e Captain waited till the whole community was
asleep, and then quietly roused his son.

"Lend a hand here, Ben," he whispered, "and make no noise."

Benjy arose and followed his father in a very sleepy frame of mind.

They went to the place where the india-rubber boats lay, close behind
the Englishmen's hut, and, unscrewing the brass heads that closed the
air-holes, began to press out the air.

"That's it, Ben, but don't squeeze too hard, lest the hissing should
rouse some of 'em."

"What'r 'ee doin' this for--ee--yaou?" asked Benjy, yawning.

"You'll see that to-morrow, lad."

"Hum! goin' t'squeeze'm all?"

"Yes, all three, and put 'em in their boxes."

The conversation flagged at this point, and the rest of the operation
was performed in silence.

Next morning, after breakfast, seeing that the breeze still held, the
Captain sent a formal message to Amalatok, that he was prepared to
exhibit his oomiaks.

The news spread like wild-fire, and the entire community soon
assembled--to the number of several hundreds--in front of the
Englishmen's hut, where the Captain was seen calmly seated on a
packing-case, with a solemn expression on his face. The rest of his
party had been warned to behave with dignity. Even Benjy's round face
was drawn into something of an oval, and Butterface made such superhuman
attempts to appear grave, that the rest of the party almost broke down
at the sight of him.

Great was the surprise among the natives when they perceived that the
three oomiaks had disappeared.

"My friends," said the Captain, rising, "I will now show you the manner
in which we Englishmen use our oomiaks."

A soft sigh of expectation ran through the group of eager natives, as
they pressed round their chief and Chingatok who stood looking on in
dignified silence, while the Captain and his companions went to work.
Many of the women occupied a little eminence close at hand, whence they
could see over the heads of the men, and some of the younger women and
children clambered to the top of the hut, the better to witness the
great sight.

Numerous and characteristic were the sighs, "huks," grunts, growls, and
other exclamations; all of which were in keeping with the more or less
intense glaring of eyes, and opening of mouths, and slight bending of
knees and elbows, and spreading of fingers, and raising of hands, as the
operators slowly unrolled the india-rubber mass, attached the bellows,
gradually inflated the