naged to knock himself down, and well-nigh
shattered the North Pole itself in pieces!

Moreover, had not Leo to act the part of physician and surgeon to the
community? a duty which he fulfilled so well that there never had been
before that time such a demand for physic in Flatland, and, it is
probable, there never will be so many sick people there again. In
addition to this, Leo had to exercise his marvellous powers as a
huntsman. Benjy, of course, played his wonted _role_ of mischief-maker
and jack-of-all-trades to the entire satisfaction of everybody,
especially on that great occasion when he succeeded in killing a polar
bear single-handed, and without the aid of gun or spear or any lethal
weapon whatever;--of which great event, more hereafter. Anders, the
southern Eskimo, made himself generally agreeable, and Butterface became
a prime favourite, chiefly because of his inexhaustible fund of fun and
good humour, coupled with his fine musical qualities.

We have not said much on this latter point hitherto, because we have
been unwilling to overwhelm the reader with too sudden a disclosure of
that marvellous magazine of power which was latent in our band of
heroes; but we feel it to be our duty now to state that the negro sang
his native melodies with such pathos that he frequently reduced,
(perhaps we should say elevated), the unsophisticated Eskimos to floods
of tears, and sometimes to convulsions of laughter. As, at Benjy's
suggestion, he sometimes changed his moods abruptly, the tears often
mingled with the convulsions, so as to produce some vivid illustrations
of Eskimo hysteria.

But Butterface's strong point was the flute! No one who had not
witnessed it could adequately conceive the poutings of thick red lips
and general contortions of black visage that seemed necessary in order
to draw the tones out of that simple instrument. The agonies of
expression, the hissing of wind, and the turning up of whites of large
black eyes,--it is past belief! The fruitless efforts of the Eskimos to
imitate him were as nothing to the great original, and their delight at
the sound was only equalled by their amazement at the sight.

Alf assisted the Captain scientifically and otherwise. Of course he was
compelled, during the long winter, to lay aside his geological hammer
and botanical box; but, then, had he not the arrangement and naming of
his specimens? His chief work, however, was to act the unwonted, and,
we may ad