The Paradise of the North (2024)

D. LAWSON JOHNSTONE

A STORY OF DISCOVERY AND ADVENTURE ABOUT THE POLE

ILLUSTRATED BY W. BOUCHER

First published by Remington & Co., London, 1890
First illustrated edition: W. & R. Chambers, London & Edinburgh, 1893

This e-book edition: Roy Glashan's Library, 2019
(built from first illustrated edition)
Version Date: 2019-03-29
Produced by Keith Emmett and Roy Glashan

Only the original raw text of this book is in the public domain.
All content added by RGL is proprietary and protected by copyright.

Click here for more books by this author

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

I. — THE LAST REQUEST OF RANDOLPHTORRENS.

THE solicitor cleared his throat.

'The will I am about to read,' he began, 'was drawn up in Junelast. Mr Torrens had just been informed by his doctor that hemight be carried off at any moment by the disease of the heartfrom which he eventually died. Accordingly, he called upon me andgave me instructions to prepare this will, which was signed nextday. With your permission, Miss Torrens, I shall now proceed toread it.'

There were not many present, this gloomy February morning, tolisten to the reading of the last will and testament of RandolphTorrens of the Grange: his only child and heiress, Edith Torrens;her aunt; I, Godfrey Oliphant, of Dreghorn Towers, the manor-house of the next parish; my younger brother Cecil, who had aplace as by right at Edith's side; one or two neighbours; a fewof the servants, there on their mistress's invitation; and MrSmiles, the family lawyer. The funeral was just over, and thegreat crowd which had assembled in the little country churchyardto do honour to the dead had melted quietly away. Now only thememory of a good and upright man was left. For more years than Icould remember, Randolph Torrens had been my best and truestfriend; and as I sat in his library, listening to his lastcommands, I could scarcely realise that I should never again hearhis cheery greeting.

The friendship between the two houses had always been close,and the bond had been strengthened by my brother's engagement, afew months before, to Miss Torrens. Even then, incongruous as thethought apparently was, I could not help thinking how lucky Cecilhad been to win the love of such a girl as Edith. Sitting theretogether, they seemed 'made each for the other, in the goodProvidence of life,' as the old chronicler quaintly has it.Cecil—clean-limbed and handsome (I don't mind confessingthat the traditionary good looks of the family have somehowmissed its present head), in a word, as good a specimen of youngEnglish manhood as one could wish to meet; and Edith, a perfectmatch—her beauty enhanced by the look of pathos in her darkeyes, and the expression eloquent of her grief.

She looked up as the lawyer spoke.

'Pray go on, Mr Smiles,' she said.

The will began in the usual way; bequests of small sums weremade to the servants and others, and a larger amount to MrSmiles; an annuity of seven hundred and fifty pounds was left tohis sister, and five thousand pounds each bequeathed to mybrother and me, 'as a slight mark of appreciation of the comingconnection between the Oliphants of Dreghorn Towers and myfamily, and of personal friendship towards the said GodfreyOliphant, Esq., and Cecil Oliphant, Esq.' Then the residue of theestate, consisting of landed property in various counties,articles of value, etc., and the sum of one hundred and tenthousand pounds invested in the Three per Cents., were leftunreservedly to his daughter, Edith Belhaven Torrens, Mr Smilesand myself being named as executors. At the same time a sealedpacket was to be handed to Miss Torrens; and, the will went on,it was the wish of the testator that his daughter should exerciseher own judgment whether the directions therein conveyed shouldbe carried out.

'And this packet,' concluded Mr Smiles, 'it is now my duty tohand to you, Miss Torrens. It was given to me, I may say, at thetime the will was signed.'

The servants and strangers here retired, and Edith, who hadabstained from examining it while they were present, now took itup with some curiosity. On the cover was the followinginscription:

To my Daughter, EdithTorrens—To be opened after my death, and read in thepresence of my executors and Mr Cecil Oliphant, and such otherpersons as she may desire to be present.

'All those mentioned being here,' said Edith, 'I suppose thereis no reason why this should not be opened now?'

'None whatever,' said the lawyer; and so the seals of thepacket were broken, and its contents found to be severalmanuscripts in the handwriting of Randolph Torrens, of which theprincipal was evidently one headed in the same manner as theenvelope.

'May I ask you to read this, Mr Smiles?' inquired Edith, afterglancing over it; and the lawyer, who was apparently as anxiousas any of us to know what it said, answered in the affirmative,and forthwith commenced:

To myDaughter—

It is my earnest desire that you carry out thedirections contained in this note, and it is only in case itseems to you and to those whose advice you take that to do sowould be madness, that I leave the matter to your discretion. Itis because I am confident that my last wish will be sacred toyou, that I do not take other means of ensuring that the hope ofmy life shall at length be converted into a certainty.

I have left you a sum of money amounting to onehundred and ten thousand pounds, invested in the Three perCents.—the result of fortunate speculation, animated by oneaim. My wish is that this money, or as much of it as may benecessary, should be used for the special purpose of an Arcticexpedition. To this end my instructions are: Accompanying thisyou will find details (drawn up by one of the greatest livingauthorities on polar exploration) to guide whoever may undertakethe enterprise, as to the buying or building of a suitable steam-vessel, and its equipment in the most thorough manner with everyArctic necessity. The captain appointed must have experience, andthe crew be well chosen and amenable to discipline. Let thevessel be provisioned for three years.

It is my wish that your future husband shouldaccompany the expedition as your representative; and I hope hisbrother Godfrey may also go.

The vessel will sail in the course of the Julyfollowing its preparation to the Nova Zembla[*] Sea; and, if theseason be a good one (if bad, the expedition to be postponeduntil the following year), penetrate north-east to latitude 83°25′, and longitude 48° 5′ E.

[* Novaya Zemlya. —R.G.]

At this point, if the party should be fortunateenough to reach it, will be found a land-locked bay, on amountainous coast which has never been visited but once, butwhich I now anticipate to be either a part of Gillis Land, or ofthe land lately discovered by Lieutenant Payer and the Austrianexpedition, and called by them Kaiser Franz-Josef Land. It washere that I and others wintered thirty years ago; and although,for many reasons into which I cannot enter, no account of thisvoyage was published, it is a fact that our party penetratedfarther north than any other has yet done. Here, as there areextensive coal-fields, the expedition may winter in comfort. Thena thorough search will be made within a radius of twentymiles of the bay, and especially in a NE. direction, towards themountains which will be seen in the distance. This is to bethe principal motive of the expedition: To examine the groundcarefully for traces of white men, and to follow up any suchtraces to an end. My reason for this step I am precluded fromgiving, but I hope it will be enough that I consider it of suchimportance that I should not care to die without taking means tohave it carried through.

The search over, those engaged in it are atliberty to undertake any other project they may have in theirminds. It is to be remembered that this point, if they gain it,is nearer the North Pole than has up to the present time beenreached. I have every reason for believing that this route ismuch more practicable than that generally advocated—namely,via Smith's Sound and Robeson Channel; and so, if that be aninducement, those who go will have a better chance of attainingthe goal, which so many have striven to reach in vain, than hasyet fallen to the lot of any other party!

I have only to request, further, that thestrictest secrecy be kept regarding these proceedings. This ismore necessary than may be thought.

You have now my directions before you, Edith,and it remains for you to say whether this expedition shall orshall not be despatched; whether the hope I have long cherishedis to come to naught or is to be carried out; and whether amystery which I have never been able to solve myself is to besolved after my death through the agency of my daughter. Thechoice is before you, and it may not be long before you will haveto decide, for I have just heard from the doctor that I may dieat any moment.

RandolphTorrens.

June 14, 188—.

As the lawyer finished reading this extraordinary document,the live of us simultaneously gave a gasp of astonishment. HadRandolph Torrens really meant what he had written? or had he beenacting under a temporary aberration of the mind? But theinstructions were plain enough, and all doubts as to how theywould be received by the one principally concerned were put to anend by Edith.

'I don't know what you think of papa's directions,' she said,in a tone of determination, as if she expected opposition, 'but Imean to carry them out, if it costs every penny of the hundredand ten thousand pounds and everything else I have! I know nowwhat he meant just before he died,' she went on, her eyes fillingwith tears at the recollection, 'when he said, "Edith, be sureand obey me, even after my death." And I will, as far as Ican!'

'But, Edith,' interrupted her aunt, 'think of wasting such anamount of money as that—a hundred thousand pounds!'

She stopped as if stupefied by the mere thought, and thelawyer chimed in.

'Consider, my dear Miss Torrens! Don't rush into a decisionall at once!'

She turned to him.

'Then what do you think of it, Mr Smiles?' she asked.'What do you advise?'

'My hands are tied, so to speak,' he answered. 'Some timebefore your father's death, he called upon me and took me in amanner into his confidence. He strictly enjoined me not toinfluence your decision in any way, nor, particularly, to do orsay anything against the project, but merely to acquiesce in thedecision you arrive at. But I could see that his mind wasthoroughly bent on this work being undertaken after hisdeath—why, I cannot even suspect.'

'I am equally in the dark,' said Edith. 'All I know is thatbefore his marriage he had been several voyages to the ArcticSeas. Of this one he never said a word to me; but I remember hisexcitement when, in 1874, he heard of the discovery of Franz-Josef Land, and of his disappointment that the explorers had notpenetrated farther north. And often while he has been asleepafter dinner I've heard him mutter about "ice" and "open water"and "treachery." "Treachery" was a word he often used. Perhaps ithad some connection with the mystery he speaks of.'

'That we must discover,' said Cecil. 'We must reach the placementioned by some means or other; your father's directions leaveus no other alternative. If we didn't, it would be like a breachof trust. We must go!'

Edith gave him a glance of gratitude, and then asked what myopinion was.

'That we should first take technical advice—consultsomebody who has been to the Arctic. Then we may know our ground.And, fortunately,' I cried, 'we've got the authority ready to ourhand.'

For a sudden thought had struck me. On the shore, half-waybetween the Grange and Dreghorn, stood a house known all over theRiding as Narwhal Cottage. It was occupied by a retired seaman,who had been for thirty years the commander of Greenland orSpitzbergen whalers (alternated, in the earlier part of hiscareer, with occasional voyages as ice-pilot to Franklin searchand other Arctic expeditions), before, in his own words, savingenough to come to an anchor on land. Captain Sneddon he wascalled; and many were the stories he had told me of hisadventures in the frozen sea, with which he was perhaps as wellacquainted as any man alive. We could hardly, indeed, have foundone better suited for our purpose if we had searched allEngland.

'Just the man!' declared Cecil, when I had mentioned hisname.

'Then let us see him at once!' said Edith; and by her tone Iknew that she reckoned on the worthy captain as a recruit.

II. — THE OPINION OF CAPTAINSNEDDON.

CAPTAIN SNEDDON, however, was not consulted justat the moment. Edith in her impulsiveness wished to see himwithout loss of time; but the lawyer had one or two remarks tomake before the meeting broke up.

'Your suggestion is a very sensible one, Mr Oliphant,' hesaid, approvingly, 'and I am only sorry that I cannot accompanyyou on your visit to this gentleman. I am compelled to return toLondon by the first train, but I shall await your decision withthe greatest interest. Whatever it may be, I have full confidencein your wisdom and discretion. As to the details Mr Torrens hasreferred to, I have been looking over them, and I find that, asfar as I am a judge, they are very comprehensive and complete.But I presume their discussion may be postponed until you finallydecide.'

And, after some further talk, he took his departure forLondon, while Cecil and I looked over the details of which he hadspoken. They covered nearly a hundred pages of closely-writtenmanuscript, and embraced, as the lawyer had indicated, everyimaginable point connected with an Arctic expedition.

Meanwhile Edith and her aunt had been whispering together.

'Now that Mr Smiles has gone,' said the former, 'I don't seewhy we shouldn't get this decided as quickly as possible. Andthere is only one decision we can come to. Of course I can't goout to-day, but if you wouldn't mind, Godfrey, you and Cecilmight see Captain Sneddon, and tell me what he thinks.'

'Certainly we will,' I replied.

'And at once, please. Somehow, I feel that the longer we waitthe more I am disobeying papa's last wish. I'm sure I shall neverbe easy in my mind until this expedition has started. For itmust go; if I didn't obey that letter, I'd feel like acriminal all the rest of my life!'

'But a hundred thousand pounds to be spent in that way!'reiterated Miss Torrens the elder, as if the fact were stillbeyond her.

'Yes,' answered Edith, a little fiercely; 'two hundredthousand, if I had it!' Then, more gently, 'What does it matter,aunt? Haven't I, without this, more than enough already? Anyhow,rich or poor, the expedition starts. As to that there can be noother thought!'

'Then what was the use of this show of deliberation?' I askedmyself. But I saw that the events of the day had put Edith into astate of nervous excitement, and so, as the best means of calmingher, Cecil and I resolved to pay our visit to the captain at themoment. Besides, we were burning with curiosity to have a chanceof talking over the matter with one who had experience at hisback. So in a short time we took our leave, and as may besupposed, our conversation between the Grange and Narwhal Cottagewas of nothing save the dying request—command, one mightsay—of Randolph Torrens. We discussed it from every pointof view, and with more or loss enthusiasm, and I was notsurprised to find that Cecil was quite determined to go. As formyself, I succeeded better in concealing my real feelings.

Narwhal Cottage stood a little back from the road, shelteredby a cliff from the sea winds, and within a hundred yards of atiny cove that harboured the captain's boat. Upon the cliff stooda mast bearing a genuine 'crow's-nest,' one used by its ownerduring many a hazardous voyage in the frozen seas. Above thistapered the flag-staff, the Union Jack this day at half-mast. Thecottage itself was a small but cosy house, 'for,' as the captainwas wont to say, 'it's like killing more whales than you cancarry to have a bigger dwelling than you need.' His maidensister, and only relative, was his housekeeper, and, in sight andearshot of the sea as he was, he was as thoroughly happy as hecould be while not upon that element.

He was in the crow's-nest—in which he spent most of theday, and, it was rumoured in the district, most of the nightalso—as we came up; and, seeing us, he descended with theagility of a sailor, and advanced to meet us. He was a man ofbetween fifty and sixty, tall, strong, and unmistakably a seaman;his face baked brick-colour by thirty or forty years' exposure tosea-breeze and sun; his eyes shrewd, intelligent, and those of aman who is conscious of having done his duty, and of beingcapable of doing it again; and his voice loud, hearty, and asfree of affectation as lifelong shouting of orders could makeit.

'Glad to see you, Mr Oliphant, and you, Mr Cecil,' he said,'and sorry, too, in those clothes. You will come in and sit downa minute? Thank ye. Mr Torrens's death was as sudden as the fallof an iceberg. I saw him that morning, looking as healthy as youor me. Poor Miss Edith! How does she take it, Mr Cecil? Maybe Ishouldn't mention it, and you'll excuse me doing it in my roughway, but it's your duty now to look after her as if she was avessel on her return voyage, with every barrel full. And,' hewent on, with a kindly glance at Cecil, 'you'll do it, I'm sureof that.'

'Please Heaven, I will,' answered Cecil, sincerely, giving theold sailor a cordial hand-shake.

By this time we had entered the cottage, and passed into thecaptain's cabin, as he called it—a small, circular room,fitted up as nearly as possible like a ship's cabin. It was fullof curiosities: harpoons and firearms of every description,models of the various vessels he had commanded, Esquimaux spears,walrus tusks, relics of Arctic expeditions, and so on. Here, assoon as we were seated, he produced a bottle of Highland whiskyand some biscuits from a locker.

'Now, captain,' began Cecil, when we had gratified him bydrinking his health, 'we've come down to consult you about a veryimportant matter, one that you can advise us about as nobody elsethat Miss Torrens knows can.'

'Heave ahead, my boy! You shall have my advice, so far as itis worth anything, with the greatest of pleasure.'

Thus encouraged, Cecil went on to relate the events of themorning, read the manuscript of the dead man, and finallyrepeated the substance of the conversation which had ensued.While he was doing so I watched his auditor closely to see whateffect it had upon him; but all I saw was that he followed itwith the deepest interest, occasionally nodding to himself as ifin satisfaction.

