nd wild deer are scarcer, it's no good for people
to come here--unless in great stress. But Siadey takes anything, even
domestic deer!"

"In great stress" had a grim significance. One of the skulls was
obviously that of a man of Aryan race.

Further on they came on one of the sledges habitually used by the
Samoyeds for the conveyance of their gods. Opening its box, Borissoff
found two human-shaped idols, one of wood and the other of stone, and
the images of a bear and a wolf in wood. These must have been brought
out of the tundra by some sorceress, to keep real bears and wolves
from some locality. As long as these objects remained at Hye's shrine,
there would be no danger to the pious offerer's herds. Near by lay
another curiosity. It was a piece of boulder wrapped up in red cloth.
It was "sickness," removed from the tundra, beyond the sea, so as
never to return to the dwellers of the Tchoom!

Borissoff lived with the Samoyeds until he had painted up all his
canvases. Returning to civilization, he was immediately welcomed by
enthusiastic amateurs. The sale of seventy-five pictures _en bloc_ to
M. Tretiakoff, of Moscow, put him on his feet financially. Count Witte
took an interest in his work. The Grand Duke Vladimir remembered that
he had been the first to appreciate the painter's possibilities; and
the Tsar told him to go ahead with another expedition, offering to
defray most of the expenses.

_An Ill-Fated Expedition_

So, with the zoologist Timofeieff, and the chemist Filipoff, he soon
started on a veritable white man's expedition, with a smart cutter,
the "Metchka," a portable dwelling-house, kerosene stoves, scientific
instruments, photographic apparatus, guns, ammunition, books,
clothing, trading-stores, and food delicacies in abundance. Yet, by a
strange irony of fate, the well-stocked little expedition was
destined to suffer perils and privations such as Borissoff had never
dreamed of among his Samoyeds.

They set up their portable dwelling-house on the edge of the Nova
Zembla tundra off the Strait of Matochkin Shar, transporting its parts
and furnishings by dog-sledge. By the time this was accomplished, the
"Metchka" had arrived in the Strait; and they started on a voyage into
the Kara Sea. Their object was to distribute materials and provisions
along the extreme northeastern coast of Nova Zembla during the fall,
and to return to their house to spend the winter. In the spring they
hoped to make an ear