Koko ran swiftly and quietly towards the birds. Menie sat on the ice
and watched him and held Nip and Tup, one under each arm. When Koko got
quite near the birds, he took careful aim and let fly an arrow at them.
It didn't hit any of the birds, but it frightened them. They flew up
into the air and away to the north and alighted farther on. Koko
followed them.
All at once Menie heard a queer little sound. It went "Plop-plop-plop,"
and it sounded very near. Nip and Tup sniffed, and began to growl and
nose around on the ice.
Menie knew what the queer noise meant, for his father had told him all
about seal hunting. It meant that a seal-hole was near, and that a seal
had come up to breathe. It was the seal that made the "plopping" noise.
Menie tried to keep the dogs still, but they wouldn't be kept still.
They ran round with their noses on the snow, giving little anxious
whines, and short, sharp barks.
The "plop-plop" stopped. The seal had gone down under the ice, but
Menie meant to find the hole. He went out quite near the open water in
his search. At last, just beyond a hummock of ice, he saw it! He crept
carefully up to it.
He lay down on his stomach and peeped into the hole to see what it was
like. He could not see a thing!
Then he stuck his lance down. His lance touched something soft that
wiggled! Menie stood up. He was so excited that he trembled. He knew he
had found a seal-hole with a live seal in the snow house!
With all his strength he struck his lance down through the snow. The
snow house fell in and Menie fell with it, but he kept hold of his
lance. The end of the lance was buried in the snow, but it was moving.
Menie knew by this that he had stuck it into the seal!
He lay still and kept fast hold of his lance, and pressed down on it
with all his might.
Nip and Tup were crazy with excitement. They jumped round and barked
and tried to dig a hole in the snow with their forefeet.
At last the spear stopped wiggling. Then Menie carefully dug the snow
away. There lay a little white seal! It was too young to swim away with
its mother. That was why such a small boy as Menie had been able to
kill it.
He dragged it out on the ice. He was so excited and so busy he did not
notice how near he was to the open water.