n
his throat, and the next instant he was felled by a blow that would have
stunned an ox. So decided and quick was the action that it was not
accompanied by more noise than might have been caused by the Indian
endeavouring to lift the canoe, so that his comrades were not alarmed.
Next moment the canoe was in the water. But the long silence, which had
now been unbroken for eight or ten minutes, except by the howling of
Chimo in the cave, began to arouse the suspicion of the red men; and no
sooner was this the case than they glided from the bushes in all
directions with noiseless tread. In a second or two the body of their
fallen comrade was discovered, and a yell of fury rent the air (for
concealment was now unnecessary), while they dashed into the water in
pursuit. The darkness favoured the fugitives for a few seconds, and
enabled the women to embark; but just as Maximus was about to step into
his place, Meestagoosh seized him by the throat!

Maximus was possessed of that ready presence of mind and prompt energy
of character which are so necessary to a warrior, especially to him who
wars with the prowling and stealthy savage. Almost in the same instant
he gave the canoe a shove that sent it bounding out to sea, and raised
his hand to catch the invisible arm which he knew must be descending
with the deadly knife towards his heart. He succeeded so far that,
although he did not arrest it, he turned the blow aside, receiving only
a slight wound on the shoulder. Ere it could be repeated, he dealt his
adversary a blow on the forehead, and hurled him back insensible into
the water.

The Esquimau immediately glided out into deep water; and now, for the
first time in his life, he felt keenly the disadvantage of not being
able to swim. This is an art which the inhabitants of the icy seas have
never acquired, owing probably to the shortness of the season of open
water, and the intense cold of the ice-laden seas, even in summer. The
Indians, on the contrary, who live beside the warm lakes and rivers of
the interior, are many of them pretty expert swimmers. Thus it happened
that Maximus was obliged to stand up to his neck in the water, not
daring to move or utter a sound, while his friends and foes alike sought
in vain for him in the darkness.

While he stood thus, uncertain how to act, he heard the water rippling
near to him, and distinguished the hard breathing of a swimmer. Soon he
observed a dark head making straig