His excitement could scarcely contain itself as he fired one answering shot.

Everything was working splendidly, after all! They were getting in from the seal hunt ahead of the freeze-up, and he was to reach home none the worse for his adventure.
Bobby was lavish now with his wood.

Darkness was settling and he piled the wood upon the fire until its flames leaped up into a great blaze as a beacon, to guide the boat to a safe landing among the rocks.
And so it came to pass that Bobby was found and rescued, and he and Abel and Skipper Ed and Jimmy were glad enough to see one another again and to relate to one another their various experiences.

And Mrs.Abel, mourning in the cabin, was given great joy, for she had believed that Bobby had been lost without doubt in the storm.
The seal hunt was, as Bobby had feared it would be, almost a failure.
But four small seals had been killed when the storm came upon the hunters, and they were forced to retreat, that they might reach home before the sea froze.

These four seals, together with what remained of the meat from the spring hunt, were the only provisions they had for the dogs until February, when they could go to the ice edge, or _sena_, for the winter hunt, for then the seals would be on the ice.
Even with scant rations this would be little more than half enough to keep the animals in serviceable condition, for there were a good many dogs to feed.