.

"That depends on many things, lad," replied the Captain, laying down his
spoon, and leaning his back against a convenient rock. "If the ice
moves off, I shall adopt one course; if it holds fast I shall try
another. Then, if you insist on gathering and carrying along with you
such pocket-loads of specimens, plants, rocks, etcetera, as you've
brought in this evening, I'll have to build a sort of Noah's ark, or
omnibus on sledge-runners, to carry them."

"And suppose I don't insist on carrying these things, what then?"

"Well," replied the Captain, "in that case I would--well, let me see--a
little more of the bubble, Benjy."

"Wouldn't you rather some of the squeak?" asked the boy.

"Both, lad, both--some of everything. Well, as I was saying--and you've
a right to know what's running in my head, seeing that you have to help
me carry out the plans--I'll give you a rough notion of 'em."

The Captain became more serious as he explained his plans. "The
Eskimos, you know," he continued, "have gone by what I may call the
shore ice, two days' journey in advance of this spot, taking our dogs
along with them. It was my intention to have proceeded to the same
point in our yacht, and there, if the sea was open, to have taken on
board that magnificent Eskimo giant, Chingatok, with his family, and
steered away due north. In the event of the pack being impassable, I
had intended to have laid the yacht up in some safe harbour; hunted and
fished until we had a stock of dried and salted provisions, enough to
last us two years, and then to have started northward in sledges, under
the guidance of Chingatok, with a few picked men, leaving the rest and
the yacht in charge of the mate. The wreck of the _Whitebear_ has,
however, forced me to modify these plans. I shall now secure as much of
our cargo as we have been able to save, and leave it here _en cache_--"

"What sort of cash is that, father?" asked Benjy.

"You are the best linguist among us, Leo, tell him," said the Captain,
turning to his nephew.

"`_En cache_' is French for `in hiding,'" returned Leo, with a laugh.

"Why do you speak French to Englishmen, father?" said Benjy in a
pathetic tone, but with a pert look.

"'Cause the expression is a common one on this side the Atlantic, lad,
and you ought to know it. Now, don't interrupt me again. Well, having
placed the cargo in security," ("_En cache_," muttered Benjy with a
glance at Butterface.) "I shall rig up t