"An' if un turns out t' be a dream, 'twill be th' finest kind o' one,"
was his emphatic decision.
How the three laughed and talked and enjoyed themselves over their
supper, and how Bob revelled in the soft, warm blankets of Captain
Hanks' berth when he finally, for the first time in weeks, was enabled
to undress and crawl into bed, can better be imagined than described.
After an early breakfast the next morning the first care was to
examine the hold, and very much to their satisfaction, and at the same
time mystification, for they could not now understand why the schooner
had been abandoned, they found the hull quite sound and the schooner
to all appearances perfectly seaworthy.
Another astonishment awaited Bob, too, when he came upon the
quantities of fur, and the stock of provisions and other goods that he
found below decks.
"'Tis enough t' stock a company's post!" he exclaimed. But its real
intrinsic value was quite beyond his comprehension.
When it was settled, beyond doubt, that the _Maid of the North_ was
entirely worthy of their confidence and in no danger of sinking, the
three returned to the igloo and transferred their sleeping bags and
few belongings, as well as the dogs, to their new quarters on board of
her.
After this was done they skinned and dressed the polar bear, which
still lay upon the ice where it had been killed, and some of the flesh
was fed to the half famished dogs.
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