ody, they placed it on
the pedestal of ice. Drawing the long, slender dagger from its sheath,
Regnar pierced several holes through the corners of the pedestal, and
with the tough cords of raw hide lashed the body firmly to its spotless
support; then kneeling beside it, the lad bowed his head as if in silent
prayer. La Salle followed his example.

For a moment or two he heard nothing but the ripple and plash of the
ice-brook descending the side of the berg fifty yards away; but with the
burial of his enemy, the lad's self-control had deserted him, and he
burst into a passionate outbreak of sobs and tears.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XX.

A STRANGE LIFE-HISTORY.--AMONG THE RED INDIANS.

La Salle had been, as we have said, displeased and disgusted, as well as
puzzled, by much which had occurred; but his heart melted when he
realized the sorrow and suffering, which, in spite of unusual
self-restraint, was thus laid bare before him. He threw one arm around
the boy's neck, and gently pressed his hand.

"Forgive me, Regnar, if I have been unkind. I will be your friend if you
desire it. Confide in me, and I will try to assist you, if you need aid
or counsel."

"You are kind, very kind, Charley; and perhaps I have been wrong in not
trusting more in you heretofore. There is no time, however, like the
present, and no more secret and fitting place than this burial-grot of
the cause of all my sorrow."

REGNAR'S HISTORY.

"My father was a Danish youth of good parentage, whose strange and
roving predilections sent him early in manhood to an outlying station
in the north of Greenland, where, between his books and the wild life of
that savage coast, he passed several years, until his unpleasant
relations with the Danish officials made a change desirable, and he
sought the Moravian settlements on the Labrador coast.

"He had plenty of money, and soon became well known along the coast,
which he searched thoroughly in his trading schooner, doing a brisk
business in furs, seal-oil, and skins, and at the same time making
frequent metallurgical discoveries and adventurous exploring
expeditions. It was said that no man on the coast knew so much of the
topography of Labrador, between Hamilton Inlet and the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, and a strange adventure opened to him new and startling
experiences in the northern central portion of Newfoundland, then, as
now, almost a _terra incognita_.

"Twenty years ago he made his last voy