ose a bear should come while
we are asleep." They took their guns so as to be ready in case a polar
bear should come nosing around, and each one crawled into his bag and
was soon fast asleep, Sate having crawled into Tommy's bag with him
and snuggled up close to keep him warm.

It seemed to Tommy only a minute before he heard Johnny calling, and
he crawled out to find him looking around in dismay. Every dog had
disappeared except Sate.

"We are lost!" said Johnny. "We must try to get back or we shall
freeze to death." He climbed up on top of an ice-peak and looked
around in every direction; but not a dog was in sight. "We must hurry
up," he said, "and go back after them. Why didn't we tie them last
night! We must take something to eat with us." So they set to work and
got out of the bag all they could carry, and with their guns and
ammunition were about to start back.

"We must hide the rest of the things in a cache," said Tommy, "so that
if we ever come back we may find them."

"What's a cache?" said Johnny.

Tommy was proud that he knew something Johnny did not know. He
explained that a "cache" was a hiding-place.

So they put the things back in the bag and covered them up with snow,
and Tommy, taking up his gun and pack, gave a whistle to Sate, who was
nosing around. Suddenly the snow around began to move, and out from
under the snow appeared first the head of one dog and then of another,
until every one--Buster and Muster and Fluster and the rest--had come
up and stood shaking himself to get the snow out of his coat. Then
Tommy remembered that his father had told him that that was the way
the Eskimo dogs often kept themselves warm when they slept, by boring
down deep in the snow. Never were two boys more delighted. In a jiffy
they had uncovered the sled, eaten breakfast, fed the dogs and hitched
them up again, and were once more on their way. They had not gone far,
though it seemed to Tommy a long, long way, when the ice in the
distance seemed to Tommy to turn to great mountain-like icebergs.
"That's where they are," said Tommy. "They are always on icebergs in
the pictures." Feeling sure that they must be near them, they tied
their dogs to the biggest blocks of ice they could find, and even tied
Sate, and taking each his gun and a bag of extra ammunition, they
started forward on foot. As Tommy's ammunition was very heavy, he was
glad when Johnny offered to carry it for him. Even so, they had not
gone very fa