s of moniac ducks, known on the
Atlantic coast as "South-Southerlies." The former could not be
approached, but Peter got two shots at the ducks as they gyrated over
the berg, and killed three at one time and four at another, which were
duly skinned, and the bodies consigned to the "meat-safe," a hole in the
ice near the door.

This meal tasted a little better than the former ones, the birds being
seasoned with salt procured from sea-water by boiling--a slow process,
which La Salle promised to make easier when the next frost set in. The
bird-skins had been carefully cleaned from fat, and sewed into two
blankets about seven feet by five each, and stretched on the ice with
the flesh side uppermost, were rubbed with salt and ashes, and then
exposed to the sun, receiving considerable benefit thereby.

For supper, a soup of fowls thickened with grated biscuit was eaten with
hearty relish by all but Waring, who claimed to have eaten too much at
dinnertime, although La Salle fancied that he looked flushed and pale by
turns.

"Do you feel sick, George?" said La Salle, anxiously, when the others
were temporarily absent from the hut.

"O, no, Charley; don't fuss about me. I'm all right, only I've eaten a
little too much of that fat meat, and taken scarcely any exercise," was
the reply.

"Well, George, don't fail to let me know at once if you do feel sick,
for my stock of medicines is limited, and I must do my doctoring during
the first stages of the disease," said La Salle, gravely.

"Yes, I should judge so, doctor," laughed Waring; and, turning to the
fire, he placed another stick under the cylinder, as if suffering from a
chill.

At an hour before sunset they saw on their left hand, and, as nearly as
they could judge, about twelve miles away, the high headland of
Escumenac. The pack opened a little, for the wind had now been blowing
for about three hours from the west, the air was very perceptibly
colder, and the standing pools on the ice began to freeze. Under Le
Salle's direction, Regnar cut a hole in the ice, which would hold about
four pailsful of salt water, and filled it to overflowing, while Peter
cut up a dozen of the decoys into junks three inches square, and piled
them near the door.

As they entered the hut, they found Waring shivering over the fire. "I
am afraid, Charley," stammered he, "that I am going to be very sick, for
I can't keep warm to save my life."

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XII.

DOCTO