wanted to know what his bullies were
made of, and took rather eccentric methods of finding it out. He
accordingly set off at his best pace, and pushed Ladoc so hard, that he
arrived at the upper fishery in a state of profuse perspiration, with a
very red face, and with a disagreeably vacuous feeling about the pit of
his stomach.

They found the men at the station just landing with a boat-load of fish.
They were all clean-run, and shone in the bright sunshine like bars of
burnished silver.

"Now, Ladoc," said Jack, "get breakfast ready, while I look over matters
here."

It need not be said that the man obeyed most willingly. His master went
to examine into details. Half-an-hour sufficed to make him pretty well
acquainted with the state of matters at the station, and, during
breakfast, he soon obtained from the men all the knowledge they
possessed about the fishery, the natives, and the region.

One of the men was a half-caste, a fine-looking, grave, earnest fellow,
who spoke English pretty well. His name was Marteau.

"The seals and the bears are our worst enemies, sir," said Marteau, in
the course of conversation.

"Indeed! and which of the two are worst?" inquired Jack. "Another slice
of pork, Ladoc, your appetite appears to be sharp this morning; thank
you, go on, Marteau, you were saying something about the bears and
seals."

"It's not easy to say which of them is worst, sir. I think the bears
is, for the seals eat the bits that they bite out o' the fish, and so
get some good of it; but the bears, they goes to the vats and pulls out
the salt fish with their claws, for you see, sir, they can't resist the
smell, but when they tries to eat 'em--ah, you should see the faces they
do make! You see, they can't stand the salt, so they don't eat much,
but they hauls about and tears up an uncommon lot of fish."

"It must make him ver' t'irsty," observed Ladoc, swallowing a can of tea
at a draught.

"It makes one thirsty to think of it," said Jack, imitating Ladoc's
example; "now, lads, we'll go and overhaul the nets."

Just as he spoke, Ladoc sprang from his seat, seized Jack's gun, which
leant against the wall, shouted, "A bear!" and, levelling the piece
through the open doorway, took aim at the bushes in front of the hut.

At the same moment Jack leaped forward, struck up the muzzle of the gun
just as it exploded, and, seizing Ladoc by the collar, hurled him with
extraordinary violence, considering his