'Well, what is your candid opinion, Captain Sneddon?' Iinquired, when my brother had finished.

'With your permission, I will tell you,' he replied, after aminute or two's thought. 'First, that in my opinion Miss Edith isbound to carry out her father's instructions. Dead men must beobeyed; in honour they've a sort of right to it, over and abovethe usual parental right in this case. Then as to the possibilityof success: 83° 25′ is a pretty stiff latitude,especially up Spitzbergen way. Parry's farthest, the highest inthose seas, falls far short of it—82° 45′ it was, Ithink—and it was across nearly two hundred miles of ice.But I don't say it's impossible; the unexpected always turns upin the Arctic, as the saying goes. Sometimes myself I've seen aseason commence without any prospect of the ice breaking up, andyet come home full up to the brim. It's chance, and nothing else.This year may be bad, and it may be good; and even if it's good,you'll be lucky to get farther north than 80°.'

'Have you been often in the Nova Zembla Sea?' Cecil tookoccasion to ask while the captain was refilling his glass.

'Above a dozen times to the west of Spitsbergen, but onlytwice to the east, between it and Zembla. The first time I wasstopped by the ice-barrier in latitude 74°, and came home empty;that, to be sure, was an exceptional year. The other time was inthe Moray Firth of Peterhead in '71, when I had therecord cargo of the season. We went round the top of Spitzbergen,saw in the distance this Gillis or Giles' Land you spoke of,touched at Nova Zembla, and found no ice to the north of it up tolatitude 78°. I've heard it said that you might almost havesailed to the Pole that year; anyway, if I had been my ownmaster, I believe I might have discovered the North-eastPassage, instead of this Swedish fellow that has done itsince.'

'Then' interposed Cecil, eagerly, 'we've at least one chancein two of reaching this point?'

'By no means!' was the emphatic reply. 'The vessels thatusually go to the Arctic—such as whalers, and those foreignscientific turns-out that are pleased with anything— thesemay have an equal chance. But a vessel with a special purposelike yours—no! One chance in fifty, I should say; perhapsone in a hundred when the purpose is the Farthest North. But forall that I don't say stay ashore; if you do go, you may manage tocatch that very chance. And if this paper of Mr Torrens's iscorrect—I don't say it isn't —he reachedthat point, and why shouldn't another?'

'No reason at all,' said Cecil, who seemed determined toperceive no obstacles in our way.

'No,' continued the captain. 'As for the paper, it seems to mebony and fidy, as the lawyers say; and if it isn't, the squireknow what he was talking about at any rate. Point one—hehas struck the right season. August and September are the onlyopen months in those seas. Point two—he's right about thePole; if you do reach 83° 25′, and find land to thenorthward, you're bound to succeed. Of course I don't knowanything of this route, but I've seen something of the Smith'sSound one, and it's impracticable. I knew Dr Kane, one of whoseparty said he saw the open Polar Sea; and I've met Captain Hallof the Polaris, who died up there; and yet, if you askany whaler who knows anything about it, you'll hear that an openbasin's rank nonsense.'

At this point we handed him the detailed lists which had beenaffixed to the document, and requested him to state what hethought of them. He examined them carefully before answering.

'All I have to say is,' he said at length, 'that if you carryout these orders, as I should in your place, your expedition willbe the best and completest that ever sailed to the Arctic seas!And what's more,' he went on, 'I'll take it as the kindest thingyou ever did if you'll accept my services in whatever way youplease, so that, when you sail, you carry James Sneddon with you.It doesn't matter what as—captain, mate, orseaman—but I mean to go, if you'll have me!'

'Then your opinion is,' I summed up, catching some of hisexcitement, 'that we should carry out the squire's request so faras in us lies, and trust to Providence for success?'

'It is. If you don't go, I've mistaken both Miss Edith andyourselves, and you'll regret it all your lives.'

'You are right, captain,' I said. 'We shall go to the NorthPole if possible, and you and Cecil and I shall be of theparty.'

In this way was our decision arrived at, as it was evidentfrom the beginning would be the case—arrived at honestly,but perhaps with only a vague sense of the responsibility of thatdecision, the consequences of which none of us foresaw or couldeven imagine. Then we went over the principal details with thecaptain, whose practical knowledge we found to be of immensevalue. Till then I had had no idea how thoroughly he was masterof his profession; but, now that I did know, I made a mental noteof it for future use. In the end it was agreed that, afterconsultation with Edith and Mr Smiles, we should decide as to thebest manner of preparing the expedition according to the squire'sdetailed instructions.

'And,' said the captain to us, as we bade him good-bye at hisdoor, 'be sure and submit my name to Miss Edith as her firstvolunteer.'

That we did so at once the reader may be certain, and alsothat Edith was much gratified by the offer, and by the decisiveway in which it was made.

Before we went farther, however, Cecil suggested that weshould have some one to look after the multifarious arrangementsthat fell to be made—in fact, to be commander of theenterprise for the present; and he was kind enough to mention meas 'the one best fitted for the work of organisation, which, youknow,' he said, 'wouldn't suit a fellow of my habits at all.'

As Edith backed him up, I could do nothing but accept, and Imay only mention here that every one concerned afterwards workedso well together that my leadership in that respect was prettymuch of a sinecure.

My first step, with the concurrence of Edith and my brother,was to offer Captain Sneddon the command of the vessel to bebuilt or bought. No better man, I knew, or one with moreexperience, could be had; and, besides, I wished to be able toavail myself officially of his advice on all points on which hecould speak with authority.

'Will I accept?' he said, when I made him the offer; 'aye,proud and willing and eager am I to do it, Mr Oliphant. As I saidbefore, I would have gone with such an expedition as a commonhand, and now you offer me the command of the vessel! Well, sir,I accept, and if I can help to make it a success you won't havereason to complain. And one thing I'm sure of, though it may looklike a boast, and that is, that you'll have the best vessel andthe best crew that money can command—and what can't it?I'll pick the men myself, and in Dundee or Peterhead there isn'ta Greenland sailor who won't ship under James Sneddon; and thereisn't one I don't know and can't vouch for! Yes, barringaccidents, this voyage'll be a record one. How could it beanything else, with details like those, and plenty of money tocarry 'em out?'

Thus it was that our captain was chosen, and a start thus madewith the fulfilment of Randolph Torrens's last request; and as Isigned the papers in all due formality, I felt sure that not theleast enthusiastic member of the adventurous expedition, of whichthe history is related in the following pages, would be CaptainJames Sneddon.

III. — DR FELIX LORIMER JOINS THEEXPEDITION.

BEFORE the end of April our arrangements were sofar completed that a steamer had been bought and fitted up forthe special purposes we had in view. The instructions of RandolphTorrens were that a vessel should be built, if one could not beobtained which came up to his requirements; but, fortunately,Captain Sneddon was able to recommend one that fulfilled theconditions. This was the Aurora of Dundee, one of the whaling-fleet that annually proceeds from that port to Baffin Bay. Shewas a vessel of four hundred and fifty-two tons and seventy-fivehorse-power, and had been once to the Greenland fishery, havingbeen built by Stephen & Sons for that purpose only two yearsbefore. As she had been specially designed for ice-navigation,she required very little strengthening when she came into ourhands. The only considerable alterations we made were tointroduce sheets of felt between the inside planking and thelining in order to keep up the temperature should we be compelledto winter in the pack, and to have davits on the quarters forshipping and unshipping the rudder when in danger from theice.

Naturally, our proceedings did not escape notice in Dundee.But the general opinion there, when it became reported amongstthose interested in such matters that Captain Sneddon had boughtthe Aurora, 'and paid a pretty stiff price for her,too,' was that he intended going on a whaling cruise on his ownaccount. He was so well known as a daring ice-navigator andsuccessful whaler that nobody was surprised thereby. This was aswell, seeing that under our orders we could not divulge our realmission; and for the same reason Sneddon, in engaging the hands,had to be somewhat indefinite in his statements. He had nodifficulty, however, in getting together a good crew. Besides thegeneral readiness to ship under him, the offered pay (double theordinary wages, and a bonus of one hundred pounds to each man ifwe succeeded in our object) was such that we could havequadrupled our number of thirty-eight if we had wished.

'You may depend upon it,' said the captain, 'that you'll getmen to ship with you on the most risky voyages if only you offerenough.'

Although we were not to sail until July, all the men wereengaged during April, for the reason that if we had not chosenthem then they would have gone to the Baffin Bay whaling at thebeginning of May. They were the pick of the fleet, and many werethe lamentations of Greenland skippers that year that the bestmen were not available. Each hand was well known to the captain,and was willing to spend one winter or more in the ice; 'for,' ashe said to them, 'I may tell you at once, though in a mannerunder sealed orders at present, that our voyage won't be anordinary one.'

The mystery which otherwise might have surrounded the vesseland its destination was thus partly averted by the captain'sadroitness, and partly by the confidence of his men in him.

In other ways I found Captain Sneddon invaluable. There wasnot a point connected with the vessel to which he did notpersonally attend, and so thoroughly was he acquainted with allmatters pertaining to circumpolar navigation that I felt surethat if we did not succeed it would be through no fault of his.His discretion, as I have indicated, was beyond reproach; and sosure was I that the squire's injunction as to secrecy had beencarried out, that I was more than surprised when, one morning atbreakfast, I saw in a well-known society paper the followingparagraph:

It is whispered that the late Mr Randolph Torrens of theGrange, Yorkshire, whose death we announced a few weeks ago, hasleft the large sum of one hundred thousand pounds for the purposeof equipping an expedition to the North Pole. We understand thatit is now in preparation, and will shortly start. It will beunder the command of Messrs Godfrey and Cecil Oliphant ofDreghorn, the latter of whom is engaged to Miss Torrens. Theresult of this enterprise will be awaited with much interest.

'Look at that!' I said, throwing the paper over to Cecil.

'The douce!' he ejacul*ted, as he read it. 'How on earth, Iwonder, have they found out?'

'Goodness knows!' I replied; 'but it's confoundedly awkward,for now we'll have no peace until we sail. I wish I knew.'

I was not long in discovering the culprit. Having occasion tobe over at the Grange that morning, I read the paragraph to Edithand her aunt, and asked if they knew of its author.

'I don't, for one,' said Edith; 'and I don't suppose aunt hasmentioned the subject to any one—have you, aunt?'

She said this quite unsuspiciously, but I saw at once she hadstruck the mark. And, knowing well the elder Miss Torrens'snature and love of gossip, I was not surprised when she replied,somewhat guiltily:

'I'm afraid I haven't been so reticent. Indeed, I saw noreason for it. I was so much against this mad scheme of throwingaway your fortune—a hundred thousand pounds,too!—that I mentioned it the other day when writing to LadyWyllard. And that's all I know about it.'

It was quite clear now, for I knew that Sir Thomas Wyllard,besides being proprietor of the paper in question, was supposedto take also a considerable interest in the editing of it.

Luckily for us, a rival journal had a statement on its ownresponsibility the following day to the effect that 'it had thebest authority for announcing that there was no truth in thestory,' and, as proof, pointing to the will, in which the Polewas not even mentioned. What its authority was, I neither knownor care; but, at any rate, the rumour was effectually stopped,for a confidential letter to Sir Thomas Wyllard prevented itsrecurrence in his paper. Even as it was, we received above ascore of offers of service during that one day alone—awarning of what might have been!

One effect it had, however, for which we had reason to blessit. Two days after its appearance, Cecil and I were looking overseveral reports we had received from Captain Sneddon in referenceto the vessel and men, when a servant brought us a card

I recognised the name as that of one of the foremostsavants of the day, a man who had a world-widereputation, and was member of most of the learned societies ofEurope. Better still, Cecil, who had studied medicine at anorthern university for some time before our father's death, knewhim personally as one of the lecturers at Edinburgh.

'Dr Lorimer!' he exclaimed. 'What can have brought him here? Isaw the other day that he was in for one of the scientificprofessorships at Edinburgh, and was sure to get it. But show himup, John.'

In a minute Dr Felix Lorimer entered. He was a man of forty orso, tall and extremely thin, but with a countenance suggestive ofmuch thought and learning, and an equal amount of sagacity notunmixed with enthusiasm. He wore eye-glasses, behind which hiseyes twinkled in an extraordinarily animated manner.

'Mr Godfrey Oliphant?' he inquired, advancing into the room,and shaking hands cordially; and when I had replied in theaffirmative, he went on: 'Your brother I have the pleasure ofknowing. He would have made a good physician some day, if hehadn't been spoiled by fortune.'

'Take a chair, doctor,' said Cecil, with a laugh, 'and tell usif we are to congratulate you as Professor Lorimer.'

'Congratulate me!' he burst out. 'Why, haven't you heard thatHamilton Nelson has got it?—he who knows no more of sciencethan a street newsboy. Beat me by one vote and by superiorinfluence! And that's why I'm here.'

Dr Hamilton Nelson is, as all the world is aware, Dr Lorimer'sgreat rival; but what connection that had with us we could notdivine.

'Yes,' he resumed, 'just after I got the news that the Senatusin their wisdom had nominated Nelson, I saw that paragraph in theSun'—throwing down the obnoxious societypaper—'and came off at once to offer my services. I shallgo with you to the North Pole, and, when I return with mytheories verified, I shall annihilate him—rout him bag andbaggage!'

'But doctor,' I interposed, 'haven't you seen thiscontradicted in yesterday's Mercury?'

He looked as if stupefied for a moment, and then, glancingfrom one to the other, he continued, quickly and with manygesticulations:

'Isn't it true, then? If it is, as it should be, I offer myservices as medical officer free, subject, of course, to you, MrCecil. I shall conduct all the scientific observations at my ownexpense, and I shall subscribe five thousand pounds towards theexpenses of the expedition. If that doesn't suit you, I promiseto agree to whatever terms you please; for, if an expeditionstarts, go with it I must!'

He paused as if waiting for us to speak, and his enthusiasmwas so catching that I felt inclined to accept him there andthen. But I restrained myself, and instead asked him why he wasso anxious to go to the Pole.

'I will tell you. In the first place, as I have remarked, Imean to controvert Dr Hamilton Nelson. His theories and mineregarding the Arctic regions are diametrically opposed. He holds,for instance, that there is an open polar sea, and this althoughnow, since the voyage of the Alert, there isn't aprominent geographer, except an American or two—perhaps noteven them—who agrees with him. And what are his reasons?His first and greatest is the migration of such birds as theknot, which goes north every spring, is found still going northby the inhabitants of Greenland and Siberia, and comes south inautumn in increased numbers. It is admitted by every naturalistthat they must breed somewhere around the Pole—in a land atleast temporarily milder as regards climate than the known Arcticregions. But that land isn't necessarily washed by an open polarsea, as he contends, and as I deny. In the second place, he saysthat as the point of greatest cold is several degrees from thePole, so the Pole is as likely to have an open sea as any givenpoint south of that point of greatest cold. Now, what Icontend, and mean to prove, is that the ice-cap extends over thewhole circumpolar region. Open lanes may, I admit, be met withoccasionally; winds and currents may produce that temporaryeffect; but that a permanent open and navigable basin exists isto the highest degree improbable. More: it is absolutelyimpossible, owing amongst other causes to the configuration ofthe Arctic Ocean, and to the nature and insufficiency of thechannels by which the congestion of the accumulated ice might berelieved. In fact, the whole theory is as plainly a chimera asRaleigh's El Dorado. Then, Hamilton Nelson and ethnology aside,look at what results one may attain, what discoveries one maymake in geography, in hydrography, in meteorology, in geology, inzoology, in botany, in geodesy, and in many kindred sciences! AndI have no hesitation in saying that an expedition which startswithout some one trained to take these valuable observationscarefully and exactly, deserves the severest reprobation of thecivilised world.'

This very matter of a scientific observer had troubled me nota little; and now that it had been brought home to me in such aforcible manner, I could not but see that our visitor wasright.

'There would be little use, doctor,' I said, 'in denying toyou that an expedition of the character stated in this paper ison foot'—he seemed as if preparing to give a shout of joy,but sobered down as I went on—'but as to your offer, I amafraid I cannot accept it off-hand. But if you care to stay withus over night, we'll consult the lady we're responsible to, andlet you have an answer by to-morrow morning at the latest.'

