ins, but as they were evidently uninhabited Cabot
began to undress, declaring that he must have a bath in that tempting
water.

"Better keep your shirt on until we have filled the cask," advised
White, at the same time stepping overboard in the shallows at the mouth
of the stream without removing any of his clothing. They pulled the
boat up until it grounded, and then White began hurriedly to fill the
water barrel, while Cabot waded a short distance up stream to see if he
could discover any trout. All at once he stopped, looked bewildered,
and then started back on a run. At the same time he slapped vigorously
at his bare legs, brushed his face, waved his arms, and uttered
exclamations of frantic dismay. The air about him had been suddenly
blackened by an incredible swarm of insects that issued in dense clouds
from the low growth bordering the stream, and attacked the unfortunate
youth with the fury of starvation.

"What's the matter?" inquired White innocently, as his companion rushed
past him towards the open.

"Matter!" retorted the other. "I'm on fire with the bites of these
infernal things, and we want to get out of here in a hurry or they'll
sting us to death."

"Oh, pshaw!" laughed White, though he also was suffering greatly.
"You've only struck a few ordinary Labrador mosquitoes and black flies."

"Mosquitoes and black flies!" cried Cabot. "Hornets and red-hot coals,
you'd better say. How can you stand them? Your skin must be thicker
than sole leather."

"I can't very well," admitted White, "but this cask has got to be
filled, and the sooner we do it the quicker we can get away. Break off
a couple of leafy branches to fight with and then keep 'em off both of
us as well as you can. It will only take a few minutes longer."

In spite of their efforts at self-defence, faces, hands, and Cabot's
bare legs were covered with blood before their task was completed, and
they were once more in the boat pulling furiously for the wind-swept
water of the open bay.

"I never expected to find mosquitoes this far north," said Cabot, as
the pests began to disappear before the freshening breeze and the
rowers paused for breath.

"Strangers are apt to be unpleasantly surprised by them," replied
White, "but they are here all the same, and they extend as far north as
any white man has ever been. I have been told that they are as bad in
Greenland as here, and I expect they flourish at the North Pole itself.
They c