rhood of the Pole.

"Blackbeard says he must be very near nothing now," observed Chingatok
to Anders the day after their arrival.

"Near _nothing_!" exclaimed Teyma, who was sitting close by.

Of course the giant explained, and the premier looked incredulous.

"I wish I had not left my sextant behind me in the hurry of departure,"
said the Captain that evening to Leo. "But we came off in such hot
haste that I forgot it. However, I'll ask Amalatok to send a young man
back for it. I'm persuaded we cannot now be more than a few miles
distant from our goal."

"I quite agree with you, uncle, for when I looked at the north star last
night it seemed to me as directly in the zenith as it was possible to
imagine."

"Ay, lad; but the unaided eye is deceptive. A few miles of difference
cannot be distinguished by it. When did the Pole star become visible?"

"Only last night; I fancied I had made it out the night before, but was
not quite sure, the daylight, even at the darkest hour, being still too
intense to let many of the stars be seen."

"Well, we shall see. I am of opinion that we are still between twenty
and forty miles south of the Pole. Meanwhile, I'll induce Teyma to get
up an expedition to the island of this Maki-what?"

"Tok," said Leo; "Makitok. Everything almost ends in _tok_ or _tuk_
hereabouts."

"Who, and what, is this man?" asked the Captain.

"No one seems to know precisely. His origin has been lost in the mists
of antiquity. His first forefather--so tradition styles him--seems,
like Melchisedec, to have had no father or mother, and to have come from
no one knows where. Anyhow he founded a colony in _Great Isle_, and
Makitok is the present head of all the families."

Leo then explained about the mystery-thing called _buk_, which was
wrapped up in innumerable pieces of sealskin.

"Strange," said the Captain, "passing strange. All you tell me makes me
the more anxious to visit this man of the valley. You say there is no
chance of Grabantak being able to take the reins of government again for
a long time?"

"None. He has got a shake that will keep him helpless for some time to
come. And this is well, for Teyma will be ready to favour any project
that tends towards peace or prosperity."

Now, while preparations for the northern expedition were being made, our
friend Oolichuk went a-wooing. And this is the fashion in which he did
it.

Arraying himself one day, like any other lovesick