"To go to sea with his feet fast in such a little skite of a craft as that! Might ha' known the darned thing 'ud 'a' capsized an' drownded him." "What shall we do with _it_ ?" I asked.

"We might sink it with three or four of those six-pound shot, I suppose." "No, no!" exclaimed Wade.

"We can't afford six-pound shots to bury the heathen: it's as much as we can do to get enough to kill them with." "Oh, don't, Wade!" said Raed.

"It's a sad sight at best." "Of course it is.

But then we've only got seventeen balls left, and no knowing how many battles to fight." This last argument was a clincher.
"Let go!" ordered the captain.
Don and Hobbs shook the line violently, but couldn't tear out the grapple from the tough seal-skin.
"Well, let go line and all, then!" cried the captain.
With a dull plash the _kayak_ fell back into the sea; and we all turned away.
At midnight the ice-patches were thickening rapidly; and by two o'clock all sail had to be taken in, the bumps had grown so frequent and heavy.