frightful presence.

Suddenly he came in sight of a bird so large that his heart gave a
violent leap, and the gun went almost of its own accord to his shoulder,
but the creature disappeared among the reeds before he could take aim.
Another opening, however, again revealed it fully to view! It was a
swan--a hyperborean wild swan!

Just as he made this discovery, the great bird, having observed Benjy,
spread its enormous wings and made off with an amazing splutter.

Bang! went Benjy's gun, both barrels in quick succession, and down fell
the swan quite dead, with its head in the water and its feet pointing to
the sky.

"What a feast the Eskimos will have to-night!" was Benjy's first thought
as he tramped vehemently towards his prize.

But his overflowing joy was rudely checked, for, having laid his gun
down in front of him, for the purpose of using the paddle with both
hands, it slipped to one side, tilted up, and, disappearing like an
arrow in the lake, went to the bottom.

The sinking of Benjy's heart was not less complete. He had the presence
of mind, however, to seize the reeds near him and check his progress at
the exact spot. Leaning over the side of his little craft, he beheld
his weapon quivering, as it were, at the bottom, in about eight feet of
water. What was to be done? The energetic youth was not long in making
up his mind on that point. He would dive for it. But diving in the
water-tramp was out of the question. Knowing that it was all but
impossible to make his way to the shore through the reeds, he resolved
to reach the opposite shore, which was in some places free from
vegetation. Seizing one of the reeds, he forced it down, and tied it
into a knot to mark the spot where his loss had happened. He treated
several more reeds in this way till he gained the open water outside,
thus marking his path. Then he paddled across the lake, landed,
undressed, and swam out again, pushing the empty dress before him,
intending to use it as a resting-place.

On reaching the spot, he dived with a degree of vigour and agility
worthy of a duck, but found it hard to reach the bottom, as he was not
much accustomed to diving. For the same reason he found it difficult to
open his eyes under water, so as to look for the gun. While trying to
do so, a desperate desire to breathe caused him to leap to the surface,
where he found that he had struggled somewhat away from the exact spot.
After a few minutes' rest, h