'Agreed!' he cried, and there the matter ended for the moment,the doctor immediately changing the subject, and going on tospeak of the topics of the day, proving himself a thoroughlyagreeable and genial fellow. Cecil, in the meantime, rode over tothe Grange to lay his proposal before Edith.

'I see no reason for refusing it,' she replied, promptly. 'Butwe mustn't accept the man's money. Surely we've enough of ourown; and perhaps he hasn't too much'—

Cecil hastened to assure her that he was known to have a largeprivate fortune.

'Then it will be the better fun,' she said gleefully, 'toengage him as the ship's doctor at the usual salary, and thusbring him under discipline. And, mind, give him no concessionwhatever except the choice of a cabin and the liberty to fit itup as he likes.'

After dinner that evening, therefore, I made the doctor theoffer suggested by Edith, and after considerable demur heaccepted it, though it was with reluctance that he relinquishedthe idea of contributing towards the expenses.

'But it's all as it should be,' he said, in the end. 'No doubtI'll do my duty better when I know that instead of a proprietor,as it were, I'm only a hired servant. And you may be sure, MrOliphant, that the scientific fittings of this cabin I'm to getwill be no disgrace either to the expedition or to the cause inwhich we shall be engaged.'

'Nor,' interposed Cecil, 'to the reputation of Dr FelixLorimer.'

The doctor bowed; and, now that he was in reality a member ofour party, I told him the whole story from beginning to end(impressing upon him, of course, the necessity of secrecy), andhow far our arrangements were completed.

'Admirable!' was his comment, when I had concluded. 'RandolphTorrens is a benefactor of the human race, and his daughterworthy of him. Henceforth, if Mr Cecil will allow it, she has afervent admirer in Felix Lorimer. My friends, I have a beliefthat we shall fathom both this mystery and the great and hithertounconquered mystery of the Pole; and I only wish we were on boardthe Aurora, and on our way to Franz-Josef Land.'

'You may see her to-morrow, if you please,' said I. 'I havejust had a letter from Captain Sneddon saying that thealterations are now made, and that she is ready for sea. So we goto Dundee to inspect her before bringing her round to London tofit her up and provision her, and if you care to accompany us youcan enter into possession of your cabin at once.'

'But why don't you provision her in Dundee?' he asked.

'Partly because we don't want to cause more remark there thanwe've already done, and partly to keep the men better in handthan we could at home.'

So on the following day we journeyed to Dundee in company, andfound that everything necessary to equip the Aurora forher fight with the ice had been done. As the doctorenthusiastically remarked, she was absolutely perfect. The cabinhe chose was one of three opening from the mess-room, the othertwo being occupied by my brother and myself. It is unnecessary tosay that our savant made immediate preparations toutilise his space to the best advantage; and, at least a weekbefore the vessel sailed, the little room was completely fittedup with everything needful in the way of instruments, books, andmedicine-chests.

Captain Sneddon had, we found, engaged as chief mate anofficer of the name of Norris, who had sailed under him for manyyears, and who was thoroughly capable of taking command in caseof need. A second mate he had not yet obtained. Two engineers,Green (first) and Clements (second), with two stokers, had alsobeen engaged, as also a boatswain, Murray, and the full crew.

Immediately on the arrival of the Aurora in theThames, the work of loading her was begun. Her bunkers, enlargedfor the purpose, were filled to the brim with coal, and theprecious fuel was also stowed away wherever room could be foundfor it. Provisions of every kind, from the salted and preservedmeat and the pemmican down to the tea, coffee, and cocoa, weredaily received and packed systematically below under thecaptain's personal superintendence. Nothing likely to preservehealth was neglected. Antiscorbutic preparations, such as limeand cranberry juice, cloudberries, pickles, horse-radishes,mustard-seed, etc., we carried in considerable quantities. Inaddition, we had a large stock of dynamite and gunpowder, themost approved blasting and sawing apparatus, and sufficientfirearms and ammunition to serve for many years.

Nor were the means of recreation forgotten. Besides a piano,the doctor's violin, and various musical instruments belonging tothe men, a magic-lantern and several games were sent on board,and by means of a well-selected library of two thousand volumeswe hoped during the long winter days and nights to keep at baythe demon of ennui.

Our boats, built at Dundee, included a mahogany whaleboat,with swivel harpoon-gun, two smaller ones, two light ice-canoes,convertible into sledges, and several india-rubber Halkett boats.We had also six M'Lintock sledges. But our speciality was thesteam-launch Randolph Torrens, built specially to ourorder by an eminent firm of Clyde engineers. It was of fifteenhorse-power, and was adapted for consuming chemically-preparedalcohol instead of coal. The advantage of this (the idea beingthe doctor's) was that we could carry about with us a largeramount of fuel, and thus make more extended voyages. The launchwas a complete success, and was afterwards of the greatestservice to us.

Another speciality was a balloon, and the machinery formanufacturing gas for it.

While these preparations were going on, Edith found relief forher mind by continually dragging her aunt up to London to examineour progress. The elder Miss Torrens naturally objected, but, inspite of her protests, not a week passed without a visit from thefair owner of the vessel, for whom the men soon had a warmadmiration. 'She'll bring good-luck to the voyage,' the captainsaid, and the superstitious sailors actually believed in it. Butat last, on the 10th of July, everything was done, and theAurora ready for her cruise to the Northern Seas.

IV. — THE 'AURORA' STARTS.

AT three o'clock on the afternoon of the 12th ofJuly, the Aurora cast off from the jetty, and droppedinto the centre of the stream.

All arrangements necessary in view of a lengthened absencefrom England had been made, not only respecting our personalaffairs, but also with regard to the safety of the expedition.Should nothing be heard of us for two years, a relief vessel wasto be despatched after the second winter; and, to facilitate herinquiries, we were to leave records in prominent places mutuallyagreed upon. But as it might be impossible to carry out thisagreement completely, we promised to take every opportunity ofsending home notices of our progress and future prospects bymeans of such whalers and fishing-vessels as we met.

We had bidden farewell to the many friends who, if uncertainof our destination, had yet no hesitation in wishing us good-fortune and a safe return; and Cecil, on his part, had seen thelast of Edith for many months to come. She, the evening beforeour departure, had got from the captain the names of all onboard; and, that morning she had sent down a large box, inscribed'To he opened on Christmas Day, in, if possible, latitude 83°25′ N. and longitude 48° 5′ E.'

'And if we can't do it in the Aurora,' said CaptainSneddon, 'we deserve to have had only a herring-boat—itwould have been good enough to fail in.'

Edith, her aunt, Mr Smiles, and a few friends of the officersand men, had come down to see us off, and to wish us the best ofluck in the discoveries we hoped to make. How reluctantly thefinal partings were taken, it is needless to say; but at lengththe hawsers were cast off, and, after a last embrace and cordialhand-shake, the visitors were put on shore amidst the heartycheering of the men. Slowly the vessel lengthened the distancebetween her and the shore; in a minute or two we could not seethe fluttering handkerchiefs for the intervening shipping; andthen, gently and tardily, as if she were reluctant to leave, theAurora passed through the dock gates and into theThames. Before evening we were cleaving the waters of the GermanOcean on our northward way, and our voyage towards the Pole hadbegun.

It would have been difficult to analyse the feelings of mostof us that night, as we assembled round the mess-room table forthe first time.

Here we were, bound on a mission in which the dangers anduncertainties were far out of proportion to the safety, and inwhich the chances of return were at least as much against us asin our favour. But if there were any for whom that fact was notthe greater inducement, we failed to discover them.

It was the captain's idea to take the officers into ourconfidence as soon as we were at sea, for the reason that if anyof them did not care for the voyage they could be set ashore whenwe touched at Peterhead, as we meant to do to allow the men, mostof whose homes were there, to say farewell to their families.

'For if any of the officers don't like our sailing orders,'said Sneddon, 'they must go at once; better work shorthanded thanhave grumblers and fault-finders on hoard, Why, they'd tell moreagainst us than all the ice in Greenland!'

So the Aurora, for the time, was given into the charge ofMurray, the boatswain, and the conference began. One of the eightpresent was the second mate, George Wemyss, who had been engagedat the last moment. He was an old schoolfellow of ours and an ex-naval officer, who had sent in his papers owing to some quarrelwith a superior; and as he had had experience in Arctic work, andwas besides a good officer, we were fortunate in having securedhim.

I fully explained the origin and purposes of the expedition,not forgetting to mention the probable difficulty of carryingthem out, and finally asked each to give his candid opinion ofour mission. It lay with themselves, I said, to go or to stay athome; but if they decided to go, we expected that they wouldhonestly and faithfully do their duty.

Wemyss was the first to answer.

'I, for one, am with you to the end,' he said, 'and I'mcertain that, if success is to be attained at all, theAurora will do it!'

For he, too, had been seized by the fascination which ourvessel seemed to exercise over every one who had any connectionwith her.

'And I say with Mr Wemyss,' put in Clements, the secondengineer, 'that we're sure to succeed; and, further, that with avessel and crew like this it would be almost a crime not to go onand do our best.'

'These men we can depend on,' whispered the captain to me.'I'll be surprised if they don't turn out to be of the very stuffthat Arctic explorers are made of.'

Norris and Green also signified their approval of our plans,and their willingness to go on with us, though it was moresoberly and with less ostentatious enthusiasm than theirjuniors.

'Then, that being settled,' said Dr Felix Lorimer, 'let usjoin in a bumper to our captain and the owner's representatives,Messrs Godfrey and Cecil Oliphant; good-luck to our voyage andthe accomplishment of its purpose; and, lastly, to the conquestfor the first time, and by Englishmen, of the North Pole!'

Glasses having been emptied to this toast, we went on deck,glad that we had come to an understanding which promised so wellfor the future.

On the evening of the 14th the Aurora steamed intothe harbour of Peterhead, having made an exceptionally quickpassage, and proved her sea qualities to be of the highest order.Most of the hands went on shore at once, but were ordered toreturn the first thing in the morning, that we might takeadvantage of the forenoon tide. Several letters that had arrivedfor us were brought on board, and one received by the captainappeared to contain unpleasant or unwelcome news. After readingit several times, and scratching his head as if deeply perplexed,he signed to Cecil and me and Dr Lorimer to follow him into hiscabin.

'I've a letter here from my agent in Dundee,' he began, whenwe were seated, 'and his news strikes me as rather queer, not tosay alarming. From what he writes I gather there's a rival in thefield—that ours isn't the only vessel that sails this yearto the Arctic!'

'A rival!' exclaimed Cecil, sceptically. 'Do you mean thatthere's to be an exciting race to the Pole, to end up with asanguinary encounter in latitude 90°?'

'Joking aside, this is serious news,' I said. 'What does theagent say, captain?'

'Read the letter,' suggested the doctor.

'Just what I was going to do,' said Sneddon, and then wenton:

Dundee, 12th July 188—.

My dear Sir—As it may have some bearing on yourenterprise, I have thought it my duty to inform you of a curiousfact I discovered yesterday by the merest chance. For some timepast a whaling-vessel called the NorthernPharos—no doubt you know her—that was built atthe same time as the Aurora, but which, for some reason,did not go to the fishery this season, has been fitting out atthe docks. It never transpired, however, for what purpose she wasintended, nor where she was bound for, and a few days ago shesteamed away without any one being any the wiser. Yesterday, asit happened, I fell into conversation with the late owner of theNorthern Pharos, and my surprise may be imagined when Ilearned the following facts. Early in May a stranger had boughtthe vessel, and ordered her to be fitted up according toinstructions he furnished. The strictest secrecy was observed,and so well that nobody suspected that the Pharos wasgetting ready for a voyage to the Arctic regions. But this is thecase, for the man who bought her (whose name I couldn't learn)inadvertently divulged to my informer the information that shewas going up 'Spitzbergen way.' Knowing that you would beinterested, I ascertained further (for my friend was ready enoughto speak now that the vessel had gone) that she was manned byofficers and sailors from some English port, and provisioned forthree years.

This is all that is known here about the matter, but perhapsyou may fall in with her yourself and find out her purpose.

Yours truly,

G. H. Thompson.

A minute's silence followed the reading of this letter. Nobodyseemed to know what to think of the thunderbolt that had thusfallen amongst us; and while we were trying to make up our mindsSneddon continued: 'That's the letter, and it strikes me there'ssomething in it that's worth considering. With your permissionI'll state the various points I see. In the first place, is thisNorthern Pharos (I know the vessel wellenough—she's smaller than ours, but perhaps quite as wellsuited for her purpose)—I say, is she going north merely bychance, or in rivalry, as Mr Cecil hinted, to some other vessel?If the former, why has there been so much quietness about it? Itlooks queer, to say the least if it, that even the owner's namehas never leaked out. Then, as to her sailing date—and itis this point that concerns us more than any other—is itonly accidentally, so to speak, that she sails almost on the sameday as ourselves? These are three points, gentlemen, that seem tome worth looking into.'

'Then your opinion is that, after all, and speaking seriously,we have a rival in the field, or, rather, on the sea?' askedCecil, in his usual impetuous way.

'Begging your pardon, Mr Cecil,' replied the captain. 'I gaveno such opinion, nor meant to; what I did was only to point outwhat I thought suggestive facts—nothing else.'

'And your facts are suggestive, captain,' Isaid—'in fact, rather too suggestive to be pleasant. Youragent, I know, is to be trusted, and so we may put everyconfidence in his information, I suppose. We know, then, that theNorthern Pharos has been bought by some one unknown andfitted up for Arctic work; that her destination, like ours, isthe Spitzbergen seas; and that she has already started. What wehave to consider is if it concerns us—if, in fact, it is bychance, or in opposition to us.'

'All that I have to say is,' said Cecil, 'that it's morallyimpossible that this expedition is a chance one; the wholecirc*mstances, as we know them, are utterly against the theory.Nothing is more plain than that this mysterious owner, likeourselves, had some definite plan which he wished to keep secretfrom the world.'

'Then, gentlemen,' interposed the captain, 'it must have beenrivalry, according to your own suggestion, Mr Godfrey.'

'And that brings us to the question,' I replied, 'as to anyone fitting out an expedition in pure opposition—evensaying nothing as to how he discovered our purpose.'

Hitherto the doctor had remained silent, but had apparentlyfollowed the discussion with interest. Now, however, hespoke.

'It was, I think,' he asked, 'during the first week of Maythat the paragraph about the expedition appeared in theSun?'

'You are right,' I answered. 'It was on the 4th.'

'Then,' he went on, 'I consider that we have a satisfactoryexplanation of the mystery at hand. Some Arcticenthusiast—I am glad to say there are still a fewsuch—has seen that paragraph, and either disbelieving orhaving reason to disbelieve the denial that appeared, he hasbecome fired by an ambition to forestall you in reaching thePole. If he has any knowledge at all of what I may callArcticology, he would naturally turn first to Dundee for avessel. While there, he may have learned enough of theAurora and her destination to serve his purpose. Thisdone, there is no difficulty in imagining the rest.'

'I see, doctor,' said the captain. 'You may be right; so faras we have the facts, you seem to be. But if you are, what's tobe done now?'

'We can do nothing but go on with the expedition according toour plans. But if we should happen to meet our rival, as isprobable enough, let us go on board and frankly tell him ourmission. If he is agreeable, and circ*mstances permit, we mayjoin parties; if not, let us go our respective ways—withinthe Arctic circle there is surely room for two ship's crews! Ourlife, after all, isn't so long that we need allow any suchmiserable jealousies to disturb us and injure the cause ofscience.'

This, in the end, was agreed upon as our plan of campaign ifwe met the Northern Pharos; but, notwithstanding thedoctor's theories, there was not one of us who did not retirethat night with the feeling that a strange and indefinable air ofmystery was hanging over our future movements.

