general air of amazement on
his face.

"Good day to you," Sir George replied, extending his hand. "We were
surprised to find a boat in the ice with a live man on it at this time
of the year."

"No more'n I was to see youse, sir; an' where the deuce you all comes
from beats me."

"On sledges straight from the Pole," returned the Colonel with a smile.

"So I suspect!" a humorous twinkle taking the place of the look of
astonishment, "but I didna think the Yankees could scare red-coats so
far north as that."

"Not so bad! But who have you on that boat of yours, or are you alone?
In fact, have you any accommodations to spare? Two or three berths, for
instance."

"There's me an' my old woman. If she's willin' possibly we might take in
two ortwenty yards from the shore lay the _Bumble
Bee_. It was a small craft with two masts and about nine feet beam. The
gunwale stood several feet above the ice, and beside the little midship
cabin the whole of the poop had been boarded in by a railing. A pile of
wood lay beside the boat, and as Helen stepped across the little
gangway, she noticed that the foredeck was cleanly swept.

With arms akimbo, a middle-aged, stern-faced woman stood in the narrow
doorway, but her thick homespun dress and general air of tidiness and
thrift gave confidence to her visitor, notwithstanding the puzzled look
of inquiry with which she returned Helen's salutation.

"These people want to know eff we'll tak' in boarders?" said Latimer, by
way of introduction. "What say you, Meg?"

"He means," said Harold, "that we are