were being cleared away by Mrs. Gray and Bessie.

"Now I were sure thinkin' Bob were a ghost," said Ed, as he lighted
his pipe with a brand from the stove, "and 'twere scarin' me a bit. I
never seen but one ghost in my life and that were----"

"We're not wantin' t' hear that ghost yarn, Ed," broke in Dick, and Ed
forgot his story in the good-natured laughter that followed.

The home-coming was all that Bob had hoped and desired it to be and
the arrival of his three friends from the trail made it complete. His
heart was full that evening when he stepped out of doors to watch the
setting sun. As he gazed at the spruce-clad hills that hid the great,
wild north from which he had so lately come, the afterglow blazed up
with all its wondrous colour, glorifying the world and lighting the
heavens and the water and the hills beyond with the radiance and
beauty of a northern sunset. The spirit of it was in Bob's soul, and
he said to himself,

"'Tis wonderful fine t' be livin', an' 'tis a wonderful fine world t'
live in, though 'twere seemin' hard sometimes, in the winter. An' th'
comin' home has more than paid for th' trouble I were havin' gettin'
here."

XXVII

THE CRUISE TO ST. JOHNS

When Bob and the two Eskimos sailed the _Maid of the North_ up the bay
from Fort Pelican it was found advisable to run the schooner to an
anchorage at Kenemish where she could lie with less exposure to the
wind than at Wolf Bight. The moment she was made snug and safe Bob
went ashore to Douglas Campbell's cabin, where he learned that his old
friend had gone to Wolf Bight early that morning to spend the day.

The lad's impatience to reach home would brook no waiting, and so,
leaving Netseksoak and Aluktook in charge of the vessel, he proceeded
alone in a small boat, reaching there as we have seen early in the
afternoon.

What to do with the schooner now that she had brought him safely to
his destination was a problem that Bob had not been able to solve. The
vessel was not his, and it was plainly his duty to find her owner and
deliver the schooner to him, but how to go about it he did not know.
That evening when the candles were lighted and all were gathered
around the stove, he put the question to the others.

"I'm not knowin' now who th' schooner belongs to," said he, "an' I'm
not knowin' how t' find th' owner, I'm wonderin' what t' do with un."

"Tis some trader owns un I'm thinkin'," Mrs. Gray suggested.

"'Tis sure some