Next morning we left Peterhead, and finally steaming away fromthe coast of Britain, headed the Aurora for northernNorway. It was our intention to call in at Tromsö in Lapland, toobtain dogs, sledges, and other necessaries not to be hadelsewhere, and also to get, if possible, information as to thestate of the ice that year from the whalers who frequent thequiet little town. It would doubtless be as tedious to reader asto author to describe in detail the voyage across the North Sea.From a narrative point of view it was absolutely uninteresting;we had not even a storm worthy of the name to break the monotony;and if the doctor and Cecil and I never tired of standing on deckand watching the sea, it was probably owing more to the noveltyof it than to any other reason.

In magnificent weather we crossed the Arctic Circle, and a fewdays later were among the Lofoden Islands. Here occurred anincident—almost the only one of the passage—thatcaused some excitement to such of us as knew of the letter thecaptain had received at Peterhead. We had been steaming lazilynorthward under the lee of a high, rocky island. Suddenly, whilewe were below at breakfast, we heard the cry: 'A large steamer insight!'

Going on deck, we found that we had passed the island, andthat, not a mile and a half off, close into another island, wasthe steamer in question, which had hitherto been hidden from usby the land we had left behind. In a minute the captain hadbrought his glass to bear upon her. After a long and steady lookhe significantly motioned us aside.

'It's the Northern Pharos!' he said. 'I'm as sure ofit as if she belonged to myself. She's the only one of the Dundeefleet besides the Aurora that can be in these watersjust now; and if that isn't a Dundee-built whaling-steamer I'llacknowledge I never saw one!'

This latter fact being confirmed by Norris, the first mate,and several of the men, our excitement began to rise.

'What's to be done?' I asked.

'Make sure,' replied the captain; 'and then, as the doctoradvises, signal her and find out her destination.'

So saying, he gave orders to get up full steam, which wasdone; and for above five minutes we approached nearer and nearerthe strange steamer. But then those on board seemed to becomeaware of our rapid approach, and long before we were near enoughto distinguish her name, she had also increased her speed anddisappeared behind one of the many small islands that are studdedabout those seas.

'Shan't we have a search for her?' inquired Cecil.

'No use,' said Sneddon. 'We should only lose time, and perhapsfind a mare's-nest after all. Best get to Tromsö as quickly as wecan.'

Next afternoon we reached the rocky island of Fuglö, withouthaving again sighted the other steamer; and, taking on board apilot, wore guided through a perfect labyrinth of sounds andfiords to the anchorage of Tromsö. The British consul immediatelyplaced his services at our disposal, and through him we were notlong in purchasing two dozen dogs and three sledges, such as areused by the Lapps, with sufficient meat for the animals. Betterstill, he recommended to us a Norwegian harpooner and pilot whowished an engagement. This was Nils Jansen, a man who had been anice-pilot, and as such had accompanied Arctic expeditions eversince his early youth. Needless to say, we secured him at once,and a thoroughly valuable acquisition he was to prove in the daysto come.

Late that evening, as the doctor, Cecil, and I were returningfrom dining with the consul, we were surprised to see through thefog—of darkness there was none, for we were now in the landof the midnight sun—the lights of a large vessel,apparently anchored at the entrance to the harbour. She hadassuredly not been there earlier in the evening; and, actuated bya suspicion we could not put to rest, we ordered the boatmen torow down to her. And there, sure enough, when we arrived underher stern, we saw on a rail under the light of a lamp the nameNorthern Pharos!

'We have her now,' chuckled the doctor as we returned to ourship, on which only one light was shown. 'The morning will verifyor disprove my theory, and supply some solution of thisperplexing mystery.'

But, unfortunately for Lorimer's reputation as a prophet, themorning did no such thing. These were the words, shouted into myears by the excited savant, which awakened me sevenhours later:

'The Northern Pharos is gone!'

I jumped up. 'Impossible!' I cried.

'Come and see!'

Throwing on some clothes, I rushed on deck and turned to theentrance of the harbour. One glance showed me that he was right;neither at the entrance nor within was she to be seen; she haddisappeared as completely as if she had vanished into thinair.

'Where can she have gone to?' I asked, in bewilderment.

'Goodness knows!' was the doctor's rueful reply. 'I am halfinclined to believe that this Pharos is only a phantomsent to plague us—a sort of Arctic Flying Dutchman.'

At this moment our new pilot, Nils Jansen, came on board, andI took occasion to ask him for an explanation.

'The vessel you name left this morning as soon as thecommander rose,' he said, speaking in almost perfect English. 'Mybrother Karl, who is her pilot, brought her up last night late;but this morning when the commander woke he at once said to godown again. I was on board at the time, and he looked over to youwith not a pleased face. He is a tall man, with much beard.'

This was practically all the information we could get of thePharos, of the mysterious movements of which the four ofus in the secret were never tired of speaking; and we could onlyhope that the next time we saw her we should be more fortunate indiscovering something tangible. Until then it was of no usespeculating on what were or might be her aims and reasons.

In the meantime it was agreed that neither the officers norcrew should be told of the vessel; for, as Captain Sneddon said,it was difficult to know how they might receive it. In alllikelihood the seamen would find in it some evidence of thesupernatural, and their superstitious dreads were capable ofleading them into any kind of mischief.

Having received all our purchases on board, and filled up withas much coal as we could carry, we left Tromsö with the goodwishes of the kindly inhabitants, and piloted by Nils, passedthrough the intricate sounds to the open sea. Off Rysö we haileda whaler going up to the town, and instructed the pilot toinquire if she had seen a steamer bearing northward.

'No steamer,' was the reply given through Nils; 'only a fewwhalers and sealing-boats.'

We had hardly expected any other answer; but we were moregrateful for the information that the whole of the Barents Sea,from Bear Island to Nova Zembla, was particularly free from icethat year.

'Good news!' said Captain Sneddon, gleefully. 'We'll run overto Zembla in four or five days at the most, leave a record there,and then penetrate as far to the north as the ice allows us. Withgood-luck we may reach our destination before the autumn hasquite begun.'

The captain was right, for on the fourth day out from Tromsöwe caught sight of Pervousmotrennaya Gora, a mountain on the westcoast of Nova Zembla, nearly three thousand feet high, which forcenturies has been the landmark of every voyager and adventurerin those lonely seas. Ice now became plentiful, and thetemperature fell much below freezing-point. But where there wasice there was game in abundance; and seals and auks, with anoccasional bear, whom we never got near, afforded fair sport tothose who were inclined that way.

We came at length to a spot where we found it almostimpossible to proceed, but as the ice-free coast water wasvisible beyond, steam was got up, and the Aurora chargedthe barrier again and again, until she had forced her waythrough. Once within the ice-lagoon, we steamed quickly northwardalong the coast, our object being to make Admiralty Peninsula,one of the points at which it had been agreed we should leave arecord. Much ice was met with opposite Matochkin Strait, whichdivides Zembla into two, and leads into the Kara Sea; but, on thewhole, the sea was much freer than Nils Jansen had ever seen itat the same period of the year.

On the 1st of August we anchored in a little bay on the westside of Admiralty Peninsula, just above latitude 75°. To the westand south there was a water-sky beyond the small amount of icevisible; but to the north-east the pack stretched up to CapeNassau, and even farther north, while the ice-blink[*] wasparticularly well defined.

[* The ice-blink is a peculiarbrightness in the sky caused by the reflection of large masses ofice on the air above them. It appears just above the horizon. Awater-sky indicates open water in that direction.]

'No farther in this direction, at any rate,' said the captain,'Better land our depôt and record, and get off to the west andthen north as long as we have a chance. Dealing with ice, the manthat hesitates is lost.'

The prospect on land was not of an inviting description. Itrose in a succession of terraces from the coast to a range of lowhills, and the ice and snow still lay on many parts of it: wherethe thaw had taken effect, the grayish-brown earth was seen,covered here and there with clumps of dark-green moss orsaxifrage; and over the whole surface were studded isolatedmasses of rock of all sizes and shapes.

Here, in a cleft between two rocks that could easily berendered bear- and weather-proof, we chose a place for the depôtof provisions we had decided to make in order to secure ourretreat in the event of the loss of the vessel. It consisted offifteen hundred rations, chiefly of pemmican, and someammunition. Finally, two records in tin cases were left in aprominent position, with a notice to the first vessel thattouched there to forward one of them to the address given, andleave the other where it was.

V. — WE REACH THE ICE-BARRIER.

ON the 3d of August the Aurora leftNova Zembla, and steaming without difficulty through the ice thatlay at a distance of twenty-five miles from the coast, reachedopen water. She was at once headed northward, her fires put out,and the sails hoisted, and henceforth for the next week or so,until the ice-barrier was reached, her cruise was more like apleasure trip than a hard-working expedition with a definite aim.The following extracts from my journal may be of some interest,as giving a glimpse of the monotony and uneventful character ofthis part of the voyage:

August 4.—Compelled to lie-tonearly all day, on account of a dense fog. Nothing is moreremarkable in those seas than the sudden changes of weather. Inthe forenoon it may be the brightest sunshine; by afternoon wemay be having a typical Arctic snow-storm; and in the evening wemay be enveloped in a fog worthy of Newfoundland.

August 5.—On the rising of thefog this morning, Norris, from the crow's-nest, reported a brigto the southward. We at once hailed her, and on finding her to bea Norwegian whaler almost full, sent on board a packet of lettersto be posted when she reached Hammerfest, and also a present oftobacco and spirits for the captain. Shortly afterwards thatofficer returned the visit, bringing with him some dried fish andseal's flesh for the dogs; and we were much amused by hiscuriosity and persistent efforts to discover our purpose. Weparted at noon, after saluting each other by dipping theNorwegian and British flags. No ice in sight. The whaler reportedthe year a remarkably favourable one.

August 7.—Sea calm, and stillno ice visible. Weather good, with the temperature 35° Fahrenheitin the sun. With a slight breeze from the SW. we made fairprogress to the north.

August 8.—To-day crossed theseventy-eighth parallel, without so far having observed any signsof the ice barrier, which, according to all accounts, should havebeen found much farther south. Not unnaturally, we are elated byour exceptionally good-fortune.

August 10.—Owing to a stiffwind, the Aurora made good progress yesterday and to-day. For the first time since leaving Nova Zembla we have passedseveral detached pieces of salt-water ice. Cecil and Nils killedtwo seals. Wemyss reported a slight ice-blink to the NW., but awater-sky to the north. Owing to the fog that came down at night,and the probable vicinity of ice, steam was got up to be readyfor any emergency.

August 11.—Passed through largemasses of field-ice in latitude 70° 6′. Temperature so muchlower that winter dress was distributed to the men. We areevidently near the dreaded ice-barrier, and our real work is nowabout to commence.

* * * * *

During the whole of that day (the 11th) wethreaded our way through the loose ice which, under the combinedinfluences of wind and waves, had been detached from the pack.Towards evening it became more and more plentiful and difficultto navigate; and by midnight there could not be the least doubtthat we had reached the illimitable ice-field that so many of ourpredecessors had found barring their way to the Pole. On everyside of us stretched the white, level surface, only diversifiedhere and there by ridges and hummocks which marked the scenes ofviolent concussions between opposing floes. But, to our immensegratification, the pack was intersected in every direction byopen lanes of water that promised at least a chance of reachingstill farther north. For the present, however, we sailedeastwards along the edge of the barrier, there being in thatdirection less of an ice-blink than in any other.

'We've had good-luck so far,' said the captain, next morning,'and if we can only escape being beset—and we should, withso many advantages that those before us never even dreamtof—we can surely find leads, passes, and ice-holessomewhere to allow us northward. It's a well-known fact that theice is broken up at this time of the year by lanes and ice-holes'—

'Polynyas, the Russians call them,' the doctorinterposed, 'being sometimes of immense extent.'

'Yes; and with discretion and continued good-luck, there is noreason why we shouldn't find them serve our purpose up tolatitude 83°.'

At that moment one of the seamen reported that Mr Wemyss fromthe crow's-nest had seen open water directly north-east,separated from us by a broad tongue of compact ice. We rushed ondeck immediately, and in a few minutes the water beyond thebarrier was plainly visible from where we stood. Not the smallestopening, however, was to be seen, and the weather was too settledto admit of any hope of a change taking place sufficient to burstthe ice.

'We must charge it!' said Captain Sneddon, when he hadexamined it from the mast-head. 'That open water extends as farnorth as I can see, and we have only to reach it to have a plaincourse before us again.'

'Is it quite safe, captain?' I asked, looking doubtfully atthe immense mass.

'Under ordinary circ*mstances it might be risky charging sucha floe; but situated as we are just now, with every momentprecious, I think we must risk it. And I wouldn't say sounless I was certain the Aurora could stand it.'

Everybody was on deck to see the result of our first conflictwith the ice, and as the orders were given to get up full steamand go ahead, I think the heart of each was in his mouth.

The captain himself took the wheel.

'Where does the ice seem weakest?' he asked.

'To starboard a little!' answered Wemyss from above.

'Will that do?'

'That will do, sir. Go on!'

With a shock that shook her from stem to stern, and threw downevery one on deck who had not held on like grim death, theAurora struck full against the ice; and, rising to itsix or seven feet, crashed down upon it with the tremendous powerof her iron stem. A second time she rose and came down withcrushing force. Then, her impetus exhausted, she settled downamongst the fragments into which she had pounded the brittle ice.In spite of the enormous resistance, the vessel had escaped theleast injury, and was as sound as before her attack upon thefrozen bank. But as yet that attack was not entirely successful;for, although much had been done, the way into the open water wasstill blocked.

'Another charge will do it!' cried Wemyss, who had remained athis perilous post throughout the whole struggle.

'Steam astern!' ordered the captain.

It was done; and, when we had got a little way on, we returnedto the attack at a speed of fifteen knots an hour. Gallantly theAurora dashed into the passage she had already made,struck the floe with her whole weight, and, amid the ringingcheers of the crew, split it completely in twain, thus gainingthe open water she so much coveted after a struggle as sharp asit was short.

'Hurrah!' we shouted in unison.

But our cheering was premature, for the appearance of the ice-hole we had entered proved to be of the most deceptive character.Before we had gone far it began to close in on both sides, untilthe passage was no more than a thousand yards broad; and byevening we had reached a point where minor leads branched off inevery direction. No open water was visible beyond any of them;and, as it is one of the tenets of ice-navigation never to entereven the most promising lane unless one sees where it is to end,the captain was in the deepest perplexity.

'What's to be done?' he asked.

'Take the one nearest our course,' suggested Cecil.

'That won't do—we cannot afford to trust to chancehere,' said the doctor. 'Very likely one out of every two ofthose leads is a cul-de-sac; and if you take the wrongone, it may end in the Aurora being beset. I supposethat's your idea, captain?'

'That's just it, doctor,' he answered. 'It's only a pity theice is so level here; if we had a decent berg to get to the topof, as you may have at any time in Baffin Bay, we shouldn't belong in settling our course. There's an ice-sky, but with sometrace of vapour above the blink. If we could only get a largerrange!'

'The balloon!' I exclaimed, suddenly remembering that this wasone of the purposes for which it had been bought.

'The very thing!' shouted the doctor; and the next minute hewas energetically directing some of the men to raise from thehold the cases containing the balloon and the machinery formanufacturing the gas. Under his personal superintendence theengineers and Gates were not long in fixing the latter; and bynext morning we had a supply of gas sufficient for our purpose,though it woefully diminished our coal. There was much intereston board as the immense bag was gradually inflated, and wheneverything was at last ready for the ascent, the seamen couldhardly restrain themselves from thronging aft to examine it moreclosely.

When the doctor and I had taken our seats in the car (whichcould hold four at a stretch) the captain followed, with thehalf-apologetic remark that he wasn't altogether sure about it,but as some people had eyes in their heads and didn't know a'pass' from a cul-de-sac, he thought he might as well goaloft with us.

Then the word was given to pay out the captive rope, which,having been made for the purpose, was of unusual strength andpractically unbreakable. Slowly we rose, and as we did so thevessel below us gradually lessened in size, while our horizonwidened with every foot we ascended. The rope being six hundredfeet long, we could get no higher. It was a beautifully clearday, and we saw in every direction the bluish-white ice-fields,intersected by the dark lanes of water, that looked like ink-lines on a sheet of white paper. Through our glasses we closelyscanned the view to the north; but none of us could make anythingof it but the captain, who, after an exhaustive examination,pointed out as our course a lane we should never have thought oftaking. Not only did it seem to lead in a wrong direction, but atthe entrance there was scarcely room for the passage of a vessel;but it broadened as it advanced, and led to the only open waterthat was visible.

