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I felt that I must see you once again. So I came to the village late in the evening, and kept away so that no one should see me; and when it was quite dark I stole up to the house, in order to peep into the window. I supposed that I might see you sitting there, and after one look which you should never know anything about, might go away forever. And you were there, and Mr. Vanderlock as well. Your face was turned away so that I could not see it, and he was holding you by the hand. That look was enough for me, Stella, and I stole off again; first, as I now remember, cutting a twig from your favorite rose-bush, to carry away with me, as my sole memento. I have it in my pocket-book now, Stella."

and Mr. Vander

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"We will make mutual amends by never having any distrust on either side again,” she said, smiling brightly and cheerily through. her tears, as she felt that the last thread of misconstruction had been brushed away.

"And we can not only trust, but live henceforth only for each other; can we not, Stella?"

"Yes, Allan," she simply answered.

Therefore was that matter settled, and mutual promises exchanged with the mere trembling of an eyelid, as it were; and with his arm thrown closer around her, they sat and talked together. A little about the future and their plans for it; a great deal about the past the far-off past, that was so dear to them with pleasant memories. Thitherward, more than in advance, their thoughts now seemed to turn. Ah! how delightful to speak of those things, conscious that now, so differently from a few hours ago, she would sympathize with him, and assist his recollection! How, as boy and girl, they had been wont to steal away from school and take their long walks together, and never even then failed to lay out their future plans, which always led to the one result of his determination quickly to make his for tune, and then return to claim her for his bride. How, as the years flew by and the

maiden modesty allowed these visions no longer to be spread out before them, though all the while still lying vivid and undimmed in their minds, though each one believed the other to have forgotten them; those pleas

"O, Allan! How foolish it all seemsor would seem, if it had not led to so much mischief! For let me tell you the truth of it all. I was never engaged to him—would never have been. But he came so often, and assumed such an air of acceptance with me, that all the village soon began to believe it. I did not at first learn the report, so as sufficiently to contradict it; lock himself did not do so. Here was where he was so crafty, Allan; thinking perhaps, that a report uncontradicted. might commit me, at least so far as to bring about its realization. That night-that dreadful night-lovers grew up, his timorous doubt and her he had come up for one last appeal; and he took my hand-it must have been at that moment when you saw us—and he begged me, as never before, to relent. The tears stood in his eyes-I had never before seen a strong man weep; and I felt very sorrying pictures thus remaining out of sight, almost as though I knew that other trouble was fated so soon to fall upon him. And he said that since he had no longer any hope, he did not care or wish to live; and so passed out of the house, and I never saw him again." "He said that—that he did not wish to live?" the Colonel repeated, in a somewhat puzzled manner. "How strangely, indeed, was his word fulfilled, was it not? But let But let us not think any further about that, Stella. You have said that I must forgive you for your seeming lack of trust in me. But how can you ever pardon me for mine?"

though needing only a single word of affec-
tion to bring them to the light again. What
long years of cruel severance had these thus
been! and throughout all, how unnecessary
that state of doubt and misconstruction!
All these and other kindred topics they now
recalled for many minutes, until there was
heard the sound of a gentle rap by the
constable outside,
constable outside, accompanied with a
warning cough. He, good, sympathizing
fellow, though not fully taken into their con-
fidence, had heard the sounds of approach-
ing interruption, and knew that he might

be of service in forewarning them. How not that you should come too often, lest hard, indeed, to be thus awakened from that you might be observed, and cruel remarks dream of the past, and feel once more, what be made. Yet cheer up, and still cherish in their happiness they had forgotten, that hope that all will turn out well; and be asthey were sitting, not in any secure retreat, sured that though I am absent from you, I but in a guarded prison, and that there shall never lose you from my thoughts." might still be much tribulation and suffering in store for them! With this warning awakening, Stella again opened the door on a crack, and they heard Aunt Pris and Mrs. Crusty and Minnie-their consultation at last ended-emerging from the sitting-room and approaching the stairway to the lower story-the quavers of Aunt Priscilla's voice coming through the passage with increasing distinctness, now that she was fairly on her way..

"Good by, Allan," exclaimed Stella; "I must hurry back to the parlor by the stairway. Good by, dear-for a day only, though."

