silence, for all were on short allowance, and
all were hungry. They sat on what was to them more valuable than gold,
and yet they had not what was necessary for subsistence. The dogs were
urged every day to the utmost limits of their strength. But so much
space had been taken up by the ivory, that at last there remained
neither food nor fuel. None knew at what distance they were from the
shore, and their position seemed desperate. There were even whispers
of killing some of the dogs; and Sakalar and Ivan were upbraided for
the avarice which had brought them to such straits.

"See!" said the old hunter suddenly, with a delighted smile, pointing
toward the south.

The whole party looked eagerly. A thick column of smoke rose in the
air at no very considerable distance. This was the signal agreed on
with the Tchouktchas, who were to camp where there was plenty of wood.

Every hand was raised to urge on the dogs to this point, and at last,
from the summit of a hill of ice they saw the shore and the blaze of
the fire. The wind was toward them, and the atmosphere heavy. The dogs
smelled the distant camp, and darted almost recklessly forward. At
last they sank near to the Tchouktcha huts, panting and exhausted.

Their allies of the spring were true; they gave them food, of
which both man and beast ate greedily, and then sought repose. The
Tchouktchas had then formed their journey with wonderful success and
rapidity, and had found time to lay in a pretty fair stock of fish.
This they freely shared with Ivan and his party, and were delighted
when he abandoned to them all his tobacco and rum, and part of his
tea.

The Tchouktchas had been four years absent in their wanderings, and
were eager to get home once more to the land of the reindeer, and to
their friends. They were perhaps the greatest travelers of a tribe
noted for its facility of locomotion. And so, with warm expressions
of esteem and friendship on both sides, the two parties separated--the
men of the east making their way on foot, toward the Straits of
Behring.

* * * * *

VIII.--THE VOYAGE HOME.

Under considerable disadvantages did Sakalar, Ivan, and their friends
prepare for the conclusion of their journey. Their provisions were
very scanty, and their only hope of replenishing their stores was on
the banks of the Vchivaya River, which being in some places pretty
rapid might not be frozen over. Sakalar and his friends determine