ders prepared to go and see the fun. So did
Oblooria. It was arranged that Leo and the latter were to go in the
india-rubber boat.

That vessel had been the source of deep, absorbing interest and
curiosity to the natives. When our travellers landed, it had been
conveyed to the side of the hut assigned them, and laid gently on the
turf, where it was stared at by successive groups all day. They would
have stayed staring at it all night, if they had not been forbidden by
Grabantak to approach the Kablunets during the hours of repose. Leo
explained its parts to them, but made no reference to its expansive and
contractile properties. He also launched it and paddled about to
gratify the curiosity of his new friends, but did not show them the
kite, which, folded and in its cover, he had stowed away in the hut.

One night, fearing that the sun might injure the boat, Leo had squeezed
the air out of it, folded it, and stowed it away in the hut beside the
kite. The astonishment of the natives, when they came out next morning
to stare and wonder, according to custom, was very great. Leo resolved
to make a mystery of it, looked solemn when spoken to on the point, and
gave evasive replies.

When, however, the time came for setting off on this grand hunt, he
carried his boat, still bundled up in skins, down to the water's edge,
where kayaks and oomiaks in hundreds lay ready to be launched.

The news spread like wild-fire that the Kablunet was going to "act
wonderfully!"

Every man, woman, and child in the place hurried to the spot.

"It is destroyed!" exclaimed Grabantak, sadly, when he saw the boat
unrolled, flat and empty, on the sand.

We shall not describe the scene in detail. It is sufficient to say that
Leo did not disappoint the general expectation. He did indeed "act
wonderfully," filling the unsophisticated savages with unbounded
surprise and admiration, while he filled the boat with air and launched
it. He then stepped into it with Anders, gallantly lifted Oblooria on
board, and, seizing the oars, rowed gently out to sea.

With shouts of delight the Eskimos jumped into their kayaks and
followed. Their admiration was, however, a little calmed by the
discovery that the kayaks could beat the Kablunet boat in speed, though
the women in their oomiaks could not keep up with it. There was no
emulation, however; Leo carefully refrained from racing.

He had been supplied with a long lance and a couple of spears