illing, or being
killed, in such a cause was very repulsive. He tried to reason with
Grabantak about the sin of injuring a defenceless woman, and the
abstract right of females in general to have some say in the selection
of their husbands, but Grabantak was inexorable.

"Is the Kablunet afraid?" he asked, with a glance of scornful surprise.

"Does he _look_ afraid?" returned Leo, quietly.

Koyatuk now stepped into the middle of the ring of warriors, with a
short spear in his right hand, and half-a-dozen spare ones in his left,
whereby Leo perceived that the battle before him was not meant to be a
mere "exchange of shots," for the "satisfaction of honour." There was
evidently no humbug about these Eskimos.

Two men mounted guard over Anders and Oblooria, who, however, were
allowed to remain inside the ring to witness the combat. A warrior now
advanced to Leo and presented him with a small bundle of spears. He
took them almost mechanically, thanked the giver, and laid them down at
his feet without selecting one. Then he stood up, and, crossing his
arms on his breast, gazed full at his opponent, who made a hideous face
at him and flourished his spear.

It was quite evident that the Eskimos were perplexed by the white
youth's conduct, and knew not what to make of it. The truth is that
poor Leo was almost beside himself with conflicting emotions and
uncertainty as to what he ought to do. Despite all that had taken
place, he found it almost impossible to persuade himself that he was
actually about to engage in mortal combat. He had not a vestige of
angry feeling in his heart against the man whom he was expected to fight
with to the death, and the extraordinary nature of the complex faces
that Koyatuk was making at him tended to foster the delusion that the
whole thing was a farce--or a dream.

Then the knowledge that he could burst through the ring, get hold of his
rifle, and sell his life dearly, or, perhaps, cause the whole savage
tribe to fly in terror, was a sore temptation to him. All this, coupled
with the necessity for taking instant and vigorous action of some sort,
was enough to drive an older head distracted. It did drive the blood
violently to the youth's face, but, by a powerful effort of
self-restraint, he continued to stand perfectly still, like a living
statue, facing the Eskimo.

At last Koyatuk became tired of making useless faces at his rival.
Suddenly poising his spear, he launched it.