, was over; the moon and stars were shining in a clear sky, and
the aurora was dancing merrily. Rising at once he bundled up his traps,
threw the line of his small hand-sledge over his shoulder, and stepped
out for home. But cold and want of food had been telling on him. He
soon experienced an unwonted sense of fatigue, then a drowsy sensation
came over him.

Leo was well aware of the danger of giving way to drowsiness in such
circumstances, yet, strange to say, he was not in the least afraid of
being overcome. He would sit down to rest, just for two minutes, and
then push on. He smiled, as he sat down in the crevice of a hummock, to
think of the frequent and needless cautions which his uncle had given
him against this very thing. The smile was still on his lips when his
head drooped on a piece of ice, and he sank into a deep slumber.

Ah, Leonard Vandervell! ill would it have been for thee if thou hadst
been left to thyself that day; but sharp eyes and anxious hearts were
out on the icy waste in search of thee!

On arriving at his winter quarters, and learning that Leo had not yet
returned, Captain Vane at once organised an elaborate search-expedition.
The man who found him at last was Butterface.

"Oh, Massa Leo!" exclaimed that sable creature on beholding the youth
seated, white and cold, on the hummock; but he said no more, being fully
alive to the danger of the situation.

Rushing at Leo, he seized and shook him violently, as if he had been his
bitterest foe. There was no response from the sleeping man. The negro
therefore began to chafe, shake, and kick him; even to slap his face,
and yell into his ears in a way that an ignorant observer would have
styled brutal. At last there was a symptom of returning vitality in the
poor youth's frame, and the negro redoubled his efforts.

"Ho! hallo! Massa Leo, wake up! You's dyin', you is!"

"Why--what's--the--matter--Butterf--" muttered Leo, and dropped his head
again.

"Hi! hello! ho-o-o!" yelled Butterface, renewing the rough treatment,
and finally hitting the youth a sounding slap on the ear.

"Ha! I be tink dat vakes you up."

It certainly did wake him up. A burst of indignation within seemed to
do more for him than the outward buffetings. He shut his fist and hit
Butterface a weak but well intended right-hander on the nose. The negro
replied with a sounding slap on the other ear, which induced Leo to
grasp him in his arms and try to throw him.