boat up to the beach, and thenconcluded to haul it up the bank, above the reach of the increasingtides, and the danger of being crushed by the ice. As he cast off herrope, he felt a snow-flake on the back of his hand. Before he reachedthe ice, they were falling thick and noiselessly. 

"I must hurry; for there's no time to lose. The tide is just at itsturn; and if the wind comes from the north, the boys will be adrift. Come; get up, Lightfoot. G'lang! Whoop! Go it!"

Already the rising wind began to whirl the thick-falling flakes insmothering wreaths, and Lund groaned in spirit as, following the tracksof his last trip, the stanch little horse galloped down the ice. 

"I am afraid this is the end of my vision; for the ice won't be long inbreaking up now, and those boys are out in that d--n little craft. "

And Lund in his perturbation swore and cursed after the manner of"sailor-men" generally; that is, when they most need to pray. 

Suddenly the little horse hesitated, relaxed into a trot, snorted, reared, and stopped, wheeling half around, with the sleigh-runnersdiagonally across the half-effaced track, which came to an unexpectedstop. Lund saw at once that another rod would have plunged horse and maninto the Gulf; the ice-fields had parted, and the boats and theiroccupants were floating away at the mercy of the winds and waves. 

"Let's see, " said Lund; "the wind is nor'-east, and the tide will setthem in some, too. So, if the gale does not shift, that'll carry thempast McQuarrie's Point, and I'll hail them then, and let them know wherethey are. God grant that they've got the boat clear; for once away fromthe lee of the island, their craft would never find land in such asquall as this. Come, Lightfoot, " he added, as he sprang upon the sled, and brought his leathern reins smartly across the animal's back, "there's four lives on our speed; so go your fastest, poor fellow! andGod help that we may not be too late. "

Meanwhile La Salle and Peter had viewed with no little anxiety thesudden overclouding of the sky, or rather the heavy curtain of vaporwhich seemed to descend mysteriously from the zenith, rather than togather from beyond the horizon. 

"I no like snow; wind no good this time; tide too high. Spose Lund come, must get boat across crack yonder any way. "

And the one-armed hunter plied the light axe with a haste which showedno small amount of anxiety. 

The boat was soon clear, but the snow was falling so fast that theycould scarcely see to windward at all, and no part of the land wasvisible. Again the Indian spoke, and a new cause of anxiety was stated. 

"Where sposum boys this time? See boat little hile ago. No see any now. They no see hice. Spose shootum big gun call them hin?"

La Salle took the heavy piece, and was about to discharge it to leeward, when, from the very air above their heads, a voice seemed to call onthem by name, "La Salle, Charley, Peter, ahoy!"

La Salle dropped the butt of his gun, and listened. Again the voicesounded apparently nearer than before. "Charley, Peter, ahoy!"

"That voice ole man Lund. I know it; but what for sposum voice there?Then track go that way. Ole man lose way, spose. "

"Perhaps he has fallen in, Peter. Come, let's go. "

And catching a rope near him, and forgetting to lay down the cumbrousgun, Charley ran towards the incessant and evidently-agonized cries, Peter following with an axe and a light fish-spear. 

Scarcely had the runners gone a hundred yards before they stopped indismay. At their feet the ice-field ended abruptly, and scarce a hundredyards away rose a wall of red sandstone, on whose summit stood Lund, peering down into the whirl of snow-flakes. His quick eye espied them, and he shouted his last advice. 

"Launch your boat at once; don't wait. Keep under the lee. Don't try tosave anything but your lives. Keep the wind at your backs in rowing, andmind the set of the tide eastward. "

"Ay, ay! I understand. We're waiting for the boys!" shouted La Salle. 

"I can't hear a word, " called out Lund across the rapidly-increasingspace. 

"Give me that spear, Peter, " said La Salle. 

And snapping off the tiny barbs, he drew from his pocket a pencil, andwrote as follows on the slender rod of white maple:--

 "We know our danger, but have no oars; for the boys have not returned. Unless they do so soon, shall stick to the ice until the weather clears. Look for us along the coast if the storm lasts. 

 "Love to all. LA SALLE. "

Holding up the rod to be seen by Lund, he placed it in the muzzle of hispiece, and motioned to the captain to watch its flight. The pilotstepped behind a tree, and La Salle aimed at the face of a largesnow-drift near him. The report echoed amid the broken ledges, the longwhite arrow sped through the air, and stuck in the snow close to thetree. Lund picked it up, and bent over it a moment; then bowed his head, as if assuring them of his approval of its contents. 

Already the floe had moved into rough water, and the short waves raisedby the increasing gale began to throw their spray far up on the ice. Thesnow-squall gathered fury, and La Salle, waving his hand, pointedheavenward, while Peter, knowing but too well the danger of theirposition, sank on his knees, and began the simple prayers of his faith. Lund saw them fade from view into the sleety veil that hid the waste ofwaters, and groaning in spirit, turned homeward. 

"In half an hour no boat on the island can reach them, even if men couldbe found to face certain death in a snow-storm out on the open Gulf. "

Peter rose to his feet, apparently almost hopeless. 

"Good by, Saint Peter's! Good by, Trois Lieues' Creek! Good by, Lund!Poor Peter no more shootum wild goose here. "

"Come, Peter, don't give it up so, " said La Salle. "We must find theboys and get their oars and boat, and then well try and see what we cando to get ashore. "

Peter's eyes brightened a little, and walking around the edge of thefloe, they came, in the course of twenty minutes, to the boys, snuglyseated under their inverted boat, in a hollow of a large berg, which, until that day, had never floated with the tide. 

"Come, boys, this won't do. We're adrift, and getting well out into theGulf. Turn over your boat, put everything into her, and let's try whatwe can do with the big boat. "

In desperate haste the four took down the light craft, threw in the oarsand guns, and dashed across the quarter of a mile which lay between themand the windward side of the ice. In about five minutes they reached thelarge boat; but all saw at a glance that little less than a miracle wasneeded to carry them safe ashore. 

The snow was falling thick and fast, the wind driving it in eddyingclouds, and amid it could be seen at times the white caps of theincreasing surges as they broke on the edge of the floe. It was evidentthat it would be madness to attempt to leave their present position; yetall stood silent a moment, as if unwilling to be the first to confessthe painful truth. 

At last La Salle broke the silence. "It's no use, boys; we must stayhere all night. And first, let's get both boats down to the berg, forthis floe may go to pieces any time; but that is all of twenty feetthick, and will stand a good deal yet. Come, pile in the decoys andtools, and let's get under cover as soon as we can. "

The decoys of iron and wood, and even those of fir-twigs, of which theyhad added some three dozen, were piled into the boats, and taking holdat the painter of the largest, they soon trundled the heavy load to thethickest part of the field. 

"Sposum we get Davies's box and 'coys too. Then we makum camp, haveplenty wood too. Spose field break up, loosem sartin, " said Peter. 

"You're right. Come, boys. We don't know how long we may be on thisice-field, and we shall need all the shelter we can get, and fuel too. "

It was nearly an hour before they found the box and its pile of decoys, but the box had been furnished with rude runners, and being alreadyclear of the ice, there was no delay in what was evidently becoming adangerous proximity to the sea; for that edge of the ice was alreadybreaking up, as the rollers broke over it, bearing it down with theweight of water. Sunset must have been close at hand when the partyarrived, wet, weary, and almost despairing, at the berg. 

"Now, boys, " said La Salle, "we must build our house at once, for no onecan tell how long this storm may last. Luckily we have two shovels andtwo axes. Peter and I will cut away the ice, and you two will pile upfragments, and clear away the snow and rubbish. "

Choosing a crater-like depression on the summit of the berg, La Sallelaid out a parallelogram about eight feet square, and motioning toPeter, proceeded to sink a square shaft into the solid ice, which, atfirst a little spongy, rapidly became hard and flinty. Aided by thenatural shape of the berg, in the course of an hour a cavity had beencleared out to the depth of about six feet. Over this was inverted thebox belonging to Davies, and this was kept in place by fragments of icepiled around and over it, after which the interstices were filled withwet snow, and the whole patted into a firm, impermeable mound. 

On the leeward side the wall had been purposely left thin, and throughthis a narrow door, about three feet high, was cut into the excavation. Lighting his lantern, La Salle stepped inside, finding himself in agloomy but warm room, about nine feet high in the walls, and eight feetsquare. Taking the dryest of the fir decoys, he cut the cords whichbound them together, and laying the icy branches of their outer coveringon the bare ice, soon formed a non-conducting carpet of fir-twigs, ofwhich the upper layers were nearly dry. 

The whole party then entered, carefully brushing from their clothes andboots as much of the snow as possible, and, seating themselves, for thefirst time rested from incessant exertion amid the furious peltings of adriving north-east snow-storm. 

La Salle motioned to the rest to place their guns in a nook near thedoor, and taking the boiler of the lantern, filled it with snow, andplaced it above the flame. Regnar, noticing this, went out and broughtin the rude chest containing the remnants of their little stock ofcoffee, and the basket with what was left of the day's lunch. 

In the former were found a few matches, about a half pound of coffee, perhaps a pound of sugar, a box and a half of sardines, and two or threedozen ship's hard-bread. In the basket were left several slices ofbread, a junk of corned beef weighing about two pounds, and some applesand doughnuts. 

In a short time the tiny boiler, which held about a pint, was full ofboiling water, to which La Salle added some coffee, and soon each had asmall but refreshing draught, which helped wonderfully to restore theirusual warmth and vigor of circulation. From the lunch-basket, whosecontents had remained untouched all day, a slight meal was taken, andthen the remainder of the provisions put carefully away, although asecond cup of coffee was left preparing in the lantern for possiblecontingencies. 

La Salle looked at his watch--it was nearly eight o'clock. 

"We are now well down off Point Prime, and are probably under the lee ofother ice, as we no longer feel the tossing of the sea. The boats areall ready for use, but it is not likely we shall need them to-night, unless, indeed--Let us hold a council of war, and decide at once on ourcourse of action. "

[Illustration: ]

CHAPTER X. 

THE COUNCIL. --PASSING THE CAPE. 

Drawing his coat tightly around him, La Salle first drew aside therubber blanket which had been hung up for a door, and crawled out intothe storm. The snow still fell heavily, but although the wind blew veryhard, few drifts were formed, owing to the wet and heavy nature of thelarge, soft flakes, although at times a flurry of sharp, stinging hailrattled against the boats and the roof of the ice-chamber. 

As nearly as he could judge, the wind was north-east, or perhaps a pointor two south of that, for at times there came warmer gusts, as if thewind veered to a milder quarter. The roar of the sea could be plainlyheard, but evidently far up to windward, and there was little doubt thatthey need have no apprehensions from that source at present. 

Re-entering he found his friends anxiously awaiting his report on theaspect of things outside, and he plunged at once into the gist of thematter before them. 

"I see no reason to expect any change in our situation until the tideturns, which will be in about an hour. I can notice no change in thewind, nor do I think we have shifted our relative position to itscourse. Should the storm decrease towards morning, we shall probablyfind ourselves up the straits, in the vicinity of the capes. Only onedanger can possibly assail us, and that is being ground to pieces on theNew Brunswick shore. We must keep a watch to-night, commencing at abouttwelve o'clock. Regnar, will you keep the first watch of an hour and ahalf, and then call me?"

"Yes, sir; all right. I wake any time, and I know what 'nip' means. Wemust not get caught napping if that happens. "

"Can't we get ashore and off of this horrid floe, if we strike on theother shore?" asked Waring, a little dolorously. 

"I'm afraid not, my dear George. The straits here, nearly thirty mileswide, converge to about twelve at the capes; and this terrible gale, although we feel it scarcely at all in the heart of this berg, willdrive us with the rising ebb, at a velocity little less than ten milesan hour, through that narrow, choked pass, bordered by the ice-cliffswhich form, on the shallows every winter, to the height of from ten totwenty feet above the water. "

"Should this berg be driven against the verge of these immovable cliffs, our only resource will be to take to our boats and retreat farther offon the floes; for a single mishap in crossing the terrible chasm whichborders the irresistible course of this great ice-stream, would consignus all to irremediable destruction. I propose that we thank God for hismercies thus far, and implore his aid in the future. Then we may liedown secure in His protection, and gather new strength for whatever maybe before us. "

Thus saying, La Salle knelt, and in solemn but unfaltering tonesrepeated the short but inimitable prayer which embodies the needs ofevery petitioner. Peter crossed himself at the close, and broke out, --

"I feel 'fraid, all time till now. I hear Lund see ghost. I think wenever get back. Now I feel sure all go right, and I worry like woman nomore. "

"Thank you, Peter. I shall depend on good service from you; and I maysay that I have little doubt of landing somewhere to-morrow, if theweather clears so that we can see. Come, Regnie, get the rest of thosedry decoys out of the boat, and we'll turn in for two or three hours, when you must take the first watch. "

Regnar brought in about twenty bundles more of fir-twigs, which werepiled against the wall so as to form a kind of slanting pillow, againstwhich the party might rest their backs and heads in a half-sittingposture, without being chilled by the ice-wall of their narrowdormitory. Waring drew his seal-skin cap over his ears, turned up hiswide coat-collar of the same costly fur, and placed himself next toPeter, who, as the worst clad of the party, wrapped himself in his dingyblanket, and seated himself at the back of the hut. Regnar, in hisCanadian capote, was next, and La Salle with difficulty found roombetween himself and the door for his faithful dog, whose natural warmthhad already dried his long fur, and made him a very welcome bed-fellowunder such circumstances. Thus disposed, it was not long before they allfell asleep; and at twelve o'clock, La Salle, only half awake, gaveRegnar his watch, and saw the resolute boy go out into the storm tocommence his lonely vigil. 

Scarcely feeling that he had more than got fairly to sleep again, he wasagain awakened by Regnar, who said in a low voice, "'Tis two o'clock, master; but I would not waken you if I did not think that the floe hasshifted sides, for we are no longer under a lee. I hear too, at times, cracking and grinding of the ice, and I think we are not far fromshore. "

La Salle hurriedly went out. The wind blew into his very teeth, as heemerged from the narrow door; but it seemed no warmer or colder, and thesnow fell much the same as before. Near them, through the storm, anotherberg of equal height with their own seemed to appear at times, and thecrash of falling and breaking ice arose on all sides. Still, for an hournothing could be seen, until between three and four the snow gave placeto a sleety rain, and the watchers saw that they were passing withfrightful rapidity a line of jagged ice-cliffs, not two hundred yardsaway. La Salle called his companions, and they watched for nearly anhour in constant expectation of having to take to their boat. 

The pressure was tremendous, and on every side floes heaped up theirdebris on each other, and pinnacles forced into collision were groundinto common ruin. Now shut out from view in darkness and storm, and nowclose at hand in the multitudinous shiftings of the ice, the immovableand gigantic buttresses of the ice-pool ground into powder acres oflevel floe, and bergs containing hundreds of thousands of tons of ice. Along that terrible line of impact rolled and heaved a chaos of mealysludge and gigantic fragments, while from time to time a mass of manytons would be thrown, like a child's plaything, high up amid the debrisalready heaped along the inaccessible shore. Half a dozen times thestartled voyagers seized their boat to drag her down from the berg, asthe shore-ice gnawed into the sides of their narrowing ice-field. 

At last a move appeared inevitable. The distance between their refugeand the shore was less than fifty yards, and in the gray of the morningthey saw castle after castle crushed off by this fearful attrition, while high above their heads rose the ruin-strewed and inhospitableice-foot. 

"Stand by, lads, to move the boats, when I give the word. Look, Regnar!What is that above the cliff?"

"That a light-house, I think. Guess that on Cape Torment. No light therein winter; not many vessels here then. "

"Yes, we are passing the capes, and not a mile distant is the hostelryof Tom Allan. Well, we can't land, that's certain; and as we can't, Ihope we shall soon get into a wider channel. How the trees fly past! Ah, here the pressure lessens; we shall soon be above the narrows, and ifthe tide only serves--Good Heaven! what is that?"

An eddy seemed to catch the floe as he spoke, and whirling like a top, it brought between it and the shore a fantastically-shaped berg, atleast twenty-five feet high. The "nip" was but momentary; but the loftyshaft and its floating base cracked like a mirror, the huge fabric fellinto ruins, and one of its pieces, striking the smaller boat, crushed itinto utter uselessness. 

La Salle viewed the wreck of his little bark ruefully a moment. 

"Well, the worst is over, and we are fortunate in losing so little, forit might have struck the larger boat, and that would have been indeed aloss. Come, boys, we have passed Cape Torment; let us pick some of thosebirds and get breakfast, for we shan't land this day, with an easterlygale hurrying the ice-pack thus to the north-west. "

CHAPTER XI. 

TAKING AN INVENTORY. --SETTING UP THE STOVE. 

Peter was already picking a dead goose, and Regnar and Waring were aboutto follow his example, when La Salle interposed. 

"Let us skin the birds, for it may be that we shall be unable to landfor several days, and if so, we shall need all the covering we can get, for this thaw is sure to be followed by a severe frost or two. "

"Sposum tide turn, ice lun down to capes, then get ashore, " said Peter, confidently. 

La Salle drew out his watch. 

"It was high tide at four o'clock, and it is now nearly seven. Peter, just climb to the top of the berg, and see how we drift. "

Peter dropped his half-picked bird, ascended with eager agility, linedanother projection of the floe with some object on the New Brunswickshore, seemed puzzled, looked more carefully, and then slowly descended, apparently sad and disheartened. 

"Well, Peter, how is it?" said La Salle, cheerfully. 

"No good; ice lun north-west, against tide; no get ashore to-day, " wasthe reluctant answer. 

Regnar seemed little surprised, but Waring turned almost white withanxiety and disappointment. 

"I thought as much, " said La Salle, quietly. "With such a gale as this, the tide, whose rise and fall does not average four feet on this coast, often seems to run in one direction, and even to remain at flood for aday or two; but even if it did fall, this floe carries sail enough withthis wind to make from two to three miles an hour against it. We shallprobably have easterly and southerly winds until to-morrow, and must nowbe well up to Cape Bauld, and about mid-channel, say twelve miles fromshore. "

"Why not try land, then, with the boat? We four could surely make twelvemile in the course of the day, " asked Regnar, somewhat impatiently forhim. 

"How deep is the snow and slush now, Regnie?" asked the leader of thelittle party, calmly. 

"'Bout knee-deep on level ice, " said the boy. 

"Come up here, all of you, " said La Salle, ascending the lookout. 

The three followed, and found themselves scarcely able to stand attimes, when a fiercer blast than usual swept up the strait, howlingthrough the tortuous and intricate ravines and valleys of theice-fields. 

"Can we cross such a place as that?" asked La Salle, pointing to wherean edge of a large ice-field, suddenly lifted by the wedge-like brink ofanother, began a majestic and resistless encroachment, with theincalculable power communicated by the vast weight pressing behind it. 

A body of ice, at least a yard in thickness, ran up a steep ascent offive or six feet, broke with its own weight, pressed on again up thesteeper incline, broke again, and so continued to ascend and break offuntil a ridge a score of feet high, crested with glittering fragments ofbroken ice, interrupted the passage between the two floes. 

Regnar was silent, and then said, resolutely, --

"We can try, at least. "

"Well said, Regnie, " cried La Salle; "but look again yonder. " He pointedto a small lead of open water bounded with abrupt shores, which weresurrounded with rounded balls and water-worn fragments of ice. A berg, losing its balance, fell with a loud splash, sank, and came to thesurface with a bound, covering the water with wet snow and the ruins ofthe shattered pinnacles. "Can we also pass the heavy drags of thedrifted snow, the baffling resistance of floating sludge, and suchdangers as that?"

Turning, he descended under the lee of the shelter, where he was soonfollowed by the rest. 

"What spose we do, then?" asked Peter. "We stay this place to die ofcold and hunger?"

"Peter, I'm ashamed of you, " said La Salle. "Die, do you say, when wehave food, shelter, fire, and covering? We must, indeed, stay here untilthe winds and sea give us a better chance to escape to the shore. Meanwhile let us try to make ourselves comfortable. "

Accordingly the birds--six geese and eight brent--were divested of theirskins, which furnished patches of warm covering, of from two to foursquare feet. The sinews of the legs were divided into threads, and, using a small sail-needle which he carried to clean the tube of his gun, La Salle proceeded to show Waring how to make a large robe, placing thelarger skins in the middle, and forming a border of the smaller ones. 

Meanwhile Regnar had cleared the snow from a space about twelve feetsquare in front of the door, and, with fragments of ice, cemented withwet snow, formed a walled enclosure which kept off the wind; and Peter, splitting two or three of the wooden decoys, soon built a fire, overwhich a pair of geese, spitted on sticks, were narrowly watched andsedulously turned, while La Salle made a cup of his carefully-treasuredcoffee. 

As they sat eating their rude meal, Regnar broke the silence; for it maywell be believed that no great hilarity pervaded the little party. 

"As we not know how long we may be adrift, I think we better take'count stock. See how much wood, provisions, powder, shot, everyting. "

"You are right, Regnie; we will set to work at once. I can tell how muchfood we have now. We have a little bread, coffee, sugar, and a tin ofsardines, which I think we had better reserve for possible emergencies, also six candles, which we must not waste. I have a pound canister ofpowder untouched, and nearly half a pound more in my flask, with aboutfive pounds of shot, and three dozen shot-cartridges of different sizes, say sixty charges in all. Besides that, my rifle lies in the boat, loaded, with a small bag of bullets, and a quarter-pound flask of riflepowder. "

"I, " said Waring, "have thirty cartridges for my breech-loader, and afew of the caps for them, in a box in my pocket. "

"I have nearly a pound powder, some wads, caps, and 'bout two pounds ofshot left, " said Regnar. 

"Spose I got half pound powder in old horn, box caps mos' full, an' treepoun' goose shot, " said Peter. 

"We have, then, somewhere between one hundred and fifty and two hundredrounds of ammunition, and provisions for a week, allowing ourselves noaddition to the present stock. Count the decoys, Regnie, while I look upour tools, &c. "

Regnie reported forty wooden decoys, twelve of sheet iron, eight of corkand canvas, and twelve wooden duck decoys. Besides these, there werestill untouched a dozen bunches of fir and spruce twigs, like those usedin covering the floor of the ice-hut. In addition to these, La Sallefound one large boat, the broken smaller one, a pair of oars, a pair ofrowlocks, a short boat-hook, baler, two lead-lines and leads, twoshovels, and two axes. 

"We are well provided for a week of such weather as this, and have onlyto fear a sudden change to extreme cold. I therefore think the firstthing for us to do, is to finish our feather quilt, enlarge our hut, andget up a stove as soon as possible. "

A general expression of incredulity showed itself on the faces of thetrio, which La Salle evidently interpreted rightly, and thereforehastened to explain himself. 

