102 HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



In a few words we unbosomed ourselves to Klein- 

 schmidt and explained that the rest of our journey 

 together was to be a hunting trip and nothing else. 

 Then we all went to the schooner, except Kleinschmidt, 

 who stayed to see Born through. 



A minor change had taken place in the personnel on 

 board. Jimmie had come and gone, taking with him a 

 bulging suitcase. When he first came aboard legend 

 said that the bag was nearly empty. A few trifles began 

 to be missing about this time. In place of Jimmie, the 

 great hulk of Slim, the Chukchi from Welen, was dressed 

 up in a suit of Kleinschmidt 's and was ready to serve us 

 as cabin boy. He had had experience on some of the 

 whaling ships. 



Larsson, Born and Kleinschmidt went to work on the 

 rudder after breakfast on the last day, and we watched 

 them get at it, as there was not enough more work to 

 keep all hands fully occupied. We had undertaken at 

 the beginning to do only night work on the job, and in 

 spite of this fact, Larsson showed some impatience with 

 us for leaving him early in the morning to carry it to 

 completion. Before coming off the ''Abler" our master 

 mechanic had gauged the socket in the skeg more exactly 

 by thrusting a tapered pole into it. According to this 

 measurement the pintle, which we had shaped on the 

 lower part of the rudder stock, proved a little too large, 

 but Born's mightly blows reduced it, and by noon the 

 entire work was finished. It remained only to take it 

 out to the "Abler" and see if it would go into place. We 

 had hustled into three days and a half, work that the 

 captain had estimated would need at least five. 



The great mass, weighing a third of a ton, was now 

 put on a light hand cart and trundled to the water's 



