"

"Gun sure to be in chief's tent," Luka said. He looked out. "Can't see
gun. My bow and arrows are lying on ground by chief's tent."

"Very well, then, you had better crawl round and fetch them first, that
will be something to begin a fight with anyhow. Here, I will slit open
the tent behind with my knife, then you can crawl along past the others
till you get to the chief's tent without those fellows at the fires
seeing you. I am more afraid of those beastly dogs giving the alarm than
of the men."

Godfrey cut a slit with his pocket-knife in the reindeer-skin covering,
and then Luka crawled out. He lay flat on his stomach and dragged
himself along, looking, as Godfrey thought, in the twilight, just like
the seals he had seen crawling over the rocks. He passed three of the
yourts and then turned off. In four or five minutes he reappeared with
his bow and quiver of arrows and two native spears. He crawled back as
carefully as he had gone.

"Give me the knife, Godfrey."

Godfrey handed it to him. "You are not going to kill anyone, Luka? If
they attack us, of course we shall shoot them down in self-defence, but
I would not have anyone killed in cold blood on any account."

The Tartar shook his head. "I am not going to kill anyone. I looked into
the tent; the gun is leaning by the side of the chief. Women and
children are lying all round. Couldn't get in. I will cut a slit in skin
and take gun."

"It will be first-rate if you can manage that, Luka. We can make a good
fight of it if you can manage to get the gun."

Godfrey was able to watch Luka's proceedings now. He stopped behind the
fourth tent, placed his ear against the skin and listened intently. Then
he inserted the blade in the skin two feet above the ground and very
quietly, with a sawing motion, cut downwards. Then he began at the top
again and made a horizontal cut four or five inches long, and then cut
again down to the ground, removing the flap of skin. He peered into the
tent, then he inserted his arm, a moment later he withdrew it with the
gun, and then returned to Godfrey. The latter's first step was to charge
the gun, for he had fired two shots while Luka was cooking the meal
before they were surprised.

"Now, Luka, which do you think we had better do, make for the canoes or
go off on foot?"

"We want big canoe," Luka said. "Can't well do without it. We had better
go to that."

"I think so too," Godfrey said. "If we can once get on board we ca