'That's our course,' said the captain, 'and I'm bound to saythat but for this craft I should no more ha' thought of taking itthan of cutting through the ice with a pickaxe.'

By the aid of the windlass we descended without waste of gas,and then the inflated balloon was affixed top and bottom to apart of the poop where it would be out of the way, and be readyfor further ascents. This was rendered necessary by the value ofour coals, of which no more could be spared for the manufactureof gas. This done, the Aurora entered the narrow channelwe had chosen, and was soon again winding her way through the iceto the north.

Hitherto the weather had been calm, but now a breeze from thesouth-west rose, and a fear was expressed that if it continued itmight set the pack in motion. That this fear was only too wellfounded we were soon to discover; for, just as we had reached theice-hole we had seen from the balloon, it began to narrow moreand more under our eyes. Here, too, the nature of the icechanged, and instead of the comparatively level pack we had metso far it was now raised and hilly, as if from the effect of someconvulsion. Bergs, mostly of a small size, also became morenumerous as we dashed across the polynya at full speedin the hope of finding a road to the north before the ice closedin. But before long we were again among extensive ice-fields, andalthough at first we found a broad opening, the lookout from thecrow's-nest soon reported that farther progress that way wasblocked. With the Ancient Mariner we might have said:

The ice was here, the ice was there,

The ice was all around:

It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,

Like noises in a swound! . . . .

And through the drifts the snowy cliffs

Did send a dismal sheen:

Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken—

The ice was all between.

Hither and thither amongst it the Aurora darted inthe hope of finding another pass, but always without success; andas the movement of the floes still continued, and a heavy fall ofsnow had begun, Captain Sneddon decided to anchor her to a bergwe noticed in open water, and await the cessation of the icemovements.

'By to-morrow morning, I expect,' he said, 'we'll be able togo on, and although this may have closed the old leads, it musthave opened new ones. Anyhow, it'll take something to beat us nowthat we've got so far.'

But by the next morning, in spite of our skipper's sanguineprophecy, we were enveloped in a dense fog that limited thehorizon to twenty yards; and, worse still, the commotion amongstthe bergs went on unabated. Our difficulties, as may beunderstood, were immensely increased by our limited range ofobservation, and the knowledge that at any moment we might bebeset or nipped did not add to the comfort of the situation.Still, we were all as hopeful as people in ignorance of thefuture usually are, and none more so than the captainhimself.

'Only a passing vexation of spirit,' he said, so that the crewmight hear him; for he knew by experience how a commander'stemperament is reflected in those of his men. 'I've seen hundredsof fogs worse than this, and I've never seen a vessel yet thatdidn't come out of them all right—not one!'

The fog lifted for a minute or two at noon, and then we sawthat we were surrounded on every side by bergs, while the openwater was of the smallest dimensions. The captain looked anxious,but said nothing. Then we were again enveloped more closely thanever in the damp, disagreeable vapour, which made everythingappear gloomy and unpleasant, and added a thousandfold to thedangers of ice-navigation, already perilous enough.

As the afternoon passed there were no signs of the fogbecoming less dense, and when, just before midnight, the creakingand groaning of the ice, which had been quiet for a few hours,told us that it was again in motion, the captain summoned us intohis cabin.

'I can't conceal from you,' he commenced, gravely, when wewere all assembled except the officer of the watch, 'that we'rein the greatest danger. That glimpse we had at midday showed methat if the bergs round about once begin to move, we stand a verygood chance of being ground to powder. Well, it's no usepalavering about it; what's to be done, now that it's commenced,is to take some precautions for our safety. We must get thesledges, boats, and provisions read, and a certain duty given toeach man, else there'll be nothing but confusion;' and thenfollowed details, into which it is needless to go. Suffice it tosay that every one of us was soon carrying out the instructionsgiven by choosing and allotting the articles necessary in case ofthe loss of the ship; and, before an hour had passed, we wereall, officers and men, assembled on deck ready for the worst.

The noise of the agitated ice became louder every moment, andsoon we saw the huge masses of the bergs looming through the fog.The space of open water was narrowing, gradually but surely:there seemed no escape from the fate that threatened us. Slowlybut inexorably the icebergs neared us, and though we steamed nowone way and again another to avoid them so long as we had waterunder us, it was of no avail. They surrounded us on every side.At length we heard a crunch under our bows that told us that theice was pressing against our devoted vessel. The next moment, wesaw to our horror an immense berg within a dozen feet of ourstarboard, while to port was that to which we had originally beenanchored. We were between the two, and the vessel wasimmovable.

'God help the Aurora!' groaned Captain Sneddon.'Unless that berg is checked, she's lost, and her crew withher!'

VI. — BESET IN THE FROZEN OCEAN.

A MINUTE or two's suspense followed thecaptain's declaration. The shocks below still continued, butevidently our stout little vessel withstood them well; at anyrate, we could perceive no immediate ill effects. But all ourattention was directed to the huge berg looming above, as ifawaiting a favourable chance to crash down and overwhelm us.Nearer and nearer it came, until we could touch it with the longice-poles which had been served out to us; and still, although soclose, we could gain only a general idea of its form and size, sodense did the fog continue.

'Ready now, men!' suddenly shouted the captain.

As he spoke, the vessel received the heaviest shock she hadyet sustained, and the whole of her stern was raised apparentlyout of the water. At the same moment the iceberg seemed to give alurch forward as if to complete our destruction. Perhaps it wasthe effect of refraction, which in the Arctic regions almostinvariably makes things appear worse than they really are; but,refraction or not, all on board thought their last minute hadcome. Most of the men made a rush for the other side of thevessel, while those who remained at their posts awaited insickening anxiety that which they were powerless to prevent. Butall that happened was the fall of several small pieces of ice,which cut the rigging without doing any further damage. While wewere keeping off the berg with our poles (or trying to keep itoff, for we might as well have attempted to move WestminsterAbbey) another and still more severe shock was felt.Then—we never knew exactly how it occurred—theAurora was lifted up as if into the air, thrust sidewaysfrom between the bergs, and, before we could realise ourposition, forced by the irresistible pressure of the ice farbeyond the danger that had threatened us. How great that dangerhad been, and how narrow our escape, we did not altogether knowuntil we heard the noise of the two bergs coming in contact, andshuddered to think of our fate had we been between them.

'Saved!' I cried.

'Saved!' echoed the captain, in a somewhat awed tone, 'but bythe narrowest shave I ever saw during a life of narrow shaves! Itell you, gentlemen, that a minute ago I shouldn't have given aplug of tobacco for our chances of life, and yet here we are,saved as by a miracle!'

As far as we could make out, we had been jammed by the icebehind us between two floes which had then become one mass; andas there was no appearance of any bergs through the fog, we feltsomewhat easier than before. After the experience we had justundergone, the thought that we might be beset by the ice did nottrouble us much; perhaps we reckoned pretty confidently on ourability to free ourselves. But all surmises as to our positionand chances had to remain unsettled until the lifting of the fog,of which, for the next thirty hours, there was no appearance.During that time a thorough investigation was made of the ship,the screw-propeller and rudder being found to be undamaged; whilethe only injury, easily remedied by the carpenter, was to severalof the timbers.

At last the fog lifted as suddenly as it had fallen, and thenwe saw the extent of our misfortune. The Aurora was, aswe had imagined, in the centre of a large and level floe, which,surrounded on every side as it was by icebergs, had theappearance of a plateau in the midst of a range of mountains. Ofthe bergs we counted eleven from the deck, and beyond them theice resembled nothing more than a hilly country looked at fromsome high peak. No open water except a few detached pools wasvisible anywhere, even from the top of the highest berg, someninety feet above the sea level.

Captain Sneddon looked at this scene long and earnestly, whilewe awaited his report with an anxiety we could hardlyconceal.

'Beset!' was all he said when he did speak; but the tone ofhis voice told us more than the one word convoyed.

'Without hope?' I inquired.

'So long as the vessel's safe there's hope,' he replied, 'andthe ice may break at any moment; but when I've said that, I can'tsay any more. It's that ring of bergs more than anything elsethat's dispiriting. The chances are, sir—and it's no useshirking it—that we're beset for the winter.'

'Just as the Austrian expedition's vessel Tegetthoffwas in 1872,' interposed the doctor. 'She never got freeagain.'

We went off to do our duties more discouraged than we had beensince starting, for the thought of wintering where we were wasabsolutely intolerable. A balloon ascent did not raise ourspirits appreciably, as the open lanes we did see were all toodistant, and seemed, besides, to lead to nowhere in particular.Daily ascents thereafter were made whenever the weatherpermitted, and the amusem*nt—for it was littleelse—helped to keep the men in good spirits.

At dinner that day, however, hope resumed her sway. Dr FelixLorimer rushed in from his laboratory in a state of the greatestexcitement.

'Good news!' he shouted. 'We're drifting fast to thenorth—have gone ten miles since morning. We may reach ourdestination after all!'

'Ten miles!' repeated the captain. 'Are you sure, doctor?'

'Certain!' he replied. 'There's no room for mistake, and,what's better, it's almost as due north as it can be—justthe direction we wish to go.'

'What are our bearings?' I asked.

'We crossed the eighty-first parallel—I had no idea wehad penetrated so far—about mid-day; the longitude is 47°30′, or a minute or two less; and if we go on in this waythere's no reason why we shouldn't reach the winter quartersbefore October.'

'It all depends on the wind,' said the captain. 'It's from thesouth just now, and from the surface the bergs offer to it wenaturally go fast. But what about a change?'

'We'll wait till it happens, my friend,' said the doctor, whowas too delighted by his discovery to take heed of contraryprobabilities.

The wind did not change, nor the drifting cease, as theobservations taken by Lorimer whenever there was an opportunityproved. Steadily, if slowly, were we carried as passengerstowards the north. We had occasional fogs, but otherwise our lifeon board was pleasant and happy, in spite of the extreme cold.The sun set for the first time during the last week of August,and thenceforth the nights became gradually longer, and thedarkness more intense. But atmospheric phenomena, such as theluminous arcs of parhelia or mock suns, were of almost dailyoccurrence; and they were invariably followed by snow-storms,some of them of considerable duration. During all the time thedoctor, sometimes assisted by Cecil (but oftener not), wasabsorbed in his scientific labours.

There being little work for the men, amusem*nts were at oncedevised. Our first step was to make the floe—Oliphant Floe,they christened it—as level as artificial means could. Atthe southern end, upon some young ice that had formed over anice-pool, a skating-rink was made, and the rest of it convertedinto a field for various sports, of which football was the men'sfavourite. It did not matter that, notwithstanding our efforts,it was rather rough—that only added to theenjoyment. This done, an ice-house was built for theaccommodation of the dogs, whom we found to be decidedlyinconvenient on deck. It was a great success, the only drawbackbeing that the hardy Laplanders preferred to sleep on the top ofit instead of inside! Then a road was made for the daily exerciseof the animals, and the training of them to draw the sledges.After crossing the floe, this road wound round the largest of thebergs, ascended a pretty sleep hill, descended on the other sideto the back of another berg, and finally re-entered the floe atthe western end. Sometimes, under the tuition of Nils Jansen, wedashed round this 'drive' in the Lapp sledge drawn by four dogs;at other times we trained the whole pack to draw one of the heavyM'Clintock sledges loaded as for an expedition.

The dogs themselves, which had been half-wild at first, soonbecame quite tame and civilised under the petting of the sailors.Konig (the king-dog of the pack) was the favourite aft, onaccount of his intelligence and pluck; but the men had taken anespecial fancy to two brothers, to whom they gave the names ofParadise Lost and Paradise Found, the former having lost his tailin some youthful scrimmage, while the latter had a particularlybushy one. Two other animals, the ugliest but perhaps thehardest-working ones we had, clung affectionately to Cecil, whosuggestively named them Cleopatra and Antony.

The frozen ocean was not so destitute of animal life as onemight imagine. Birds passed over us almost continually; sealsfrequented every open pool of water near us, and afforded goodsport; and hardly a day passed without a visit from one bear oranother, probably attracted by the smell of our cooking. Now andagain we returned their courtesy by shooting them; more oftenthey succeeded in making their escape. On one occasion a somewhatludicrous adventure was the result of one of these visits. Abouttwenty of the men were engaged on the floe at their favouritegame of football, which, be it understood, they played withconsiderably less science than gusto. In fact, as long as theygot a kick at all, it did not matter where the ball went to; ifit were only kicked they were quite well pleased! This timeGates, our stoker and blacksmith, the tallest and strongest manon board, saw the ball coming towards him, and taking a run, hegave it such a tremendous kick that it passed over the heads ofsome of the players, and went merrily along the floe until it wasstopped by an iceberg.

'Well done, Gates!' shouted the others; and a rush was beingmade for the spot, when, to everybody's surprise, a she-bearcoolly appeared from behind a point of the berg, and began tosniff at the ball.

Not one of the sailors was armed, but several of themimmediately rushed off to the vessel for rifles; while theothers, seeing that the bear made no attempt to attack them,remained at a safe distance watching her as she played with thefootball as a kitten plays with a spool.

While she was thus enjoying herself, apparently oblivious ofthe men's presence, Nils Jansen and I, on a sledge drawn by fourdogs, dashed round the berg upon the scene. The dogs, the momentthey saw the animal, swerved off the path to attack her; and asboth of us were also unarmed, I did not feel exactly confident ofthe result of their hotheadedness. Nils, however, seemed to knowwhat he was about. 'It's quite right,' he said; and, when we werenear enough, he slipped the knot that held together the traces.The sledge came to a standstill, and the freed dogs, with Konigat their head, boldly rushed upon Madame Bruin. She, on her part,left the ball to itself and prepared to receive them. Separatingas they approached, they attacked her on each side in such amanner that the frantic animal was unable to reach them. In thisway was the quarry held until the firearms were brought, when acouple of explosive bullets put an end to her existence.

VII. — LATITUDE 83° 25′.

SO the days passed, uneventfully and notunpleasantly, in sport, work, and play; and all the while we weredrifting steadily on our route to the north. Curiously enough,the temperature as we advanced rose rather than fell; and,perhaps as a consequence, the fogs were of much more frequentoccurrence than during August. One result of this was that, ascorrect observations could not be taken, we were for considerableperiods in ignorance of our exact whereabouts. But as long as wedrifted northwards—and from the steady way we did so thedoctor presumed that we were under the influence of some oceancurrent—we never grumbled at whatever progress we made.

But, as is invariably the case, there were one or two seriousdrawbacks to our pleasure. In the first week of September theice-commotion of which we had already had such a vivid experiencerecommenced; and from that time onwards we had seldom quietnessfor two consecutive days. More than once the Aurora was soseverely nipped that, in anticipation of her break-up, we wereready to abandon her. One awful night—I think it was the10th of September—those who passed through it will neverforget. The shocks commenced early in the evening, while therewas still enough light to make out through the fog objects at nogreat distance; and the first indication we had of our imminentperil was the upheaval of part of Oliphant Floe. The dogs were atonce brought on board, and preparations made for our safety incase of the loss of the vessel. All night we could hear the dull,deep sound of the moving ice, alternated now and again with long-drawn moans as if from distressed spirits in purgatory; levelfloes were in one moment broken up and converted into chaoticmasses, and on every side appeared fissures and abysses throughwhich the dark water could he seen. Just before midnight theagitation seemed to culminate, and then we heard several terriblecrashes, while the Aurora was tossed about as if in astorm.

'Some big change,' said the captain, grimly, 'that'll be asurprise to us when we discover what it is.'

So violent were the shocks, and so severe was the pressure thevessel had to withstand, that it is a marvel she escaped beingsmashed into matchwood. Every moment, indeed, we expected her togo; and that she did not, says much for the system on which shewas built, and also for the way in which she was strengthened andpacked.

