d Mrs. Abel had heard the approach, and when the
sledge came to a stop before the door they were there to give welcome
and greetings.

"Where is Bobby? And where is Jimmy?" asked Abel. "Are they coming?"

"They will never come," answered Skipper Ed.

Abel and Mrs. Abel understood, for tragedies, in that stern land, are
common, and always the people seem steeled to meet them. And so in
silence they led the way into the cabin, and in silence they sat,
uttering no word, while Skipper Ed related what had happened. And though
still there was no crying and no wailing from the stricken couple,
Skipper Ed knew that they felt no less keenly their loss, and he knew
that they had lost what was dearer to them than their own life.

"And now," said Skipper Ed, when he was through, "I will unharness the
dogs and take care of the things on the _komatik_."

"Yes," said Abel, "we will look after the dogs. You will stop with us
tonight, for your _igloosuak_ (cabin) is cold."

And when they had cared for the dogs and had eaten the supper which Mrs.
Abel prepared, Abel Zachariah took his Eskimo Bible from the shelf and
read from it, and then they sang a hymn, and when the three knelt in
evening devotion he thanked God for the son He had sent them out of the
mists from the Far Beyond where storms are born, and had seen fit to
call back again into the mists, for the son had been a good son and had
made brighter and happier many years of their life. It was God's will,
and God's will was law, and it was not for them to question the
righteousness of His acts.

And that night when Mrs. Abel turned down the blankets on Bobby's bed
for Skipper Ed, she thought of the time when Bobby was little, and she
lay by his side of evenings to croon him to sleep with her quaint
Eskimo lullabies.

CHAPTER XXIV

UNDER THE DRIFTING SNOW

Bobby and Jimmy heard the ominous booming that accompanied the parting
of the floe from the land ice, and they whipped the dogs to the utmost
exertion of which the animals were capable, but they had dallied too
long, and when they reached the rapidly widening chasm it was plain that
retreat was hopelessly cut off.

"We can swim it! We can swim!" shouted Jimmy, and but for the
restraining hand of Bobby he would have plunged into the water and made
the mad attempt, so soon forgetful was he of his recent experience.

"You'd freeze! You'd freeze! We couldn't swim in this cold!" Bobby
protested.

"I think we c