ruise into Hudson Bay!" responded Raed coolly; "for
scientific purposes," he added.

"Scientific devils!" blustered the officer. "You can't fool us so!
You're in here on a trading-voyage. We saw a _kayak_ go off from you
not an hour ago."

Not caring to bandy words, Raed made no reply; and we knelt there,
with our muskets covering them, in silence. They had stopped rowing.
and were falling behind a little; for "The Curlew" plowed leisurely
on.

"Why don't you heave to?" shouted the irate commander of the boat. "I
must look at your papers! Heave to while I come alongside!"

"You can't bring that armed boat alongside of this schooner!" replied
Raed. "No objections to your examining our papers; but we're not green
enough to let you bring an armed crew aboard of us."

"Then we shall come without _letting_! Give way there!"

But his men hesitated. The sight of our muskets, and old Trull holding
a blazing splinter over the howitzer, was a little too much even for
the sturdy pluck of English sailors.

"Bring that boat another length nearer," shouted Raed, slow and
distinctly, "and we shall open fire on you!"

"The devil you will!"

"Yes, we will!"

At that we all cocked our muskets. The sharp clicking was, no doubt,
distinctly audible in the boat. The officer thundered out a torrent of
oaths and abuse; to all of which Raed made no reply. They did not
advance, however. We meant business; and I guess they thought so. Our
stubborn silence was not misconstrued.

"How do I know that you're not a set of pirates?" roared the
Englishman. "You look like it! But wait till I get back to 'The
Rosamond.' and I'll knock some of the impudence out of you, you young
filibusters!" And with a parting malediction, which showed wonderful
ingenuity in blasphemy, he growled out an order to back water; when
the boat was turned, and headed for the ship.

"Give 'em three cheers!" said Kit.

Whereupon we jumped up, gave _three_ and a big groan; at which the red
face in the stern turned, and stared long and evilly at us.

"No wonder he's mad!" exclaimed Raed. "Had to row clean round this
ice-field, and now has got to row back for his pains! Thought he was
going to scare us just about into fits. Got rather disagreeably
disappointed."

"He was pretty well _set up_, I take it," remarked the captain. "Had
probably taken a drop before coming off. His men knew it. When he gave
the order to 'give way,' they hung back: didn't care about it."