and
sent him flying ten paces off. The wretched man not being able to
catch hold of anything, would have rebounded into the sea had not
Hearne seized him.

Owing to the half-breed's intervention the revolt was instantly
queued. Besides, we were coming up to the boat, and with us those of
our men whose hesitation bad not lasted long.

No matter. The others were still thirteen to our ten. Captain Len
Guy made his appearance; anger shone in his eyes, and with him was
West, quite unmoved. Words failed the captain for some moments, but
his looks said what his tongue could not utter. At length, in a
terrible voice, he said,--

"I ought to treat you as evil-doers; however, I will only consider
you as madmen! The boat belongs to everybody. It is now our only
means of salvation, and you wanted to steal it--to steal it like
cowards! Listen attentively to what I say for the last time! This
boat, belonging to the _Halbrane_, is now the _Halbrane_ herself! I am
the captain of it, and let him who disobeys me, beware?"

With these last words Captain Len Guy looked at Hearne, for whom
this warning was expressly meant. The sealing-master had not
appeared in the last scene, not openly at least, but nobody doubted
that he had urged his comrades to make off with the boat, and that
he had every intention of doing the same again.

"Now to the camp," said the captain, "and you, Dirk Peters,
remain here!"

The half-breed's only reply was to nod his big head and betake
himself to his post.

The crew returned to the camp without the least hesitation. Some lay
down in their sleeping-places, others wandered about. Hearne neither
tried to join them nor to go near Martin Holt.

Now that the sailors were reduced to idleness, there was nothing to
do except to ponder on our critical situation, and invent some means
of getting out of it.

The captain, the mate, and the boatswain formed a council, and I
took part in their deliberations. Captain Len Guy began by saying,--

"We have protected our boat, and we shall continue to protect
it."

"Until death," declared West.

"Who knows," said I, "whether we shall not soon be forced to
embark?"

"In that case," replied the captain, "as all cannot fit into
it, it will be necessary to make a selection. Lots shall determine
which of us are to go, and I shall not ask to be treated differently
from the others."

"We have not come to that, luckily," replied the boatswain.
"The iceberg is solid,