that beautiful September morning:

"Don't forget your prayers, lad, an' remember your mother's prayin'
for you every night an' every mornin'."

And Emily had said, too, that she would ask God every night to keep
him safe. This brought him a renewal of his faith and he argued,

"Th' Lard'll sure not be denyin' mother an' Emily, an' they askin' He
every day t' bring me back. He sure would not be denyin' they for He
knows how bad 'twould be makin' they feel if I were not comin' home.
An' He wouldn't be wantin' _that_, for they never does nothin' t' make
He cross with un."

This thought comforted him and he said confidently to himself,

"Th' Lard'll be showin' th' way when th' right time comes an' I'll try
t' bide content till then."

But there was little in the surroundings to warrant Bob's faith.
Looking about him from the hilltop he could see nothing but open sea
around the island with an expanse of desolation beyond--snow, snow
everywhere, from the water's edge to where the rugged mountains to the
south and east held their cold heads into the gray clouds that hid the
sky and sun. The sea was sombre and black. Not a breath of air
stirred, not a sound broke the silence, and it seemed almost as
though Nature in anxious suspense watched the outcome of it all. But
Bob's faith was renewed--the simple, childlike faith of his
people--and he felt better and more content with himself and his
fortune.

It was growing dusk when he returned to the igloos. As he descended
the hill a flake of snow struck his face and it was followed by
others. A breath of wind like a blast from a bellows swirled the
flakes abroad. The elements were awakening.

In the igloos Akonuk and Matuk were brewing tea for supper and the
three ate in silence.

Bob asked once,

"What's to be done with Chealuk?"

"Nothing," they answered laconically.

This relieved the anxiety he felt for her, and he crawled into his
sleeping bag and went to sleep, thinking that after all the judgment
of the Angakok was a mere form, not to be executed literally.

After some hours Bob awoke. The wind was blowing a gale outside. He
could hear it quite distinctly. From what direction it came he could
not tell, and after lying awake for a long while he decided to arise
and see.

When he removed the block of snow from the igloo entrance and crawled
outside he was all but smothered by the swirling snow of a terrific,
raging blizzard. He turned his back to the blast, a