usual sound, the huge ussuk rose half
his length above the water, and looked around him. The icy cliffs echoed
the crashing volley, as both barrels poured forth their deadly hail
almost in unison, and the huge animal settled down amid incarnadined
waters and ice crimsoned with his life-blood, shot to death through the
brain so skilfully that scarce a struggle or a tremor bore witness that
the principle of life had departed.

Descending the berg, a small fragment of ice capable of bearing a man
was found, and Regnar, taking the end of his line, stepped upon it, and
with his gunstock paddled off to the dead seal, and affixing the line to
one of its flippers, pulled himself ashore, and joined the others in
towing the game to the berg. Landing it on a little shelf, La Salle and
Peter began to speculate as to how the huge carcass, which must have
weighed five hundred pounds, could be hauled over the berg, and safely
landed. Regnar laughed at the idea.

"We want not the meat--only the skin, blubber, and liver. Why not skin
here? Save much work for nothin'. Here, Peter, give me knife."

Peter drew the long blade from his belt, and Regnar making a single
incision from chin to tail, the body seemed fairly to roll out of the
thick, soft blubber coat which adhered to the skin. In less than two
minutes Regnar had finished what La Salle had no doubt would take at
least a good half hour. With equal deftness the liver was extracted, and
a few pounds of meat taken from the flanks.

Fastening the whole to the line, it was drawn to the top of the berg,
and thence down the slope to the rude stairs. As the weight was nearly
half that of a man, Regnar merely placed the bight of the rope around
the object on which it had caught. Its shape excited curiosity, and a
few strokes of the axe cleared off its covering of ice.

"This ice from Greenland," said Regnar. "Here is the stone the Inuit
uses for pots--what you call soapstone."

"Well, I hope we shall not need it," said La Salle, "for the North Cape
is now only ten miles away, and it is not yet noon. I want the blubber
for fuel, or I would not waste time with this skin even."

"We shall have all we want to get back to George. See how the clouds
close in. Plenty snow right away now. Come, Peter, get across quick."

La Salle groaned in spirit, as, from the berg which he had reascended,
he saw the distant red ledges shut out from view, and marked the first
scattering flakes fall silently