ion from the woman or children as to how they had
arrived at such a pitiable plight, what they had done with the stolen
provisions, why their friends had abandoned them, or what had become of
Arsenic.

"I'll tell you what," said Cabot at length; "we'll provide them with a
supply of wood and leave all the provisions we can possibly spare.
Then we will hurry on to Indian Harbour, send back some more provisions
from there by Yim, and get him to report the case to Mr. Mellins."

As there seemed nothing better to be done, this plan was carried out,
though dividing the provisions made each portion look woefully small,
and by noon the sledge was again on its way southward.

The head of the fiord having been reached, the trail now left the
sheltering timber and struck across an open country, which was also
extremely rugged, abounding in hills and hollows. Over these the
sledge pulled heavily, in spite of its lightened load, because one of
the ice shoes, with which its runners were shod, had broken and could
not be repaired until camp was made.

When they had gone about three miles, and while our lads were still
talking of the suffering they had so recently witnessed, they were
attracted by an exclamation from Yim, who was pointing eagerly ahead.
Looking in that direction, they saw a line of dark objects, that had
just topped a distant ridge, running swiftly towards them.

"Caribou!" shouted White, in great excitement, at the same time seizing
his rifle from the sledge and hastily removing it from its sealskin
case. In another minute sledge and dogs were concealed in a bit of a
gully, with Cabot to watch them, while Yim and White, lying flat behind
the crest of a low ridge, were eagerly noting the course of the
approaching animals. When it became evident that they would pass at
some distance on the right, White, crouching low, ran in that direction.

The caribou appeared badly frightened, pausing every few moments to
face about and cast terrified glances over the way they had come. All
at once, during one of these pauses, a shot rang out, followed quickly
by another, and, as the terrified animals dashed madly away in a new
direction, one of their number dropped behind, staggered, and fell.

"I've got him! I've got him!" yelled White, wild with the joy of his
achievement.

"Hurrah for us!" shouted Cabot. "Steaks and spare-ribs for supper
to-night."

"Yip, yip, yip!" screamed Yim to his dogs, and with a jubilant ch