THE LURE OF THE OUTFITTER 19 



and sheath knife, a suit of oilskins and sou'- 

 wester, a tin cup, tin pan, knife, fork and spoon. 

 That was all. It struck me as a rather slender 

 equipment for a year's voyage. The runner 

 footed up the cost. 



" Why," he said with an air of great surprise, 

 " this foots up to $53 and your advance is only 

 $50." 



He added up the column of figures again. 

 But he had made no mistake. He seemed per- 

 plexed. 



" I don't see how it is possible to scratch off 

 anything," he said. " You'll need every one of 

 these articles." 



He puckered his brow, bit the end of his pen- 

 cil, and studied the figures. It was evidently a 

 puzzling problem. 



" Well," he said at last, " I'll tell you what 

 I'll do. Bring me down a few curios from the 

 Arctic and I'll call it square." 



I suppose my outfit was really worth about 

 $6 — not over $10. As soon as my bag had been 

 packed, I was escorted to the wharf by the run- 

 ner and rowed out to the brig. As I prepared 



