130 BY ESKIMO DOG-SLED 



The men were exhausted by the time the 

 currents were bubbling half a mile behind us, 

 and nodded and grinned with appreciation 

 when I suggested supper. I decided on hot 

 meat ; but as we had only one cooking utensil 

 the tea and meat would have to take turns, 

 and Daniel chuckled as he helped me to scrape 

 the mutton out of the tin into his useful kettle. 

 We anchored at the mouth of a little brook 

 that was trickling through the melting snow, 

 and within a few minutes we were eating our 

 mutton out of our teacups while the kettle 

 sat on the fire filled with its usual cold water 

 and tea-leaves. We rinsed our cups at the 

 rivulet, and drank the hot tea thankfully ; 

 then I took out the Bible, and the men clustered 

 round me for the evening reading. I sat after- 

 wards gazing at the lowering sky, while the 

 captain spread the sail over my sleeping-place 

 in the stern, and the others lay on the moss and 

 smoked. The captain came to me. " Storm 

 to-morrow," he said ; " you go to sleep now ; 

 we row all night " ; and without another word 

 he called to the oarsmen and hauled the anchor 

 up from the water. Good-hearted fellows ; 

 how I admired their pluck. Rather than risk 

 delay they would toil all night at the oars, 

 because the wind was coming, and to-morrow it 

 might be impossible to travel among the ice-pans. 