"Of course we must first make our stove. "

"Why, Charley, what on earth can we make our stove of?" said Waring. 

"Sheet iron, of course. "

"But where is the sheet iron to come from? We haven't any here--havewe?"

"Ah, I know twelve decoys sheet-iron, only they painted. "

"Yes, Regnie, you have guessed it. Those decoys are about as good sheetiron as is made, and we can burn the paint off, I guess. Five of themwill furnish a cylinder, conical stove, fifteen inches diameter, and asmany high, and five more will give us about seven feet of two and ahalf-inch stove-pipe. Bring in the decoys and axes, and we'll get it upat once. "

"Come on, boys, " said Waring, whose spirits had risen perceptibly sincebreakfast. "We'll have a hotel here yet, and supply passengers by themail-boat with hot dinners. "

"Sposum me have knife, I help you. Leave _waghon_ home yesterday for_h_ould woman make baskets, " said Peter, ruefully. 

"I guess we shall manage with the axes, although we need a knife likeyour Indian draw-knife. Reach me a large decoy, and the heaviest ofthose cod-leads. "

La Salle had already "laid out" with the point of his penknife the shapeof one of the sections of his proposed stove upon one of the decoys fromwhich Regnar had already removed the iron leg, which was about sixinches long, sharp pointed, and intended to be driven into the ice. Eachsection was twenty inches long, eight and a half inches wide at thelower end, and two and a half at the upper; and luckily the outline ofthe goose gave very nearly this shape, with little trimming, which waseffected by laying the iron on the lead, applying the edge of thesmaller axe as a chisel, and striking on its head with the large. Thelaps were then "turned" over the edge of an axe with a billet of woodcut from the old cross-bars of Davies's shooting-box, which were youngash saplings. Then the pieces were put together, the laps solidlybeaten down, and despite a little irregularity of shape, the job wasnot a bad one. 

Five other decoys furnished as many parallelograms of seventeen by eightand a half, which made good two and three quarter inch pipe, andafforded nearly seven feet in length when affixed to the cylinder. 

It was nearly four o'clock when the work was thus far completed. 

"If we only had a flat stone to set it on, " said Waring. 

"I should not despair of that even, " said La Salle, "if we dared lookaround on some of the older floes; but we shall have to do without onefor a day or two, I think. "

"Peter make glate, three, two minutes, only glate burn up every day ortwo;" and hastening out, he returned with a very large decoy, which, onaccount of its portentous size, had been made the leader of the "set"when arranged on the ice. 

With the axe he broke off the head, and then taking six of the ten ironlegs, he drove them two or three inches deep into the tough spruce log, until the spikes surrounded it like the points of a crown. La Salle hadre-riveted the four others at equal distances around the base of thestove, while Regnar had removed a part of the snow on the roof, and, cutting a large aperture through the bottom of the inverted box, nailedover it the eleventh decoy, through which a roughly-cut hole gaveadmittance to the chimney. 

The fir-branches were then removed to the yard, and covered from thestill falling rain with the rubber blanket, while all hands joined inenlarging their quarters. The ice was singularly hard and clear, andcontained no cracks or other sources of weakness. By sunset the lowerpart of the hut was enlarged from eight feet square to twelve feetdiameter, a circular shape being given to the excavation, so that acontinuous berth, about two feet wide and a yard high, ran completelyaround the floor of the hut, or rather to within about four feet of thedoor on either side. The fir-twigs were replaced in the berths andaround the floor, leaving a bare space of nearly four feet diameter inthe centre. Here a slight hollow was made, to contain the novel grate, and the stove was placed in position over it. 

Waring brought in a shovelful of embers from the dying fire outside, under whose ashes a goose, swathed in sea-weed, was preparing forsupper, and Peter followed him with some small chunks of wood. The stove"drew" beautifully, and but one drawback could be discovered--it madethe atmosphere within too warm for comfort, at the then temperature. "Nomatter that, " said Peter, prophetically; "we glad see plenty fire hereto-morrow night. "

It was nearly midnight when the four ate supper and gave the fragmentsto their faithful dog. Before sleeping, La Salle stepped outside thehut. The wind had lessened greatly, but still blew mildly warm from asoutherly direction. "We must now be somewhere off Shediac, but I see noopen water, and the pack is as close as ever. We shan't get down to thecapes with this wind, and to-morrow at this time, if the wind holds, weshall be up to Point Escumenac. I don't care to think what next; but if, as Peter says, we are to have cold, westerly weather, we must move offinto the open Gulf and then--Well, we shall endure what it pleases Godto send us. "

Notwithstanding their fatigue, all were awake at daylight the nextmorning, and immediately the whole party ascended their lookout. Thewind still blew in very nearly the same direction, but with littleforce, and at noon, as the party sat down to their first meal for theday, no land could be plainly determined, and for an hour the utmostcalm prevailed, with an unclouded sun. The pack was still closed, however, with the exception of two or three small openings, in whichwere seen a seal and several flocks of moniac ducks, known on theAtlantic coast as "South-Southerlies. " The former could not beapproached, but Peter got two shots at the ducks as they gyrated overthe berg, and killed three at one time and four at another, which wereduly skinned, and the bodies consigned to the "meat-safe, " a hole in theice near the door. 

This meal tasted a little better than the former ones, the birds beingseasoned with salt procured from sea-water by boiling--a slow process, which La Salle promised to make easier when the next frost set in. Thebird-skins had been carefully cleaned from fat, and sewed into twoblankets about seven feet by five each, and stretched on the ice withthe flesh side uppermost, were rubbed with salt and ashes, and thenexposed to the sun, receiving considerable benefit thereby. 

For supper, a soup of fowls thickened with grated biscuit was eaten withhearty relish by all but Waring, who claimed to have eaten too much atdinnertime, although La Salle fancied that he looked flushed and pale byturns. 

"Do you feel sick, George?" said La Salle, anxiously, when the otherswere temporarily absent from the hut. 

"O, no, Charley; don't fuss about me. I'm all right, only I've eaten alittle too much of that fat meat, and taken scarcely any exercise, " wasthe reply. 

"Well, George, don't fail to let me know at once if you do feel sick, for my stock of medicines is limited, and I must do my doctoring duringthe first stages of the disease, " said La Salle, gravely. 

"Yes, I should judge so, doctor, " laughed Waring; and, turning to thefire, he placed another stick under the cylinder, as if suffering from achill. 

At an hour before sunset they saw on their left hand, and, as nearly asthey could judge, about twelve miles away, the high headland ofEscumenac. The pack opened a little, for the wind had now been blowingfor about three hours from the west, the air was very perceptiblycolder, and the standing pools on the ice began to freeze. Under LeSalle's direction, Regnar cut a hole in the ice, which would hold aboutfour pailsful of salt water, and filled it to overflowing, while Petercut up a dozen of the decoys into junks three inches square, and piledthem near the door. 

As they entered the hut, they found Waring shivering over the fire. "Iam afraid, Charley, " stammered he, "that I am going to be very sick, forI can't keep warm to save my life. "

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XII. 

DOCTORING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. --AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. --FROZEN UP. 

La Salle examined the condition of his patient, and found his tonguefurred, his pulse quick and feverish, his tonsils badly inflamed, andthe chills alternating with flushes of fever heat. The mind of thepatient, too, was anxious; for at the close of the brief examination hesaid, "I hope I shan't be sick, for there isn't much show for me outhere on the ice. "

"And why not, George? Although I hope you will have nothing more than abad cold, yet I think I could cure a pretty sick man out here. "

"But we have no medicines, or beds, or food, or anything, scarcely. "

"What nonsense! We are far more comfortably housed than the poorEsquimaux, and even Peter there lives no warmer than we do--do you, Peter?"

"_Womegun_ hetter than this; but this place very comforble. _I_ no fraidfreeze here. "

"Well, George, I must turn doctor now, and try to stop this cold; foras yet it is no worse. Peter, make a fire outside, and heat the ironbailer full of salt water. Regnie, reach me my powder-horn and thelittle tin cup of the lantern. "

Pouring four drachms of gunpowder into the cup, he filled it about halffull of water, and setting it near the hot coals under the red hotcylinder, soon dissolved the explosive, forming an inky fluid. From theammunition bucket he drew a small phial, which had been filled witholive oil, and pouring some hot water and a little shot into it, he sooncleaned it for the reception of the fluid, which he filtered throughseveral thicknesses of his woolen gun-cover. About a fluid ounce of arather dirty-looking solution of saltpeter resulted, to which a littlesugar was added. 

"Here we have, " said the man of drugs, "some three drachms of saltpeterin solution, of which, by and by, you may take about one sixth, lettingit gargle your throat going down. Peter, is the water hot?"

"Yes, broder, water boilin' hover. What do with him now?"

"I want to soak his feet; but what shall we do it in? I can fill myseal-skin boots, but they would be awkward. "

"There's the ammunition bucket, " suggested Regnie. 

"That was made to hold peas and such like, and leaks like a sieve. "

"Put the rubber blanket around it, " interposed the patient. 

"That's the idea, " said La Salle. And hanging up one of the bird-skinrugs in its place, the "mackintosh" was drawn and carefully knottedaround the rim of the shaky receptacle. Into this the hot water waspoured, and being duly tempered to a safe degree of heat, Waring removedhis boots and stockings, and, seated on a couple of decoys, bathed hisfeet and ankles for about fifteen minutes. 

In the mean time, the portion of the sleeping-room farthest from thedoor, was carefully fitted with dry twigs and one of the bird-skincoverlets, and the lad's stockings were thoroughly dried at the stoveuntil they felt warm and comfortable. Taking one of the discardedcotton-flannel shooting-gowns, duly warmed at the fire, La Salle andRegnar carefully and energetically dried and rubbed Waring'sextremities, now warmed and suffused with blood drawn from the overtaxedblood-vessels of the head and body, after which his warmed and driedfoot-gear were replaced, and he was tucked away in his berth. 

"Does your chest pain you at all, George?" asked his attendant, as hedrew the thick feather covering over the sick boy. 

"No; but my throat does a little. It feels much better, though, than itdid. "

La Salle thought a moment, then drew from a little cavity in the wallnear the door a small junk of bird-fat, which he melted in the tin cup. "I will rub your throat with goose-grease. It is a great favorite of theold women, and will keep the air from your tender skin, if it doesn'trelieve the soreness of the inflamed membranes. " So saying, he rubbed inthe warm, soft fat with his hands, covering the skin above the bronchialtubes and the soft parts of the throat with the penetrating unguent, then fastening a turn of his list gun-cover around his throat, hereplaced the covering, and taking his cap, went out into the night air, and seeking the lookout, glanced eagerly out over the waste of ice. 

The night was clear and cold, with only an occasional puff of wind fromthe westward; but the temperature was falling fast, and the snow-crustbroke under the foot with a sound ominous of biting cold. All around wasice, and even if the light-houses along that coast were lighted inwinter, it is doubtful if the party were near enough to land to see anyexcept that of Point Escumenac, which at noon bore north-west and aboutfifteen miles away. Since that time, the drift of the pack, at nightfallevidently making eastward, or rather north-east, had probably increasedthe distance to nearly forty miles. 

La Salle surveyed the wild scene around him--the pillars hewn from vastmasses of eternal ice by the shock of fearful collision, the slow actionof the sun, the corrosion of the waves, and the melting kisses of therain, and thus fashioned into fantastic mockeries of fane, monument, tower, and spire, even by daylight were strangely wonderful, but underthe mystic night and the weird light of the stars, seemed like icystatues, in whose chill bosoms were incarnated the genii of desolationand death. 

"Ay! thus we move, helpless, lost, and beyond the aid of man, convoyedby a fleet of fantasies into a sailless sea, and to an unknown fate. Well I know that by to-morrow, myriads of eyes will watch for signs ofour presence from Canseau to Gaspé, and on both shores of St. Jean; butthey will look in vain. A week hence they will hear of our disappearancein Baltimore, and Paulie will know her own heart at last. I may notregret this if I escape with life, for well I know we are like to comeback as men from the dead. "

"Why do you speak of death, La Salle?" said a voice in good and evenpolished French; and La Salle, turning, found that Regnar stood besidehim. An air of education which he had never noticed before seemed topervade this youth, who spoke English almost execrably, and had shownlittle more than a passable knowledge of the coast of Labrador, and akeen insight into all the varied craft of hunter and fisherman. 

"I was only thinking, " said La Salle, evasively, speaking in the samelanguage. "But how is it that you, who know French and German, speakEnglish so badly?"

"You will know some time, but not to-night; although I may tell youthis--that I shall receive from you the greatest good that man will everconfer, or at least the realization of some long-cherished desire. Godgrant that it may end my long search for him, although my life end withit. "

"Of whom do you speak?" asked La Salle, impressed with his manner. 

"Regnar don't care talk now. Nights getting cold; so come in and look atsick boy. Ha, ha, ha! You've been tinman, tailor, cook, navigator, andnow you're doctor. Come on!" And La Salle almost doubted his own sanityas he followed the old Regnie of his Labrador voyage down the side ofthe mound, where a moment ago an unsuspected, hidden fire had revealeditself. 

Just as they were about to enter the little outer enclosure, La Sallelaid his hand on the arm of his companion. "Regnie, don't for your lifelet the others know that I have doubt of our safety; and keep up poorWaring's spirits if you can. "

Cheerfully and firmly the answer came back in good Parisian, "I will notfail you. I have no fear now, and the life of the ice is nothing new tome. When the winds have done their work, and we no longer look for theloom of the cliffs, or the hazy purple of the distant forests, I willtake my turn in your place. " And grasping La Salle's hand, Orloffstepped into the chamber. 

"How you do, George? Here's the doctor again, " and La Salle, with nolittle anxiety, approached his patient. 

"I have no chills now, but my throat is still quite sore, and I havesome fever, I think. "

La Salle laid his hand on the boy's forehead. It was parched with fever, but a close search failed to discover any signs of dangerous throatsymptoms. He looked at his watch. 

"It is now ten o'clock. You may take another dose of the nitre, andgargle your throat well with a little of it. Are you warm enough?"

"Yes, thank you. I guess I can sleep now, and you had better go to bedtoo. Good night!"

"Good night, George. You'll be better to-morrow. "

And placing a few billets in the cylinder, La Salle rolled himself up inhis heavy coat, drew off his long moccason boots, and placing hisstockinged feet where the heat of the fire would dry the insensibleperspiration they had gathered during the day, he prepared for a shortnap. 

"Regnie, keep up the fire for a couple of hours, and then call me, forit grows cold, and we must not let George get chilled again, on anyaccount. "

About one, La Salle awoke to find Regnie still awake, and keeping up agood fire, although he used the wood but sparingly. The cold hadevidently increased, and La Salle drew on his boots, which had improvedmuch in drying. As Regnar turned to his berth, he said, --

"It cold to-night, colder to-morrow, and warm to-morrow night. Then webe in the open Gulf, and the warm winds will come again. "

George slept but restlessly; and once more during the night a small doseof the sirup was administered. About three o'clock, Peter awoke, andsaid, --

"Why no let Peter watch? No doctor, but keep good fire and let yousleep. "

"Well, Peter, " said La Salle, "I shall be glad to rest; but you must becareful of the wood, and put in as little as will keep up a blaze, forwe have not a great deal, and that not of a very good kind. "

"Me know no woods here, and Peter will not waste any, you betterb'lieve. "

Laying his hand on George's head, he felt a slight moisture; andcovering him still more closely, he lay down with a hopeful heart, and, wearied in mind and body, slept until nearly nine the next morning. 

Regnar was broiling the dismembered body of a goose at the rude grate, and at that moment was arranging on a slender spit alternate portions ofthe heart, liver, and fat of the bird. After being seasoned with salt, this was rapidly rotated in front of the fire by Peter, who watched withmuch interest the preparation of three similar sticks. 

La Salle sprang to his feet, and first hastened to Waring, who professedhimself cured, and wanted to get up. 

"No, George; you must lie abed to-day, and accept a cup of _very_ weakcoffee and some bread. I shall let you eat nothing. You see, " hecontinued, as the boy broke into a fit of coughing, "that the cold hasnot left you yet, and I have no doubt you feel some pain in your chestnow. "

"Yes, it has gone into my lungs a little, but will wear off soon, Iguess. It always does at home. "

"Well, we can't risk anything here; so I'll get your coffee, and afterbreakfast, if Peter will get me a little pitch off the branches, I'llmake something for your cough. "

The birds were well cooked and quite appetizing; and as he rose Peterhanded La Salle a small handful of Canada balsam, which in the shape ofsmall tears clung to many of the larger branches on the floor. 

"That enough? If not, Peter get more. "

"That will do--thank you, Peter. "

But the eye of the speaker caught a look directed by Regnar at the roofof the hut, from whence exuded a few drops of a blacker resin. 

"Yes, I see Stockholm tar; that will help the cure much. "

Placing the two in an iron spoon, rudely made from a fragment of thedecoys, they were gently melted, and a small quantity of sugar added, with enough powdered biscuit to enable the mass to be rolled into littleballs. 

"You must chew these and swallow the tar-water thus formed, and finallythe resins themselves, and you will find your cough much loosened byto-morrow. "

"Sposum you no want boat-hook, me make draw-knife of him. He steel, Is'pose. "

"Yes, Peter. The spike is very fine steel, I believe, as I told theblacksmith I wanted it light and sharp. If you want it you can have it;that is, if you feel sure you can make a knife. "

"Mos' all Ingin make own knife. You never see Ingin knife in store. Inold time old men say Ingin make work-knife, war-knife, arrow-head, axe, all ting he want when can't buy. Me make best knife in tribe 'fore melose arm. Some one must strike for me, an' I turn iron now. "

Going out, he brought in several fragments of hard wood, and the spikeor head of the boat-hook. Making a hot fire, he placed the spiketherein, and sinking the edge of an axe in one of the decoys, got Regnarto strike for him. 

"Now no strike hard--strike quick and heasy, right that place everytime;" and taking the glowing iron from the fire, he laid it on thelight anvil. 

It was wonderful to see how, like one who uses a trip-hammer, he drewthe iron under the rapidly-plied axe, until the round spike was anarrow, thin blade about six inches in length. Then shifting the angleof the iron a little, he directed Regnar how to beat down one side to anedge, and lastly how to curve the flat of the blade a little at thepoint, or rather end. Then, producing several small pieces of lime andsandstone, found among the earth kept in the boats, for the use ofsnow-blind gunners, he proceeded to rub down the edge to something likefitness for use. 

After this he carefully tempered the blade, and with a penknife cut outa handle, in which he inserted it, lashing the two firmly together withtwine made from one of the cod-lines. Long and patient labor with hisfew pebbles, and the leather of his cowhide boots, brought the _waghon_at length to a keen, smooth edge; and great was Peter's joy when heagain carried at his belt a tool so indispensable to the Indian hunterand workman. 

That day, the fourth of their drift, brought little change in theirposition--the icebergs frozen together, were drifting, if at all, in onevast body. Towards night a north-west wind sprang up, and thethermometer, had the party possessed such an instrument, would probablyhave registered at least -10°. A watch was kept all night to keep thefire replenished, and all the appliances used to keep out the cold air, and economize heat, scarcely kept the temperature up as high as +32°, the freezing point of water. 

Waring was kept carefully covered up, and professed to suffer nothingfrom cold, having all the extra clothing of the party. It was luckilythe last cold snap of the season, and with the sunrise of the next day, Sunday, the fifth day of their voyaging, the wind had given place to acalm, although cold, clear, bracing atmosphere. 

After the usual ablutions, which were never neglected by the party, followed by breakfast, the ice being closely frozen together, a walk toa high berg at the distance of a quarter of a mile was proposed, as itwas thought that the course of the ice should bring them in sight atleast, of the North Cape of St. Jean. This was generally acceded to byall but Waring, who preferred to remain and keep up the fire. 

Taking their weapons, an ice-axe, and a light coil of rope, the threesoon arrived, without misadventure, at the foot of an irregular mound ofice, at least fifty feet in height. 

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE CHAPEL BELL. --THE FIRST SEAL. --THE NORTH CAPE. --A SNOW-SQUALL. 

The way was rough, and not without its dangers, for more than oncePeter, who led the file, sprang just in time to save himself, as thetreacherous crust above some yawning chasm between two heavy "Pans"crumbled under his feet; and once he fell headlong, clutching at afriendly spur, just in time to escape tumbling among a lot of jagged andflinty shards of young "crushed ice. "

The wind was light at times, coming in puffs and squalls; and althoughthe day was bright, a mist here, snowy white, there crimson withsunbeams, again darkening into purplish blue, and elsewhere of a heavyand leaden obscurity, hung over the greater part of the sky, and made ita doubtful task to prognosticate, with any degree of certainty, thestate of the weather for even an hour in advance. 

As they proceeded, a strangely solemn, though faint and distant, soundbroke the oppressive silence. The three halted and listened intently. Again, low as the moan of the dying surges on a distant bar, the soundcame thrilling over the icy sea to the southward, and each face flushedwith a new hope of speedy release from their wild prison-house. 

"Hark!" said Orloff, raising his hand. "I hear the sound of a churchbell. We must be near the land. "

"It must be from the tower of the Tignish Chapel, then, " said La Salle, "for no other land save the North Cape lies in our course. "

Again a blast came whistling among the defiles, and again a calmsucceeded. All listened in breathless silence, and again the wished-forsound which spoke of the proximity of human society and Christianworship, came pealing across the desolate wastes, deserted of everythinghaving life, and impressing the fancy of the beholder as does thedesolation of long-forgotten cities, or the shattered marbles of theunremembered dead. 

"I know that place. That bell Tignish Chapel. Two year ago I camp onTignish Lun. Make basket, catch trout, shoot flover. Go hevery Sunday tomass, --that same place, --take squaw, papoose, boy, girl, all folks. Knowthat bell, sure. To-day Sunday, and folks going into chapel. "

"He must be right, " said La Salle, "but we are now near the berg, andfrom its top we shall see if we are indeed near the North Cape. Makehaste, Peter; perhaps we may get near enough to-day to make our way tothe shore. "

A broad, level floe was all that intervened between the party and theberg which they sought. Running across it; although with some littledifficulty, for the ice was covered with slush concealed by a crustinsufficient to bear the weight of a man, they soon reached the berg. Itwas evidently of Arctic origin, for it was much larger than any of themany "pinnacles" in sight. It was composed of ice, which, wherever thesnow had failed to lodge, appeared hard, transparent, and prismatic inthe rays of the sun. Its sides were steep and precipitous, and at firstthe members of the party began to fear that they should be unable tomount the steep escarpment of eight or ten feet high, which formed itsbase, which was further defended by a moat of mingled sludge and roundedfragments, cemented by young ice. 

