asoned sportsmen, would be able to far more effectually
defend the wounded man than he could possibly hope to do; and then, Sir
Reginald and the colonel quite concurring in this view, he set off for
the bay, shouting back an assurance as he went that he would not be
absent one moment longer than should prove absolutely necessary.

The worthy scientist was as good as his word; for in less than an hour
from the moment of his departure the immense bulk of the _Flying Fish_
was seen to rise into the air beyond the tops of the distant pine-trees,
and, with her polished hull gleaming and flashing in the rays of the
sun, to sweep gracefully round until she was heading straight in the
direction of the anxious watchers. Under the professor's able pilotage
she was soon brought to the ground and secured within a dozen yards of
the spot occupied by them, when it was the work of a few minutes only to
convey the injured man to his own stateroom, where his hurts were at
once properly attended to and himself made thoroughly comfortable.

As soon as luncheon was over Sir Reginald and the colonel set out for
the spot were they had shot the bear in the morning, one of them being
armed with a large-bore rifle and the other carrying a fowling-piece;
and on their return somewhat late in the afternoon they bore not only
the skin, skull, and claws of the defunct bruin, but also a goodly bag
of ptarmigan. During their absence the professor had also been very
busy, dividing his attention pretty evenly between Mildmay and the
finest specimen of the slain mammoths, the latter of which he had
succeeded in nearly half-denuding of its skin. With the assistance of
his two able-bodied friends this task was completed by dinner-time; and
by the corresponding hour next evening not only was the enormous hide
undergoing the first stage of preparation for the taxidermist, but the
indefatigable labourers had also succeeded in hewing out the tusks of
the other slaughtered mammoths. For health's sake the ship was then
moved about a mile further inland, and the carcasses were left to the
wolves, which had already gathered in large numbers in the vicinity.

Under the skilful treatment of the professor Mildmay made steady and
rapid progress toward recovery from the very first; the baronet and the
colonel had therefore no hesitation about carrying out a project which
had been under discussion between them for the last two or three days,
and which was neither m