"Good by, dear Stella; though I fear it must be longer than a day. For I would

With that, they tore themselves apart; and as the door closed behind her, all the sunshine seemed to be taken out of the room, and once more deep gloom fell upon Grayling. Again came the true realization of all the trouble that might be before him, and the cruel doubt whether, in the transport and forgetfulness of the moment, he had not done wrong to suffer her to pledge herself to him. Would it not have been better to have awaited a friendly issue of the affair before speaking to her about his love? But it seemed now too late to cherish such doubts and hesitations. The die had been cast, and henceforth, be the issue prosperity or tribulation, their fates must be linked together. LEONARD KIP.

[CONTINUED IN NEXT NUMBER.]

THE CRUISE OF THE CORWIN.-II.

Our sledge party had also met traveling parties of Tchooktchees, from the vicinity of Cape Jakan, on their way to East Cape, and from them learned that no white men had been seen on the coast. These people are constantly traveling back and forth, and it would be almost impossible for any one landing on the coast to escape their notice. In winter, they travel west on their way to the Russian trading-posts in the interior, which they reach by ascending the rivers west of Cape Jakan. In the spring, they travel to East Cape, cross over Behring's Strait, and continue their journey to Cape Blossom, Kotzebue Sound, where they meet the Esquimaux from the entire coast of arctic Alaska, from Point Barrow to Cape Prince of Wales, to trade, returning to their homes by the same route in the latter part of the summer.

It is no unusual thing to find from one thousand to twelve hundred natives collected at Cape Blossom during the summer, where they trade and indulge in all kinds of sports

dancing, running foot-races, kyack-racing, throwing spears, target-shooting, etc. Generally, their relations with each other on these occasions are friendly, except when they have liquor; but a lack of confidence is always noticeable, and no opportunity is allowed for either party to get the better of the other, if it can be avoided.

The inhabitants of the coast of Asia in the vicinity of Behring's Strait, or Tchooktchees, as they are called, and the Innuits of arctic Alaska, commonly called Esquimaux, though resembling each other in some particulars, are widely different in others. Both practice Shamanism, and believe in charms to ward

To complete the unattractiveness of the Innuits, the lower lip is pierced with two holes below the corners of the mouth, in which are inserted ornaments, to which the Russians gave the name of labrets;. they are made of stone, glass, ivory, bone, or any substance which strikes the fancy of the wearers. In courage and endurance, the Tchooktchees are also greatly superior to the Innuits. The independent nomadic habits which the Reindeer Tchooktchee acquires, through the necessity of frequently changing positions to find fresh pastures for his animals, which he herds in large numbers, and the constant vigilance necessary to guard them from the attacks of wild animals, give him self-reliance, courage, and endurance, to an unusual degree.

off evil. Both have a superstitious fear of ❘ they have fine, bright eyes, intelligent faces, the dead, and hold to the law of blood for and lithe, active forms; while the Innuits blood. They each have a crude, undefined have dull, heavy eyes, and large, stupid faces, idea of a future state, in which the good are with very narrow foreheads, running almost rewarded and the bad punished. The to a point at the crown; their cheek-bones nature of these rewards and punishments, are broad and high, their chin and lower jaw however, differs at nearly every settlement, massive; while the form, though large and according to the best native authority. muscular, lacks grace, and appears heavy and Neither of them have any marriage cere- slow when compared with the Tchooktchees. mony, nor any law which regulates the number of wives a man may have; but polygamy is not generally practiced, except when there are no children by the first wife, and very few instances came under my observation during the two seasons I lived among them. The women make the fur clothing, boots, etc., dress and cook the game and fish, and take good care of the babies. The latter are fat little things, that seem to be always well and happy, as they are seldom heard to cry. The mother carries the babe on her back, inside the parkie, when traveling, attends to all its wants, and shows great affection for it. Punishment of children is almost unheard of. Whenever a man has more than one wife, they are said to dwell together in peace and harmony. One case came under my notice, at Plover Bay, of a man who had five wives, and a home for each; one of them, who accompanied him on board the vessel, stated, with evident pride, that she was the first, and occupied the largest house. They have no laws, and no hereditary chiefs; although there is generally one man in each settlement who is recognized as a sort of leader, either on account of superior natural ability or the possession of property.

Armed only with a spear, and with no other protection from the biting wind than a small bunch of trailing pine or dwarf willow, he squats down in the snow, and drawing his parkie down over his knees, and its hood closely around his face, he waits throughout the long arctic night, listening to the howling of the storm, the more dismal howling of the wolves, and the deep growl of the bear, prepared to sally forth at any time to give battle to any who should approach too near. In return for this constant care, the reindeer furnishes the four essential elements of

Some of the points of difference between the Tchooktchees and Esquimaux are the language, personal appearance, style of building houses, and the accumulation of Tchooktchees' existence-food, clothing, property by the former, which is a thing almost unknown among Innuits.