Had the opposite bank been attainable, any of the party would havereadily leaped across, trusting to their speed to save themselves fromimmersion among the rolling fragments; but no one cared to risk thetreacherous footing beneath that inaccessible wall. 

"I'm afraid we shall have to go back to our own lookout, and trust to ashift of the ice, " said La Salle. "Can you think of any way of climbingthat pinnacle, Peter?"

"No way do that, unless cut a way into that hice, and then no safeplace to stan' on, sartain, this time, " answered the Indian. 

"Let me have that rope, " said Regnar, quietly. 

Taking the light Manilla painter, he proceeded to form a large loop, andgrasping it near the running knot, laid half a dozen turns across hishand. Then swinging the coil around his head, he launched the rope at agroup of jagged points, which projected just above the edge of thelowest part of the cliff. Again and again the noose came back unreeved, and again and again the patient boy, with rare strength and skill, flungthe ample noose over the slippery spires of ice. At last, however, success rewarded his efforts, and a strong pull, with the united weightof all three, failed to start the closely-drawn bowline. Taking the axeand bearing the most of his weight on the cord, Regnar crossed thebending surface and shifting fragments, and finding a precarious footingon the berg, wound the rope around his left arm, and with the right cutsteps into the brittle ice-wall. 

In a few moments he ascended the cliff, and the others, leaving theirguns behind them, found little difficulty in following him. Leaving therope still fast, the three ascended the berg, which rose high above thesurrounding ice. Their first look was to the southward. For a moment thedistance and the ever-present snow deceived them; but the sun came frombehind a cloud, and they saw, afar off, the red sandstone face of thesnow-covered cliffs of the North Cape. 

"They are now about twelve miles distant, and, as I judge, there can bebut little open water between us and the shore. Let us hasten back andget the boat ready, for if this wind only holds, and no snow or raincomes on, we shall soon be able to reach the shore. "

At that moment something fell with a splash into a small, partially openpool, on the farther side of the berg, and all saw a huge form disappearunder the surface. Each started, felt mechanically for his weapons, andin brief monosyllables of Esquimaux, Micmac, and English, ejaculated thename of the animal whose presence none had even suspected. 

"_Ussuk!_" whispered Regnar. 

"_Nashquan_, " murmured Peter. 

"A seal, " said La Salle. 

Orloff slid down the berg, caught the firmly fastened cord, swunghimself over the ice-foot, skipped lightly over the yielding fragments, seized his gun, and returned in almost less time than it takes todescribe his movements. The seal, a huge male, had come to the surfaceamong the floating fragments at the farther side of the pool, some fiftyyards away, and now lay with his round head, protruding eyes, and stiffbristles, strikingly expressing anger, fear, and curiosity--the lastpredominating. Regnar threw his gun to his shoulder. 

"What size shot have you?" said La Salle, laying his hand on hisshoulder. 

"Two buckshot cartridge, --heavy enough for him. If he were old 'hood'now! Look! I show you something. "

The lad took deliberate aim, and then, with the full force of hiscapacious lungs, gave a sharp, shrill whistle, which almost deafened hiscompanions, and was re-echoed from the icy walls on the farther side ofthe pool, in piercing reverberations. 

Surprised and affrighted by the unusual sound, the huge ussuk rose halfhis length above the water, and looked around him. The icy cliffs echoedthe crashing volley, as both barrels poured forth their deadly hailalmost in unison, and the huge animal settled down amid incarnadinedwaters and ice crimsoned with his life-blood, shot to death through thebrain so skilfully that scarce a struggle or a tremor bore witness thatthe principle of life had departed. 

Descending the berg, a small fragment of ice capable of bearing a manwas found, and Regnar, taking the end of his line, stepped upon it, andwith his gunstock paddled off to the dead seal, and affixing the line toone of its flippers, pulled himself ashore, and joined the others intowing the game to the berg. Landing it on a little shelf, La Salle andPeter began to speculate as to how the huge carcass, which must haveweighed five hundred pounds, could be hauled over the berg, and safelylanded. Regnar laughed at the idea. 

"We want not the meat--only the skin, blubber, and liver. Why not skinhere? Save much work for nothin'. Here, Peter, give me knife. "

Peter drew the long blade from his belt, and Regnar making a singleincision from chin to tail, the body seemed fairly to roll out of thethick, soft blubber coat which adhered to the skin. In less than twominutes Regnar had finished what La Salle had no doubt would take atleast a good half hour. With equal deftness the liver was extracted, anda few pounds of meat taken from the flanks. 

Fastening the whole to the line, it was drawn to the top of the berg, and thence down the slope to the rude stairs. As the weight was nearlyhalf that of a man, Regnar merely placed the bight of the rope aroundthe object on which it had caught. Its shape excited curiosity, and afew strokes of the axe cleared off its covering of ice. 

"This ice from Greenland, " said Regnar. "Here is the stone the Inuituses for pots--what you call soapstone. "

"Well, I hope we shall not need it, " said La Salle, "for the North Capeis now only ten miles away, and it is not yet noon. I want the blubberfor fuel, or I would not waste time with this skin even. "

"We shall have all we want to get back to George. See how the cloudsclose in. Plenty snow right away now. Come, Peter, get across quick. "

La Salle groaned in spirit, as, from the berg which he had reascended, he saw the distant red ledges shut out from view, and marked the firstscattering flakes fall silently through the now calm atmosphere. Lookingdown, he saw that Peter and Regnar had got safely across the chasm, andalmost despairing of the fate of his party, he followed down the rudesteps, and across the treacherous bridge. 

Letting the line slacken a little, Regnar gave a deft whirl, which castoff the bight from the rock, and the party, dragging behind them theirprize, retraced their path amid what soon became a blinding snow-squall. Luckily their track had been through deep snow, and therefore not easilycovered up; for when they reached their own island of refuge, they couldsee scarce a rod in any direction. 

Regnar dragged his prize to the little enclosure, and, pointing to thesnow-flake, said, --

"Soon they grow larger, softer, then turn to rain. Then this skin andour boat must cover us, for the snow-water will spoil our house. "

At that moment a flaw from the westward bore on its wings a repetitionof the sounds they had heard in the morning, but nearer and moredistinct than before. Heavily, measured, and mournfully, came the tonesof the great bell, as the storm-vapors shut down closer, and the westwind blew fiercer across the icebound sea. 

"They toll for the dead, " said Regnar. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE PACK OPENS. --MYSTERIOUS MURMURS. --LOVE SCENES AND SOUNDS. 

All day long the snow fell heavily, and although the wind blew with nogreat violence, it was evidently increasing their drift eastward intothe open Gulf. At night the temperature was perceptibly higher, and asthey gathered around the light of the rude brazier in the centre oftheir ice-cave, each for the first time opened his heavy outer clothing, and felt the cool zephyrs that, from time to time, found their waythrough the door curtain, to be a welcome visitant. 

The fire had melted a deep hollow in the centre, which was naturally thelowest part of the floor, and Peter quietly arose, and bringing in theaxe, cut a narrow but deep gutter out through the doorway. Reverentlythat night the little group bowed their heads as Waring, with his sweetvoice, led the singing of one of the old familiar hymns, dear alike toChurchman and Dissenter, and La Salle prayed that the hand of theFather might be with them in their coming trials. 

For already the boat had received her scanty store of food and fuel, their weapons stood close at hand, a pile of cooked meats was coolingnear the door, and all knew that a few hours might again find themseeking a new shelter, among perils compared to which those alreadypassed, were "trifles light as air. "

Heretofore they had been exposed to no wide sweep of seas, and had neverfelt the solid ice beneath them rolling and plunging through mountainoussurges, or dashed in terrible collision against its companions of thedismembered ice-pack. Now every mile which they drifted increased thesweep of the sea, and in the centre of the wide Gulf, the southerlywinds would scarcely fail to open, at least, the outer sections of thefloes. 

As they concluded their brief Sabbath exercises, La Salle drew from hisvest pocket a stump of lead pencil, and seemed at a loss for somethingon which to write. 

"Have any of you a piece of paper?" he asked. 

All answered in the negative; but a thought seemed to strike him, anddrawing from an inner pocket a much crumpled letter, he opened it, andseemed to consider. The envelope was worn out, but had preserved theclosely-written note paper within; and taking a single page, he spreadit on his gunstock, and, in broad-lined, coarsely-made letters, drew upthe following record of their present position and prospects:--

 "OFF CAPE NORTH, SUNDAY, April 15, 186--. 

 "TO WHOEVER MAY FIND THIS: This morning the undersigned, with George Waring, Peter Mitchell, and Regnar Orloff, all well, were twelve miles north-east of Cape North, but a snow storm prevented an attempt to land. Knowing that, with the presently impending southerly storm, we may have to leave our present refuge, I hereby assure those who may find this of our present safety, and desire them to forward this to the office of the Controller of Customs at Halifax, or St. John. 

 (Signed) "CHARLES LA SALLE. "

"Regnie, please write this in French on the other side--will you?" saidthe writer, as he finished. 

Orloff took the page, and turning it over, did as requested; but as hefinished signing his own name, he let the pencil drop from his fingers, and for a moment found himself incapable of movement or expression. Controlling himself with an effort, he folded the note neatly, andreturned it, with the pencil, to La Salle. 

"Who is your fair correspondent, M. La Salle?" said he, in French. 

La Salle, with flushed face and eyes lighted up with due resentment ofthe other's curiosity, answered, --

"You seem to have read for yourself. "

Orloff's manner changed at once. 

"A thousand pardons, monsieur, but I have a good reason for asking thelady's name. "

"Pauline H. Randall, as you may see for yourself, " was the quiet reply. 

"One more question, sir. Do you know her middle name?"

"I did, but cannot exactly recall it, as she never uses it in full, andI have forgotten whether it is Hobel or Hubel; that it is one of thetwo, I am pretty certain. "

A glance of mingled expression shot from the eyes of Orloff, but herestrained himself with a visible effort, and he became again thesomewhat phlegmatic pilot of the Gulf shore. 

"Thank you, M. La Salle. You shall know more at a fitting season. "

Taking one of Waring's cartridge cases, La Salle forced the record intoits narrow chamber, and selecting a small strip of pine, --a part of thethin side of his crushed float, --he stopped the cartridge with atightly-fitting wad, and fastened it to the board with a piece of stoutcord. On the white board he printed, in large letters, "Read thecontents of the case;" and going out, he placed it firmly upright on thesummit of the berg. 

At twelve that night the rain fell fast, the wind blew steadily from thesouthward, and the undulations of the ice, from time to time, told that, although safe in the very heart of the pack, yet still the field hadalready resolved itself into its component parts. Towards midnight allfell asleep, being satisfied that no immediate danger threatened them;but at about half an hour before daybreak, Waring awoke, and placed afew blocks on the smoldering embers. As he waited for them to burst intoa flame, he heard the air filled with confused murmurings, unlike anysounds that he had previously experienced. Gradually they appeared todraw nearer, to sound from all sides, to fill the air overhead, and evenat last to ascend from the depths below. Strangely sweet, yet sadlyplaintive, they at once charmed and terrified the poor boy, weak fromhis recent illness, and worn with the anxieties of his situation. 

At last Regnar awoke, and to him Waring applied for an explanation ofthe strange sounds. Orloff listened attentively, and answered withpaling cheeks, --

"Such are the melodies which my people say that the sad Necker sings bythe lonely river, when he bemoans his lot, in that Christ died not forhim. Doubtless the sea has its water spirits, and they now surround ourisland of ice. "

Waring, unskilled in the folk-lore of Dane, Swede, and German, answered, --

"It can't be that. It must be that some vessel is near us, or there is acrew of wrecked sealers around us on the ice. Ah, Peter, are youthinking of getting up. Listen to those sounds, and tell us what theyare--will you?"

Peter listened gravely and attentively. 

"I not know that noise, brother. I know nearly all the cries of bird andbeast, and often I sleep all 'lone in the woods; hear howl, hear fox, hear frog, hear everyting. Sometime I tink I know that noise; then Itink I not know him at all. Get La Salle awake; ask him--he know. "

La Salle slept but lightly whenever there was need of vigil, and thelast words had fallen on his awakening ears. 

"What's the matter, Peter?" said he. 

"We hear many strange noise. I not know, George not know, Regnie notknow, none of us know. There it come again. What you call that?"

La Salle listened a moment, went to the door, and then beckoned to hiscompanions to follow. The rain fell heavily, but the wind came warm andgently from the balmy south, and no rude blast shrieked and sighed amidthe ice-peaks. The strange sounds were sweeter, louder, and apparentlynearer than before. Soft and sad as the strains of the disconsolateNecker, plaintive as the mournings of men without hope, wild as thecries of the midnight forest, and the sighings of wind-tossed branches. La Salle laughed a low, glad laugh. 

"You may sleep soundly, " said he; "the coots and ducks have comenorthward, and the spring is here at last. To-morrow will bring ussport to repletion, for the sounds you hear are the love-songs of thesea-birds, whose voices, however harsh, grow sweet when the sun bringsback again the season of love and flowers. "

When the morn came, unheralded by sunbeams, and shrouded by leadenrain-clouds, a veil of mist covered the vast ice-field, of which no twomasses retained their former proximity. A network of narrow channelsopened and closed continually among the dripping bergs, from whose sidesflashed the frequent cascade, and glimmered the shimmering avalanche ofdislodged snow. Amid this ever-shifting panorama, giving it life andbeauty, covering pool and channel with merry, restless knots of diving, feeding, coquetting, quarreling swimmers, relieving the colorless icewith groups of jetty velvet and scoter ducks, gray and white-wingedcoots, crested mergansers in their gorgeous spring plumage, and fat, lazy black ducks, with Lilliputian blue and green winged teal, fillingthe air with the whirr of swift pinions, and the ceaseless murmur of themating myriads, rested from their long northward journey, a host such asmortal eye hath seldom beheld, and which it hath fallen to the lot offew sportsmen to witness and enjoy. 

"I kill many birds on _h_ice, in _quetan_, among sedge out on the bay, but I never see such sight. I never think so many birds in the worldbefore, " said Peter, as he loaded his double-barrel. 

"I been up Ivuctoke Inlet, on Greenland coast; down Disco saw great manybird, but nothing like this, " muttered Regnar. 

"It is almost too bad to kill any of these lovely creatures, " saidGeorge, whose loving nature drank in the full beauty of the scene;"can't we do without them?"

"We have only six birds, and some seal fat, meat, and liver. If itcloses the ice again we shall soon be short of food. So we'll get outour floating decoys to leeward, and see what we can do to replenish ourlarder. "

La Salle's plan was duly carried out. A couple of flocks of floatingdecoys were anchored to a protruding spur of ice, and for an hour or sothe four had their fill of slaughter. Each was limited to threecartridges apiece, and no one would fire except at an unusually largeflock. Peter brought down a goose with each barrel, and six brent withhis third shot; Regnar killed nine black duck with one barrel, fivevelvet ducks with another, and six teal with the third. Waringunexpectedly had a shot at a flock of Phalapores, and secured twelve ofthese curious birds; but his third shot at a solitary goose failed, owing to a defective cap. La Salle, after a single shot which killed abrace of brent, was about to reload, and had just poured in a charge ofpowder, when he suddenly crouched behind a hummock, and motioned to theothers to follow his example; then, pointing to a small lead justopening between two bergs about two hundred yards away, he called theattention of his companions to an enormous seal, even larger than theirvictim of the day before. 

The new-comer was a prodigious "hooded" seal, and the loose skin whichenveloped his head was distended with air, and gave forth a hollow, barrel-like sound, whenever, raising himself above the waves, he camedown with a heavy splash upon the surface. His aspect was savage andferocious, and he seemed looking for some object on which to wreak hisrancor; for from time to time he sent forth a savage cry, far hoarserand prolonged than the whining bark which these animals usually utter. 

[Illustration:]

"He's an ole male. He dreadful angry, and I s'pect some other one nearhere. Yes, there he comes;" and Regnar pointed to another openingbetween two massive floes, from whence, sounding a valorous defiance tohis challenger, emerged a second seal, even larger than the first. Withmutual animosity they darted towards each other, and the next momentwere engaged in a terrific combat. 

So quick were their evolutions as they fought, now above and now belowthe surface of the water, that the eye could scarcely distinguish which, for the moment, had a temporary advantage, although one was much darkerin hue, and more beautifully marked than the other. They sprang into theair, they dived beneath the surface, they threw their heavy bodiesagainst each other, they tore each other with teeth and claws, and thewater was covered with bloody foam. 

La Salle watched the fray with divided interest. It was a new andinteresting lesson in natural history, and he wanted the huge skins andblubber of the combatants, who fought on unconscious of their hiddenaudience, and the deep interest taken in their movements. Half a dozentimes La Salle had raised his huge gun to fire, and lowered it again, unable to get a sure aim, so sudden were the changes of the conflict. Atlast, wearied but unconquered, both lay almost motionless upon thewater, tearing at each other's throats like bull-dogs who have fought tomutual exhaustion. 

As his heavy weapon settled into deadly aim, Regnar touched La Salle'sshoulder. "No shot heavy enough for those fellows; must have bullet. That hood turn anything but rifle-ball. "

By the side of the hummock lay a short piece of pine board, once themovable thwart of the float. La Salle beckoned to Peter. "Make me out ofthis a stout, sharp-headed arrow, with a heavy shaft. " Peter doubtfullydrew his _waghon_ and split off a piece, which in about a minute waswhittled into a short, stout arrow, headed only with a wooden point, thelargest diameter of which fitted pretty accurately to the bore of theheavy piece. La Salle, meanwhile, had drawn his shot, and motioning toPeter to load a barrel of his own gun in like manner, turned to watchthe waning conflict, which, notwithstanding the exhaustion of thecombatants, had evidently produced little more damage than a few savageflesh wounds. 

In another moment Peter had fitted another arrow to his own gun, andawaited the word. Regnar whistled sharp and shrill, the combatantssuddenly separated, and each, rising until his flippers showed above thesurface, looked on all sides for the source of this sudden interruption. At once both guns roared in unison, a distance of scarce twenty yardsintervening between the marksmen and their prey. Peter's mark, thelargest and most beautiful of the two, fell dead, with its headtransfixed with the arrow, which waved feebly above the crimsonedsurface, as the huge body trembled with the throes of dissolution. LaSalle's aim was less sure, and the novel missile tore through the neck, just below the ear. A fountain of blood sprang ten feet into the air asthe dying animal fell back, spurning the bloody pool with tail andflippers; but the mighty heart sent forth its wasted life-tide, untilits current was exhausted and the powerful "old hood" was like hiswhilom rival--a lifeless mass of inert flesh. 

"Well, I never see such ting shoot before. I use duck shot, goose shot, sometime nails, and sometime little stones, and once in woods I killgleat bear with junk of lead: but I never shoot arrow before. " Thus saidPeter, wondering at his own achievement. 

Waring had noted with great curiosity the effect of the new missile. "Where did you learn that, Charley? To think that a piece of soft woodshould kill such huge animals!"

La Salle had hastened to launch the boat, but stopped to answer aquestion in which all seemed to take an interest. "About three hundredyears ago, Captain John Hawkins, a stout skipper of Devon, and one ofthose old sea-dogs who helped to conquer the great Spanish Armada, hadthese arrows, which he called 'sprights, ' to distinguish them from thosestill used with the English longbow, made in large quantities, to beused in the muskets of his men. He claimed that they passed through andthrough the bulwarks of the Spanish ships, and highly commended them tohis contemporaries. I should prefer bullets myself, but have no doubtthat they attain a great range, and have, before this, driven a piece ofsoft pine nearly five inches into a hard spruce post. I should feelperfectly safe in meeting a bear or wolf with no other missile in mygun. "

Regnar jumped into the boat, and the two pushed off and secured theseals, both of which were very fat, but covered with blood, and much cutabout the head and neck. Securing them with a rope, they returned to theshore, and with some difficulty hauled them out upon the berg, wherePeter and Regnar hastened to skin them, and preserve such portions ofthe meat as they required. The heads were also split to procure thebrains, and the large sinews extracted, after which the bodies wereconsigned to the sea, and at once sank down until they were lost fromsight in the depths of the Gulf. 

The three skins were then carefully stripped of blubber and membrane, and Peter, taking the brains, mixed them with water into a soft paste, which was spread over the inner side of each skin. Each was then foldedonce, and then formed into a compact roll, tightly bound with thesinews, after which the three skins were suspended at the top of the hutabove the stove, to await the softening action of the brain-paste. 

CHAPTER XV. 

A SAIL. --THE SEALING GROUNDS. --THE ESQUIMAUX LAMP. --AN INDIAN LEGEND. 

About a hundred pounds of blubber lay upon the ice, and Carlo wasluxuriating on a whole hind quarter, which was given up to his especialuse, to make up for the rather short commons he had of late been reducedto. About fifty birds lay behind the hummock, and Peter, who was anxiousto secure a bird-skin coverlet for his own use, set himself down to skinthe finest ones. Waring joined him in the task. 

"There's the big berg where we killed ussuk yesterday. Less go and lookaround. Perhaps we see land, " said Regnar. 

"No, Regnie; we are fifty miles from any land now, and I think about onethird of the way across to the Magdalen Islands. Still, I should like totake an observation, and see where we are; and we may not have such acalm spell again for two or three days. "

Pulling off to the berg, they found the shelf on which lay the deadseal, and climbing the ice-cliff, they saw spread out before them astrange and pleasing spectacle. The fog had lifted, for it was nownearly noon, and although some rain still fell, the eye could see thebroken ice-pack seamed with channels, and scarred with pools of varyingsize, for at least eight miles in any direction. Regnar started, turnedto his companion, and seizing his shoulder with convulsive energy, pointed to the east. A long ribbon of black vapor hung over the ice, lowdown on the horizon, and beneath it towered the topsail of a brigantine, going free before the wind. 

[Illustration]

"It is a sealing steamer, boring out of the pack, " said Regnar. 

La Salle's first impulse was to rush to the boat, and rejoin hiscomrades, to set signals, burn bonfires--anything which might possiblycall the attention of those on board. Then he considered the futility ofsuch endeavors, and he turned to his comrade, --

"We can't signal her now, Regnar, and we won't excite in our friendshopes which cannot fail to be disappointed. We shall see her againsoon. "

Regnar looked around them, cast glances of admiration on the abundanceof animal life presented to their view, gave a look of approval to hisfriend, and answered in his Esquimaux-English, --

"It is good. I fear not. That steamer sail away to-day, for wind fair. If wind east to-morrow, she sail this way. If wind north, she go south;but she no leave this place till she beats the pack, like a hound. Lookthere--see that floe. Plenty seal there to load one vessel. "

The view was indeed charming, for ice and water were alive with birds, and among them moved in every direction the bullet heads of many seals. 

