Part 9 (1/2)

Jie of their tails, their bright eyes fixed on theirfor orders They would have loved it had he told theone on till they dropped, at his lightest word

”No, boys, you wait here,” he said ”You're goin' to help ettin' it is soht here an' wait for er at them solemnly

They seemed to understand They curled up and lay down in the thin powdery snow-blanket

”Now then,” otta creep an' creep an' crawl an' crawl till I get near, an' then I gotta lie down an' scrape along on otta do”

Suiting the action to the word, he started on, watching all the time that little dark spot on which all depended

He could i their oin' to bring us somepin' to eat?”

”I wonder if that there Grenfell it this far north?” Tom asked hiit a chance to sell our fish for better'n two cents a pound, after us gets 'em salted an' dried! Them traders, they bleeds the life outa us They say Grenfell when he coht them traders an' put 'e bits of ice, sharp as needles, in his face He drew his cap about his ears more closely and plodded on

The further he walked the further away the seal see as he walked: he wished he ht cover himself with a skin and crawl on all fours But if he started to cra--he felt as though it would be a year before he could get near enough to shoot

”Please, God”--he spoke to God as naturally as to his faht and he'p me knock that seal over, the first shot For it don't look like there's goin' to be more'n one shot, an' if I don't kill her there's oin' to starve and mebbe a whole lot o' other people that's a-lookin'

for what they think I' back”

Noas ti, like another seal It was hard work--try it yourself, if you don't think so!--and it took lots of patience

Now he could see the seal raise its head and look about He ive it a chance to ask questions of the wind, because the windand creeping toward you with a gun, and in ato shoot, and you'll be sorry you hung around here and didn't dive through the ice the very first second your nose told you you'd better!”

He raised his gun, and prayed again--this tiun!” And he fired

The black spot had not vanished It was motionless ”Did I hit him?”

Tom asked himself ”Better try another shot an' ined the spot ain

There it was still Now he dared to believe he had hit the seal

Dragging the gun he crawled nearer and nearer Still the seal did not move

Now he could see the whole aniht was joyful

”Glory be!” he shouted Then he jumped up and capered about madly on the ice It was a nice, fat, luscious, flipper seal and dead as a door-nail Enough for a banquet for all of the tiny village of St

Anthony And if Dr Grenfell should be there when he and the dogs got back with it, the Doctor should have the largest, tenderest, juiciest steak of all

The as setting toward the dogs He could barely see the a black spot where they slept, exactly as though they were another seal