CHAPTER XTL A CHANCE TO BE TRIED. !hE brave fellows knew it then! And that they might not Jt^ add to the cares of their chief, they had pretended to know nothing, and had worked away at the preparations for the winter ^Aith the same zeal as the year before. Tears of emotion stood in Hobson's eyes, and he made no attempt to conceal them, but seizijig Marbre's outstretched hand, he pressed it in his own. Yes, the soldiers all knew it, for Marbre had guessed it long ago. The filling of the reindeer trap with salt water, the non-arrival of the detachment from Fort Reliance, the observations of latitude and longitude taken every day, which would have been useless on firm ground, the precautions observed by Hobson to prevent any one seeing him take the bearings, the fact of the animalsr remaining on the island after winter had set in, and the change in the position of the cardinal points during the last few days, which they had noticed at once, had all been tt)kens easily interpreted by the inhabitants of Fort Hope. The arrival of Kalumah had puzzled them, but they had concluded that she had been thrown, upon the island in. the storm, and they were right, as we are aware. Marbre, upon whom the truth had first dawned, confided his suspicions to Mac-Nab the carpenter and Bae the blacksmith. All three faced the situation calmly enough, and agreed that they ought to tell their comrades and wives, but decided to let the Lieutenant think they knew nothing, and to obey him without question as before. " You are indeed brave fellows, my friends," exclaimed Mrs ^ Barnett, who was much touched by this delicate feeling, *' you are true soldiers! " " Our Lieutenant may depend upon us," said Mac-Nab, "he has done his duty, and we will do ours."
