Ootinah and his wooden-legged companion have left us, promising to return as soon as they have provided for their families. They carried away with them many valuable presents, and if these do not tempt their savage kindred to the ship, nothing will. They will tell the Esquimaux that I want dogs, and I have charged them to circulate the knowledge of the ample returns which I will make to the hunter who will loan or sell to me his team. But alas! dogs are scarce; most of the hunters have none to spare, and many of them are wholly destitute. I had not a bribe in the ship large enough to induce either of those who have left me to part with even one of their precious animals. Having discovered this, I could afford to be lavish with my presents, and these poor wanderers on the ice deserts probably left me quite as well off as if they had sold me their entire teams. They plead the hunt and their families, and these are strong arguments. Needles and knives, and iron and bits of wood, will not feed wives and babies, and a hundred and fifty miles is a long way to carry a child at the breast through the cold and storms of the Arctic night, even though it be to this haven of plenty. My charity was, however, intended to cover a double purpose,--to do them a substantial service, and to stimulate as well their cupidity as that of the tribe who are sure to flock around them at Iteplik, to inspect their riches. I must own, however, that my prospects for obtaining dogs do not look encouraging. But few of the Esquimaux are likely to come so far with their impoverished teams. Hans sticks to the story of yesterday; and, after questioning and cross-questioning him for an hour, I get nothing new. Although I have no good reason for doubting the truth of his narrative, yet I cannot quite reconcile my mind to the fact that Sonntag, with so much experience to govern him, should have undertaken to travel five miles in wet clothing, especially as he was accompanied by a native hunter who was familiar with all of the expedients for safety upon the ice-fields, and to whom falling in the water is no unusual circumstance. The sledge and the canvas apron which inclosed the cargo furnished the means for constructing a temporary shelter from the wind, and the sleeping-bag would have insured against freezing while Hans got ready the dry clothing, of which Sonntag carried a complete change. Nor can I understand how he should have lived so long and have given Hans no message for me, nor have spoken a word after coming out of the water, further than to have ordered his driver to hasten back to the snow-hut. However, it is idle to speculate about the matter; and since Hans's interests were concerned in proving faithful to the officer who, of all those in the ship, cared most for him, it would be unreasonable as well as unjust to suspect him of desertion. [Illustration] CHAPTER XIX.