CHAPTER XXII
A STORM AND A CATASTROPHE
True to his promise, Bobby was up the next morning bright and early, and awoke Skipper Ed as he moved about, lighting the lamp and hanging the kettle of snow to melt for tea, and the kettle containing cooked seal meat, to thaw, for it had frozen hard in the night. Then, while he waited for these to heat, he crawled back into his sleeping bag.
"How are you feeling after your Arctic dip?" inquired Skipper Ed.
"As fine as could be!" answered Bobby. "My fingers were nipped a little, and they're a bit numb. That's the only way I'd know, from the way I feel, that I'd been in the water."
"You're a regular tough young husky!" declared Skipper Ed. "But it was a narrow escape, and we can thank God for the deliverance of you two chaps. You mustn't take those risks again. It's tempting Providence."
"Why, I didn't think we were careless," said Bobby. "It was the sort of thing that is always likely to happen."
Jimmy lifted his head.
"Hello!" drowsily. "Is it time to get up? I've been sleeping like a stone."
"It isn't time for you to get up," cautioned Skipper Ed. "You stay right where you are today."