that with just a shotgun. Why, neither Abel
nor I would have tackled him with just a shotgun. No, sir, we wouldn't!"

And Skipper Ed put it to Abel, who declared he never would have risked a
shotgun unless he had a spear, also, to protect himself.

Deftly and quickly they skinned and dressed the carcass, wasting no part
of the flesh, save the liver, which they fed to the dogs, for, as every
one knows, the liver of the polar bear is poisonous and unfit for human
consumption.

"I could eat a steak right now," suggested Bobby, when the meat was
stowed.

But there was no time now to cook bear steaks, for a breeze had sprung
up and they must needs take advantage of it, and Skipper Ed and Jimmy
had already hoisted sail.

"Never mind," said Abel, "I'll show you! I'll show you!" and with an air
of mystery, and chuckling to himself, Abel hurriedly gathered some flat
stones which he piled into the boat.

"Now," suggested Abel, when they were at last moving, "you take the
tiller, Bobby, and we'll see about the bear steaks."

With much care he proceeded to arrange the stones in the bottom of the
boat until presently a very excellent fireplace was built, and so
arranged that the boat itself was well protected. No wood save driftwood
was to be found on Itigailit Island or on the near-by shores, and
therefore both Abel's boat and Skipper Ed's boat had been provided with
sufficient firewood to meet the needs of their camp for several days.
And so, with fuel at hand, Abel quickly had a cozy fire blazing in his
fireplace and Mrs. Abel, laughing and enjoying the novel experience of
cooking in a boat, had some tea brewing and some bear's steaks sizzling
in the pan in a jiffy.

Skipper Ed's trap boat, though a fine sea craft, was not so fast a
sailer in a light breeze as Abel's, and though Skipper Ed and Jimmy had
left the island some little time in advance the boats were now so close
that Abel could make himself heard, and standing in the bow he bawled:

"_Pujolik! Pujolik!_" (A steamer! A steamer!)

A steamship in these waters was uncommon. No steamer had ever come into
the bay, indeed--for they were still in the bay--at least within the
memory of man, and eager to see what manner of ship it might be Skipper
Ed and Jimmy were on their feet in an instant, eagerly searching the
eastern horizon.

Abel was immediately convulsed with laughter, and Mrs. Abel laughed, and
Bobby laughed, and when Skipper Ed and Jimmy, failing to dis