e, he drove the
massive ice floes out into ocean, only, perhaps, in childish fitfulness,
to bring them back directly, by gales quite contrary.

When morning dawned, the captain and his men crawled out of the crushed
snow hut, and, with hard work, made a new cave in the snow drift,
burying the sleighs in the old one. The dogs were starving, and, to
appease their appetites, were purloining bacon from the sled's stores;
but Providence, for once, was kind to them, and a large, fat seal of
several hundred pounds weight was shot that day on the edge of the ice
cake upon which they were camped, and this gave them food and fuel. Dogs
and natives were then well fed on the fresh seal meat and blubber, their
natural and favorite viands. From tin dishes upon the sleds, the natives
made little stoves, or lamps, using drilling for wicks, seal oil for
fuel, and their coffee was made. Among the stores on the sleds were
canned goods, beans, sausages, flour and other things, and on these the
captain subsisted.

Day after day passed. The storm gradually died away, and the sun came
out. Then watches were set to keep a lookout, and the captain took his
turn with his men. Walking about in the cold morning air, he could see
the mainland to the northwest, many miles away, and his heart sank
within him. Would he ever put his foot upon that shore again? How long
could they live on the ice cake if they floated far out in the Behring
Sea? To him the outlook was growing darker each day, though the natives
seemed not to be troubled.

Nearly two weeks passed. One night the captain was awakened by a hand on
his shoulder. It was Ung Kah Ah Ruk. The wind, he said, was blowing
steadily from the southwest, and if it continued they might be able to
reach the shore ice and the mainland. Anxiously together then they
watched and waited for long, weary hours, getting the sleds loaded, and
in readiness for a start; then, with bitterest disappointment, they
found the wind again changed to the southwest, which would carry them
out to sea as before.

What were they to do? This might be their best and only chance to
escape. The shore ice lay near them, but, as yet, beyond their reach.
This treacherous wind might continue for days and even weeks. From
experience they knew that the wind blew where he listed, regardless of
the forlorn creatures under him, and with the thermometer at forty
degrees below zero, as it was, swimming was out of the question. The
crack