About three miles to the eastward lay a large pan, and around it thewater was dark with the older amphibia, while from it came, in theoccasional calm intervals, the unceasing whine, which the baby sealnever foregos for a moment, except when asleep or feeding. 

"We want more skins, master, " said the boy. "We could soon fill ourboat--we two. "

A cold puff came from the westward, and a slight break showed itself inthe north-west. 

"We shall have clear weather and a westerly breeze after sunset, " saidLa Salle. "We will get ready to-night, and to-morrow we will have abattle among the seals. "

Retracing their steps, they entered their boats, and returned to theirfriends, to whom they imparted the news of the proximity of thesealing-grounds. 

"We need about ten large skins, and some smaller ones. So let us getready to-night, and if the weather is favorable, visit the 'nursery'to-morrow. "

So saying, La Salle took one of the large floating decoys made of corkand canvas, and painted black, and drawing a nail from the broken boat, fastened it to the end of a strip from the bottom--in fact, one of therunners. This was planted beside the strip, sustaining the recordcontained in the copper case, and formed a beacon, easily distinguishedagainst the lighter ice. 

Guns were cleaned, knives and axes sharpened, for the soapstone boulderhad been brought from the berg, and afforded quite a good whetstone, topatient labor; and Peter, with his knife, finished, in the course of theevening, a number of wooden bolts for himself, La Salle, and Regnar; andeven Waring fitted a couple into two of the brass shells of hisbreech-loader. 

Regnar took the remains of the steel boat-hook, and succeeded instraightening the hook, which he drew down into the shape of a rudechisel. Peter tempered it for him, and then, with this rude tool and anaxe, he split the boulder of soapstone into halves, making twobowl-shaped pieces, about fifteen inches across, in the line ofcleavage. One of these he proceeded to hollow out into an Esquimauxlamp, for the stock of wood had been largely drawn upon during the coldspell just over, and only about twenty decoys remained unburnt. Waringsat next him, unraveling one of the old cotton-flannel over-shirts, andtwisting the fibres into large wicks; while La Salle made a cover of thelast remaining sheet-iron decoy, with holes for six wicks. As they sataround the fire, Waring suddenly broke the silence. 

"Charley, " said he, "you have never told your story, although all therest of the club took their turn. We are not making much noise with ourwork. Can't you give us your story now, to while away the evening?"

La Salle was at first disposed to comply, but his eye fell on the darkfeatures of Peter, opposite him. 

"Peter, " said he, "tell us one of the tales your old people tell aroundthe winter fire in the long, cold evenings. Tell us of Teahm orKit-pus-e-ag-a-now. "

"How you know them?" asked the Indian, surprised out of his usualself-possession. "You speak Micmac too?"

"O, no, Peter; but I have heard many of these old tales, and I know thelads would like to hear them too. "

"Yes, yes, Peter, " added Waring, "let us have one, by all means. "

Peter laid aside his pipe, for he still retained a little of histreasured tobacco, and in a slow, sententious tone repeated one of thosetribal legends which are all that keep alive the fire of patriotism andnational pride, in the breasts of a people who find themselvesstrangers, outcasts, and without a country in the land of their birth, once theirs alone. 

PETER'S STORY. 

"The old people were camped long, long ago, near the Oolastook, wherenow stands St. John. All this lan' Indian then. No 'hite man live herethat time, and the hunter always find game plenty--plenty moose, plentybear, plenty fish, plenty everyting. 

"Then Indians not so wicked as now, and God had not sent 'hite men topunish them for their sins. But even then they fought each other; andbetween my people and the Quedetchque--that my name; you call 'emMohawk, I b'lieve--there was war, all time war. 

"The Quedetchque come down every fall, follow down banks of river, waitalound village until all my people asleep; make warwhoop, fire arrows, set fire to _womegun_, lun off with prisoner, and plenty scalp. One timeall my people away, only squaw and children in town; Quedetchquewar-party come, burn an' kill; get plenty scalp of women and boy, andchief take away Coquan, what you call 'Lainbow, ' wife of great chief'Tamegun, ' the tomahawk. 

"They hurry home fas', but the snow fall thick, an' soon Tamegun an' oneother man come home, fin' wigwam burnt, an' dead people all alound. Theytighten belts, take bow, knife, an' axe, and follow on track. 

"One night they find tracks in snow, and soon come up to the camp. Manywarriors in that camp--make long camp, and door at each end, and fire atdoor. All Quedetchque inside take off moccason and bathe sore feet inbig birch-bark tub near door; then wait until Coquan mend moccasons. Allthis Tamegun see, and he find out where his squaw sit in lodge. 

"Then he creep up like wildcat, and peep through bark so close he couldalmos' touch her; but he only lift edge of bark, and slide in wampumbelt. Coquan work war-belt for him, and know who it is at once. Then shego out, an' they talk together, far from the camp. 

"Then Coquan go back into camp, and take all the moccasons outside, andset the tubs of dirty water outside each door. Then she see Tamegun an'his friend tie rope across door, jus' above ground, and the Lainbow slipout again. Then Micmacs catch up tubs and throw water on the fires; allout in a minute. 

"Both cly the warwhoop many times at the door, an' the woman shootarrows through the bark. All the Quedetchque jump up, take knife an'axe, think Micmacs got into the tent. All is dark; see nothing; thinkeverybody enemy. They stab with knife, cly war-cly, strike with axe, kill each other. Some lun out doors, tumble over cord. Micmacs killevery one. At last all dead but two boys, and Tamegun tie these totrees. 

"Then Tamegun get scalp, skin, beads, knife, spear, everyting he want. Make three taboggin; load all they can carry; then set fire to camp andburn all up. Then, when all ready, Tamegun draw his knife, an' cutprisoners loose. 

"'Go back to Quedetchque, ' he say. 'They are squaws an' cowards. Tellthem come no more into Meegum-Ahgee, --in Micmac land, --for two Micmacmen an' a squaw have kill all your people. Go! You are too young to die. Your flesh is soft. Come back when your scalps are fit for a Micmac'sbelt. '

"So Tamegun got home all light, an' Quedetchque come no more for manyyears. But my people no more fight. Many die in battle long ago. Manydie of small-pox an' fever, and now we are few. So it will be until Hecomes for whom all Indians wait. The story is ended. "

 * * * * *

Thus in rude English, Peter related one of the many tales, which stillserve to keep alive a people's pride in the glories of bygone days, sounlike their present degradation, that to the general observer thecivilized Indian _seems_ to know nothing of the past, to be scarcelyconscious of his ignoble surroundings and circumstances, and to have nocare or hope for a brighter future. La Salle knew well the wild legendof the Deliverer, in whom, in spite of his Catholic faith, the Indianeverywhere has an inherent trust, as the slowly but surely-comingprotector and restorer, of his ancient happiness. 

"Thank you, Peter, " said he, kindly. "Your people were a brave race, andtrue as steel to your _Wenooch_ (i. E. , French). They fought as long astheir allies dared to strive; and it was long after the last Frenchfortress surrendered that the warriors met at Bay Verte, to become truesubjects to the king they had fought against for years. "

"Yes, " said Peter, sadly. "My people once strong and brave; now theywaste away like the snow. I know many families almost gone, an' but fewpure Indian live this end of island. We see it, if 'hite people thinknot, but we do not care to let them see our tears. "

There was a simple pathos in the broken words of this unlearned man--forhe was no savage--which went to the hearts of his hearers; and La Sallefelt more strongly than ever, the cruel cowardice of that popularoutcry, which denies a whole people all share of innate nobility andvirtue, and visits on a deceived and wronged race, both their own sinsand the short-comings of those who should be their natural protectors. 

The party finished their various undertakings, carefully removing theirlitter. La Salle and Regnar went outside to take a last look at the seaand sky. The stars were visible here and there, through the dispersingclouds, and the drip of melting ice was no longer heard, for thetemperature had again fallen below the freezing point. 

"We are drifting south of east, " said Regnar, quietly, "and unlesspicked up will probably clear the south point of the Magdalen Islands. "

"How can you tell that?" asked La Salle. 

"Easily enough, " said the lad, talking still in French. "The wind iswesterly, and the current runs from north to south. "

"But how can you decide on the points of the compass?" persisted LaSalle. 

For the first time the boy seemed to wonder at the question, and todoubt the wisdom of his friend. 

"Who can fail to know?" said he, quietly, "when he can see in theheavens above him, the steady light of the Polar Star?"

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE BREEDING-GROUNDS OF THE SEAL. --A CURIOUS SIGHT. --A SHARPENCOUNTER. --ICE CHANGES. 

Early the next morning the breakfast was hurried over, and a survey ofthe ice disclosed little change from the conditions of the day before, except that the natural attraction of floating bodies for each other wasevidently slowly closing the pools and intervening channels. 

Leaving Carlo to guard their dwelling, and tying the black "McIntosh"blanket to the signal-staff, the four stepped into the somewhat narrowquarters of their clumsy boat, and using the oars as paddles, set offthrough a channel which led, as nearly as they could judge, in thedirection of the field of seals seen the day before, and whose constantwhining still gave evidence of their close proximity. 

Scarcely two miles of tortuous winding through channels of perfectlycalm water, led them into a pool in which hundreds of large seals weredisporting themselves, but which, on seeing the boat, scattered in alldirections, after a moment of stupidly curious exposure to the fire ofthe intruders. 

"How lucky it is that these animals don't know their own power!" saidWaring. "If they chose they could soon upset the boat, and tear us inpieces. "

"Not without losing at least half a dozen of their leaders, and that isgenerally sufficient to deter hundreds of men, whose reasoning powersare much superior to these amphibia, " said La Salle. 

Passing into a narrow channel, in which at every turn they came closeupon swimming and sleeping seals, they suddenly swept up to the verge ofa vast and heavy field, on which thousands of the young of these animalslay in helpless inability to move. Most of these were what are called"white-coats, "--fat little things, covered with a thick coat of woollyfur, --but a few had attained their third week of existence, and woretheir close-laid fur, whose silvery, sword-like fibres, when wet, lieflat and smooth as glass. 

Among the smaller fry were many adult animals, both male and female--thelatter being generally engaged in suckling their young. 

The landing of the hunters was the signal for a general stampede, andthe monotonous whining of the "white-coats" was almost lost in the deepbarking of the mothers, and the hoarse roars of the large males. 

The floe on which the young seals lay was a thick field of ice, whoseclear, greenish sides showed that it was the product of some Greenlandglacier. Years ago, when first detached from the ice-river of sometortuous fiord, it had perhaps measured its depth in hundreds of yards;and even now, judging from its height above the surface of thesea, --about eight feet on the average, --it must have drawn nearly eightfathoms of water. 

The party had landed on a kind of sloping beach, probably worn by theaction of the sun, and what is even more destructive, the wash of thesea-waves, and ascending found that the floe was nearly level for anarea of at least half a square mile, forming a kind of ice-meadow, surrounded on three sides by sloping hills twenty feet higher. In thesheltered valley thus formed lay at least a thousand seals, old andyoung, of several species, and all ages. 

There were, here and there, pairs of the small Greenland seal (_PhocaVitulina_), weighing from forty to sixty pounds, and marked on the backwith beautiful mottlings of black, shaded down to the silvery white ofits spotless breast. These, when disturbed near the edge of the floe, slid noiselessly into the water, going down tail foremost into thedepths. Most plentiful of all were the "springing seals, " (_PhocaHispida_), --known sometimes from its markings as "the harp, "--lessbeautiful in form, and with hair of a dusky yellow on the under side. These, when near the slope, sprang headlong into the water, and, divingwith a splash, came up in shoals, darting forward with a springingmotion, and emerging and disappearing much like a shoal of porpoises. 

Larger, coarser, and with crested heads, long bristles, and harsherhair, the "bearded seal" (_Phoca Barbata_), --the noblest quarry of theNewfoundland sealer, who always speaks of him as "the old hoodsile, "--crawled with uncouth but rapid shuffling motions to the brink, and with splashings that threw the spray high in air, dived at once, only emerging when almost beyond rifle range, where rolling, andsplashing like whales, the uncouth monsters would turn to inspect thestrange intruder. 

"Come, Charley, " said Waring, "let us shoot. See, they will all be inthe water before we begin. "

"No hurry, " said Regnar, phlegmatically. "Steamer almos' load here. "

"There is no heed of haste, " said La Salle, pointing to the upper end ofthe ice-valley. "We have the seals in a _cul-de-sac_, and can take ourpick, as they pass by us to the water. We want ten of the largest hoodsat first, and we have about that number of bolts with us. After we getthem, each can kill what small seals he needs for boots and clothing. Now for the old hoods. Fire at close range, and don't miss. Come, let usbegin the battle, for they are coming down upon us. "

By this time the alarm had become general, and finding their retreat cutoff, about five hundred seals, leaving behind their helpless young, camein a disordered but solid body down towards the hunters, the smallerGreenland and "harp" seals on the wings, and evidently wishing only toescape; but in the centre a small band of the more savage "beardedseal, " their coarse bristles quivering with rage, the loose skin oftheir heads distended with air, and the white teeth of their yawningjaws threatening wounds and death to the invaders, came on with hoarseroarings, which rose above the weaker cries of the uncouth host like thethunder of artillery over the rattle of musketry in battle. 

The usually impassive Indian now seemed in his element. His sullen eyeslit up with a true hunter's love of the chase, when the danger is notall on one side, and only the confidence of greater skill and superiorweapons overcomes the sense of personal peril. Leaping forward, he ledthe attack, running for some forty yards towards the advancing monsters, followed by the others, who came close on his tracks, but quite unableto charge in line. 

Raising his gun, he suddenly halted scarce ten paces from the front ofthe sea-wolves, and, without hesitation, two of the largest shuffledahead of their comrades, knitting their brows, and roaring with a furywhich might well try the nerves of any man exposed to such an attack. One fell a little behind as Peter brought his gun to his shoulder. Thefirst rushed forward, but as he lowered his huge head to attack, thearrow-point, hardened in the fire, shot forth in a sheet of flame, andburied itself to the feather in the brain, passing through the thinwalls of the top of the skull. 

At the unwonted sound, reverberated again and again from the cliff, eventhe forlorn hope retreated a little; but not so with the second seal. Throwing back his head until his yawning jaws almost hid the rest of hisbody, he came straight at the destroyer of his mate, roaring withredoubled fury. The heavy gun again poured forth its contents, but tothe horror of the advancing friends of the Micmac, the huge animal, vomiting torrents of blood, was seen, amid the smoke, to strike down theIndian, who was at once lost to view under the ponderous animal, whichinstantly rolled over dead. 

In a second La Salle and Orloff were on the spot, but their aid wasneedless. Bruised and sore with the fall and compression, but nototherwise injured, Peter sprang to his feet, and placing his gun betweenhis knees, proceeded to reload. 

"_H_old seal die hard. Spose me miss 'em at first. Arrow hit all light. Me plenty wet blood though. "

He was, in truth, a fearful spectacle, being covered with gore; but aglance at the dead beast revealed the cause. The arrow had passed intothe mouth, transfixing the large arteries and the base of the brain, andthe blood was still deluging the ice in a crimson tide, from which thehot vapors and sickening odor rose, maddening the remaining "hoods" toanother charge. 

Quite a number of the smaller seals on the flanks had got by, and as thepressure lessened, the array of the centre partook more of the "openorder" of advance. To a party as well armed as the four friends, thischange assured a bloodless victory. Each missile, fired point-blank, didits work, and the huge monsters, unable to seize the agile hunters, asthey eluded their ponderous charge, received the fatal shot at suchclose range that the fur around the wound was often scorched by theburning powder. 

Every barrel had been discharged, nine hooded seals had fallen, and thesurvivors had already reached the open water; but frightened by theunwonted sights and sounds, many of the smaller seals still remained atthe upper end of the valley, or with awkward speed were climbing thesloping ice-hills which sheltered it. Drawing an axe from his belt, Regnar started forward in pursuit. Peter and Waring, with clubs of hardwood, followed, and La Salle, reloading his ponderous weapon, brought upthe rear. 

A massacre of helpless and beautiful animals followed, for the next fewmoments, for Regnar, with a single tap on the nose, killed two Greenlandseals; and following his example, Peter and Waring disposed of as manymore. Suddenly a loud cry from the latter broke the silent butchery. 

[Illustration: "AND THE NEXT SECOND THE GLITTERING TEETH WERE ABOUT TOCLOSE UPON HIS HELPLESS VICTIM. " Page 237. ]

"Look! Stop that old hood! That makes ten. My goodness! I never see suchseal! That's right, Peter, head him off. Hit him again, Waring! Takethat, you old bladder-nose!"

The seal, a monstrous one, a veteran male, had attempted to scale thehigher mounds, but surrounded by his more agile enemies, halted andshowed fight. In vain Waring and Peter showered tremendous blows uponhis head with their beechen clubs, and even the heavy axe of Orloff fellupon his natural helmet of air-distended skin, with a violence whoseonly effect was to increase the anger of the enraged amphibia, and fillthe scene of the strife with hollow sounds, like the hoarse booming of abig drum. 

At last Waring missed his aim, and his club, which was slung at hiswrist by a kind of sword knot, was seized in the jaws of the seal, andhis succeeding rush jerked the frightened lad from his footing beneaththe fore-flippers of the animal. It was only the work of an instant forthose terrible jaws to grind the club into splinters, and the nextsecond the glittering teeth were about to close upon his helplessvictim. At that juncture a huge rusty tube was thrust past Regnar's headinto the very face of the seal; a tremendous concussion threw him uponthe ice, stunned and deafened; and the monster, rearing into the air, seemed to be fairly dashed to the ice, shivering with the tremor ofdeath. 

"Are you hurt, George?" asked La Salle, breathless with haste andrestrained emotion. 

"No, Charley; I am safe, thanks to you. "

And the lad, still weak with his previous illness, fear, and excitement, rose, threw his arms around his preserver's neck, and burst into apassion of tears. 

"Better look, Regnar. Guess blow him head off too, " grumbled Peter, witha strange mixture of vexation, pleasure, and humor in his tone, for heloved Regnar, disliked to see men or boys cry, and knew that Regnar'smisadventure was more unpleasant than dangerous. 

In a moment or so Regnar arose, holding his head with both hands, and anevident feeling of uncertainty as to his whereabouts. 

"Well, you call that gun Baby! I don't want her crying anywhere near me, after this. I say, La Salle, you _sure_ my head all right on shoulders?"

La Salle hastened to assure him that all was correct, but Regnar gave agrim smile, and continued:--

"It no use; I can't hear, not if it thunder. I've no doubt you sayyou're sorry, but I no hear your 'pology, and I don't think I ever shallagain. Well, never mind. No time then to say, 'By your leave, sir, ' andI glad George got clear all right. "

Drawing their knives the party commenced the less pleasant and excitingtask of flaying and butchering their victims. The ten "hoods" wereenormous fellows, averaging eight feet in length, and nearly six incircumference, and weighing from five to six hundred weight each. Onlytwo were eviscerated for the sake of the heart and membranous vessels;but the heads of all were struck off for the sake of the brains, and thelarge sinews were extracted for "sewing thread. " It was noon when thefirst load was sent off, under the care of Regnar and La Salle, to thehome berg, and, two hours later, when they returned to the floe, theyfound, with pleasure, that the distance between the two points hadmaterially lessened. 

[Illustration]

Climbing the highest point of the floe, La Salle looked down upon astrange spectacle. Reaching away a mile or two to windward was asuccession of floes, similar to the one on which he stood. Upon them allthe seals were gathered in hundreds, and beyond the last of the chain ahuge iceberg--a perfect mountain of congealed water--rose nearly ahundred feet into the air. From its sides, resplendent with prismaticcolors and reflected light, flashed more than one cascade of pure freshwater, and the light breeze, as it blew against its vertical walls, orperhaps some currents deep down below the surface, was impelling thehuge mass, and the line of floes pushed before it, down the lane of openwater, which led to the floating home of the wanderers. 

"We shall have but a short distance to row this load, " said La Salle, ashe descended to the party; and indeed at that very moment the discoloredmound, surmounted by its dusky banner, appeared in sight, and beforelong only about a quarter of a mile separated the two. At this point theundetermined cause which had produced this change ceased, and the partyrowed homeward with their last load, just in time as the pack closed in, and the channel through which they had rowed, in the morning, over aglassy expanse of nearly a mile in width, narrowed, until, with a shockwhich was wholly unexpected, so gradual and gentle seemed the motion, the opposing borders were again united, and the waves of the sea were nolonger accessible. 

That evening the party supped off fried seal liver and heart, and foundthem fully up to the standard of excellence expressed by Regnar, whosaid, --

"Reindeer steak good beef, ptarmigan good beef, brent good beef, sealliver best beef of all. "

Before going to bed La Salle cut into the ice-hole, which had beenfilled some days before with salt water. After much cutting, he came toabout two quarts of water, which seemed thick and heavy. Baling this, with a rude spoon, into their only iron utensil, it was placed amid theembers, and left to boil away for the evening, while the adventurers, gathering around their fire took counsel as to what step was to be takennext. 

"Let us make a tent, " said Waring. "First thing we know this old floewill split in two in a storm, and we shall have no house. "

"Spose 'em lose house, we want clo'es. Need good boots too, " said Peter, who was indeed but poorly provided in this respect, compared with therest of the four adventurers. 

"If we have a good boat, we have shelter on land or water, " said Regnar, sententiously. 

"Regnar is right, and we must enlarge the capacity of our boat. She hastoo little standing room, and we four should have little chance in herin a heavy storm at sea. To-morrow we will make her into a life-boat atonce, for this pleasant weather cannot last long. "

All agreed with La Salle in this decision, and accordingly the eveningwas spent in preparing the seal-sinews, and in cutting thongs ofseal-hide from one of the largest skins. These, when soaked in water, were capable of considerable extension, but in drying contracted, makinga lashing of the hardness and nearly the strength of iron. 

The sinews were, many of them, a yard in length, and at least thediameter of a large goose-quill. These split readily into threads of anyrequired firmness, and before the party retired, quite a bundle of largeand small thread was prepared. For the first time they worked by theglare of their Esquimaux lamp, which, besides its shallow bowl ofsoapstone, consisted of a top of thin sheet-iron pierced for six wicks, each of which was flat, about one sixteenth of an inch thick, and aninch wide. That evening all six were lighted--five of them being ofcotton thread, and the sixth cut from the brim of an old white feltsummer hat, used by Waring instead of his fur cap, when the sun shonetoo warmly at noon. The top was made loose, so as to rest on theblubber, and the heat tried out the oil as fast as it was wanted. 

