loosely with a length of rawhide from
a dog harness, so as to make a small bow. Finally he took a turn of the
bow-string about the pencil, fitted the point into the soft pine that
rested on the floor, and the other end into the hard wood block on which
he leaned his breast.

[Illustration: SERGE'S METHOD OF LIGHTING A FIRE.]

With one hand he now drew the bow swiftly to and fro, causing the pencil
to revolve with great rapidity, and with the other he held a small
quantity of tinder close to its point of contact with the soft pine. The
rapid movement of the pencil produced a few grains of fine sawdust, and
this shortly began to smoke with the heat of the friction. In less than
one minute the sawdust and tinder were in a glow that a breath fanned
into a flame, and there was no longer any doubt about a fire.[2]

That evening, as our friends sat contentedly in front of a cheerful
blaze, after a more satisfactory meal than they had enjoyed for many a
day, Jalap Coombs remarked that he only wanted one more thing to make
him perfectly happy.

"Same here," said Phil. "What's your want?"

"A pipeful of tobacco," replied the sailor, whose whole smoking outfit
had been lost with his sledge.

"All I want," laughed Phil, "is to know how and when we are to get out
of this trap and continue our journey to Sitka. I hate the thought of
spending a couple of months here, even if there are plenty of goats."

"I can't think of anything else we can do," said Serge, thoughtfully.

And yet those who were to rescue them from their perplexing situation
were within five miles of them at that very moment.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Begun in HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE No. 801.

[2] This is the Eskimo method; and I have seen a Norton Sound Eskimo
woman obtain fire by this simple means inside of ten seconds.--K.M.

OAKLEIGH.

BY ELLEN DOUGLAS DELAND.

CHAPTER II.

They were all in the "long parlor" after tea. It was a beautiful room,
extending the length of the house, and it was large enough to contain
four windows and two fire-places. The paper on the walls was
old-fashioned--indeed, it had been there when the children's grandmother
was a girl, and the furniture was of equally early date.

It was all handsome, but shabby-looking. A few dollars wisely spent
would have made a vast difference in its appearance; but, unfortunately,
there were never any dollars to spare.

Jack had resumed the argument. "Nonsense, nonse