fired at the bear."

"Port the helm!" ordered the captain. "We'll beat up through this
channel to the north side of the ice-field."

"Perhaps we had best not go up too near them at first," remarked Raed,
"till we find out what sort of _folks_ they are."

"No: two miles will be near enough. They will come off to us,--as many
of them as we shall want on board at one time, I dare say."

The schooner bore up through the channel, and wore along the ice-field
on the north side at a distance of a few hundred yards from it. We saw
the bear running off round to the south-east side to keep away from
us; though, as may readily be supposed, our attention was mainly
directed to the strange people on the headland, whose discordant cries
and shouts could now be plainly heard. We could see them running down
to the shore; and immediately a score of canoes shot out, and came
paddling towards us.

"You don't doubt that their coming off is from friendly motives,
captain?" Kit asked.

"Oh, no!"

"Still forty or fifty stout fellows might give us our hands full, if
they were ill-disposed," remarked Wade.

"That's a fact," admitted the captain; "though I don't believe they
would attempt any thing of the sort."

"Well, there is no harm in being well armed," said Raed. "Kit, you and
Wash get up half a dozen of the muskets, and load them. Fix the
bayonets on them too. Wade and I will load the howitzer and the mighty
rifle. And, captain, I don't believe we had better have more than a
dozen of them on board at one time till we know them better."

"That may be as well," replied Capt. Mazard. "It will be unpleasant
having too many of them aboard at once, anyway. And, in order to have
the deck under our thumb a little more, I am going to station two of
the sailors with muskets, as a guard, near the man at the wheel,
another amidships, and two more forward."

Meanwhile the _kayaks_ were approaching, a whole school of them,
shouting and racing with each other. Such a barbaric din! The crowd on
the shore added their distant shouts.

"There's another thing we must look out for," remarked the captain.
"These folks are said to be a little thievish. It will be well enough
to put loose small articles out of sight."

Hastily perfecting our arrangements, we provided ourselves each with a
musket, and were ready for our strange visitors. They came paddling
up, one to a canoe. Their paddles had blades at each end, and were
used on either side alte