es, as if he doubted his
senses, and feared it was too good news to be true.

This formal introduction was greeted by the chief's followers with a
series of wild shouts and other demonstrations of extreme joy.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

A FIGHT IN DEFENCE OF WOMAN, AND RIFLE-SHOOTING EXTRAORDINARY.

When the excitement had somewhat abated, Leo stepped to the side of
Oblooria, and laying his hand on her shoulder said firmly, through
Anders:--

"Pardon me, Grabantak, this girl is _not_ the wife of Koyatuk; she is my
_sister_!"

The chief frowned, clenched his teeth, and grasped a spear--

"When did Kablunet men begin to have Eskimo sisters?"

"When they took all distressed women under their protection," returned
Leo promptly. "Every woman who needs my help is my sister," he added
with a look of self-sufficiency which he was far from feeling.

This new doctrine obviously puzzled the chief, who frowned, smiled, and
looked at the ground, as if in meditation. It seemed to afford great
comfort to Oblooria, who nestled closer to her champion. As for
Koyatuk, he treated the matter with an air of mingled surprise and
scorn, but dutifully awaited his father's pleasure.

Koyatuk was physically a fine specimen of a savage, but his spirit was
not equal to his body. Like his father he was over six feet high, and
firmly knit, being of both larger and stronger build than Leo, whom he
now regarded, and of course hated, as his rival--a contemptible one, no
doubt; still--a rival.

The warriors watched their chief in breathless suspense. To them it was
a thoroughly new and interesting situation. That a white stranger, tall
and active, but slender and very young, should dare single-handed to
defy not only their chief, but, as it were, the entire tribe, including
the royal family, was a state of things in regard to which their
previous lives afforded no parallel. They could not understand it at
all, and stood, as it were, in eager, open-mouthed, and one-legged
expectation.

At last Grabantak looked up, as if smitten by a new idea, and spoke--

"Can Kablunet men fight?" he asked.

"They love peace better than war," answered Leo, "but when they see
cause to fight they can do so."

Turning immediately to his son, Grabantak said with a grim smile--

"Behold your wife, take her!"

Koyatuk advanced. Leo placed Oblooria behind him, and, being unarmed,
threw himself into a pugilistic posture of defence. The young Eskimo