stant as I tried it again, the lash this time coming within an ace of
taking him across the face.

"The third time I essayed the feat, the end of the whip caught on a
jutting piece of ice, and I was 'snatched' off the sledge in grand
style, nearly wrecking it in my exit.

"That was going a little too far, so Kalutunah thought, and he wouldn't
let me try it again, so I contented myself with nursing the various
bruises I had received in my tumble.

"But how those dogs could travel! The frozen inlet was strewn with
hummocks and broken ice cakes, and I had to cling to the sledge with
both hands sometimes to keep from being thrown off.

"I was profoundly grateful when we reached our stopping place about the
middle of the afternoon. A week before Kalutunah had seen a walrus near
this place, under some new ice that had formed over a breathing hole.

"The dogs were left fastened to the sledge, so that their presence would
not disturb the walrus should one be near. The Esquimau got out his
harpoon and line and approached the thin ice, telling me to keep back.

"I wasn't very eager to stay near the walrus should the old fellow be
lucky enough to iron one, for there had been one caught near the Henry
Clay, and a more ferocious-looking beast I never saw.

"I stayed back near the sledge with my rifle, on the lookout for
something to try a shot at, and in the meantime keeping my eye on old
Kalutunah. He went forward carefully, dodging from hummock to hummock,
but gradually getting nearer the thin ice. All at once I caught sight of
another object on the ice a little to the right of the Esquimau. At
first I thought it was a seal, for it lay flat on the ice, and was about
to hurry after Kalutunah to tell him about it, when the figure rose up
and I saw that it was a man--another Esquimau.

"The stranger walked rapidly toward Kalutunah, and had almost reached
his side before the old fellow noticed him. Then he sprang up, and
although they were too far away for me to hear them, even if my ears had
not been covered with my hood, I saw that they were talking together.

"The stranger continued to advance, holding out his hand as though to
shake Kalutunah's.

"Having arrived quite near, he took a quick stride forward, and instead
of offering his hand, as Kalutunah had evidently expected, suddenly
raised a short club and struck Kalutunah on the head.

"It was a most brutal act, and so unexpected was it that for an instant
I was stup