she had some trouble with
it, owing to the height of her top-knot of hair.

Ridiculous though the two girls might have looked in our eyes, in those
of their companions they only seemed peculiar and interesting, for the
step between the sublime and ridiculous is altogether relative, in
Eskimo-land as elsewhere. There was no opportunity, however, to dwell
long in contemplation of any new thing, for the discoveries came thick
and fast. Cowlik had barely succeeded in pulling the ear-pieces of the
sou'-wester well down, and tying the strings under her fat chin, when a
tremendous clanking was heard, as of some heavy creature approaching the
cabin door. Cheenbuk dropped forward the point of his spear, and
Nazinred kept his gun handy. Not that they were actually alarmed, of
course, but they felt that in such unusual circumstances the least they
could do was to be ready for whatever might befall--or turn up.

A moment later and Aglootook stalked into the cabin, his legs encased in
a pair of fishermen's sea-boots, so large that they seemed quite to
diminish his natural proportions.

In all their discoveries, however, they did not find a single scrap of
any kind of food. It was quite clear that the poor fellows had held by
the ship as long as provisions lasted, in the hope, no doubt, that they
might ultimately succeed in working their way out of the ice, and then,
when inevitable starvation stared them in the face, they had tried to
escape in their boats, but without success--at least in one case, though
how many boats had thus left to undertake the forlorn hope of storming
the strongholds of the polar seas it was impossible to tell.

On the second night, as the Eskimos sat in their igloe at supper talking
over the events of the day, Nazinred asked Cheenbuk what he intended to
do--

"For," said he, "it is not possible to take back with us on one sledge
more than a small part of the many good things that we have found."

"The man-of-the-woods is right," interposed the magician; "he is wise.
One sledge cannot carry much. I told you that we were sure to find
_something_. Was I not right? Have we not found it? My advice now is
that we go back with as much as we can carry, and return with four or
five sledges--or even more,--and take home all that it is possible to
collect."

"Aglootook is always full of knowledge and wisdom," remarked Cheenbuk,
as he drove his powerful teeth into a tough bear-steak, and struggled
with