"What's the matter?" asked Jesse. "Where are we, and what sort of a place is this? My! I was dreaming, and I thought I was back home in bed." "John," said Rob, "crawl over and look at that fellow's fastenings. I thought I heard him move. Don't be afraid. I'll keep him covered with the rifle. Build up the fire a little." John complied, presently stooping down to examine the cord with which the Aleut had been confined. He gave an exclamation. "Why, he's loose! He's gnawed the hide clean in two with his teeth. He could have got away any time he liked." Rob admitted his fault. "The truth is," said he, "I was very sleepy, and I must have dozed off. But now, what shall we do? Here we've got this man, and he evidently doesn't intend to stay a minute longer than he can help. Whether he would hurt us or not is something we can't tell; but we don't dare take the chance." "It'll be a great deal of trouble to watch him this way all the time," suggested John. "True, but we must watch him. On the other hand, what right have we to take him prisoner, since we don't know that he ever meant any wrong? We're not officers of the law, and this man has not committed any crime, so far as we know. The question is, what would he do to us if he got us before a law-court and accused us with making him a prisoner for no cause?" The three sat in the dim light of the hut for a time and pondered over these matters. At length Rob spoke again with decision. "It's the greatest good for the greatest number," said he. "It seems to me that the best thing we can do is to treat this man well, but not let him get away. He ought to do his share of the work, and he's stronger than any of us. Then, if we should ever be rescued--" Jesse's lips began to twitch. Evidently he was getting rather homesick. Rob noticed his face, and went on: "Of course we will get out of here before long, someway," he said. "Meanwhile, we will have to make the best living here we can. If we ever get this man to a white settlement, where we can find out who and what he is, why, then, we can pay him for his time, if it should prove that he is only an innocent native hunting away from his village. On the other hand, if he turns out to be a criminal of any kind, then we've had a right to arrest him, and can't get into any trouble over it." "It's a pretty rough joke on him," said John, "if he hasn't done anything wrong. He acts as though he had been here before. For all we can tell, he may own this house that we've taken over for ourselves. The only thing sure is that he's a better hand in camp than we are, the way things stand now. I'm for keeping him and letting him work. My folks'll pay him whatever is right, if it comes to that; and you never saw an Aleut who wasn't glad to get hold of a little money, I'll warrant that."