But when they both awoke late the following morning and looked for him
he had disappeared.
CHAPTER XXI.
A WELCOME MISSIONARY.
Although the outer garments of wolf fur belonging to the mysterious
stranger were also missing, our lads were not at first at all uneasy
concerning his absence, but imagined that their guest had merely gone
for a breath of fresh air or to examine the situation of the schooner
by daylight. So they mended the fire and got breakfast ready,
expecting with each moment that he would return. As he did not, Cabot
finally went on deck to look for him.
The morning was bitterly cold, and the harbour was covered with ice
sufficiently strong to bear a man.
"The old 'Bee's' found her winter berth at last," reflected Cabot, as
he glanced about him, shivering in the keen air.
To his disappointment he could discover no trace of the man upon whom
they were depending to aid their escape from this icy prison. Cabot
even dropped to the beach and made his way to the crest of the inland
bluffs, but could see no living thing on all the vast expanse of snow
outspread before him.
"I guess he has gone, all right," muttered the lad, "and we are again
left to our own resources, only a little worse off than we were before.
Why he came and helped us out at all, though, is a mystery to me."
With this he retraced his steps and conveyed the unwelcome news to
White.
Pages:
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164