The heat produced was quite sufficient for this narrow room, and thesoft light afforded by the seal-oil, lit up the hut with a mild yellowradiance, far more cheerful than the red glare of the wood-fire, and theold stove suspended above the flame carried off the smoke, and refractedthe heat more perfectly into the lower part of the hut. 

The day's hunt had afforded all the blubber which they could burn in amonth; and their stock of meat, "cached" in another hillock of theirberg, was nearly sufficient food for the same period. But long beforethat time should elapse the young leader knew that relief must come, orthat in some grand convulsion of the warring elements, amid the crash ofcolliding ice-fields and the sweep of resistless surges, the unequalconflict between human weakness and the tireless forces of nature mustend, and to him and his comrades "life's fitful dream" would be over. 

Therefore, as he made the seventh brief entry in his pocket diary, hewatched jealously the faces of his companions, lest they should read inhis face the reflection of his misgivings, as he traced these lines, --

"A week has elapsed since we left St. Pierre's; and as yet we have beensafe in the centre of the pack. It is scarcely possible that anotherweek will be as favorable to us as this has been, and no risk mustprevent us from reaching the first sail in sight. "

CHAPTER XVII. 

ENLARGING THE BOAT. --WINGED SCAVENGERS. --NOTICE TO QUIT. 

Orloff's final observation, at about ten o'clock on the night of the19th, judging by the position of the North Star, gave the wind as aboutwest-south-west, blowing pretty sharply, and closing the scattered packwell together. The following morning the wind still remained in the samequarter, and it was generally agreed that they must be somewhere inlatitude 48°+ and longitude 63°+, or say about forty miles north-west ofAmherst Island, the largest of the Magdalen group. 

After a breakfast of stewed phalaropes, whose tender, plover-like fleshwas a pleasing change from the hitherto almost unvaried roast sea-fowldiet of the last week, the boat was drawn out upon the level platformnear the hut, and removing her side and covering boards, the party helda survey of their only resource in case of a breaking up of the ice. After being measured by Peter, who claimed that the upper joint of histhumb was just an inch in length, the following measurements were foundto be nearly correct: Length over all, sixteen feet; extreme breadth ofbeam, four feet; length of well, eight feet; breadth of well, threefeet; depth of boat, fifteen inches. 

About eight feet, it will be seen, was decked, and a space of only eightfeet by three was all that was available for the reception of four menand the working of the boat. It was decided to remove three feet of therear half-deck, increasing the open space to eleven feet. This waseasily done, leaving the strong cross-timbers untouched, and also sixinches of weather-board on each side. 

The after part of the combing of the old well was removed and set upfarther aft, and that of the sides was continued until the whole of theopen section of the boat was thus protected from the wash of the sea. The smaller seals had been skinned, as a stocking is turned off of thefoot, leaving but one aperture, that of the diameter of the neck. It wasa work of some trouble, but was at last accomplished, and these skins, after being deprived of their inner coating of blubber, were easilyformed into air-tight bags, and provided with narrow tube-like nozzlesby carefully removing the bones from one of the flippers. These wereduly inflated with air, and securely lashed on the inner side of theboat under the weather-boarding. Six of these were thus placed, two oneach side, forward and aft, and two cross-ways under the thwarts, thusforming a very fair life-boat. 

In addition to these the bows and stern were raised about six inches bystrips of the sides of the broken float nailed to the gunwale, andstrengthened by cross-pieces of planking from the bottom. These weregiven considerable shear, so as to be lifted by a sea, instead ofcutting into it. Besides these, rue-raddies, or shoulder-belts of hide, with a strap attached to the sides of the boat, were adapted to theheight of each man, and each of the party was assigned a position in thecraft, from which there was to be no deviation. 

Thus La Salle steered while Waring sat next on the port side. Peter, with his single strong arm, took the other starboard berth, and Regnarwas bow oar, or, rather, paddle, while Carlo's place was under thehalf-deck forward. 

The three seal-skins first procured were already about half tanned, andwere formed into tarpaulins, being split in two lengthwise, sewedtogether at the ends, and again sewed to the edges of the combings withseal-sinews, forming a cover for the guns, and also by means of agathering cord of fishing-line looped through their edges, capable ofbeing drawn up and fastened at about the height of the waist of a manwhen kneeling, thus forming an additional protection against a breakingsea. 

The oars, with one exception, were cut down into paddles by Peter, forthe paddle, in ice navigation, is incomparably superior to the oar, which requires open water for effectual use. One oar, however, was leftof its original length for a support to the McIntosh, which, being abouteight feet square, and furnished with brass eyelets, was easily fittedas a sail; and owing to its black hue, was especially suitable for asignal of distress among the ice-islands of the Gulf. 

It was nearly six o'clock when these repairs were completed, and theparty sat down to dinner, for, except a lunch of cold roast duck, theyhad eaten nothing since morning. The salt water, concentrated byfreezing in the Russian manner, and left to boil down the night before, had produced about two pounds of good salt; and Peter, taking his knife, soon made a neat tub, like a miniature butter firkin, in which topreserve it. 

After dinner it was proposed that a short walk over the intervening iceto the sealing-grounds should be undertaken, and headed by Peter, withan axe to try any suspicious ice, the adventurers reached the floe inabout fifteen minutes' walk. Climbing the higher shore of the berg, theyadvanced noiselessly, and without being observed by the seals, gazeddown upon the scene of yesterday's battle. None of the seals seemed tohave deserted the floe, but the ice was crowded with the young "calves"and the adult parents. Everywhere the mothers might be seen sucklingtheir helpless young, while the males lazily basked in the rays of thesetting sun, or occasionally indulged in a battle with some rival, whichwas not always a bloodless encounter. 

Among the living lay the mangled corpses of yesterday's hunt, and overeach fought and feasted a host of gannets, sea-gulls, and cormorants. The bodies were hidden from view by the birds, which tore with beak andweak palmated talons, at the greasy, bloody carcasses, and above thesewheeled and fluttered a cloud of competitors for a share of the spoils. Occasionally a bird bolder than the rest would swoop at an unprotectedbaby-seal, whose mother was absent, or had possibly perished the daybefore; but at once the older amphibia would roar in hideous concert, and charge the birds, who seemed to understand that they must give upthe living prey, and confine themselves to their legitimate duties, asscavengers of this grand camping-ground of the genus _Phocæ_. 

Returning rather hastily, the party reached their quarters just at dusk, and lighting their lamp, made some weak, but very hot, coffee, thegreatest treat which their limited variety of comestibles afforded. Peter busied himself with cleaning and inflating a number of the largerentrails and membranous viscera of the hooded seal. These were forlife-preservers, and vessels for the preservation of water and oil intheir anticipated boat-voyage. Regnar cut out no less than three pairsof moccason-boots, choosing the thickest skins, and then prepared themwith the brain-paste for curing in the mild warmth of the air around thechimney. Waring cleansed the cooking utensils, and made up some bundlesof fir-twigs to cover the bottom of the boat, and La Salle wrote up hisdiary, sharpened an axe, fitted a strip of pine board for a sprit to theblanket sail, and as bedtime drew near, went out to take a last look atthe weather. 

It was quite cold, and the wind, although light, was from thenorth-west, as near as could be judged without a compass. As Peter hadnoted a change of wind about midday, the pack had probably again changedits course of drift from east to south-east, or, perhaps, a pointfarther south, as the general course of the current in that part of theGulf ran from south-south-east to south. 

Returning to his companions, he communicated these details, closing bysaying, --

"As I think, we are now about due west of the Magdalen group; and ifthis wind holds, we shall probably pass Amherst Island during the nexttwenty-four hours. If in sight, we must try to push through the ice toland, for the whole shore is inhabited. As many sealers should now be inthis part of the Gulf, we should always be upon the watch for them. "

"I think, " said Waring, "that we ought to keep one man as a lookout onthe highest ice in the vicinity. "

"Pity the great iceberg so far off, " added Regnar. 

"Sposum wind hold north-west, and ice keep packed, why not go downto-morrow and look alound?" asked Peter, quietly. 

"If these westerly winds hold, there will be no danger in so doing, if, as I guess, the pack extends from here to the shore of the Magdalens. Ifso, we are not likely to find any sealers to the eastward, unless theyhave got jammed in the pack; and probably that steamer we saw the otherday has passed to the south, and will make to westward before anothersoutherly gale comes to open the ice. "

"You right, master, " said Regnar. "We go to-morrow to berg; see greatways from there, if we can get up. 'Nother thing we ought to do--moveoff this floe before next gale, else get house broken, and lose manythings. "

"Pooh!" said Waring, carelessly; "this berg would last a month yet. "

"I risk this _h_ice, more'n twenty, tirty feet tick. Sea no break thisup. "

Orloff's eyes flashed, and he seemed about to make some angry reply, butwith a visible effort to restrain himself, signed to La Salle to followhim, and went out of the hut. La Salle found him on the summit of thelookout, gazing out over the star-lit sea. 

"I was angry, and came near forgetting the part I play, " said he, bitterly, in French; "but they know nothing of ice-lore, and I shouldnot be angry at them for believing that this heavy bit of ice, althoughnot as large as those around us, is equally as safe. "

"And why is it not?" asked La Salle. 

"Because, " answered the lad, "this floe is of snow-ice, probably piercedby dozens of hidden cavities. I fancied the other night that I heard aripple of water beneath me, as I have heard it in winter when seekingthe hidden streams beneath the glaciers, but I did not hear it again, and may have been mistaken. "

"Well, we are safe, I suppose, as long as we lie deep in the pack. "

Regnar smiled pityingly. 

"Do you see the kind of ice which surrounds us now--those heavy floes, hard, flinty, and widespread, and that berg, gigantic, and almost ashard as glass? Well, if we have a heavy blow from the north-west, weshall be jammed between the ice now resting on the Magdalens and thoseGreenland monsters yonder, and if there is a weak spot in our berg--"

"Well, what then, Regnie?"

"We shall be ground to powder, or, at least, our berg will; and in sucha break-up, we shall have little chance to save anything except ourlives. "

"What, then, ought we to do?"

"We must be ready to move as soon as we crush in through this thin ice, "said Regnar, pointing to the new ice and broken fragments over whichthey had crossed at dark. "Let us put our guns and food in the boat, andhave her already for use; by morning we shall have a heavy nip, or ashift of wind, and in either case we ought to change our quarters. "

As they turned to descend the hummock, a crack was heard, and a largepart of the berg fell with a terrible crash. Peter and Waring rushedfrom the hut with cries of terror, and Carlo, whining with fear, boundedup the slope, as if to seek protection from his master. Regnar was thefirst to recover his coolness. 

"Let us see what damage is done now, " said he; and descending, he seizedan oar and a rope, and went to the verge of the chasm. La Salle rushedinto the hut, lighted his lantern, and joined Regnar, who was fasteningthe rope around his waist. "I don't think there is much danger, but if Iget in, haul me out, " said he, giving the coil into La Salle's keeping;and seizing the lantern, he leaped down upon the severed portion. 

Fearlessly moving along the face of the berg, he surveyed it asthoroughly as possible by the light of his lantern, and at last, approaching the lowest part of the wall, called to them to pull sharplyon the rope, and with its help ascended the berg. 

"You are all right just now, " said he, "but when a strain does come uponus, the cleavage will be right through our hut. We had better get ourtools into the boat, and keep watch during the night, for, with thefirst nip, or heavy sea, we shall no longer have a house to cover us. "

It may well be believed but few of the party slept much that night, andthat the first dawn was hailed as a welcome visitant. Regnar alone, whohad been the first to give the alarm, was the only one who could sleepsoundly through the hours not occupied on the watch, and he alone awokerefreshed and vigorous when the welcome sunrise flooded the east withrosy beams, and cast a magical flood of reflected light over every bergand pinnacle. 

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XVIII. 

A CHANGE OF BASE. --BUILDING A SNOW-HUT. --THE VIEW FROM THE BERG. --ASTRANGE MEETING. 

Breakfast over, all decided to remove at once to the higher ice of thevast floe occupied by the seals. There were a number of reasons why thisplace was chosen, but the principal ones were, that it would be likelyto be sought by sealers, would supply them for a long time with food andfire, and would stand almost any pressure and a heavy sea, without"breaking up. "

The boat was accordingly loaded with the weapons, tools, and bedding, and run over the intervening ice with very little difficulty, althoughit took a good half hour to ascend the ice-slopes, which were steep andslippery. Returning, the party took each a seal-skin, with the hair sidedown, and loading them with the remaining decoys, fragments of wood, theEsquimaux lamp and its chimney, and a part of the fir boughs, returnedagain to their new location. 

Some convulsion of the ice, had strewed the shores of this field withpiles of young field-ice about a foot thick, and with this materialRegnar at once commenced operations. While Peter rapidly split off cakesabout a foot wide and two or three long, La Salle and Waring slid themalong the ice to Orloff, who, furnished with the other axe and a pail ofwater, rapidly built them into walls a foot thick and eight feet square. A dash of water soon froze the blocks together, and as the material wasnear at hand, in the course of the forenoon walls five feet in height, with a single narrow entrance, had been raised. At this height theblocks were ordered to be made two feet square, and of but half thethickness. 

These were laid flatways, with their edges not quite plumb with theoutside edge of the wall, and being frozen into place, left an uncoveredspace about five feet six inches square. Returning to the old berg, theparty took down the shooting-box from the top of the cave, and fillingit with the remaining boughs, and a part of the seal-skins, blubber, &c. , regained the floe, and unloading the box, placed it as a roof onthe new dwelling. A single layer of "ice-bricks, " as Waring termed them, was placed around its edge, and being thoroughly wetted, formed a strongand weather-proof joining; and shoveling the _débris_ from the interior, the lamp was set up and lighted, the twigs spread thickly over the icyfloor, and bringing in their few household goods, the party, tired andhungry, sat down to a lunch of hard bread and weak coffee. 

A final trip of all hands brought over the remainder of their birds, blubber, and skins, much being drawn back on the bottom of the float, which, although lessened in width nearly a foot, still retained both itsrunners, and made quite a decent sledge. 

The wind still blew from the north-west, and the pack began to showevidences of the pressure of the large body of ice to windward; but LaSalle and Orloff, although much fatigued, still thought it best to tryto get a survey of the scene from the great berg a little over a mileaway. Keeping on the leeward side of the floes, they reached its basewithout difficulty, and without delay sought a place to ascend. Fortunately a large stream of fresh water from above, had worn a deepgulch in the huge wall, and up this our adventurers managed to climb, although more than once each had to use his axe to cut steps in theglassy ice. 

Once on the top of the berg, however, they felt repaid for theadditional fatigue of their journey and ascent. Below them to the east, the floes were like those they had traversed, covered with seals, andabout twenty miles away the highlands of Amherst Island showed plainlyin the crimson light of the declining sun. 

[Illustration: ON THE TOP OF THE BERG THEY FELT REPAID FOR THE FATIGUEOF THEIR JOURNEY AND ASCENT. Page 256. ]

To the north and west all was ice, and in neither direction could eithersee any signs of the presence of man. To the southward the pack seemedmore open, and as they watched, they saw the leads grow wider, and thepools becoming more frequent. 

"We are passing the islands fast, " said Regnar, "and by to-morrow willbe well to the south-east of Deadman's Island. Let us descend, for itgrows colder every moment. "

Turning, they sought the gulch, only pausing a moment to view the pondwhich fed the streams, which poured continuously from the sides of thisgreat ice-island. It occupied a large depression in the centre of theberg, and was estimated by Regnar to occupy an area of at least sixacres. 

As they turned to go, Regnar's eye caught sight of a floe at the foot ofthe berg. 

"Are not those dead seals yonder?" said he. "It seems to me that I seepiles of dead bodies, and skins hung on the pinnacles, and then--yes, there is a flag on a pole. "

Hastily descending, the two friends ran at full speed to the floe. Itproved to be as Regnar had said. There were hundreds of slaughteredseals, and it was evident that, as far as the eye could reach, the workof death had been complete. 

Still something had occurred to prevent the hunters from securing theirrich booty, for huge piles of skins, with their adhering blubber, werescattered over the ice, and near one was planted firmly in the floe aboat-hook, with a small flag at the top. Regnar drew it from the ice, and looked searchingly at flag and shaft; the pennon was of crimson, without lettering or private signal, but on the pole was scorched indeep, black characters, the legend "Str. Mercedes. "

"Here has been a good day's work, probably by that steamer whose smokewe saw the other day, " said La Salle; "doubtless she was afraid of beingnipped by this ice in the last southerly gale, and made off in time toavoid it. If so, she will be back again after her cargo, when the icegets south of the islands. "

"Is that a seal, Charley?"

The words were simple, but the tone was so unlike the usual voice of thespeaker, so tinged with awe and doubt, that La Salle felt a chilltraverse his frame as he turned to see what had provoked the question. 

Regnar stood on the brink of the only pool of open water in sight, gazing earnestly at a floating object in the centre, which appeared atfirst sight like a dead seal, but a second glance at the shape and sizeof the body revealed the corpse of a man clad in a seal-skin coat, andfloating on its face. 

"It is some poor fellow who has been drowned in passing from one cake toanother, " said La Salle, gravely. "Let us examine the body; perhapsthere are papers or valuables on it, which will identify it, or be ofvalue to its friends. At all events, we can give it a more Christiansepulture to-morrow. "

Regnar gave no answer, but stood motionless as if turned into stone. 

"Come, Regnar! wake up, man! Surely you are not afraid of a poorlifeless body. Bear a hand with that boat-hook, or, if you don't care totouch it, hand it to me. "

[Illustration:]

Starting as if from a trance, Regnar extended the long boat-hook andgently drew the body to the shore, where La Salle, making a loop of therope they carried, dropped it over the head and shoulders, and drawingit tightly under the arm-pits, gave one end to Regnar. 

"His pockets are turned inside out, " said La Salle. 

"The man has been murdered, " almost whispered the lad. "See what aterrible wound there is in the skull. "

"Let us land him, any way, Regnar. We will get him upon the ice, andto-morrow we can come down here and look into the matter. Gently, now;that's right. Great Heavens! Regnie, lad, are you mad?"

As the body was landed, turning slowly over on its back, exposing a facehandsome even in death, Regnar started, glanced curiously at thefeatures, and dropping the line, raised the boat-hook, and with everymuscle and feature alive with rage and fury, seemed about to transfixthe senseless body of the dead. Then a change came over him; he loweredhis arm, dropped the useless weapon, and burst into tears. 

"Come, Regnie, you are worn out, and it is growing late; let us hastenback to our new hut. To-morrow we can return and look after this poorstranger. "

"Stranger! He is no stranger to me. For two years I have sought him inboth hemispheres, urged on by the love of my only relative whom hebetrayed, and hatred of him which could end but with his life or mine. My fondest hope was to find him, my dearest wish to lay him dead at myfeet; and thus we meet at last. "

"This, then, is the man you have sought, and for this you have hiddenyour true character from all men. Is this the gift by which you were togain, and I to lose?" said La Salle. 

"Ask me no more to-night, " said the boy, whose powers of self-control, were only less marvellous than the innate force of his intense nature. "We have none too much light for our homeward way, and to-morrow's sunmay help us to learn more of the cause of his death, and our own duty inthe premises. We will say nothing to our friends of this dreadfulmatter, and at early dawn we will set off alone to return here;" andtaking the boat-hook and his weapons, Orloff set off with his usual firmstep and tireless energy. 

It was nearly dusk when they reached the floe, and saw at some hundredsof feet distant the moving lantern that told that Peter and Waring wereanxious about the safety of their friends. La Salle hardly dared trusthis voice, but Orloff uttered his well-known halloo; and of the four whowere gathered in that dwelling of ice, the most cheerful and kindly, washe whose dead enemy lay gazing with stony eyeballs at the wintry skies, amid a golgotha of animal butchery, with the dark impress of arifle-bullet in the centre of his forehead. 

That night the cold north-wester died away, and a gentle breeze began toblow from the south. The tired Indian and the delicately-nurturedmerchant's son slept side by side on their leaf-strewn floor, and evenLa Salle, excited and surprised as he had been, at last fell into abroken slumber. But when all were asleep, and no human eye could pryinto his secret sorrows, Regnar seated himself by the flaring lamp, anddrawing from his breast a locket, took from it a small folded paper, anda closely-curled ringlet of yellow hair, such as St. Olave, the warriorsaint of Norway, laid in the lap of the fair Geyra, princess ofVendland. 

With many a kiss, passionate and sorrowful, he greeted the hiddenlove-treasures, and many a falling tear dimmed the bold eyes, and wetthe ruddy cheeks of the youthful watcher, as late into the night he satgazing into the flaring flame of that element, in which many a sorrowfulheart, in its agony, seems to find a parallel of the torture it endures, and to find a saddened pleasure in the contemplation. But at last thewatcher turned to his rude couch, and only the radiance of the lamp, diffused through the opaline walls of the hut, gave evidence of thepresence of human beings in that desolate, wave-borne, wind-driven, desert of ice. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE RING. --THE BURIAL. --A MAUSOLEUM OF ICE. 

In the early dawn La Salle started from sleep, as he felt a chill touchupon his forehead, and saw Regnar standing above him, booted andequipped for travel. In one hand he held a cup of hot coffee, and in theother the breast of a roast goose, which he offered to La Salle insilence. Fearful of awaking their companions, nothing was said byeither, until, armed and equipped, they issued from the hut, andhastened towards the scene of last night's strange adventure. 

It was the nineteenth of the month, and the ninth day of theirinvoluntary voyage, and La Salle, as usual, gave a sweeping glance atice and sky, to determine as nearly as possible the direction of theirdrift, and the probable state of the weather for the next twelve hours. 

"We shall know all that at sunrise, " said Regnar; and avoiding thehaunts of the seals, they hurried through the gray light along thedevious windings of the ice-foot, until they reached the murderedsealer. The body lay as it had been landed on the edge of a pool, andwas that of a singularly handsome man, about forty-five years of age. Nobeard, save a well-kept mustache, covered the sharply-moulded features;and even the death-wound--the work of a small-sized bullet--had left buta tiny livid discoloration on the marble forehead. 

Turning the body over, --a work of some time and difficulty, for the wetclothes had frozen, --an expression of surprise escaped the lips ofRegnar, for the rear of the skull, from which the missile had issued, was almost blown into pieces. 

"How could a bullet have done this?" asked the youth, gravely. 

"There is but one kind of missile which produces such a terriblewound--the percussion rifle-shell, perfected years ago by an armyofficer in India, and since then introduced into every part of theglobe. Into the point of a cylindro-conical slug is inserted a thincopper cartridge, loaded with powder, and primed with fulminate ofmercury. This bullet enters the flesh, but explodes when it strikes abone, and a huge mass of bone and muscle is usually driven out in frontof the issuing projectile. Such a bullet has destroyed this man. "

A curious ring on the little finger of the right hand attracted thenotice of Regnar, who with a glad cry seized the stiffened hand andtried to remove it, but the swollen flesh baffled his efforts. 

