next thing was to put it to
the test, which we quickly did. A seal-hole being soon found, we had not
long to wait before the seal came into it, with a little puff, as
before; and, as soon as the noise was heard, I let fly with my harpoon,
and, striking through the snow-crust, hit the seal fairly in the neck,
and drove the harpoon into him.

"Down sank the seal through the hole, taking the harpoon along with him,
and spinning out the line which was attached to it at a furious rate.
Before the seal was struck, and while I was watching for him, the Dean
had quietly tied the end of the line that was not fast to the harpoon
around the middle of 'Old Crumply,' and when the seal descended into
the sea, 'Old Crumply' was whipped along over the snow until it lodged
right across the hole, and there the seal was,--'brought up with a round
turn,' as the sailors say.

"And now was anybody ever so rejoiced as we? The Dean fairly shouted
with delight, and danced around the hole as if he were crazy, crying
'Bravo, bravo!' and 'Hurrah for Crumply' and 'Hurrah for Old Crumply!'
and hurrah for this, and hurrah for that, until he was fairly hoarse.
Meanwhile the seal was trying his best to get away. He darted from side
to side, and up and down, without any other result than to tire himself
out; for the harpoon held firmly in his body, and the line held firmly
to 'Old Crumply,' and 'Old Crumply' lay squarely across the hole.

"By and by the seal was forced to come up to breathe; and, since there
was no other place for him, he had to return to the hole where he had
been struck. But he did not stay more than a second or so, going down as
quickly as he had done before. As soon as the line was loosened,
however, we drew in the slack, and wound it around 'Old Crumply,' so
that the seal did not have so much of it now to play with. Nor did he
remain under so long the second time. When he came up again, we got in
all the slack of the line that we could, as before.

"It was now clear enough that we should be sure of the seal, if we could
only get something to kill him with; and so the quick-witted Dean ran
off at once to the hut, and brought a walrus tusk that we had saved.
This was driven into the hard snow not far from the hole, and, while the
Dean held it there firmly, I got the line made fast around it. As soon
as I saw that this was secure, and that the Dean was holding on
bravely, I unfastened the line from 'Old Crumply,' and, when the seal