le when they finally came in view of the harbour. Skipper Sam
was ahead, and when he looked towards the place where the _Maid of the
North_ had been snugly held in the ice in the morning he rubbed his
eyes. Then he looked again, and exclaimed:

"By gum!"

The harbour was clear of ice and nowhere on the horizon was the _Maid
of the North_ to be seen. The gale had swept the ice to sea and
carried with it the _Maid of the North_ and all her valuable cargo.
The cook, asleep in his bunk in the shack, was quite unconscious of
the calamity when the skipper roused him to demand explanations.

But there were no explanations to be given. The schooner was gone,
that was all, and Captain Sam Hanks and his crew were stranded upon
the coast of Labrador.

XXIII

THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE

Bob and his companions were indeed in a most desperate situation, and
even they, accustomed and inured as they were to the vicissitudes and
rigours of the North, could see no possible way of escape. Men of less
courage or experience would probably have resigned themselves to their
fate at once, without one further effort to preserve their lives, and
in an hour or two have succumbed to the bitter cold of the storm. But
these men had learned to take events as they came largely as a matter
of course, and they did not for a moment lose heart or self-control.

The dogs were driven a little farther towards the interior of the ice,
for if the pack were to break up the outer edge would be the first to
go. Here immediate preparations were made to camp.

There was no bank from which snow blocks could be cut for an igloo,
and the blinding snow so obscured their surroundings that they could
not so much as find a friendly ice hummock to take refuge behind. The
gale, in fact, was so fierce that they could scarce hold their feet
against it, and had they released their hold of the komatik even for
an instant, it is doubtful if they could have found it again.

The deerskin sleeping bags were unlashed and the sledge turned upon
its side. In the lee of this the bags were stretched upon the ice and
with their skin clothes on they crawled into them. Each called
"Oksunae"--be strong--have courage--to the others, and then drew his
head within the folds of his skin covering.

Bob wore the long, warm coat that Manikawan had made for him, and as
he snuggled close into the bag he thought of her kindness to him, and
he dreamed that night that he had gone back a