"I must have that ring, La Salle, " said he, ceasing his futile efforts. "I cannot leave that with his body. " And taking up his axe, he severedthe finger at the joint, and removed the circlet. 

La Salle started back in horror at what he could but consider asenseless and unwarranted profanation; but Orloff, drawing his knife, made a close search of the clothing worn by the deceased, ripping openevery seam and fold which seemed capable of concealing the slightestscrap of paper, while his companion, lost in astonishment and disgust, scorned to question, and awaited an explanation of his conduct. 

Beyond the ring, however, little was found, for the larger pockets ofthe deceased were turned inside out, the vest had been opened, and asharp knife had evidently cut through the heavy under-garments ofknitted woolens. No mark of the knife was to be seen on the exposedflesh; and Regnar, breaking the oppressive silence, said, --

"Why was this done, La Salle?"

"Perhaps he had a money-belt around his waist. Many people carry theirmoney and valuables thus, " said La Salle, coldly. 

Regnar continued the search, finding in a narrow pocket, like that usedby carpenters for their rules, but opening on the inside of the rightpantaloon pocket, a long, slender dagger, with double cutting edges. The handle was curiously carved, of walrus ivory, and represented anancient Danish warrior, in his mail-shirt, and armed with battle-axe andsword. The sheath, slender and flexible, was evidently of more modernmake, formed of rough shark-skin, with richly chased mountings ofsilver. 

"That is all, " said Regnar. "Let us find him a grave. "

"We must hide the body surely, " said La Salle, "for if the vesselreturns to get her load, and it is found, we may be charged withmutilating the body, and perhaps with murder. Let us consign it to thesea. "

"We have nothing with which to sink it, and the waters have alreadygiven up their trust. There, if I mistake not, we shall find a tombworthy of a better man than this. "

A ledge of the iceberg, some forty feet above the wave-worn base, hadreceived a tiny branch of the fresh-water stream, at some time longprevious, and its course could still be traced by the immense icicleformation, which, in fantastical imagery of a lofty cascade, seemedstill to fall from base to summit. Between the ledge and the water wereformed huge irregular pillars and buttresses of opaline ice whosesemi-transparency seemed to indicate the presence of a cave beneath. 

Axe in hand, Regnar led the way to the base of the berg, and carefullyexamined every nook and cranny, evidently seeking a concealed opening. A narrow aperture was at last found, some twenty feet above theice-pool; and at the call of his companion, La Salle ascended with thecoil of rope, one end of which he fastened firmly to a projection of theberg. 

"Come down here; there is no danger, " said the lad; and descending, LaSalle found himself in a cave of large size and almost fairy-likebeauty. 

Over their heads the ledge projected some twenty feet above a floor, levelled by the earlier flow of the cascade, which, by some suddenremoval of obstructing ice or snow, had been projected beyond the littlepool, whose surface had frozen into a level floor of crystal. Over this, as upon the roof and back of the cave, had gathered groups of thosebeautiful congelations to be found only on newly-formed ice, and inseasons of intense cold. Among them were to be noticed many minutepatterns of the most delicate star-crystals, and the surface of thefloor was nearly covered with congelations of the purest white, resembling in shape, size, and beauty the leaf of the moss-rose. Afantastic conglomeration of irregular, round, and convoluted pillars, running into each other in indescribable ramifications, formed the outerwall, whose semi-translucent crystal, like opal glass, allowed the raysof the rising sun to shower a mild and silvery radiance upon the hiddenwonders of the spacious grotto. 

"Here he will sleep, after a life of crime and treachery, in a tombsuch as few monarchs can boast of, until in some terrible gale, amidtremendous and overwhelming seas, this vast fabric shall strew the oceanwith its ruins, and give his icy form to the monsters of the summerseas. "

"Let us then to our task, Regnar, " said La Salle, "for our friends mayfollow on our track, and I fear we shall have need of the closestsecrecy concerning the fate of this unhappy man, at least until we aresafely landed on civilized shores. "

Carefully descending the slippery way which led up to the aperture, theydescended to the level ice, and seeking the floe, enveloped the body inone of the many seal-skins surrounding them, swathing it closely, andbinding the hairy covering with strong lashings of raw hide, leavingloops at each extremity. Gently drawing it to the ice below theaperture, they ran the cord through the loops, knotting each firmly, sothat nearly half the rope projected from each end. 

Taking one end, and setting the shrouded form upright against the smoothslope, the companions ascended to the aperture, and with some difficultymanaged to haul up their unwonted burden. 

"We can find no footing here, " said Regnar, who no longer affected hispartial ignorance of English. "You, I think, had better descend again, and take a turn of your end around that pinnacle. I will go down intothe grotto and guide its descent. "

[Illustration: KNEELING BESIDE IT, THE LAD BOWED HIS HEAD AS IF INSILENT PRAYER. Page 269. ]

By this means the closely-swathed body was gently lowered into itslast resting-place, and gathering up the axes and his rifle, La Sallefollowed to assist in in the final rites of sepulture. Regnar pointed tothe centre of the floor. 

"That will furnish a pedestal which would befit the sarcophagus of aking. "

Among the irregular mounds formed by the dripping of water from the roofabove, was an ice stalagmite, about five feet high, and seven feet inlength, broad at the base, but rapidly narrowing to a sharp point. Attacking this with his axe, Regnar soon split off the point, andcommenced hewing the stalagmite down to a uniform height of about twofeet. La Salle assisted, and in the course of twenty minutes they hadformed a snowy pedestal, whose irregular outline bore no smallresemblance to that of the burden it was to sustain. Regnar cleared awaythe ice-chips, hurling the larger shards to an obscure corner, andcarrying the smaller ones in his reversed fur cap. 

At last the work was completed to his satisfaction; and motioning to LaSalle, he cast off the lashings, and raising the body, they placed it onthe pedestal of ice. Drawing the long, slender dagger from its sheath, Regnar pierced several holes through the corners of the pedestal, andwith the tough cords of raw hide lashed the body firmly to its spotlesssupport; then kneeling beside it, the lad bowed his head as if in silentprayer. La Salle followed his example. 

For a moment or two he heard nothing but the ripple and plash of theice-brook descending the side of the berg fifty yards away; but with theburial of his enemy, the lad's self-control had deserted him, and heburst into a passionate outbreak of sobs and tears. 

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XX. 

A STRANGE LIFE-HISTORY. --AMONG THE RED INDIANS. 

La Salle had been, as we have said, displeased and disgusted, as well aspuzzled, by much which had occurred; but his heart melted when herealized the sorrow and suffering, which, in spite of unusualself-restraint, was thus laid bare before him. He threw one arm aroundthe boy's neck, and gently pressed his hand. 

"Forgive me, Regnar, if I have been unkind. I will be your friend if youdesire it. Confide in me, and I will try to assist you, if you need aidor counsel. "

"You are kind, very kind, Charley; and perhaps I have been wrong in nottrusting more in you heretofore. There is no time, however, like thepresent, and no more secret and fitting place than this burial-grot ofthe cause of all my sorrow. "

REGNAR'S HISTORY. 

"My father was a Danish youth of good parentage, whose strange androving predilections sent him early in manhood to an outlying stationin the north of Greenland, where, between his books and the wild life ofthat savage coast, he passed several years, until his unpleasantrelations with the Danish officials made a change desirable, and hesought the Moravian settlements on the Labrador coast. 

"He had plenty of money, and soon became well known along the coast, which he searched thoroughly in his trading schooner, doing a briskbusiness in furs, seal-oil, and skins, and at the same time makingfrequent metallurgical discoveries and adventurous exploringexpeditions. It was said that no man on the coast knew so much of thetopography of Labrador, between Hamilton Inlet and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and a strange adventure opened to him new and startlingexperiences in the northern central portion of Newfoundland, then, asnow, almost a _terra incognita_. 

"Twenty years ago he made his last voyage down the coast, attended bythe man who lies yonder, an American, named Perry, a native ofBaltimore, who, it afterwards transpired, fled from that city, havingkilled an opponent in a political quarrel. 

"Albert Perry was well educated, bold, and politic, and he formed afriendship with my father which ended only with life, and, as I believe, served him but too faithfully through good and ill, until death brokethe bond between two men who were not fitted to lead the comparativelycalm, eventless life which the laws of society, and the wants of themany prescribe to all; under penalty of social ostracism to the few whoscorn to be fettered by a multitude of social conventionalities. 

"With this man as mate, and a crew of four Esquimaux, my father foundhimself, in July, in one of the little harbors, on the Newfoundlandshore, of the Straits of Belle Isle. The night was dark, but calm, andat about ten he retired, to be awakened an hour later by Perry. 

"'Come on deck, captain; there's something going on up in the mountainsyonder that I cannot make out. '

"My father, already half dressed, was soon upon deck, and found thewhole crew on the after-deck, gazing eagerly at the hills, which, covered with forest, surrounded the low land at the head of the bay. Near the summit of the highest, a fire of large size had been kindled, and lit up the dark sky above it, and the tops of the surrounding trees, with a deep crimson glow, while from time to time unearthly and savagecries were borne on the night air to the ears of the wondering voyagers. 

"'Have you any idea what that means, captain?' asked the American. 

"'What do you say, Krasippe?' said my father, addressing ahuge-shouldered Esquimaux, grizzled and scarred, who had followed hisfortunes from Greenland, and knew all the lore of his wanderingbrethren of the Labrador coast. 

"'Me tink it red Injin. Have dance; deer now come north. MarcusJungsten, down at Hopedale, tell me he see such ting five year ago. '

"'But the red Indians are all dead, captain, ' said Perry, who had spenta year or two on the coast, and heard many stories of the unconquerableferocity and final extinction of that strange race--the aborigines ofNewfoundland. 

"'Such, indeed, is _said_ to be the case, but I have met several whohave seen and heard similar things, such as we hear and see to-night, and they refer them to the presence of remnants of that savage andsolitary race. I shall soon know, however. Krasippe, will you get yourrifle, and go with me?

"'I'll go with you, Hubel, ' said Perry, eagerly. 

"But my father stopped, and said, gravely, --

"'There is too much of danger in this adventure for us both to risk ourlives at once. Krasippe belongs to me. I have saved his life half ascore of times, but I have no claim on you; and, besides, the vesselmust be taken back to Hopedale, and you must stay to do it;' and sosaying, he retired to his cabin. 

"When he returned, he carried in his hand a light rifle and a number ofglittering wands, while a row of bright medals shone against the thickpile of a close-fitting robe of black velvet, and upon his head a capof the same material, encircled by a strip of ermine, bore a single redfeather, with an agraffe of diamonds. 

"'I have done wonders with this dress, amid the fire-rocks of theNasquapees. Krasippe, old fellow, are you ready?'

"Krasippe, grinning from ear to ear, nodded assent, and launching thecaptain's boat, --a light wherry for two pairs of sculls, --they pushedoff from the vessel's side. 

"'Watch that spot, ' said Hubel, 'and if you see the stars of this Romancandle, launch your boat, and come to the shore at once. Vasa there, 'pointing to a huge Danish hound, 'will find me for you, if need be. '

"An hour or two later, Perry saw the stars of green and crimson shootingthrough the lurid cloud into the midnight sky. A rifle-shot echoedthrough the valley and across the bay, and the fire was instantlyextinguished. Perry, who had prepared everything for such an emergency, pushed off in his boat at once, taking his three men, all well armed, and Vasa, the great hound. Pulling at full speed, they struck in for theshore, and at last found the captain's boat hauled upon the beach. Taking the leash of the hound in his left hand, Perry sprang ashore, ordered his men to secure the boat, and lighting a dark lantern securedto his belt, he gave the word to Vasa, who set off, with an eager whine, at such a pace that it was hard to keep up with him. 

"In about half an hour they emerged into a large glade, and the houndstopped with a low howl over a prostrate body. It was that of Krasippe. He was lying on his face, with a deep gash on the shoulder, and a bruiseon the top of the skull, but still breathed, although insensible. Perry, who doubted not that Hubel would be found near the body of his faithfulfollower, let slip the chain from Vasa's collar, and he at once dartedoff into the darkness, while Perry, drawing the slide of his bull's-eye, and pistol in hand, carefully examined the glade. 

"He found the remains of a large fire, some ten feet in circumference, still steaming with the water used to quench it, a few fragments ofvenison, as well as a hatchet-head of white quartz, broken from itshelve, not far from where Krasippe had received his wound; but theylooked in vain for their captain. 

"Morning had just dawned when Vasa reappeared, and wagging his tail, came up to Perry. Around his neck was looped a piece of birch bark, onopening which Perry found the following note:--

 "'AMONG THE INDIANS--MIDNIGHT. 

 "'I take my pencil to send you what may be my final directions, for as yet I am doubtful as to what may be my fate. Poor Vasa was about to be killed, as they dare keep no dogs; but I take advantage of his old tricks to send him to you. Take the vessel to Hopedale, and use her as if you were managing her for me, and next year at this time await me here. I have such an opportunity as no other man has had to learn the truth about these savages, and I risk my life willingly on the chance. 

 (Signed) "'PAUL HUBEL. '"

"Perry seized Vasa's collar and knotted the leash, then, turning to hismen, ordered them to take up Krasippe and carry him down to the shore, where, launching the boat, they returned to the vessel. The next daythey made sail, but it was several days before Krasippe recoveredsufficiently to detail his portion of the adventure, which ran somewhatas follows:--

"'Me land with capten. We go up hill trough de hood. We see ten, twelve, Injin almos' naked, eatin', drinkin', dancin', an' yell like debbil. Capten say, "Stay here, Krasippe; I get hind bush. " Capten creep troughbush, light cannle, an' bust out trough circle to middle of fire. I seefifty Injin fright dat way. Dose Injin not frighten much. I see one manjump on capten, trow him down, raise hatchet to kill him. Then one girlcatch at his arm, an' I fire my rifle. Then I see no more until I wakeup. '"

"'Well, Krasippe, the captain is alive, and we are to meet him here in ayear from now. In the mean time we'll try to navigate the Thyri, andmake as much money for the skipper as we can;' and well he kept hisword. "

"A year later the Thyri crept again into the rock-bound haven, and for aweek Perry and his crew watched by night and day for his friend. Atlast, one evening they saw a fire on the shore opposite the vessel, androwing ashore, a strange figure rushed to meet Perry, saying, 'I am hereat last. '"

"It was Hubel, but he was clad in tanned deerskins, ornamented with thedyed quills of the porcupine, and his face and naked breast were paintedwith a mixture of deer-suet and ocher, while from his hair, long, unshorn, and gathered into a knot, waved a plume of the war-eagle. Hisstory I give in a few words. "

"'I advanced cautiously, intending to surprise and awe the Indians, as Ihave before done with the heathen savages, who still hunt beyond thehead waters of the Mistassini, in the Labrador peninsula. As Krasippetold you, I failed; but the strange garb that I wore, and theinterposition of a woman, saved my life for the time being, and thewonders of my magic wands added to the first impression, and gave me animportance I could have acquired in no other way. The riches and weaponsof the whites have no charms for them, and the memory of their massacredand hunted relatives will never die until the last of the race sleepamid the islands of the great lakes of the interior; but when they sawme shake coals of fire at will from a wand filled with pyrophoric lead, they felt at once that I must be of another race than theirpersecutors. '"

"'So they took me with them to the south, along the trail of themigrating reindeer; they gave me the best of their simple food andraiment, and the girl who saved my life came to my lodge, and served mewith a love that I can never forget. She died in childbirth two monthsago, and when I left the tribe to return to my own people, her fatherwanted to keep the infant, and at last I consented that he should remainwith him a year longer. "Give me a token, " said I, "and when, a yearfrom now, you follow the deer northward, seek the bay, and if a vessellies there at anchor, look each day in the glade for the signet of ourbond. When you find it, leave the babe beside it, and I will take himacross the ocean, and teach him to be wise and brave; then he shall comeback to his tribe, and help them to become again a happy and powerfulpeople. '"

"The Thyri went northward, and Hubel was received as one who returnsfrom the dead; but none save his mate knew the whole story of hiswanderings. "

"'I have sworn to tell no one, ' he said, in reply to all questionings, 'and should I break my oath, it would, in all human probability, costthe lives of the few remaining warriors of that unfortunate race. Thepeople of Newfoundland can never blot out the memory of their pastcruelties, and any party who strives to penetrate to their wildernessfastnesses, must either kill or be killed. '"

"Before the next year elapsed, Hubel was summoned back to Denmark, having succeeded to his father's property; but before leaving Hopedale, he had a final interview with his chief officer. "

"'I give you, Perry, the Thyri and all her outfit, as well as the goodsI have here, on one condition. You must keep the tryst I cannot keep, and bring the child you know of to the settlement at Hopedale. I havespoken to brother Hans, who will see after him until I send or come forhim. '"

"'I will do your bidding, Paul; but I shall not stay upon this coastafter that job is over. There will be nothing to keep me in thisdesolate land after you leave it;' and tears glistened in the eyes ofthat cool, cynical, worldly-minded adventurer, for he really loved myfather. "

"'When your work is done here, Albert, come to me in Denmark. There isenough for us both, and we have been so long together, that we shallnever be happy apart. Will you come?'"

"Perry said nothing, but pressing the hand of his friend with painfulenergy, he rushed up the beach, and seeking the hill behind the littlesettlement, watched the ship as she sailed out of the firth anddisappeared in the gathering twilight. The next summer he sought theappointed spot, and left this talisman tied to the top of a bush, whichstood alone almost in the centre of the glade. "

La Salle curiously examined the ring, whose gold circlet of Europeanmanufacture held securely an oval bit of jasper, on whose polishedsurface was cut the rude outline of a beaver wounded with an arrow. 

"The next day he went again: the stone had disappeared; but two arrows, headed with flint, lay beside the bush, one pointed to the interior, theother to the shore. 'I suppose that means "I go, I return, " said he; andI shall find the child here to-morrow night. '"

"He was right in his conjectures, for on going to the spot the nextnight, he found beneath the bush a little boy clad in a strange_mélange_ of Indian finery, and the bizarre attire worn by Paul Hubelwhen he set out on his strange adventure. That child was myself. "

La Salle had listened to the strange story with amazement, whichincreased as it progressed. 

"You tell me, Regnie, though, only of good deeds and faithful servicesrendered by the dead. You say that he loved your father, and served himfaithfully as long as he lived. "

Regnar took up the word in bitter wrath, strangely mingled with regret. 

"As long as he _lived_--yes! But listen only until the end, and youshall judge for yourself of my justice to the memory of the dead. 

"On the breast of the babe lay the talisman, and a facsimile, piercedand suspended by a cord round the child's neck, lay beneath itsclothing. See, I wear it still, and shall wear it until I meet againwith my mother's people. 

"I must hasten to end my story. I was taken to Hopedale, where Iremained ten years, at the end of which time Perry was sent from Europeto take me to my father, who had taken to his home a daughter born of anearlier marriage, whose mother, unable to understand the caprices of myfather, had returned, almost broken-hearted, to her father's house, anddied during his voluntary exile in Greenland. 

"I spent four years in Europe, studying most of the time at Bonn; andthen my father sent for me, and I lived another year on his estate, learning all that I could of the various handicrafts and avocations, especially the best modes of agriculture. At the end of the fifth year, he called me into the library, and spoke to me as follows:--

"'You are now sixteen years of age, and you know that I have given youopportunities such as are seldom lavished on young men of your age. Iwould like to keep you with me longer, but I have told you of yourmother, and the sufferings of her people. It is my wish that you shouldvisit them within two years, and I have imparted to you much knowledgeof their mode of life and government. Spend one year at Hopedale, andlearn the lore of the fisherman and the craft of the hunter; and when Ishall send you this ancient weapon, you will find within its hilt allthat I dare not commit to paper, or the lips of my messenger. '

"The week after, I sailed for Hopedale; but before the year of my stayhad elapsed, I learned from a friend's letter of the sudden death of myfather. 'I suppose that your father's friend and your sister have joinedyou in America, and that you will be consoled somewhat for your loss bytheir affection, and your changed fortunes. '

"Thus ran the letter; but it was not until the arrival of the fall shipthat I learned that my father was indeed no longer living, and thatfully six months had elapsed since my sister, accompanied by the man wholies yonder, had set out to join her half brother, whom she had neverseen, and to share with him the personal fortune of their common father;for the hereditary acres could not, by the laws of Denmark, fall to mylot, but went to the next nearest male relative. 

"Since that time I have sought everywhere for tidings of my sister'sfate, or news of the whereabouts of that man. I heard of him once as aslaver, and a year ago I learned of his having been seen on this coast. I have but one more explanation to make, and that is of the strangestatement I made to you, when we stood alone looking across the moonlitwaste of the drifting pack. 

"About a month before you hired me at the trading post, I met Krasippe, now a very old man, and claiming some power as a prophet, or 'angekok, 'among his people; for, although Christianized, they have not thrown offmany of their old superstitions. He took me in his arms and wept overme, and growled a bitter curse on the treachery of his old associate. Then he appeared lost in deep thought, which seemed to absorb everysense, and his countenance became almost terrible in its fixedexpression. At last, as if by no volition of his own, he uttered, inlow, stern tones, the following rhapsody:--

"'You will meet in the desert of ice the man who will lead you to yourheart's dearest wish. He shall lose, and you will gain. '"

La Salle's face was pale, and his lips firmly set, as he listened to theending of this strange recital; but he took up the broken chain ofevidence, with the firm intention of finding the missing links. 

"Did you read my letter because you thought that Miss Randall mightprove to be your sister?"

"Yes, Charley, I did. Her name was Pauline Hubel. She was named afterour father, Paul Hubel. My name is Regnar Orloff Hubel. "

"Well, Regnie, all I can tell you now is, that the young lady's Englishis not the best in the world, and that she is an orphan child. Of thewhereabouts of her adopted father she knows nothing, but in a book whichI took up there one day, I found written, 'A. P. Randall;' and Mrs. Randall said--"

"What?" asked Regnar, hoarsely. 

"That it belonged to her brother. Now, Regnie, " said La Salle, kindly, "you know all that I can tell you. Perhaps you may find in the hilt ofyonder antique weapon the clew to much more. But we have other duties toperform; and first, how shall we seal up this cave so that no one canpossibly suspect our having entered this place. That Peter has the eyesof a lynx, and should he follow us, would not fail to discover all. "

"In an hour hence, " said Regnar, "no human being can stand where we arenow, and you can walk the stanchest hound over the ledge, without hisdreaming of what lies beneath. Come up to the top of the berg. "

Taking their equipments, they left the grotto, and issued through thenarrow entrance. Regnar pointed to a shelving path, like a shallowgroove in the face of the cliff. 