At last the motion ceased, and we could again breathe freely.When the fog lightened, as it generally did for an hour or two inthe middle of the day, we saw the cause of the crashes we hadheard at midnight. Of the eleven icebergs that had surrounded us,four had succumbed to the attacks made upon them, and not a traceof them was to be seen. In their place, and all around the shipexcept for a few yards on one side, was a chaos of thrown-up iceof every shape; and in the midst of it was the Aurora,with her chances of ultimate escape plainly lessened by the workof that one night.

In this way sped the days and the weeks; and we were allbecoming a little tired of the monotony of the fog and the dangerof the ice-pressures, when we were lifted into the seventh heavenof delight by a clear day. It was not the sight of the sun thatdelighted us, nor the liberty of wandering about without the fearof being lost; but the mere fact that the doctor was enabled totake a meridian observation which fixed our exact position. Forthe result of it was that we found that we had reached a higherlatitude than any former navigator in those seas, if we exceptthe voyage of which Randolph Torrens had spoken, and of which asyet we knew nothing. We found 82° 53′ 25″ to be theprecise latitude; and as Dr Lorimer announced the figures threehearty cheers were given by the whole ship's company, the UnionJack was at once hoisted, and our little swivel fired in honourof the achievement. Then grog was served out to the men, while wecelebrated the occasion aft by opening a bottle or two of ourprecious champagne.

'We have beaten Parry,' cried the doctor on enthusiastically,'and now there's no reason why the North Pole itself shouldn'tsuccumb to our prowess! To the conquest of the North Pole!'

'Ice permitting,' interposed the captain, somewhat grimly.'Don't forget, doctor, that we're in the power of whatyou once called the most merciless enemy of man.'

'Bah, captain!' replied the doctor, scornfully. 'Fortune hasfavoured us so far, and I thank Heaven I am sanguine enough totrust that she won't desert us now that we're within a degree ofour first destination, and only seven from the Pole!'

After this, what mattered it to us that the fog settled downas densely as ever—if possible, more so? We wore content towait; hope and the certainty of ultimate success made everythingbright and rosy to our eyes; and even the knowledge of the plightof our vessel could not appreciably damp our spirits. By somemeans or other, surely, we should get her free when the timecame.

Quite suddenly, on September 14th, the ice-pressures stopped,and that afternoon we were electrified by the doctor'sinformation that, as far as he could ascertain, we had ceaseddrifting.

'Ceased drifting!' we repeated, mechanically, when he told us,for the fact was difficult to realise.

'I'm certain of it,' he answered, 'and from that I concludewe're in the vicinity of land. By an approximate calculation weought to he about latitude 83° 20′—in a word, almostat our destination! If it weren't for this confounded fog, weshould be sure in a couple of minutes; as it is'—with agroan—'I suppose we must exercise patience, a quality inwhich I was always singularly deficient!'

'Couldn't we find out where we are by any means at all?'asked.

'Fogs are things that can't be managed like a ship,' repliedthe captain. 'There they are, and there they remain as long'sthey like. And all you can do is to lie-to and swear, if inclinedthat way, and, when they do go off, make up for lost time. And inthis case we must do the same!'

'And what if we drift out of our course?' asked thedoctor.

'In your own words, we'll wait till that happens,' replied thecaptain, quietly.

'A good retort! But I don't think we need do that either. Whynot make use of the balloon again?'

'In this fog!' I said. 'Surely, doctor, you must becrazy!'

'Wait a minute. It's a well-known fact that these Arctic fogscling closely to the ice, and men ascending a few hundred feethave found the air quite clear. Thus an ascent at the presenttime is not only an interesting scientific experiment, but mayalso show us where we really are.'

'Then by all means let us make it!' I cried.

And so the preparations were at once made.

It was found that owing to the damp the balloon was so muchheavier that it would only rise with three persons; andaccordingly Dr Lorimer, the captain, and I were the aerialpassengers on this occasion. And a thoroughly disagreeableexperience it was, too, as we rose slowly through the moistair.

But the doctor was right. When we had ascended about twohundred feet the fog began to lighten, and at five hundred therewas scarcely any humidity in the air. The sun was obscured byblack clouds; below us was the uniform surface of the fog,resembling an immense level plain of snow, unbroken by a singleexcrescence. But before the balloon had reached its greatestaltitude we were startled by an exclamation from the captain.

'Look there!' he cried. 'Towards the east. Land and amountainous coast!'

From our positions in the car the doctor and I had beennaturally looking towards the north, where there was a huge bankof fog. Now, as the captain spoke, we turned our eyes to theeast, and this is what we saw: There was no fog, and not morethan four miles off was a coast-line lying north-west and south-east, broken up by many inlets, and backed by mountains of agreat height, the dark sides of which seemed to be entirely freefrom snow. And close in by the shore was a broad belt of openwater, extending north as far as we could see.

'The land mentioned by Randolph Torrens!' said the doctor,after we had looked at it for many minutes. 'It must be! CaptainSneddon! Oliphant! our expedition has succeeded!'

But the captain had been paying less attention to the landthan to what was to be seen on this side of it. Between ourposition and the open coast-water the fog hid everything except anarrow stretch of ice bordering the water; but this, we saw, wasbroken up by many leads.

'We can do nothing until the fog lifts,' he said in reply tothe doctor, 'and then we'll see if we have succeeded.Let us get down.'

We gave the signal, and in five minutes were telling our storyto the others. I need say nothing of the excitement caused onboard by our announcement, nor of the impatience with which weawaited the lifting of the fog: these may be imagined by all whohave had an object within sight, and yet for a time out of reach.Preparations for an attempt to free the Aurora were made at once;and when, next day, the fog was reported to be considerablylighter, everything was ready for the venture. Before mid-day aslight breeze from the land, aided by a strong sun, hadeffectively cleared the air; and then we beheld, not threehundred yards from us, a broad and open pass apparentlycommunicating with the coast-water.

'We shall do it!' cried the doctor, after one glance. 'If wearen't in that opening before evening, I'll forfeit my reputationfor veracity!'

'Then I'll leave it to you,' replied Captain Sneddon, 'for Iconfess I don't see how it is to be done.'

The doctor only smiled, and immediately set to work, aided bymany willing volunteers. First, he carefully surveyed andexamined the ice between the vessel and the lead; and, at a pointwhich he indicated after much measuring and calculation, the menbored a hole into the heart of an ice-hillock. Then, when thatwas ready, a specially prepared dynamite cartridge of more thanordinary explosive power was placed within it, affixed to whichwas a slender wire communicating with a powerful electric batteryon deck.

'You don't mean to say, doctor, you intend to free us throughthat?' asked the captain, a little scornfully.

'Unless the Aurora is more firmly fixed than Iimagine, I'll be surprised if she isn't freed through that,' washis answer.

The captain shrugged his shoulders; while Lorimer, aftermaking sure that all were on board, and that steam had been gotup and everything prepared, deftly attached the coil to themachine.

'Ready?' he asked.

The reply was affirmative.

'Then look out, and don't lose your heads at the moment youneed them most,' he said, giving the handle a sharp turn.

Before we had time to be prepared, so to speak, the mine hadexploded with tremendous effect. Hardly had the doctor spokenbefore we heard a deep, dull sound as of distant thunder, and atthe same moment the ice-surface seemed to be heaved up, throwingout a volume of dense white smoke. Through this we caught aglimpse of masses of ice in the process of being hurled throughthe air. Almost simultaneously we experienced a shock that wentthrough every timber in the vessel; and, as if in irresolution,she swayed to and fro for a little before she finally subsided.In a second it was all over; fore and aft of the Aurorawe saw open water, and she herself was again in her element. Thedoctor had calculated so truly, that the ice had split directlyunder the ship, and now our course was open to us if we couldonly use it.

'Forward at full-speed!' shouted the doctor.

The chief engineer obeyed, and the Aurora dashedforward as if for her life. In a moment she had passed throughthe newly-formed lead, and just in time; for hardly had she doneso than it was seen to be closing in.

'Hurrah! We have done it, thanks to dynamite and electricity!'cried Dr Felix Lorimer, enthusiastically.

'And thanks to you, too, doctor,' said the captain, in a toneof genuine admiration; and at his call we gave a round of cheers,again and again repeated, in honour of our plucky liberator.

Ten minutes thereafter the Aurora was cleaving theopen coast-water of Torrens Land (as with one consent wechristened the new territory, pre-supposing it to have no name),and with mixed feelings we gazed at its mountains and valleys,its ice-covered shores and its glaciers. At noon the doctorsucceeded in getting an observation that placed us some thirty-one miles north of the position of the 'land-locked bay'as given by Randolph Torrens. We headed for it, of course,steaming close in to the coast; and late in the afternoon wereached an inlet corresponding to the description, though therewas half a minute or so of variance as regardslongitude—explainable, no doubt, by the difference in theinstruments of that day and this.

Those who were in the secret could hardly restrain themselvesas we steamed into this bay, which, except at the narrowentrance, was completely encircled by land and free from ice.Even the crew, who could not but suspect that something was inthe wind, were all on the tiptoes of expectation. Cecil was thefirst to make a discovery. On the starboard side there were high,black cliffs standing back from the shore, and there he pointedout something—we could not distinguish what—risingout of the snow or ice.

'Seems to me like a flag-staff,' said Captain Sneddon.

By this time a boat had been lowered to convey us ashore, andin five minutes we had landed in this new country—aterra incognita so far as the civilised world wasconcerned. In another we had found that, as the captain hadsupposed, it was indeed a flag-staff we had seen from the deck.Pick-axes and shovels had been brought with us, and eagerly wedug away the accumulated snow of years until at last we had laidbare a cairn of stones surrounded by detached pieces of wood andother debris. And there, when with difficulty we had broken upthe frozen mass, we discovered a bottle containing apaper—the solution, we hoped, of the mystery surroundingRandolph Torrens's voyage to this spot.

VIII. — THE ERECTION OF FORTLORIMER.

IT was Nils Jansen, it, should be mentioned, whounearthed the bottle and handed it to the captain. He, after aglance at it, transferred it to me. With a stroke of my shovel Iknocked off the head, and out dropped a paper yellow with age,but otherwise in a good state of preservation. After running myeyes over it, and seeing that it was miserably short andcontained nothing to he kept secret, I read it aloud to thosearound me, whose suspense was naturally great. It was asfollows:

In this bay, called Weymouth Harbour (83°25′ N. lat., and 48° 5′ E. long.), the crew of thesteam-brig 'Weymouth" wintered 1855-56, after having discoveredthis continent, and explored it seventy miles to the north andalso inland. Eight of the ship's company have died, and, short-handed as we are, there is little prospect of arriving safely inEngland, for which we sail to-day. We leave this in attestationof our claims as discoverers of the land, and of havingpenetrated farther to the north than any previous navigators.

Signed in the name of Messrs Randolph Torrensand P. E. Stafford, owners,

Thomas Thomson, Captain.

August 17, 1856.

This was all: and as I finished reading the document that forthirty years had remained buried under that cairn, and that toldus so little, I seemed to see the whole scene—the vesselready to sail, the boat lying off shore, and the daringadventurers placing their record where we were to find it so manyyears afterwards. But I was recalled to the present by mycompanions' expressions of disappointment that, whatever othermerits the paper might have, it gave no key to Randolph Torrens'sreasons for despatching this expedition to the land he haddiscovered.

'There's nothing new in it except the name of the vessel,'said the doctor; 'and if we ever do solve this mystery—ifmystery it is—it strikes me it must be by the merestchance. The question is, what are we to do now?'

'Follow out our instructions by searching to the north-east,'was my prompt reply. 'Then, if that is thoroughly done by nextsummer, push on as far north as we can get—if possible, tothe North Pole.'

'And winter here, I suppose,' put in Cecil. 'By the way, whereare "the extensive coal-fields" Torrens spoke of.'

To settle this, and to become somewhat acquainted with thetopography of Weymouth Harbour, a survey party was immediatelyorganised. Several men were left at the cairn to remove the iceand snow around, in the forlorn hope of finding more relics; butit may be as well to say at once that they only succeeded inlaying bare the remains of a boat and several pieces of metal.The rest of the company separated to explore the bay, which wasabout two miles long and a little above one mile at its broadestpart. Why it was not perpetually frozen, as from its situationone would expect, we soon discovered, for at its upper end itreceived the waters of a considerable stream. Except here, wherea valley appeared to strike off in a north-easterly direction, itwas completely surrounded by mountains of a great height. Onepeak we saw in the distance could not have been less than eightthousand feet high.

But before we had observed all this, the doctor had fixed theposition of the 'coal-fields.' He had gone forward to examine theblack cliffs that stood a little behind the cairn, and had hardlyreached their base when a shout from him brought us to hisside.

'The coal!' he cried. 'These cliffs are of coal, equal by itslook to the best Scotch. Enough here above-ground to last us athousand years, and no doubt as much more under! By the aid of adynamite cartridge we shall get enough to serve us all winter,and make us as happy as if this land were still as bountiful andwarm as it must have been hundreds of centuries ago, before thiscoal could have been formed.'

A few hours later, when the bay had been completely surveyed,we held a council in the mess-room; and then I formally assumedcommand instead of Captain Sneddon, who would on no account actas leader unless when afloat.

'Now, gentlemen,' I said, when we had gone through thisformality, 'here we are at our destination, in a latitude higherthan has ever been reached, save by our predecessors in exploringthis land.[*} Here we shall remain until next year, using thisspot as our base of operations for the various excursions weshall make. As our stay may be of seven or eight months, it isour duty to make the men as comfortable as we can. It isgenerally admitted, I believe—the doctor will correct me ifI am wrong—that the Arctic winter may be more healthilyspent on shore than within the narrow dimensions of a ship, if itis at all possible.'

[* At that time, of course, we did not knowthat Lieutenant Lockwood, of the United States expedition underGreely, had reached latitude 83° 24′ on the Greenland coast(1882), thus having gained, next to us, the most northerlypoint.]

'Quite right,' assented Dr Lorimer.

'And so,' I continued, 'I think it would be a good plan toconstruct during the next month a building capable ofaccommodating us all, and in it to spend the winter. I think itcan be done. What do you say to the idea?'

The captain was the first to answer.

'I'll admit a vessel's not exactly the place to spend four orfive idle months on end in,' he said; 'but it's a question if wecould build a house which would. And, after all, others havemanaged with ships—in fact, most Arctic explorers—andwhy shouldn't we?'

'But if such a house could be built, captain,' I replied, 'itwould be better to do so?'

'Like enough,' he said, but in a tone that told me he did notaltogether like the project. Probably his professional vanity wastouched.

'But how are we to build the place?' asked Cecil. 'Where isthe material, etc., to come from?'

'It's ready to hand,' answered the doctor. 'You remember thatin 1869 the crew of the Hansa, off East Greenland,built a house of coal. We can do the same on a larger scale, forwe have an inexhaustible supply of material. With your permissionI will draw out a plan for the building, and undertake thesuperintendence of it; and I'm certain we can raise a WinterPalace that will be a credit to us and to our northernposition!'

This, in the end, as was usually the case with the doctor'sprojects, was unanimously agreed to; and after we had discussedthe details with the proverbial enthusiasm of amateurs, it wasleft to Lorimer, with full powers to do as he liked.

He was not long in making a beginning. In the first place, amine was exploded in one of the cliffs, and a few hundred tons ofcoal got ready for the building. Then a level spot was selected,well sheltered on all sides, the snow removed, and thefoundations laid in the solid rock. Cement was easily obtained byfilling up the joints between the pieces of coal with dry snow,and then pouring water over it; and in five minutes we had asolid mass, in which nothing less than superhuman efforts couldhave driven a hole. In a few days the walls began to rise, and wesaw that the building was to be of goodly dimensions. The floorwas composed of the uniform-sized coal bricks used on board, overwhich was laid a covering of felt, that did duty for a carpet.The inside walls were also lined with this article. The roof wasof timber and coal; and in the centre of the whole the scientificarchitect would insist on having an ornamental tower of asomewhat imposing appearance, 'for the purpose,' he said, 'ofgiving a finish to Fort Lorimer,' as we had decided to call it inhis honour. There were fourteen windows altogether, made oftransparent sheets of ice in the Greenland fashion, through whichthe light made at least an attempt to enter.