The language is entirely different, except in the vicinity of the strait, where they are in constant communication with each other; and philologists have failed to discover any resemblance.

shelter, and means of transportation.

The flesh, blood, and entrails are eaten; the skin is tanned, and made into clothing and tents, which are sewed together with the sinews of the legs; the horns are cut into pieces of suitable length, and used for cross-bars for the sleds; and when traveling, The Tchooktchees are much the finer- the deer are attached to the sleds by means looking of the two, though somewhat darker; | cí a collar and trace, or they are used as

pack animals, a sufficient number of each | singular fact is mentioned by Mr. George herd being trained for the purpose. A Kennan, in his interesting book, "Tent Life

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in Siberia," that neither of the four great | Tungoos, and Yakuts), which herd the reinwandering tribes that inhabit the north-east- deer, use the milk of the animal in any form. ern part of Asia (Tchooktchees, Kouaks, It seems difficult to imagine why so important

an article of food should be neglected, when | also traditions of wars between the Tchooktevery other part of the animal is utilized.

In appearance, the tame deer of Asia is not equal to the wild one of Alaska. They are smaller, have shorter legs and larger feet. The size of the latter amounts almost to a deformity. In color, they are white, spotted, gray, brown, and some nearly black -no two being alike; while the wild deer are invariably of the same color throughout the herd, although the color varies with the season, from dark brown in summer to light gray in winter, with the flanks and inside of the legs white.

Many wonderful things are related by Wrangel and other early travelers, of the endurance, nerve, energy, memory, keenness of sight, etc., of these wandering tribes of deermen. How they cross the trackless steppes, with no other guide than a bush, a stone, a pool, or a rise of ground so slight as to be almost imperceptible to one unaccustomed to this kind of traveling; sleeping at night entirely exposed to the intense cold, without fire, and no other covering than the fur jacket which he has worn during the day, and which he pulls off and spreads over his shoulders at night. The Yakuts, a tribe inhabiting a region near the mouth of the Indigick River, are called, even in Siberia, "iron men."

As an instance of their wonderful acuteness of vision, it may be mentioned that Lieutenant Anjou, who accompanied Wrangel in his polar voyages, speaks of one who had several times observed, with the naked eye, the immersion and emersion of Jupiter's satellites.

There are traditions among them, that over two centuries ago a class of people, called Onkilon, or sea people, occupied the coast from Cape Skelagskoij to Behring's Strait, and traces of their houses still remain, constructed of earth and the bones of the whale, such as are built by the Esquimaux.

Some of the early voyagers speak of finding a people, as far south as the Anadyr Gulf, distinct from the Tchooktchees in form, dress, and language, the latter resembling that of the Esquimaux. There are

chees and the Onkilon, which resulted in the annihilation of the latter.

It seems probable that large numbers of Esquimaux have at some time crossed over the strait, and settled on the Asiatic side, drawn there doubtless by the whales, which were formerly very abundant along this coast; but they were afterwards killed or driven back by the more powerful and warlike Tchooktchees.

The Tchooktchees are divided into two classes, nomadic and sedentary. The former are the wandering deermen, and the latter those who dwell in fixed habitations on the sea-coast.

Captain Lütke, in his "Voyage au tour du monde sur la Corvette Le Seniavine," in 1826, describes these people as two distinct races, differing in mode of life, language, and appearance.

This, however, is evidently a mistake, as the language is almost precisely the same.

According to Wrangel, the sedentary Tchooktchees are those who have lost their herds, through sickness or other causes, and settled by degrees along the coast, where they catch fish, and kill whales, walrus, and seals.

While cruising in the vicinity of Icy Cape, on the 23rd of July, we spoke the whaling bark Northern Light, whose Captain informed us that the Daniel Webster was in the pack to the northward.

About July 1st the ice had started off shore as far north as Point Belcher, and a lead had opened between the shore and drift ice similar to that we had found on the Siberian side a month earlier, and extending much farther. The Daniel Webster and two other ships had entered, but at the first indication of its closing, the latter ships had beat out to clear water, while the Webster remained, apparently unaware of the danger, and had not since been seen, as the lead closed soon after, and the pack set in shore as far south as Icy Cape. We made an at tempt to get up the coast, in shore of the pack, both in the vessel and steam launch, to learn the fate of the whaler, and render

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