"Can we climb there?" said he. 

"I should think so, " answered La Salle; and taking an axe and the end ofthe rope, he began to ascend the cliff along the shelving pathway. As heascended, he heard behind him the blows of an axe, and, turning, sawRegnar cut a narrow cleft from the entrance of the cove to the level ofthe way to the top of the berg. "Are you mad, " asked La Salle, "that youscatter your chips about the berg like that, and into the verypathway?"

Regnar gave a finishing stroke to his work, and came lightly up thepath. 

"I shall finish my work above, " said he; and in a moment more they stoodupon the summit. 

The brink of the pool lay near the edge of the cliff, and withoutstopping to look around him, Regnar commenced cutting a deep, narrowgutter from the pathway to the huge reservoir. As he struck the blowswhich shattered the thin wall of ice between the pool and its newoutlet, the water poured in a stream a foot deep through the littlecanal, and down the slanting ledge into the cavern below. 

"I understand it now, " said La Salle, "and I now know why you lashed thebody to its support. "

"Yes, " answered the boy, coolly, "should any try to break into yondertomb to-morrow, they would do so at the risk of their lives; but if wehave a week of frost, the cove will be full to its outlet of solid ice. "

"But, Regnar, let us think of something else. Where are the islands wesaw last evening? We ought now to be near the southern shore of thegroup. "

"We have been wedged off to sea by stranded ice, I should judge; forthere, about fifteen miles to the northward, lies Amherst Island. "

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XXI. 

NORTHWARD AGAIN. --THE STEAMER. --TAKING TO THE BOAT. 

"Yes, Regnar, we are now on the outer side of the pack, and the wind hasshifted to the southward again. Look to the eastward, Regnie. Has notthe pack broken up there?"

"Yes, the tide sets to the eastward, and the wind blows the heavy icenorthward as soon as it clears the eastern shoals. See that berg goingto pieces on Doyle's Reef!"

As he spoke, the berg, a small one, worn by sun and rain into amultitude of fantastic pinnacles, swung off from its easterly drift, and, wafted by the wind, rapidly floated towards the concealed reef, whose sharp and hidden rocks can only be suspected during the prevalenceof the heaviest storms. With a moderate rate of speed, not muchexceeding two knots an hour, the massive base of the ice-island suddenlyrose, as the shelving rocks received the irresistible impact. Then a fewglittering pieces dimpled the surface of the unruffled water. It wasthe signal of impending dissolution. Crash upon crash, like the roar ofartillery, echoed and re-echoed among the floes, and rent from base topinnacle, the majestic frost-castle fell into utter ruin, torturing thesea into foam, while the billows raised by the rocking of the hugefragments swept up the narrow walls, sweeping right across many of thelower floes, and even raising a slight ripple around the base of thegreat berg itself. 

"We must return, Regnie. The clouds are darkening fast, and fog or athick scud is sweeping up from the southward. Let us have one more lookfor the steamers, and then we must away to our friends. "

"There is a steamer on the outer edge of the pack, I think. You will seeher smoke in line with the East Point yonder. "

"Yes, Regnie, that is a steamer, sure enough, and she will make her wayto the centre of the pack. Let us hasten to the floe and take to theboats. We can perhaps reach her by rowing through the narrow leadsbefore the gale rises. "

Hastening down the side of the watercourse they descended the berg, andset off along its base, in the direction of the hut. As they passed theygave a last glance at the sealer's tomb. Down the path they hadascended, dashed an overflowing torrent, which disappeared with a whirland hollow gurgle into the yawning aperture, while the whole front ofthe wall which they had ascended, dripped with water and glittered withspray. 

"The keenest eye among the hunters of the Mistassini could not uncoverthat trail; and known to God and us alone is the bloody mystery of theDeadman's Berg. "

"Don't talk of that again, Regnie. Let the dead rest. Perhaps it may yettranspire that he was penitent at the last, and you may have good reasonto rejoice that you knelt beside his last bed, in a tomb so wondrouslybeautiful. "

"We must hasten faster, Charley, for the fog _is_ coming, and we mayfind the floes separated. Remember our friends know nothing of all wehave seen and heard, and to them I am still Regnar Orloff, halfeducated, and a simple pilot of the Labrador. "

With increased speed the pair pressed forward, crossing with difficultythe gulf, which had opened between the berg and the first heavy floe. Pole in hand, with one end of the rope attached to his belt, and his gunslung at his back, Orloff led the way, while La Salle followed at theother end, carrying an axe in his belt, and another in his hand. Luckilymany large fragments lay floating in the first lead, and prevented fromslipping by their sharp "crampets, " they leaped from cake to cake, andsafely reached the second floe. 

The mist clung damp to their faces as they attained the end of thesecond floe, where a lead of water some twenty yards in width, andclear of ice, intervened between them and the next. The quick eye ofRegnar caught sight of a small ice-cake floating by the windward side oftheir floe, and leaping upon it, with pole and hands they shoved italong the steep walls of ice, and with their united force gave it afinal impetus in the desired direction. The fragment whirled and bentbeneath them, until the water stood above their ankles; but just as theybegan to fear a complete submersion, Orloff caught a projection of thefield with his boat-hook, and the two landed in safety. 

As they hurried across the last floe, the rain fell, and the wind blewheavily, dashing huge cakes against the windward side with a ceaselesscrashing of broken ice. Before they could reach the end of the field, they saw their own turn as if on a pivot, and grind slowly past theleeward point of the one across which they pressed at full speed. Theirefforts were in vain, for before they could reach the verge their refugewas twenty feet distant; but Regnar was equal to the emergency. 

"Cast loose your rope, Charley, " said he; and in five seconds he hadcoiled and whirled it twenty feet across the intervening chasm, toPeter, who seized and retained it. "Now, La Salle, follow me, " he cried;and springing upon a floating fragment, he balanced himself with hispole until he reached a more stable support farther from the berg. 

The impetus, however, carried him too far away, and La Salle had tochoose between committing himself to a fragment without rope or pole, tobe tossed about by the rising sea, or to wait until Regnar should reachthe floe, and return for him in the boat. He chose the latter, but soonhad the pleasure of seeing Regnar safely landed on the floe, fromwhence, in almost less time than it takes to tell it, the three launchedtheir boat and paddled up to the place where La Salle awaited theirarrival, intently watching the performance of their improvisedlife-boat. 

He noted with pleasure that she drew little water, and that the lightpaddles drove her through the short, toppling sea with considerablespeed, while her weather-boards prevented the shipping of any water. Leaping aboard, they soon crossed the narrow lead, and running under thelee of the ice-hills, drew their boat to the hut. 

"If you have anything you want to be sure to keep, stow it in the boat, "was La Salle's first order, as he saw the sea begin to dash across thewindward end of the floe, while, whining with fear, the young seals wereshoved and pushed, by the flippers of their dams, farther and farther upon the higher ice, until, tamed by fear, they surrounded the littlehollow containing the hut. 

Food, weapons, clothes, and ammunition were all deposited in the boat, as well as her mast, sail, and paddles, while her painter, attached toher sharp-pronged grapnel, lay coiled on her half-deck forward. Allthat afternoon the wind and sea arose, until, amid the drenching rain, they could hear around them the clamor of the terrified seals, thecontinual crash of breaking ice, and the sough of the heavy sea, whosespray drove over them in constantly increasing showers. 

At last an occasional wave came into the lower part of the littlehollow, and all thought that the end was near. 

"We must take to the boat, " said Regnar. 

But La Salle pointed to the ghostly crests of the surrounding seas; andbowing his head upon his breast, Orloff signified to his friend that heacknowledged the hopelessness of that resource. Just then a darkerblackness seemed to gather to windward, as a shriller blast whistled bythem; and as all awaited the increased fury of the elements which wereto end the unequal struggle, the wind seemed to abate, and the wavessullenly retired from the surface of the floe. The rain still sweptfiercely upon the drenched wanderers, and on their lee they could stillnote the crash of ice-islands, amid the sweep of the angry waves. 

But above them, huge, unbending, and majestic, towered a lofty pile, shrouded in darkness, through which at times gleamed the weird whiteoutline of some snow-encrusted ledge. 

"Are we under the lee of Amherst Island?" asked Regnar, in a voice whichall could hear. 

La Salle's answer came below his breath, and only Regnar heard, or couldcomprehend its meaning:--

"The dead are the defence of the living, and we are under the lee ofDeadman's Berg. "

Safe from the rage of the elements, but cold, wet, and hungry, theadventurers sought the shelter of their hut, which still stood unhurt;but the fir branches of the floor were soaked with water, for a wave ortwo had risen above the ledge of the door. After much difficulty, withthe aid of a candle, the Esquimaux lamp was lighted, and after muchsputtering, the six wicks diffused their cheering light and gratefulwarmth through the hut. Then Peter, with his axe, cut a gutter throughthe doorway, letting off the standing water, and in the course of anhour the boughs were comparatively dry. 

Taking from the boats the dry skins and coverlets, the party lay down torest, leaving Peter to keep watch lest they should again drift fromtheir haven, and be exposed to the pitiless seas. All took their spellof duty; but the cheerless night passed without further incident, andthe day found them still under the shadow of the great berg. As the dayadvanced, the storm swept the pack northward, and the party, ascendingthe berg, saw, one by one, the isolated crags of the island chain of theMagdalens loom at times through the driving scud, as they drovenorthward. Six or eight miles away they saw the masts of a vessel deepin the heart of the floe. 

"When the storm is over and the pack opens, we must take our boat andreach that sealer, " said La Salle; and taking the range of her position, the four sought their hut, and building a huge fire of all theirremaining wood, prepared all the cooked meat which they could carry, filled the seal-membranes with oil, and awaited the lull of the stormand the opening of the pack. 

At sunset the storm had broken, the clouds began to disappear, andthrough their rifts the stars glimmered, and the new moon shone palelybeautiful. 

"We shall not pass the North Cape much before morning, " said La Salle, "and until then the pack will not open. When it does we are ready; sosleep, and I will watch. "

His tired comrades flung themselves down, and were almost instantlyasleep. As the dawn approached the wind lessened, and as the day broke, he called Regnar, and again ascended the berg. 

On the right hand towered the rock-bound coast of the northern islandsand the isolated crags of Bryon. And as they looked northward they sawthe pack opening again: as it issued from under the lee, a black cloudof smoke rose from the sealer's funnel, but instead of steering east orwest, she was evidently heading for the great berg. 

"Shall we await them here, or take our boat and try to reach them, Regnar?" asked La Salle. 

"Wait a little longer, and then, when the ice opens, push a little moreto the eastward, and work down to meet the vessel, " said the lad, whoproceeded to examine the dagger so strangely returned to his keeping. The blade unscrewed at the cross-piece of the hilt, which was hollow, and contained many papers closely compressed into a single roll. Regnarran his eye over the contents, and selecting one, returned the rest totheir odd receptacle. "This paper, Charley, contains an inventory of theproperty confided to Perry, to be equally divided between my half-sisterand myself. " And he proceeded to translate the items of the inventory. "It is hardly worth while to give this paper in full; suffice it to saythat besides various pictures, books, arrows, weapons, sets of plate, jewels, and other heirlooms, 'stored in care of Nicholas Orloff, mymother's brother, ' there appeared a schedule of moneys and bondsamounting to nearly one hundred thousand dollars. 'These funds have beencommitted, ' the paper went on to say, 'to my faithful friend AlbertPerry, whom I commend to your good offices and implicit trust. '"

As he ceased reading, the boy's face was turned to the ice-cliff, wherethe plashing water flowed in a huge sheet, like a falling veil, over theface of the berg, shutting out from sight the twining pillars and narrowentrance of the sealer's tomb. 

"I have rendered him the last 'good office, '" said he. "It only remainsto seek yonder vessel, and find out who spoiled the spoiler, and, ifpossible, recover the valuables and papers taken from Perry's body. "

"There is the steamer heading this way, " said La Salle, "and the leadsare fast opening. Let us descend to the floe, and by the time we havebreakfasted, we shall find ample room between the fields to let us passin safety. "

Descending, they found their comrades already at breakfast, and by thetime the meal was disposed of, their floe lay surrounded by one of theleads of open water, which showed scarce a vestige of the heavy seas ofthe late gale. For the last time they packed their few valuables intothe boat, and stowing Carlo away under deck, took their allotted places, dipped their paddles into the open water, and with rapid strokesthreaded the narrow channels, scaring the timid seals from their path, and noting on every hand scenes of life and beauty, for amid the openingpack the varied life of the Bird islands around them met their view. Screaming gannets wheeled in clouds over their heads, and portly murresstarted up heavily from the frequent pools, into which they broke withflashing paddles, and laughter, such as they had never before indulgedin since their first misadventure. 

[Illustration: "IN HIS HANDS LA SALLE WAVED THE BANNER. "Page 297. ]

Guided by the pillar of black smoke, which, winding this way and that, ever drew nearer and nearer, they came at last to an open pool, nearlya quarter of a mile or more in length. On the opposite side, above asmall floe, they saw the prow of the advancing vessel. Evidently she hadmet with a check, for as they gazed they heard the tinkle of the enginebell, and saw her iron-sheathed bow recede behind the fantastic outlinesof the pinnacle. 

"Will she leave us?" asked Waring, with trembling lips. 

"They only back to run down that floe. See now. "

The next moment Regnar's prediction was verified. A blacker cloud ofsmoke, shot with sparks, poured from the funnel; the huge hull rapidlyadvanced, her raking prow, with its iron armor, piercing the waves likethe blade of the sword-fish. There was a crash, a momentary glimpse offalling ice and splitting walls, and the next moment the noble steamercame at half speed across the open water, just as the little boat shotout of the sheltering lead. 

In his hands La Salle waved the banner attached to the boat-hook, whichhad marked the deserted heaps of seal-skins. But it needed not: thepilot rang his bell, and the sealer became motionless in the centre ofthe pool. As they came alongside, a stout, full-bearded man, in aGuernsey frock, threw them a rope, and hailed the strange littlecraft:--

"What, do'ee want, friends, and where do'ee hail from?"

"We are sportsmen, carried off, by the ice, in the straits, eleven daysago. We want food, and a passage home, for which we will pay. "

"Well, if ivir I heerd of de like of dat! Come aboord, my men. Decaptain's sick, but dere's plinty to ate here, and ye won't mind closequarters, after your vige on de ice. "

"No, indeed, sir!" said La Salle. "Tumble up, my men. Take your guns andyour coats with you. Here, Nep; up that ladder, sir. That's right. Canyou take our boat aboard?"

"Come right up, sur; dere's no fear of her. I'll have her aboord in tinminutes. Here comes de mate. What's your name, sur? La Salle? Yis, sur!Mister Blake, sur; Mister La Salle, sur. "

"Happy to see you, Mr. La Salle. I've learnt enough about you to knowthat you have been adrift nearly two weeks, and as dinner's ready wemust have you into the cabin. I am sorry that but one berth is vacant, and your friends will have to take their chance in the forecastle. "

"If you please, I had rather have you extend your courtesy to Mr. GeorgeWaring, a son of Mr. Albert Waring, of C. , who does a large businesswith your St. John's fishing firms. He has been the only one of us whohas been sick, and--"

"There, Mr. Blake, " interposed Waring, "don't listen to him; take himwith you. Why, I am as strong as an ox now, and you'll find him farbetter company than I am. "

Passing aft through gangways crowded with brawny, hardy-looking sealers, La Salle followed his conductor to the cabin, where he found six oreight men gathered around a table plentifully supplied with the usualprovisions found on board ships in the merchant service. After beingintroduced to all present, who greeted him with a rude civility, Mr. Blake invited him to "fall to and help himself. "

It is needless to say that he required no pressing in this direction. "Hard tack" and "salt horse, " with potatoes, soft bread, and chicorycoffee sweetened with molasses, seemed food fit for the gods, after thegreasy meat-diet of the last eleven days; and his companionsconsiderately refrained from questioning him until his hunger wassatisfied. At last he drew back his chair, lit a cigar offered him byone of the officers, and turning to the mate said, laughingly, --

"Fire away, gentlemen--I'm ready. "

After narrating the principal events of their voyage so far as he deemedprudent, he concluded as follows:--

"Two or three days ago we fell in with large sealing-floes, and amongthem one where a sealer had killed several hundred seals. A boat-hook, which you will find in our boat, bore this signal. Am I right insupposing that this is the name of your vessel?" and so saying he drewfrom his pocket the tiny pennon. 

"It is ours, and we have been trying for a week to recover our skins, aswell as the body of Captain Randall, whom we lost eight days ago. "

Not a muscle of La Salle's face betrayed any emotion save that ofinterest, as he asked, --

"Lost your captain! And how, pray?"

At that moment a noise was heard in the inner cabin, as if several menwere struggling; all at once the door flew open, and, with difficultyrestrained by the utmost efforts of two powerful men, a pale, unshornface, surmounting a wild and scantily-dressed figure, appeared to theparty, none of whom started save La Salle, who almost fancied that thedead man, sealed up in the caverns of the ice, had come back again tohis quarters on board the Mercedes. Crying out, "I couldn't save him! Icouldn't save him!" the intruder was dragged, struggling and raving, back to his berth. 

"Poor George! he takes the death of his brother sadly to heart. He wasmate, and the other day they left the floe together, to ascend a largeberg at some distance from our whaling-ground. We saw them on the top, after which they disappeared, going to the opposite side by which theyhad ascended. Shortly after we heard several rifle shots fired in quicksuccession, and then George came running towards us, shouting that hisbrother had fallen between the floes, and was drowning. 

"We ran to the spot, and found a place between two floes where the icewas much broken up, as if some one had tried to catch something with aboat-hook; and Randall told us that his brother had fallen through andbeen carried under the ice before he could get to him. We broke the iceall around, but to no purpose; and then our lookouts discovered that wewere in danger of getting nipped on the other side of the Magdalens. Sowe returned to the ship with George, sadly enough. "

"Why were the rifle-shots fired? to call for assistance?" asked LaSalle. 

"Yes. None of our men have the rifle, although many are supplied withthe old sealing-gun. We therefore agreed among the officers that threeshots, fired in rapid succession, should call assistance in case ofdanger, or trouble with the men. Our rifles are all breech-loadingcarbines, and we can fire with great rapidity. "

"Do you find them of service among the seals?"

"Yes, especially with the 'old hoods;' and poor Captain Randall, whospent some years in Europe, had his ammunition fitted so that thebullets explode on striking a bone. They tear a terrible hole in a seal, I assure you. "

"Indeed! I never saw one of them, although it seems to me that I haveread of the invention. Have you any of the bullets here? for I supposethe rifle was lost at the same time. "

The sailing-master, or rather pilot, a short, thick-set Newfoundlander, took up the conversation. 

"Dere's de rifle now, hangin' over your head. De captain was ailin', an'his brother, who fancied de little piece, carried it. Dere's one of decartridges in it yet. "

So saying, he took down a short carbine of the Spencer pattern, andunlocking the slide, took out a cartridge and handed it to La Salle. Itdisplayed at the end of the ball the copper capsule of a rifle-shell. 

"Let us go on deck, " said Blake, rising; but as they passed againthrough the narrow passage, they heard the struggles of the deliriouscaptain, and his oft-repeated cry, "I couldn't save him! I couldn't savehim!"

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE FORECASTLE OF THE SEALER. --A SEALER'S STORY. --THE LASTHUNT. --ARRIVAL AT ST. JOHN'S. 

In the quarters of the men forward, between the lofty and wedge-likebows, the rest of the party met with a warm reception; and althoughgrease was everywhere a prominent feature of the surroundings, still thesense of comfort, warmth, and security, made it a paradise to men whohad passed so many days of discomfort and anxiety. 

Huge kids of beef, potatoes, and bread, with hot pannikins of strongblack tea, formed their dinner, which most of the men preferred to eaton deck; but the boatswain, or rather captain of the forecastle, with, perhaps, a dozen others, seated themselves at the long hanging shelfwhich formed the table, and listened intently to the story of theirvaried wanderings and adventures. 

As Regnar concluded, a grizzly-haired sealer from Kitty Vitty seized himby the hand. 

A SEALER'S STORY. 

"Ye've ben lucky, sur; de Lord be praised for't, for dere's many abetter man nor you dat's died wid hunger an' cold on de ice. I mind oncemyself dat I sailed out o' Conception in March, an' tree weeks after datwe were up off Hamilton Inlet. Dere was a big fleet of us boys, for datwas in de ould times when dere were no steamers, but only brigantinesmostly. 

"Well, dere was ould Ned Shea in de Li'n, an' Jim Daygle in de Ringdove, an' Bill 'Hearne in de Swiler's Bride, an ourselves in de Truelove, allin company; an' dat night at dusk we made de Greenland ice. Well, dewind was west-nor'-west, an' we put de studdin'-sils onto her, an' awaywe went flamin' mad through der slob. 

"Well, de ice giv us many a heavy thump dat night, but de ould Truelovewas well fastened, an' at daylight next mornin', we heard de watch cry, 'Swiles! Swiles! On deck, below dere!' You may be sure we wasn't long ingettin' on deck wid our guns an' gaffs, an', sure enough, dere dey was, ould an' young, _atin' de shaydn_ (sheathing) _off her_. 

"Den we launched de boats an' took to de ice; an' when we landed, decapten said, 'Trow your guns in de boats, an' at dem wid de gaff;' an'such a massacree I never saw since. De first I killed was a 'harp;' an'den I killed a 'hood' wid de first lick; an' den a 'jenny' an' tree'white coats;' but I took my toe to dem, an' all of 'em in a bit of ahollow not bigger den dis fo'c's'le, an' I sculped dem an' put deresculps on a pinnacle; an' so it was all day an' de next. 

"But on de t'ird day we were hard at it a good way from de vessil, an' Itought I saw some swiles under a hummock, an' I ran up swingin' my club;but dey didn't stir, an' den I saw dat dey wasn't swiles. Dey wasHuskies, two of 'em, dead an' frozen stiff. Dere lines an' lances laybeside 'em, an' knives of hoop-iron, wid bone hannles, were in dereboots; but dere was no sign of anythin' to ate, an' dey looked wasted to'natomies. 

"I called de odders, an' de capten come up an' looked at dem a minutesorrowful-like, an' den said, 'Poor fellows! dey've been carried off'nde ice, an' starved till dey froze to death;' an' he tould us to burydem daycently, an' we closed dem up in a pinnacle. 

"But it was lucky we was near loaded, for dat put a chill on our min', an' de tought of dose dead Huskies lost us many a fine swile, for deboys wouldn't scatter over de ice as dey used to. 

