quieted by the
Captain with a draught of cold tea, and made to sit down, the
examination of the book proceeded.

"It is much worn, and in places is almost illegible, as might be
expected," said Alf. "Let me see. `Coast of Labrador, (something
illegible here), 1611. This day the mutineers took possess ... (can't
make out what follows), and put Captain Hudson, with his son, myself,
the carpenter, and five sick men into the dinghy, casting us, (blank),
with some, (blank), and one cask of water. I begin this diary to-day.
It may never be seen by man, but if it does fall into the hands of any
one who can read it, he will do a service to ... by conveying ...
England.--John Mackintosh, _seaman_.'

"Can it be possible?" said Alf, looking up from the relic with an
expression of deep solemnity, "that we have found a record of that great
Arctic explorer, the unfortunate Henry Hudson?"

"It seems like it, Alf; read on," said Leo, eagerly.

We will not further trouble the reader with Alf's laboured deciphering
of this curious and ancient notebook, which was not only stained and
worn, but in many places rudely torn, as if its owner had seen much hard
service. We will merely run over a few of the chief points which it
cleared up. Unfortunately, it threw no additional light on the fate of
poor Hudson. Many of the first pages of the book which no doubt treated
of that, had been destroyed and the legible portion began in the middle
of a record of travelling with a sledge-party of Eskimos to the north of
parallel 85 degrees 20 minutes--a higher northern latitude, it will be
observed, than had been reached by any subsequent explorer except
Captain Vane. No mention being made of English comrades, the
presumption remained that they had all been killed or had died--at all
events that Mackintosh had been separated from them, and was the only
survivor of the party travelling with the Eskimos.

Further on the journal, which was meagre in detail, and kept in the dry
form of a log-book, spoke of having reached a far northern settlement.
Reference was also made to a wife and family, leading to the conclusion
that the seaman had permanently cast in his lot with the savages, and
given up all hope of returning to his native land.

One sentence near the end caused a considerable sensation, and opened
their eyes to a fact which they might have guessed if they had not been
too much taken up with the spelling out of the faded pencilling to