Bobby and Jimmy were as glad, now, to return to the snug cabins as they
had been to set out for Itigailit Island in the summer, and as they
looked back over the few short weeks, the July day when they had their
adventure with the bear seemed to them a long, long while ago.
And when the boats were loaded Bobby ran up to say good-bye for a
season to the cairn and the dead man mouldering beneath it, and to the
wide open sea, and the misty horizon out of which he had drifted, and
then they hoisted sail and were off.
Another long winter with its bitter cold and drifting snow, its joys and
its hardships and adventures, was at hand.
CHAPTER XV
MAROONED IN AN ARCTIC BLIZZARD
That was indeed a winter of bitter cold and of almost unexampled
severity. It came suddenly, too, and with scant warning, as we shall
see, and a full fortnight in advance of the time when it should have
come.
Abel and Skipper Ed took Jimmy with them that year upon their autumn
seal hunt. It was deemed wise to leave Bobby behind with Mrs. Abel,
despite his protest. Though he was willing enough to remain when Mrs.
Abel declared that because of her recent illness she wished some one to
stay at home and assist her, for she did not feel equal to the task,
unassisted, of making things snug for the winter. And of course there
was none but Bobby to stay.
And so it came about that Bobby, with many longings and regrets, though
cheerful enough withal, stood down on the beach one frosty September
morning and watched Abel Zachariah and Skipper Ed and Jimmy sail away
for the hunt, while he comforted himself with the thought that another
year he, too, would go.
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