"It wasn't long after dat de capten tould us dat we were full enough, an' away we sailed to de sou'-east. "

"Dat was de time de Li'n was lost--wasn't it?" inquired anotherislesman. 

"Yes; on de way down we had an awful gale, an' de Li'n put into de packan' got 'nipped, ' so dat she went down; but her crew was all saved in deboats. We put off to say, an' for two days an' nights I tought we shouldnever say land. Why, we lay to as long as we dared, an' until our deckwas full of water, an' de capten said we mus' do somethin' else, or weshould founder. 

"I stood in de fore-riggin' an' watched de big says as dey come downupon us; an' I'll tell you one thing you'll do well to remember. Whenever a big wave come dat I knew would sink us, if it broke upon us, _I made de sign of de holy cross, an' de wave broke before it reachedus_. "

"I've done de same ting often myself, an' nivir knew it to fail, " saidthe younger man, who, it appeared, was the son of the veteran sealer. 

"But how did you get clear finally?" asked Regnar. 

"De ould capten dat was drownded de oder day was mate den. He was a wildyoung chap, but smart an' able. He tould de capten to rig one of depumps, and pump some of de oily water out of de hold. So de brakes wasrigged, but he an' de capten had to man dem at first, for all de restwere afeard, an' I was in de fore-riggin' watchin' de says. 

"Well, dey pumped a while, an' de oil an' water went overboard, an' aswe went driftin' away to leeward, I saw de slick of de ile spreadin'over de waves. We kept a couple of men at de pumps till night, an' derewasn't another say broke over us. "

 * * * * *

"Swiles! Swiles! On deck, dere below!" cried some one on deck; and ageneral rush up the steep ladder leading to the deck took place. 

Following the others, our three friends soon found their companion, LaSalle, who had pressed through the crowded gangways to his party. 

Again they lay below the Deadman's Berg, and around them were the floes, crowded with living seals, as well as the one over which the ravenoussea-birds fluttered, holding high carnival over the multitude of frozenbodies. The crew, armed with guns and clubs, were lowering their lightboats, and the party dragging their own boat to the side, awaited thelowering of a boat to use its falls for their own. Blake approachedthem, and said, kindly, --

"I wouldn't land; you must be tired, and need rest. Just turn in, all ofyou, in the cabin, for we shall be ashore all day. "

"We would rather hunt with you, for we shall never probably have anotherchance to see how a Newfoundland sealer kills his game. Only, if youplease, let us have some sheath-knives, and four of your clubs. "

Merely saying, "We shall be very glad of your help, for we have to leavetwo of our best men with the captain, " Blake spoke to an under-officer, who soon produced four sharp sheath-knives, and as many oaken clubsabout six feet long, ringed at the top with iron, and furnished with asharp hook, or gaff; and lowering their little craft, the four paddledstoutly after the fleet of boats, whose wild crews tore the water intofoam with their oars, as each strove to reach the floes, and to "win thefirst blood. "

Sixty men, besides La Salle's party, swept across the pool, almost flungtheir light boats upon the safe ice, and prevented from slipping bytheir spiked crampets, charged at full speed upon the frightened seals, who filled the air with their clamorous roars and whining. Crick, crack!fell the heavy clubs on every side, and seldom was the stroke repeated;but sometimes an "ould hood" would elevate his inflated helmet, and theheavy club would fall upon it, producing a hollow sound, that boomedhigh above the noise of the conflict. Then the officer in charge of thatgang would step up, present his carbine, and the brave seal, shotthrough the brain, would fall back dead, as the report rattled among theice-peaks. 

Having disposed of the adults, a regular butchery took place among theyoung seals, who were easily despatched by a blow on the nose, or a kickwith the heavy heel of a sealer's boot on the spinal vertebræ. Thenfollowed the "sculping, " or skinning, which was despatched withmarvellous rapidity. At its close the men, covered with blood and oil, gathered to their boats, and leaving the floe crimsoned with gore, andhorrible with bloody and skinless carcasses, hastened to another fieldto continue the work of death. 

Such for two days were the scenes presented to the eyes of thecompanions, who received many commendations for their assistance, butwho rejoiced beyond measure when the word was passed through the shipthat she was "full, " and that they were to sail at once for St. John's. 

[Illustration]

Once more the black funnel poured forth its cloud of smoke, and castingoff the lines which attached her to the surrounding ice, the Mercedespressed boldly into the pack, and soon our adventurers gazed for thelast time on the fading outlines of the Deadman's Berg. 

Two days later, as the steamer rounded Cape Race, the captain, worn andweak, but evidently in his right mind, appeared at the table. On beingintroduced to La Salle, he seemed somewhat agitated, but soon assumed anoverbearing and despotic demeanor. To Mr. Blake he was particularlyinsulting. 

"I'll have you know, sir, that I am captain now; ay, and owner, too, sir, for my poor brother left neither chick nor child in the world butme. Damn me, sir! what right have you to invite everybody to my tableand cabin? ay, and put a stranger into my brother's very state-room?"

Blake looked confounded, and the other officers sat with bowed heads andlowering brows at this insult to a man they all loved and respected; butLa Salle unconcernedly turned to the newly-fledged commander, andsaid, --

"I regret, captain--really, I forget your name; but let that pass; butwhen I came on board, I told this gentleman that I would sleep forwardwith the men. I have not cared to speak about it before, but I canassure you that I have the worst dreams in that state-room that I everhad in my life. I shall try to recompense you for the passage of mycompanions and myself when we arrive at St. John's;" and rising, hebowed haughtily, and withdrew to the deck. 

Ten minutes later he was joined by Blake. 

"The captain has apologized to us, and begs that you will come to hisroom, as he is too weak to leave the cabin. "

La Salle attended the good-hearted sailor to the inner cabin, where amattress lay upon the table, and many appliances, among them a couple ofbroad bandages of stout canvas, bore witness to the severity of thecaptain's late illness. The sick man attempted to rise from his chair ashe entered, but was evidently very weak, and La Salle interposed, --

"Don't rise, captain, I beg of you. I see you are very weak, and perhapsI was too ready to take offence. We should not always notice--"

"The disagreeable acts of a sick and almost heart-broken man, "interposed Randall, with a smooth, deceitful softness of tone, thatinstantly reawakened La Salle's antipathies. "I beg you, however, " hecontinued, "to excuse me, and to make yourself at home in your oldquarters. I should like to talk with you about your strange cruise, butat St. John's we may have a better opportunity over a bottle of wine. "

"I shall be glad to meet you with my friends as soon as I can see Smith& Co. , and get some notes changed, so that I can buy suitable clothesfor myself and friends;" and bowing, La Salle withdrew. 

That night La Salle looked well to the fastenings of his door, lashingthe knob of the lock to a corner of his berth, where a knot had droppedout of the deal. Several times he felt the thin partition tremble, andheard the noise of some one tampering with the lock; but at last morningcame, and three hours later the steamer lay at anchor off the city ofSt. John's. 

The party had funds enough to secure a change of apparel and respectablequarters, until they should hear from Waring's father, to whom he hadtelegraphed their safe arrival, and want of money. A telegram to thewife of the new captain of the Mercedes, conveyed to Baltimore the newsof the death of her brother-in-law. 

Of course the party received much attention, and for a few days theywere the lions of the city, although tales of adventure on the ice areof too frequent occurrence in St. John's, to awaken any lastinginterest; for scarcely a winter elapses without the arrival of one ormore crews who have seen their vessel disappear beneath the resistlesspressure of colliding icebergs. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE CAPTAIN'S VISIT. --HOMEWARD BOUND. --BROTHER AND SISTER. 

At last the expected draft arrived, and the party were to leave forHalifax the next day in the Cunard steamer. La Salle had invited CaptainRandall to spend the evening in a private parlor of the hotel, and ateight o'clock he was ushered in, and found no other guest save his firstmate, Mr. Blake, who was still first officer of the Mercedes. 

The table was well spread with delicacies, and although some constraintexisted, the wine did its work, and soon Blake and Randall were laughingand joking, as if no cause for ill-feeling existed between them. AtRandall's request La Salle gave a summary of their adventures, concluding the recital as follows:--

"Thus passed the long days of our anxious drift, until your vesselsteamed back to her old sealing-ground, and we left forever behind usour ice-built hut and the Deadman's Berg. "

The effect was magical. The smiles faded from the faces of the guests. Randall's lips were drawn and thin, his eyes fixed and glittering, andone hand stole stealthily to his hip. Regnar, too, was pale, but notwith fear, and his hand grasped the hilt of the antique dagger. 

"Let me help you to some of this, captain, " said La Salle; and rising, he uncovered a small dish before him, and taking from thence a pair ofDerringers, presented them at the head of his astounded guest. "Up withyour hands, murderer, " he said, sternly, "or you die on the instant!" Atthe same time Blake and Regnar seized him by the arms. 

"What is the meaning of all this?" asked Waring, trembling and appalled. 

"Dis no good, La Salle. No Injin hurt man in his wigwam, or strike whenhe give 'em food, " shouted Peter, angry at what he considered a breachof hospitality; but both were unheeded. 

"Why am I treated thus?" faltered the prisoner, whose trembling kneescould scarcely support him. 

"Captain Randall, I have here a man with whom you have an account tosettle. He has been known among us as Regnar Orloff. His real name isRegnar Orloff Hubel. Where is the money and other valuables which yourbrother, Albert Randall, stole from two orphans, and was murdered for byyou, that you in turn might become the thief?"

"Mr. Blake here knows the story, for we have told him how we found thecorpse of his commander, with the skull pierced with one of yourmurderous shells. We buried him in the berg; if you doubt it, behold thetokens. "

Regnar raised his hand: on one finger glittered the golden setting ofthe native talisman; on the table he laid the sheathed dagger. 

"Are you satisfied, George Randall?" said he. 

The wretch glared around as if he would have destroyed all whosurrounded him; then he seemed to realize the futility of his rage, andcatching his breath with a fierce sob, he asked, hoarsely, --

"What will you have me do?"

Regnar stepped forward, and answered for himself. 

"Give up the secret money-belt which you took from the person of yourvictim, with its contents untouched, and secure to me compensation forthe sums taken by your brother. Your life I do not want, but if youhesitate I will have both. "

"What security have I for your silence?" asked Randall, more boldly; foreven his craven fears were unable to repress his naturally cold andgrasping disposition. 

"Only our oaths, and the remembrance that my half-sister has sleptbeneath your roof, and has borne your name, although it shall no longerbe a reproach to her. "

"It is hers no longer. She married last week, after losing her firstbeau somewhere at sea: but never mind; I must take your offer and yourword, I suppose. Let go of my arms. You may take my pistols from my hip, if you are afraid of me. " With these words he proceeded to unfasten hisvest, and from beneath it drew a water-proof bag of thin rubber, whichwas tightly fastened with twine, and enclosed in a money-belt ofchamois-skins. "It is all there but ten thousand dollars, and that hehad a right to take, " said he. 

"What do you mean?" asked Regnar, with a softened look and glisteningeyes. 

"Open and read for yourself, " said Randall, moodily. 

Unfastening the belt, Hubel untied the inner bag, and poured thecontents upon the table. A roll of bank bills fell upon it. There werewithin twenty bills of the denomination of one thousand pounds each, onthe Bank of England, and a folded paper, which, on being opened, provedto be a copy of the last will and testament of Paul Hubel. By itsprovisions a sum amounting to about ten thousand dollars was given "tomy old and tried friend, Albert Perry. "

"Al, put that ten thousand into this vessel last year, and I persuadedhim to put thirty thousand of your money in, too. We made money lastspring, and I kept trying to get him to buy all of her. He took adislike to your sister, and said he would hold on to the money until hefound you. Last summer he secured a passage on a vessel bound to theLabrador, and only that he got sick, I believe he would have seen youthen. 

"This last winter we had several quarrels about the money, but I nevermeant to injure him until the day it happened. We were having splendidluck, when he proposed that we should climb the berg, as he feared beingcaught between the pack and the islands. We had to ascend on theopposite side, and when we got to the top, we saw the storm brewing towindward, and started to return. 

"As we came along the ice-foot, I said, 'You're making money this tripfast. Isn't that better than giving up everything to that sullen girland a half-breed boy?' Then he seemed sad, and said, 'George, you'vemade a rascal of me; but, thank God, I've made up my mind to be true tomy old comrade at last. '

"'What do you mean?' said I. 

"'I mean, ' said he, turning to me, 'that I've sold out the shares Ibought with that thirty thousand, and I've got their money safe here inthis belt. '

"'But you don't mean to be such a fool as to give it up--do you?' saidI; for I was angry to think that, instead of the four shares I hadcounted on all along, we should have but one in the division of theprofits. 

"And then I taunted him with a fatal quarrel long ago, and he--well, hetaunted me with a crime that I thought no one knew. Says he, --

"'I'm not afraid of you. If the rope is ready for my neck, you couldscarcely live out the time, between the sentence and the gallows, if thepeople of San Francisco once listened to your trial. '

"So one word brought on another, and at last he shook his gaff at me, and made one step; and my blood was on fire, and I fired the carbine. Henever spoke. 

"I don't believe I ever should have enjoyed the money, although at timesI felt as if I could hug myself when I counted it over; and I laid outto go back to Baltimore, and go into business there. What am I to dowith the share in the vessel, and his money in the bank?" he asked, suddenly. 

Regnar rose, with his eyes red with weeping; but a sad smile wreathedhis lips, as he asked, --

"He was your only brother, and unmarried--was he not?"

Randall answered, hoarsely, --

"It is true, God help me! it is true. "

"To all that is his, then, you are sole heir. I lay no claim to interestor forfeit, and I wish that thrice the sum would restore him to life, since even at the last he was not wholly unworthy of my father'sconfidence and his children's love. Come, " said he, turning to thosepresent, and taking from his breast a Bible, "repeat after me the oathof silence and secrecy:--

"'We, who alone know of the circumstances attending the decease ofCaptain Albert Randall, and the suspicions attaching to the part actedtherein by his brother George Randall, do solemnly swear that, exceptunder the seal of confession, or as compelled by the power of the law, we will never divulge our knowledge or suspicions until after thedecease of the brother of the dead. '"

The oath was taken with due solemnity, and Randall rose to depart. Blake, filled with anger and desire of vengeance, had preceded him. LaSalle coldly did as common politeness required, but Regnar saw thatsickness and mental torture had overcome the strong man, whose kneestrembled beneath him, as, with the curse of Cain upon him, he turned todepart, without friends, far from home, and weary of life. 

"It is not right, La Salle, " said the boy. "I was unjust to _him_although it is better for all that no eyes but our own saw him laid inthe Deadman's Berg. Let us give this man human sympathy; he is weak andsick; let us see that he does not despair of the mercy and love of God. "

La Salle could not but acknowledge the righteousness of this appeal, and, followed by Regnar, hastened into the hall. 

"Captain, " said he, "forgive us if we have failed to treat you withChristian forbearance, and believe that our hearts will retain yourmemory, with sympathy for your heavy burden of remorse, if not with theesteem that might have existed between us. The night is dark and cold;let us help you to find a conveyance. "

"I thank you, " said he, feebly; "you are very kind--far kinder than Ideserve. No man can measure the remorse that burns within me, and yetthe world would say that you have let me off too easily. "

La Salle rang the bell sharply, and a waiter hastened up from the lowerlanding. 

"Did you ring, sir?"

"Yes. Call a cab at once. Regnar, get my coat and yours. Mr. Randall, wemust see you safely home. Where do you board?"

"At the Albion; but you need not take that trouble. Ah, sir, I know yourfears; but my head is clear, and you need not be afraid that I shall doanything rash. I shall not despair of the pardon of God, since I havefound some merciful pity in man. "

The carriage was announced; the tall form was again erect, and thevoice, though husky with emotion, came strangely sweet and clear, as heturned to go. 

"I would that we might be friends, but I know it cannot be. My blessingmen would shrink from, if they knew what you do; but may God bless youfor your kindness to me. " And standing motionless in the dusky passage, they heard the footsteps die away in the empty corridors, and the rattleof the wheels of the vehicle which bore him away forever. 

The next day they took the steamer for Halifax, and arriving there, theparty separated, Peter and Waring going to St. Jean, and La Salle to thehome of his father in Baltimore, where Regnar also was bound, in searchof his half-sister. The parting was not pleasant, for the mutual trialsand dangers of the few days spent amid the ice had done more to cement astrong and lasting friendship between the four, than years of ordinarycompanionship would have done. 

"Look out, Peter, when you get on board the Princess, for Lund hassecured such a story to tell, that he may pitch you two overboard tokeep you from spoiling it by your return. "

"All light, " answered Peter; "Capten Lund good man; see spirit, too, sure enough. He see two men; he look 'gain, no men dere. He see you an'me on _h_ice. Snow fall t'ick, an' he see us no more. What hurt we comeback? Much better we come back for all han's; you come back soon, Is'pose, too. "

"Yes, Peter, " answered La Salle, kindly, "we shall come back soon, and Ihope next fall to be spending the moonlight nights with you onShepherd's Creek, and the duck-haunted reed-ponds of Battery Marsh. Goodby;" and going on board, the two friends went rather disconsolately totheir state-room. 

Regnar still seemed ill at ease, as if he wanted to inquire aboutsomething; and at last he said, abruptly, --

"Charley, what shall I say to my sister?"

"Say to her, Regnie? Why, that you are delighted to see her, of course. You may add that you come to make her wealthy; that is not likely tohurt your reception, " said La Salle, philosophically. 

"Yes, of course I know that; but--but about you, Charley. You know whatRandall said about--about her--"

"About her being married, do you mean? Why, my dear boy, say nothing. Iam resigned, and, I may say, almost glad that it is so. Neither was italtogether an unexpected announcement, for I felt long ago that my firstimpressions upon her susceptible heart had faded with lapse of time anda low state of the exchequer. No, no, boy! be kind and loving to her, for she has not your firmness of soul or depth of affection. I carry youto her as my marriage gift. Is it agreed?"

"It is, Charley; and you will not let the caprice of a girl separate mefrom my friend--will you, La Salle?"

"Regnie, " answered the other, not without a touch of tenderness in histone, "the bonds which connect us are not the ties of passion, or thecalm preferences of the selfish world. We met amid a gathering of savageand half-civilized men, and our acquaintance has ripened into friendshipamid many dangers and strange experiences. A doubtful and dangerousquest still lies before you. I hope that you will not undertake itwithout me to accompany you. "

"You, of all men, are the one I should choose, and we will set out thisvery summer to carry out my father's wishes;" and during the rest oftheir journey little was talked of but their future expedition into theinterior of Newfoundland. 

At Baltimore La Salle and his friend went to the home of the former, andwere received as men from the dead. Of course the papers were full ofsketches of their strange adventure, and wood-cuts of icebergs and sealscovered the paper-stands for a week; and then a horrible murder, and adelicious bit of scandal in high life, closed the brief notoriety of thefriends. 

Two visits were paid during the first week of their return. Both calledon the day of their arrival at Mrs. Randall's, and La Salle sent up hiscard. After waiting a while, that lady, who was not without misgivingsas to what might be said about her matchmaking proclivities, sailed intothe room very richly dressed, and rather red in the face. 

"I am happy to see you, Mr. La Salle, and to know that you were notreally lost, after all. Do you make a long stay in the city?"

"Don't waste unnecessary effort to appear cool and freezingly polite, Mrs. Randall, " said La Salle, calmly. "I am here on a matter ofbusiness. I want Pauline's present address, as it is highly importantthat I should see her at once. "

"Dear Pauline resides at No. --Crescent Avenue, and is now, as you are, of course, aware, the wife of Mr. Reginald Ashley, who is, as you know, closely connected with some of our first families. "

"Yes, I know he is first cousin to Green, the rich broker, who sometimesinvites him to dinners and parties, and makes it twice as hard for poorAshley to make his small salary at the custom-house pay his way. "

"Well, I dare say Pauline has done as well, and even better than shemight have done, had not the poor girl had some one to advise her, whoknew the world and--"

"Threw away an heiress worth fifty thousand dollars on a clerk witheighteen hundred dollars a year, " interrupted La Salle, with a smile. "Ibeg leave, Mrs. Randall, to introduce to you Regnar Hubel, herhalf-brother, who comes to return to her her moiety of the fortune leftby her father. I did not come here, " continued he, more gravely, "tobandy bitter words, for you will ere long hear news from Newfoundland, which, I hope, will teach you that hidden sin is never safe fromdiscovery, and that all injustice meets with its meed of punishment. Adieu, madam. "

Later in the day they called at the hotel, where the young couple werepassing the honeymoon. Slipping a _douceur_ into the hands of thewaiter, he introduced them into the suite without the usual presentationof visiting cards. As the young bride swept into the boudoir in herreception dress, La Salle stepped forward; for he knew that she hadalready heard of his arrival. 

"Charley--Mr. La Salle! Why--that is, how do you do? I was glad tohear--"

La Salle interrupted the fair speaker, for the awkwardness and pain ofthe interview were but too apparent. 

"I did not come, Mrs. Ashley, to give you pain, or annoy you by mypresence. I come to fulfill a prophecy. "

"To fulfill a prophecy? You speak in riddles, and I have never delightedmuch in anything of that kind since I was a child. "

"I may say, then, that I come to offer my congratulations, and to bringyou my bridal gift. "

"A gift? and from you? Surely you do not mean to offer, and I cannotaccept it. "

Regnar arose, and addressing the agitated girl, ended the painfulinterview. 

"You were the daughter of Paul Hubel, of Schleswig--were you not?"

"Yes, sir. I was adopted by the brother of Mr. Randall, who was thefriend of my father. "

"Then, I assure you that my friend speaks truth. He has fulfilled aprediction, and gives you a fortune, and the brother who shares it withyou. "

The next few moments were spent in mutual explanations, and the younggirl, deprived of a mother's love in early life, sent away to learnlife's duties of strangers, and yearning during all her brief existencefor the affection she had never known, received the brother she hadnever seen with an outburst of welcome which revealed what she mighthave been, had her life been spent under happier auspices. 

At last La Salle interrupted their mutual joy. 

"I have finished my task, and the prophecy of Krasippe is accomplished. "

"Yes, " said Regnar, "last summer I met with an old Esquimaux who servedour father well for many years, and who now claims some power of insightinto the future. He heard the story of my futile efforts to find you, but uttered this prophecy which we to-day accomplish. He said, 'You willmeet in a desert of ice the man who will lead you to your heart'sdearest wish. He will lose, and you will gain. '"

"And yet, Regnie, although the coincidence of events may bring me withinthe purview of the Esquimaux oracle, I have a misgiving that we have, perhaps, overlooked the claims of one whom we met but once in a desertof ice, and who still voyages, in silence unbroken, ADRIFT IN THEICE-FIELDS. "