ht.

"But I will not howl or move," said the Captain.

"That will be clever," returned the chief, solemnised in spite of
himself. "Let Blackbeard proceed."

"Order one of your braves to stand before me on that piece of flat
skin," said the Captain.

Amalatok looked round, and, observing a huge ungainly man with a
cod-fishy expression of face, who seemed to shrink from notoriety,
ordered him to step forward. The man did so with obvious trepidation,
but he dared not refuse. The Captain fixed his eyes on him sternly,
and, in a low growling voice, muttered in English: "Now, Benjy, give it
a good turn."

Cod-fishiness vanished as if by magic, and, with a look of wild horror,
the man sprang into the air, tumbled on his back, rose up, and ran away!

It is difficult to say whether surprise or amusement predominated among
the spectators. Many of them laughed heartily, while the Captain, still
as grave as a judge, said in a low growling tone as if speaking to
himself:--

"Not quite so stiff, Benjy, not quite so stiff. Be more gentle next
time. Don't do it all at once, boy; jerk it, Benjy, a turn or so at a
time."

It is perhaps needless to inform the reader that the Captain was
practising on the Eskimos with his electrical machine, and that Benjy
was secretly turning the handle inside the hut. The machine was
connected, by means of wires, with the piece of skin on which the
patients stood. These wires had been laid underground, not, indeed, in
the darkness, but, during the secrecy and silence of the previous night.

After witnessing the effect on the first warrior, no other brave seemed
inclined to venture on the skin, and the women, who enjoyed the fun
greatly, were beginning to taunt them with cowardice, when Oolichuk
strode forward. He believed intensely, and justifiably, in his own
courage. No man, he felt quite sure, had the power to stare _him_ into
a nervous condition--not even the fiercest of the Kablunets. Let
Blackbeard try, and do his worst!

Animated by these stern and self-reliant sentiments, he stepped upon the
mat.

Benjy, being quick in apprehension, perceived his previous error, and
proceeded this time with caution. He gave the handle of the machine a
gentle half-turn and stopped, peeping through a crevice in the wall to
observe the effect.

"Ha! ha! ho! ho!--hi! huk!" laughed Oolichuk, as a tickling sensation
thrilled through all his nervous system. The laugh was irresistibly
echoed