"
"Couldn't we go up or down the coast as well as an Eskimo, whenever
these miserable waterways freeze over?" asked Cabot.
"Of course, if we had sledges, dogs, snowshoes, and fur clothing,"
replied White; "but without all these things we might just as well
commit suicide before starting."
"Well, I'll tell you what we can do right off, and the sooner we set
about it the better. We can go inland as far as possible, and leave a
line of flags or some sort of signals that will attract attention to
this place."
"I don't know but what that is a good idea," remarked White,
thoughtfully. "At any rate, it would be better than doing nothing, and
if we don't get help in some way we shall certainly freeze to death in
this place long before the winter is over."
So Cabot's suggestion was adopted, and the remainder of that day was
spent in preparing little flags of red and white cloth, attaching them
to slender sticks, and in making a number of wooden arrows. On a
smooth side of these they wrote:
"Help! We are stranded on the coast."
"I wish we could write it in Eskimo and Indian," said Cabot, "for
English doesn't seem to be the popular language of this country."
"The flags and arrows will be a plain enough language for any natives
who may run across them," responded White, "and I only hope they'll see
them; but it is a slim chance, and we'll probably be frozen stiff long
before any one finds us.
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