what he had hitherto only thought of as good feelings; and the sudden
perception that at such times he had been resisting the Father of all
impressed him for the first time with a sensation of guiltiness. It was
some time before the need of a Saviour from sin entered into his mind,
but the ice had been broken, and at last, through Leo's Bible, as read
by him and explained by Captain Vane, Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness,
rose upon his soul and sent in the light for which he had thirsted so
long.

But, as we have said, this effect was not immediate, and he remained in
a state of uncertainty and sadness while the warlike councils and
preparations went on.

Meanwhile Captain Vane set himself earnestly to work to hit on some plan
by which, if possible, to turn the feeling of the Eskimo community in
favour of peace. At first he thought of going alone and unarmed, with
Anders as interpreter, to the land of Grabantak to dissuade that savage
potentate from attacking the Poloes, but the Eskimos pointed out that
the danger of this plan was so great that he might as well kill himself
at once. His own party, also, objected to it so strongly that he gave
it up, and resolved in the meantime to strengthen his position and
increase his influence with the natives among whom his lot was cast, by
some exhibitions of the powers with which science and art had invested
him.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

THE CAPTAIN ELECTRIFIES AS WELL AS SURPRISES HIS NEW FRIENDS.

It will be remembered that the party of Englishmen arrived at Poloeland
under oars, and although the india-rubber boats had been gazed at, and
gently touched, with intense wonder by the natives, they had not yet
seen the process of disinflation, or the expansion of the kites.

Of course, Chingatok and their other Eskimo fellow-travellers had given
their friends graphic descriptions of everything, but this only served
to whet the desire to see the wonderful oomiaks in action. Several
times, during the first few days, the old chief had expressed a wish to
see the Kablunets go through the water in their boats, but as the calm
still prevailed, and the Captain knew his influence over the natives
would depend very much on the effect with which his various proceedings
were carried out, he put him off with the assurance that when the proper
time for action came, he would let him know.

One night a gentle breeze sprang up and blew directly off shore. As it
seemed likely to last, th