'

"'More ice. Down there,' said he. 'Like this. Let down.'

"Then I understood him. Another ledge, such as that upon which I hung,
had been formed in the same way, and was adhering to the rock beneath.
No doubt there was a pool on the lower side of the point, and just
below me, and the current would be no obstacle to the formation of
ice. I had looked down from above, and the upper ledge had hidden the
lower from me; but John, standing by the gap in the upper, could see
it plainly.

"So I had but to let myself down until my feet rested on the new
ledge, and this I did, with extreme caution and the expenditure of the
last ounce of strength in my arms. Then a glance assured me that the
way was clear to the shelving cliff beyond.

"'You go,' said John. 'I go round.'

"'All right,' said I. 'And, say! I wish I'd called you before.'

"'Ho!' said he, as he vanished.

"When John reached the Little Lake post late that night, the tidings
of the safe return of the Hudson Bay Geological Expedition were on the
way south by another messenger, and the company's physician was moving
over the trail towards Fort Red Wing, making haste to the aid of the
young professor, whom, indeed, he soon brought back to health. The
passage by the ledge of ice had resulted in a gain of three hours, but
whether or not it saved the professor's life I do not know. I do not
think it did. It nearly cost me mine, but I had no thought of that
when I essayed it, so my experience reflects no credit upon me
whatever. I take fewer rash and reckless chances now on land and
water, and I am not so overreliant upon my own resources.

"I have learned that a friend's help is of value."

At that moment the Ruddy Cove mail-boat entered the Tickle.

CHAPTER XXII

_In Which Billy Topsail Gets an Idea and, to the Amazement
of Jimmie Grimm, Archie Armstrong Promptly Goes Him One
Better_

While Archie Armstrong was pursuing his piratical adventure in the
French harbour of St. Pierre, Billy Topsail had gone fishing with
Jimmie Grimm and Donald North. This was in the trim little sloop that
Sir Archibald had sent north to Billy Topsail in recognition of his
service to Archie during a great blizzard from which Bill o' Burnt Bay
had rescued them both.[5] There were now no fish in the summer waters
of Ruddy Cove; but word had come down the coast that fish were running
in the north. So up went the sails of the little _Rescue_; and with
Billy Tops