as all
the hunters could do, by whipping and shouting and scolding, to keep the
teams from coming atop of each other, and getting into a snarl. Once
this happened with two of the teams. The dogs all became tangled in each
other's traces, the sledges got locked together, and the animals fell to
fighting, one team against the other, in a most vicious manner.

"This was such a novel mode of travelling that we enjoyed it immensely,
even although it was pretty cold and the journey was very long. It
seemed strange to us to be thus wandering, without chart or compass,
over the great ice-desert on the sea; for all around us was nothing but
a great plain of whiteness, only broken here and there by an iceberg,
which glittered like a great diamond in the bright sunshine.

[Illustration: The Children of the Frozen Sea.]

"We must have gone at least sixty or seventy miles before we made a
single halt; and then we came to the village where these savages lived.
It was not on the land, but out on the frozen sea over which we had
travelled. As we approached, the dogs ran very fast. '_Igloo, igloo!_'
exclaimed the savages, pointing, when we neared the village. As we had
already learned that _igloo_ meant hut, in their language, we were much
rejoiced; for we were very tired with the long journey, and cold
besides. But still we fell to wondering what sort of place this was we
were coming to, and what strange sight we were next going to see.

"Old Grim drove his sledge close up along side of Eatum's, trying to
pass; and we went into the village with a perfect rush,--the men
shouting, the dogs barking, and everything in an uproar generally.

"While this race between Old Grim and Eatum was going on, the Dean and I
were for a few moments side by side, and near together. The Dean called
out to me, 'Hardy, this don't seem real, does it? These ain't dogs, they
are wolves; these ain't men, they're devils'; and, as I looked over at
Old Grim, and saw him throwing his long whip to right and left, and
heard him calling out to his dogs in a language which seemed like
nothing human, and all the while preserving the same immovable
expression of countenance, I must confess that there seemed to be a
great deal of truth in what the Dean said.

"Thus it was we went rushing into the village. And a strange village,
indeed, it proved to be,--nothing but a collection of huts made of
frost-hardened snow. There were in all six of them.

"Many more savages w