But long before the building had reached this stage ofcompletion I had departed from Weymouth Harbour in the steam-launch on a voyage of discovery to the north. I was accompaniedby Cecil, Clements, the two stokers, and Nils Jansen. The coasttrended north-west, and was almost unbroken for nearly twentymiles; but after that we were conscious of a strong current, andsoon came upon what was either the estuary of a river or aninlet.

'Something to investigate here,' said Cecil. 'Surely therecan't be a river in these regions so large as to cause thiscurrent, can there? It hasn't the least appearance of a straiteither.'

The opening ran almost directly north-east, narrowing as weadvanced, while on both shores the cliffs were of a stupendousheight. About ten miles up we espied on the left-hand side adistant range of mountains higher than we had yet seen; and,almost directly in front, two noble peaks that seemed to be quitedetached and to stand alone. These were called Mounts Torrens andStafford, in honour of the pioneer explorers of the land; therange of mountains we named the Arctic Alps; while the inlet orstrait itself was christened for the time being Oliphant Inlet.As it was evident that it extended much farther, and our time waslimited, we reluctantly decided to devote ourselves at present tothe delineation of the coast-line, and to resume its explorationin the following year. So we returned to the entrance, and thencontinued our voyage northward to a cape we saw in the distance,and which we called Cape Thomson. Behind this was anisland—Sneddon Island—and opposite to it a broadglacier, to which we gave the name of our engineer, Clements.Beyond, the coast extended in an unbroken line to the horizon;but as the young ice was already beginning to form, it would nothave been safe to penetrate farther, and so the launch's prow wasturned homewards.

In three days we reached the harbour, but found the entranceblocked by young ice, through which it was with difficulty wecould force our way. When at length we were inside, the scenethat met our eyes made us open these organs very wide indeed. TheAurora lay completely dismantled in the middle of thebay, looking as forlorn and desolate as if she had been desertedfor good. On shore a village appeared to have arisen as if bymagic. In the centre of a wide enclosure marked out by a snowstockade stood Fort Lorimer, the Union Jack flying from itstower, and smoke issuing from each of its eight chimneys. On oneside of it, connected by a covered-in passage, was an observatoryand another hut (the magazine, as we afterwards found); and onthe opposite, several storehouses and the quarters of the dogs.Against the outer walls of all the buildings snow and ice hadbeen piled up for the sake of warmth; and the whole place,looking at it from the harbour, had a strange and yet home-likeappearance.

'Dr Felix Lorimer has eclipsed himself!' exclaimed Cecil. 'Ifit is only as cosy inside as it appears from here, we shall be inclover all winter, and no mistake.'

Just as he spoke, those on shore seemed to become aware of ourarrival, and by the time we landed they were thronging down tomeet us, the doctor foremost amongst them.

'Isn't my fort a credit to me?' he asked, when the greetingswere over. 'Here it is, all ready for our four months and a halfof winter, occupied by the crew of the Aurora, and onlyawaiting the formal blessing of the commander to complete thebusiness.'

'It is indeed, doctor,' I answered. 'But do the honours atonce, if you love us, for we are dying to see the interior.'

He led the way up a broad path made of beaten snow coveredwith sand to the entrance porch, the door of which had beentransferred from the vessel. Entering, we found that we were in acorridor running the whole length of the building. From this allthe rooms were reached. The centre was occupied by the men'squarters—two largo apartments each fifty feet by twenty,divided by a curtain, and heated by two stoves apiece. Round themwere placed the double sleeping-bunks. As we entered we wereconscious of a general feeling of warmth that I knew could notcome from the stoves alone. I turned to the doctor for anexplanation.

'A well-perfected system of hot-air lines is responsible forthis,' he said; 'and it is of such use that the temperature inany part of the house need never fall below freezing-point, evenin the most severe weather. I intend also to introduce gas forlighting purposes, which will add further to the heat, but as yetI have had no time.'

Adjoining the men's rooms on one side were the cook's galley,the room for washing and drying clothes, and the bath-tubs—the latter so situated that this indispensable aid tohealth could be taken advantage of at any time with comfort.Then, at the end of the fort, came the officers' living-room, outof which opened six small cabins, occupied by the captain, Cecil,the two mates, the first engineer, and myself. In mine I foundall my possessions arranged just as they had been on board ship,the walls hung with my pictures and photographs, and alongside mybunk the safe containing the official books and papers of theexpedition.

On the other side wore the doctor's laboratory and workshop,his and Clements' cabins, the condensing-room, and the library.As I have mentioned, a covered way led from this part to theobservatory outside.

Place tables, chairs, benches, stools, cupboards, bearskinrugs, and other articles of furniture in their places; ornamentthe walls with pictures, models, and arms; and you may imaginethat we were not altogether to be pitied in the prospect that laybefore us. Comfort and health, at any rate, had been insured forus by the doctor's efforts; and altogether we had every reason tobe highly delighted with his work.

That evening we celebrated our occupancy of Fort Lorimer by agrand entertainment in the 'foc's'le,' as the men called theirquarters. The two rooms were converted into one by the withdrawalof the curtain, a temporary platform was erected at one end, andour piano (with Cecil as performer) placed upon it. Song andrecitation followed each other fast and furiously; the doctorplayed operatic selections on his violin, and Cecil popular airson the piano; and one by one volunteers came forward, until webecame amazed at the amount of recreative talent amongst thecrew. We ended up by clearing the hall and dancing until early inthe morning; and although the want of partners of the gentler sexmay have been felt by us, the men—bless theirhearts!—got on quite as well with their shipmates.

'We must form a dramatic company,' said Cecil, withenthusiasm; and, aided by the indefatigable doctor, heimmediately set about doing so, the result being that we had soonanother help to relieve the tedium of the long Arctic night thatwas approaching.

Hitherto we had seen little animal life, but about this timeone of the sailors was chased from the head of the bay to thefort by two bears, both of whom we succeeded in killing. Herds ofmusk-oxen were also noticed more than once in the valley thatstruck north-east. This, amongst other reasons—theprincipal being that this seemed most likely to be the directionindicated by Randolph Torrens 'towards the mountains whichwill be seen in the distance'—determined me to utilisethe few days of light that still remained by a sledge-excursionthat way. So the sledges were prepared, the dogs got intotraining, the men chosen, and all the necessary preparations madewith the greatest possible despatch.

IX. — THE SLEDGEEXCURSION—
FURTHER TRACES OF THE 'NORTHERN PHAROS.'

'GOOD-BYE, Oliphant! Take good care of yourselfand the men, and come back as soon as you can with some tangibleproof that you've been away.'

The doctor was the speaker, and these were the last words Iheard as I left Fort Lorimer to commence the sledge-excursioninto the interior of Torrens Land. The rest of the party were inadvance. I had remained behind a few minutes to give the lastinstructions to Lorimer and the captain in case of any mishap tome, when the former would take command and conduct the expeditionas might seem expedient.

I was not long in overtaking the others, who were slowlyadvancing over the frozen bay to its eastern end. There wereeight altogether, including myself—Cecil, Wemyss, Gates thestoker, Nils Jansen, and three sailors named Pennell, Forbes, andGrindlay, making up the party. Of these, four at a time assistedthe dogs to draw the M'Clintock sledges, which was so heavilyladen with necessaries that the dogs alone could scarcely havemoved it, even over the comparatively smooth ice of the bay. Butwhen we reached land the difficulties increased a thousandfold.Although much snow had fallen during the past few days, the waywas so rough and rocky that occasionally it took the fullstrength of the party, men and dogs combined, to advance it afoot. Add to this that the temperature was four or five degreesbelow zero (Fahr.), and you may understand that Arctic sledge-travelling is no pleasant recreation, but the hardestwork one can imagine. To the large sledge, I shouldmention, was one of the smaller Lapland sleds, but for the mostpart we had no occasion to use it.

When we halted that night, only six miles from the fort, wecould already realise some of the disadvantages of autumnjourneying. In the first place, we had only eight hours ofpartial light by which to work when we started, and thisdecreased day by day as the sun's altitude lessened, until,before our return, it had disappeared completely. Again, theweather was almost certain to he against us, snow at this periodof the year falling continually; and such ice as had been formedwas of the most treacherous description. The utmost caution wasthus necessary to prevent the sledge breaking through whencrossing a frozen pool or stream, and also to prevent frost-bite,the most insidious as well as the most dreaded (save scurvy) ofArctic diseases.

At night we had only a thin tent to protect us from theintense cold. Packing, unpacking, eating, and camping had all tobe done in total darkness; and as we lay in our sleeping-bags onthe hard ground, trying to forget our manifold discomforts inslumber, we could not help thinking in envy of the cosy banks andwell-lit rooms of Fort Lorimer. Here, fire of any kind wasimpossible, and our cooking had to be done by means of a spirit-lamp. But in spite of all drawbacks I never heard a murmur ofdissatisfaction, and the cheerfulness and good spirits of all,added to a genuine desire to do as much as possible, made evenhardships bearable, and discomfort seem a mere incident.

On the second day we were more fortunate, being able to travelseveral miles with comparative speed upon the frozen surface ofthe stream that flowed into Weymouth Harbour. That afternoon aherd of musk-oxen was descried on the side of the valley, andCecil and I, taking our rifles, started in pursuit. With muchcaution we managed to get within five hundred yards of them, andwere rapidly decreasing the distance when the attitude of theoxen told us that they suspected something. But even when theysaw us they appeared to have no fear, and allowed us to getwithin easy range, while they stood gazing, in surprisedstupidity, at the strange figures approaching them.

'Doesn't it seem a pity, Godfrey, to shoot them when they showno fight?' said Cecil. 'But I suppose there's noalternative.'

At that moment, however, they seemed to take alarm; and asthey turned to flee in the opposite direction we forgot ourscruples and simultaneously fired. Although a cow and a calffell, the others, instead of continuing their flight, drew uptogether in consternation, and stayed so long that we mighteasily have picked them off one by one. But as we should onlyhave had to abandon the flesh, we refrained from killing forkilling's sake alone; and after a minute's hesitation theyscampered off at a speed that one could never have imaginedpossible from their unwieldy appearance.

The animals shot having been cut up and their tidbits stowedaway on the sledge, we continued our laborious journey until thedarkness compelled us to camp.

So far we had travelled in a north-easterly direction, butnow, on the third day, our farther progress that way was stopped.For a time the ground had been steadily rising, and our laboursin dragging the sledge were simply Herculean, the more so thatthey were accomplished: in the teeth of a blinding snow-storm. Inthe end we were obliged to stop; and, when the snow had ceasedfalling, Cecil and I in the dog-sledge pushed on to find out howfar the ascent continued.

In the course of an hour or so we arrived at the summit; and,the air by this time having cleared, we saw before us a view thatmore than compensated us for all our trouble. In a moment, as itwere, we had been transported into the midst of an alpinecountry. In front of us stretched range upon range of snow-covered peaks, rising higher and higher, until in the distancetheir summits were invisible; and between were the long streak-like glaciers, so numerous that of the largest alone there musthave been hundreds. Between us and the mountains was a jumble oflow hills, obviously impassable for a sledge; while the averageheight of the mountains themselves could not have been less thanten thousand feet. Many of the peaks, indeed, must have been morethan half as high again.

'Isn't it glorious?' I asked. 'An Arctic Switzerland on alarge scale, only waiting to be explored!'

But Cecil did not seem to hear me. He was looking intentlythrough the glass towards the north, and after a long scrutiny hehanded it to me, saying, in a tone of suppressed excitement:'Look there! That high, isolated peak rising above the rest. Tellme what you see.'

I did as he told me, adjusted the glass, and looked at thepoint he indicated, which might have been anywhere from ten tofifty miles distant; for the effects of refraction were such thatno computation as to distance could be relied upon. At first Icould see nothing peculiar, but in a little I made out whatappeared to be a small black cloud resting on the summit. Thiswas not, of course, in any way out of the common; and I was aboutto turn away, when I saw the dark cloud lit up for an instantas by a gleam of fire.

In my surprise I nearly dropped the glass; and then, notknowing exactly what to make of the phenomenon, I looked toCecil.

'It must be a volcano,' he said.

'A volcano!' I echoed.

'Yes,' he replied, 'and I can tell you one or two things thatsupport the idea. Where we camped last night there were rocks ofseveral entirely different formations, and the soil wasdistinctly volcanic. And look down there'—pointing to thetract between us and the mountains—'that can bethe result of nothing except a big convulsion of nature. Dependupon it, we're in a volcanic district!'

And just then, as if to confirm his words, the cloud on thedistant peak was again lit up, and from the phenomena I could nolonger have any doubt that Mount Cecil Oliphant—as I namedit at once—was indeed a volcano.

While we were still gazing at it we heard loud shouts, and,looking behind, saw the rest of the party painfully dragging thesledge up the hill. Descending, we gave them what help we could,and after two hours' severe work we managed to gain the summit.By this time it was nearly dark and the snow-storm hadrecommenced; and so our friends could only hope that it would beclear enough on the following day for them to see that of whichwe had told them. Luckily they were not disappointed. In theearly forenoon, however, another discovery was made by Gates thatsome what spoiled the effect of the first. He had climbed a steeppinnacle on our right to get a better view, but had not beenthere long before we saw him excitedly gesticulating to us tofollow him. Doing so, we made out as soon as we got withinearshot that:

'There's a water-sky to the south, sir, as plain as theAurora's funnel!'

The stoker was quite right. Running almost, directly south bythe compass was a valley, enclosed on both sides by mountains,and on the horizon saw an unmistakable water-sky.

'That's the direction we must go!' I said, decidedly. 'If, asI imagine, we come to the sea in a day or two, it will prove thatthe coast runs some distance south-east from Weymouth Harbourbefore trending to the east. We will thus settle an importantpoint, and perhaps also discover what becomes of all thoseglaciers, which certainly don't reach the sea on the westerncoast line.'

'But the volcano?' asked Cecil.

'Won't run away; and perhaps we may be able to visit it in thespring. At present it's clearly impossible.'

Before starting, a depôt of provisions was formed, consistingof one hundred and fifty pounds of pemmican and bacon, a littlealcohol for fuel, and part of the meat of the musk-oxen we hadshot. This, of course, lightened the sledge considerably, andwhen the dogs were harnessed they went off with it quite briskly.But when rougher ground was reached we had all to put ourshoulders to the wheel—or rather the pulling-straps overour shoulders—and give way with a will.

The two days that it took us to descend the fifteen miles ofthis valley were, I think, the most exhausting I have ever spent.Owing to the state of the ground our progress was miserably slow;snow fell so thickly that we could see nothing beyond a radius often yards, and the intensity of the cold may be imagined when Isay that the thermometer during all that time never rose abovezero. Each night we had three or four cases of frost-bite, noneof them, fortunately, very severe.

On our sixth day out we found ourselves quite unexpectedlyupon a broad stretch of new ice, which we knew must be thateither of an inland lake or of the sea. As nothing could be doneuntil the snow ceased, we returned to land and camped there; andwhen daylight appeared next forenoon about eleven, we discoveredthat we were on an arm of the sea about a mile broad! Away to thesouth the illimitable Frozen Ocean was visible, broken up asusual by ice-holes and lanes, the cause doubtless of the water-sky we had seen. And, certain explanation of the destination ofthe many inland glaciers, it was studded over with innumerableicebergs, large and small.

That day there was no slow travelling. To us, so longaccustomed to rough ground, the ice seemed absolutely level,though in fact it was far from being so; and we accomplished theeleven miles to the mouth of Jansen Fjord before three in theafternoon. Then, in the dim twilight, we saw the coast stretchingaway eastward and westward; and to the south of us was the ever-silent, ever-mystical Arctic Ocean, lying calmly as if in theconsciousness that in her power still, in spite of the numberlessbrave Britons, Americans, Dutch, Russians, Scandinavians, andAustrians who had striven to wrest it from her, lay the secret ofthe North.

