come with us?" continued Pen, who wished to
compel his companions to stand by him.

They found it hard to answer the question thus squarely put them.

"We shall see about that when the time comes," replied Bolton; "it
will be enough to bring Richard Shandon over to our side, and I fancy
that won't be hard."

"There's one I shall leave here," exclaimed Pen with fierce oaths,
"even if he should bite my arm off."

"O, the dog!" said Plover.

"Yes, that dog! I shall soon settle accounts with him."

"So much the better," retorted Clifton, returning to his favorite
theory; "he is the cause of all our troubles."

"He has thrown an evil spell upon us," said Plover.

"He led us into the ice," remarked Gripper.

"He brought more ice in our way," said Wolston, "than was ever seen at
this season."

"He made my eyes sore," said Brunton.

"He shut off the gin and brandy," cried Pen.

"He's the cause of everything," they all exclaimed excitedly.

"And then," added Clifton, "he's the captain."

"Well, you unlucky Captain," cried Pen, whose unreasonable fury grew
with the sound of his own words, "you wanted to come here, and here
you shall stay!"

"But how shall we get hold of him?" said Plover.

"Well, now is a good time," answered Clifton. "The commander is away;
the second mate is asleep in his cabin; the fog is so thick that
Johnson can't see us--"

"But the dog?" said Pen.

"He's asleep in the coal," answered Clifton, "and if any one wants--"

"I'll see to it," replied Pen, angrily.

"Take care, Pen; his teeth would go through a bar of iron."

"If he stirs, I'll rip him open," answered Pen, drawing his knife.

And he ran down between decks, followed by Warren, who was anxious to
help him.

Soon they both returned, carrying the dog in their arms; his mouth and
paws were securely tied; they had caught him asleep, and the poor dog
could not escape them.

"Hurrah for Pen!" cried Plover.

"And what are you going to do with him now?" asked Clifton.

"Drown him, and if he ever comes back--" answered Pen with a smile of
satisfaction.

Two hundred feet from the vessel there was a hole in the ice, a sort
of circular crevasse, made by the seals with their teeth, and always
dug out from the inside to the outside; it was there that the seals
used to come to breathe on the surface of the ice; but they were
compelled to take care to prevent the aperture from closing, for the
shape of their jaws did not permit