d do each other good; but if not, and if any more articles are taken,
I will punish them."

Having had this translated to them, the chiefs were dismissed, but the
expression of indifference on some of their faces proved that no
impression had been made upon them.

In a quarter of an hour the articles that had been mentioned as missing
were returned; and, in order to restore harmony, several plugs of
tobacco and a few additional trinkets were returned by the messenger.
Soon after, the dogs were harnessed, the sledges packed, and, with many
protestations of good-will on both sides, the parties separated. A few
cracks of their long whips--a few answering howls from the dogs--and the
Esquimaux were off and out of sight, leaving the _Dolphin_ in her former
solitude under the shadow of the frowning cliffs.

"Fetch me the telescope, Mivins," said the captain, calling down the
hatchway.

"Ay, ay, sir," answered the steward.

"Where's my hatchet?" cried Peter Grim, striding about the deck, and
looking into every corner in search of his missing implement. "It's my
best one, and I can't get on without it, nohow."

The captain bit his lip for he knew full well the cause of its absence.

"Please, sir," said the steward, coming on deck with a very perturbed
expression of countenance, "the--the--a--"

"Speak out, man; what's the matter with you?"

"The glass ain't nowhere to be seen, sir."

"Turn up all hands!" shouted the captain, jumping down the hatchway,
"Arm the men, Mr Bolton, and order the largest sledge to be got ready
instantly. This will never do. Harness the whole team."

Instantly the _Dolphin's_ deck was a scene of bustling activity.
Muskets were loaded, jumpers and mittens put on, dogs caught and
harnessed, and every preparation made for a sudden chase.

"There, that will do," cried the captain, hurrying on deck with a brace
of pistols and a cutlass in his belt, "six men are enough; let twelve of
the remainder follow on foot. Jump on the sledge, Grim and Buzzby;
O'Riley, you go too. Have a care, Fred; not too near the front! Now,
Meetuck--"

One crack of the long whip terminated the sentence as if with a full
stop, and in another moment the sledge was bounding over the snow like a
feather at the tails of twelve dogs.

It was a long chase, for it was a "stern" one, but the Esquimaux never
dreamed of pursuit, and, as their dogs were not too well fed, they had
progressed rather slowly. In less than