'What is to be our course now?' I asked that evening; 'whetherare we to return or to follow the coast westward and northward tothe harbour?'

'I say go on,' answered Cecil.

'And so do I,' said Wemyss, 'for anything is preferable to areturn over such ground.'

'But isn't it better to face the dangers we know than those weknow not of?' I retorted, laughingly. 'However, if we'veprovisions enough'—

'We've enough for twelve days yet,' interrupted Wemyss, whowas caterer.

'That's all right, then; and if the men are agreeable, on weshall go!'

The men, having a lively recollection of what they hadundergone, took Wemyss's view, and voted unanimously for anadvance; and so, next morning—the morning of a day destinedto be an eventful and exciting one—we turned to the west,and continued our journey along the 'ice-foot.' This, it may beas well to explain, is a belt of sea-ice which is formed againstthe land, and clings to it in spite of wind and tides, being, asa rule, separated by a 'tidal crack' from the movable ocean-ice.As it usually forms a secure track for travelling purposes, it isinvariably taken advantage of by sledgers within the Arcticcircle. It was along this, then, that we slowly pressed our way,deserting it whenever it ran inland to follow the course of somebay or inlet, and again using it whenever it suited our purposes.It was towards mid-day, when the light was strongest, that thecause of the excitement I have referred to was first seen byCecil, who was in advance. At this point the ice-foot was muchbroken, and there were several open lanes in the pack, telling ofa strong tidal current. We noticed Cecil draw up and lookintently before him for a moment. Then, with a shout, he ran onat full-speed. Following, we observed him bending over whatappeared to be a mass of driftwood; and, as we joined him, we sawthat it lay in considerable quantities all around.

What can this be?' I asked.

'Boat-wreckage, sir,' replied Gates. 'See the nails in theplanks, and the grooves, and—look, sir—there's ropesand parts of an oar!'

'Boat-wreckage!' I was repeating, when I heard a cry fromPennell, who immediately came running towards me. He carried aplank, on which were painted several letters; and taking it fromhim, I made them out to be:

'...ERN PHAROS.'

X. — THE SLEDGE EXCURSION—PERILSAND PRIVATIONS.

THERE could be no doubt that it was theNorthern Pharos, the vessel that had had baffled all ourconjectures so far, and now seemed as if destined to baffle themfor ever, to which this board had belonged, and of whose fate itwas a somewhat sinister indication. Of those present, only Ceciland I knew anything of her previous connection with us; and whenI had pronounced the words I significantly motioned to him to saynothing. He understood the signal, and kept silent. Wemyss wasthe first to speak.

'Pharos!' he repeated, musingly. 'I wonder what we'reto gather from this—whether the vessel has reached thiscoast and gone down here, or the wood has drifted from the farsouth?'

Neither Cecil nor I thought it worth while to point out that,as all the wood was of the same material, and there was no traceof drift of any other kind, the evidence was convincingly strongin favour of the former conjecture.

'Begging your pardon, sir,' said the sailor Pennell at thispoint, 'there's a Dundee whaler they calls the NorthernPharos—maybe it's her that this belonged to.'

'A Greenland one?' I asked.

'Yes, sir; this is only her second year, but they say she's anice vessel.'

'A Dundee whaler!' said Wemyss. 'Can this have drifted all theway from the Greenland seas? Why, it's a problem after thedoctor's own heart, and one that'll lead to some interestingstatistics on ocean-currents and the law of circulation.'

Meanwhile, the driftwood had been thoroughly searched withoutresult for further traces of the mysterious ship; and, in theabsence of any, the general idea was that the debris must havedrifted from some distant spot. By the time the search was overit was dark, and so I decided to camp there for the night.Another reason was that by means of the wood we might have theunwonted luxury of a fire—a comfort to which we had beenstrangers since leaving the fort. While the supper was beingprepared, we took Wemyss aside and told him all we knew of thePharos, for in the circ*mstances it would hardly havebeen fair not to let him into the secret.

'It's a strange story,' he said, when I had concluded, 'andit's scarcely within the bounds of possibility, I think, that ifthe vessel did reach this coast she should have done so bychance, as the doctor supposes. There's little doubt she's gonedown here; but what her purposes were, and what connection theyhad with the Aurora, we'll probably never knownow.'

'Unless,' put in Cecil, 'some of her crew have escaped.'

'Hardly likely,' I said; 'at least, they can't have done so inthis direction, else there would assuredly have been some traceof them. As you say, Wemyss, there's little doubt that she hasfoundered in these seas. Her purpose, after all, is a secondarymatter, which we may ferret out when we return to England, butcertainly not here.'

As there was evidently no solution of the mystery to be foundat Pharos Point, as we named the place, the board was packed uponthe sledge, and the journey resumed at dawn next forenoon. Theday was uneventful; but at night we had the most magnificentdisplay of the Aurora Borealis we had yet seen.

Just before midnight the pitchy darkness was relieved by agleam of light that disappeared as suddenly as it rose, only tobe followed in a moment by others that became more and morenumerous, until the whole southern horizon was lit up by abrilliant arc of light. Within the arc the dark sky remained asdark; but all around this spot of blackness, like the ever-movingocean around a desolate island, the coruscation gleamed andbrightened, now resembling the reflection of a vastconflagration, and again waxing softer and more mellow, as ifashamed of its former intensity. Slowly the zone spread over thesky, shooting out rays of red, and emerald, and violet; and whenat length the heavenly dome was completely lit up with theradiance, the scene was one of indescribable grandeur. Amarvellous effect was produced by the play of the Northern Lightsupon the hummocks and bergs of the ice-bound ocean; and as thestreamers gleamed over the frozen waters, and flashed meteor-likealong the summits of the icebergs, we could imagine ourselves ina more enchanting fairyland than ever a childish fancy conceived.But after a time the light grew fainter and fainter, and finallydied away so gradually that we were left standing in the awfulsilence of the Arctic night before we knew it had finallydisappeared.

On the following day we turned the south-westerly point ofTorrens Land—Cape Wemyss, we called it—within, wecalculated, forty miles of Weymouth Harbour. Here thedifficulties of our return journey practically began. So far theice-foot had served us well, but within a mile of the turn of thecoast to the north-west it disappointed us altogether. For someunaccountable reason it had either failed to form, or was so muchcut up and broken as to be impassable; and the consequence wasthat we had to choose between finding a path on land or on thesea-ice. It was a case of Scylla and Charybdis: the land was somountainous that it was scarcely to be thought of, while the icewas nearly as bad, and might also be treacherous. However,Charybdis was chosen, and our journey resumed upon the ice, underthe additional discomfort of a biting wind from the north,accompanied by a heavy fall of snow that for five days neverceased.

On the first day under these new conditions we onlyaccomplished six miles; and on the second—the 10th ofOctober—the sun set at mid-day, and was seen no more forfour months and a half. The long and dreaded polar night hadbegun. But at first we had still a few hours of twilight in whichto work; and it was during one of these that an almost fatalaccident—an accident terrible in itsconsequences—happened. Blinded by the driving snow, whichhid everything, and covered old and young ice alike, we werewearily dragging the sledge over the rough way. I had the leadingstrap, and was going doggedly on in ignorance of anything wrong,when I heard a loud crack behind me, followed by a howl from thedogs, and something that sounded strong from the men. We werebrought to a standstill, and I hastily turned, in time to see theothers pulling desperately at their straps.

'With all your might!' Wemyss was shouting. 'The sledge'sgoing through, and if it does'——

There was no need to say anything more, for the merepossibility made us drag with such good-will that the sledge wasgradually being recovered, when to our consternation the icebroke under it. In it went again, almost dragging us withit—indeed, partially immersing Jansen and Pennell—andas it did so we heard a sharp crack that sounded to us like theknell of doom, for it told us that one of the ropes had broken.By an effort almost superhuman we succeeded in getting the noseof the sledge upon firm ice, and thereafter ten or fifteenminutes' steady tugging sufficed to clear it. But by this time wewere all so exhausted that we could scarcely drag it to land, afew hundred yards distant, where, on a prominentheadland—afterwards named Cape Misfortune—we resolvedto camp for the night. An examination of our effects showed usthe extent of our loss. One bag of provisions, containing sevendays' rations, was gone, leaving barely sufficient for two days(and even that was thoroughly saturated with salt water); thetent and sleeping-bags on being exposed to the air froze as hardas boards, and the only thing that had escaped uninjured was thebox containing the instruments and ammunition. But even worsethan this, Pennell and Jansen were found to be severely frost-bitten on both feet, the effect of their immersion. Although wemanaged to restore the circulation before mortification set in,they were too lame to be of use for further dragging.

'We're certainly in a hole, and a pretty steep one, too,' Isaid to Wemyss and Cecil; 'but, after all, we can't be abovethirty miles from the fort, and we must reach it in thetwo days. Fifteen miles a day doesn't seem much.'

'But we haven't three hours a day,' said Wemyss, despondingly,'and in that we shall never do it.'

'We must, and that's all about it,' replied Cecil. 'If wedon't we are dead men, and, speaking personally, I should preferto reach Weymouth Harbour, even if we should have to tramp to itwithout stopping, in the dark or not.'

Next morning, accordingly, after a futile attempt to proceedon land, we again took to the ice, feeling our way with as muchcaution as was possible in the circ*mstances. It was a terribleday's work. The coast being hidden by the falling snow, we had tosteer by compass; and as we wound our way between the hummocksand ice-hills, we became more and more disheartened by thedifficulties of the route and by the successive misfortunes thatovertook us. The first of these was the maiming of Gates, ourstrongest man, by a fall into a hidden fissure, from which weextricated him at some pains, to find that he was so much injuredthat he had to be laid upon the sledge. Then Wemyss and Grindlaybroke through the ice and wore disabled by frost-bite, reducingthe auxiliary dragging strength to three—Cecil, myself, andForbes. But notwithstanding all these mishaps we made goodprogress for a time, the dogs acting as if they knew our livesdepended on it. If our strength had held out, I have no doubt weshould have done better still. But early in the afternoon webecame aware that our energy was failing us; the dogs becamelistless and moved only at the word of command; and the invalidsdeclared their inability to proceed much farther. Thus we had noalternative but to pitch our tent, which we did under the lee ofanother cape, and deliberate as to what should now be done.

Our position was critical in the extreme. None of the party,save Cecil and myself—for Forbes was completely prostratedby his exertions—was able to go farther without help; andthe dogs, themselves tired out, were utterly incompetent to dragthe sledge alone, with or without the extra weight of Gates. Onthe other hand, our provisions were nearly exhausted—we hadonly enough for one more meal. In a word, it was almostimpossible to go on; and if we remained where we were we muststarve.

'It comes to this, Cecil,' I said to my brother as we steppedoutside to discuss the matter while Jansen was preparing supper,'either of us must go to Fort Lorimer for help, and at once.'

We were walking briskly up and down, but as I spoke Cecilstopped, only to resume his exercise as he felt the cold.

'How is it to be done?' he asked.

'I have an idea. We must harness the best and least-tired dogsto the little sledge, and push on as fast as the obstacles willallow. It is the only hope, for I can't hide that if we haven'thelp by to-morrow—and there's every chance of missing theentrance to the bay in this snow—we're lost.'

'Then let me go, Godfrey,' urged my brother. 'I think I amfresher, and if I'm lost it won't matter so much to theothers.'

'I mean to go myself,' I answered. 'You are required here toattend to the men, any of whom may get worse at any moment. Thedanger is equally great; if there is a chance, it's yourduty to take it, if only for Edith's sake.'

He was about to reply, when Wemyss hobbled out to tell us thatour repast was ready, and also that Pennell had become delirious.This decided me.

'I will go, Cecil,' I said, 'immediately after supper. There'sstill enough light to avoid hummocks, and if I don't return byto-morrow night you must try to get to the fort by some means orother.'

No more was said. Our scanty supper was devoured in a silenceonly broken by the ravings of Pennell and the groans of Gates,whose right ankle and arm were both badly sprained. Then Iannounced my intention of pushing on alone for help, pointing outthat if I did not do so there was little hope, and asked the mento await my return with the patience and good-will they hadalways shown.

'God bless you, sir!' said Grindlay, when I had finished. 'Weknow you've done your best, and that if you can save us youwill.'

'God helping me, I will!' I responded from my heart. Then,with the help of Cecil and Jansen, I set about choosing myteam.

We could only find five dogs capable of work—Konig,Paradise Lost and Paradise Pound, and Antony and Cleopatra; andthese, much against their will, were harnessed to the Laplandsledge. At first they showed an invincible repugnance to leavingthe encampment and their fellow-creatures; but when I hadcompleted my arrangements and said farewell to my friends, and wewere fairly on our way, nothing could be better than the spiritwith which they entered into the work. At first the ice wascomparatively level, and, considering the thick and ever-increasing layer of snow that covered it, we crossed it at a goodspeed. But before long we were amongst hummocks, and then it wasI who had to lead the dogs, instead of being borne by them. Itwas slow and tiring work to grope one's way amongst the masses ofice, fearful at every step of falling into a crevasse or breakingthrough the treacherous ice. I had had no sleep and very littlefood for twelve hours, and during that time had been doing thework of two men, so that I had little strength left for thefatigues of a journey such as this. It was almost mechanically,indeed, that I plodded on, knowing that it was to save not onlymy own life, but also the lives of those under my charge.

How far I had gone in this way I do not know, but I wasaroused from my lethargy by my legs becoming entangled in thedogs' traces, which brought me heavily to the ground. It wasstill snowing; there was a faint light, by which I saw by thecompass that I was heading correctly, and the ice was apparentlyfree from hummocks. Placing myself on the sledge, I whipped upthe dogs to a fair speed; but before we had gone far we werebrought to a stop by the vicinity of land. This, at any rate,showed me that I was in the right direction; and so I began tofeel more confident of reaching my destination, if only I did notpass it in the dark. All my energies were required to preventmyself falling asleep where I sat, the consequence of which wouldhave been the immediate stoppage of the dogs. I think I must havedozed for a considerable time, guiding and whipping the animalsmerely by instinct. At any rate, I have no remembrance of whatpassed until a sudden jolt awakened me, and then I found that wewere at a standstill. In vain I urged the dogs onward: they wereevidently done up, and refused to move another inch.

'Nothing for it,' I said to myself, 'but to get out andwalk.'

Put even this was no easy matter. I was almost frozen, and mylimbs were so stiff that it was a great effort to move them. Andno wonder; for, on consulting my watch, I discovered that it wasseven hours since I had left the camp, and of three of them Iknew nothing.

Realising that I must walk to live, I pushed on through thesoft, yielding snow, the dogs following alongside willinglyenough now that they had no weight to pull. I was in a strangekind of stupor which I cannot describe, but still instinctively Iglanced now and then at the compass to see that I was right. Asto the rest I can say little. I remember, as in a dream, seeingthrough the snow some huge animal walking alongside us; but Itook no notice until I was in a manner roused by several howls ofanger or anguish from the dogs. Then, still sleepily, I lifted myloaded rifle from the sledge, and fired both barrels at thestrange animal. I had no curiosity; I only knew that it followedus no longer, and then on again I went. But my strength wassteadily failing. For perhaps five minutes I reeled onwards, andthen I fell. I could neither rise nor resist the overpoweringinclination I felt to sleep. Before I gave way, however, I hadthe presence of mind to slip the traces of the dogs, so as toallow them freedom; and then, with a confused feeling that I hadfailed and must now die, I became unconscious.

● ● ● ● ● ●

In half a minute, as it seemed, I recovered my senses, to findmyself surrounded by a multitude of men hearing torches andlamps.

'Quick! more brandy!' one bending over me was shouting in avoice I recognised as Dr Lorimer's. 'He's recovering, captain;another second will do it.'

I tried to articulate, but for a moment or two failed.

'The rest are under a headland to the south,' at last Imanaged to say. 'All disabled except Cecil. No meat. Be quick ifyou mean to save them.'

'As bad as that?' he asked. 'We must lose no time. To thesouth, did you say? How far?'

'About twenty miles, I think, but I can't be sure. If youfollow the coast you can't miss it.'

'Right! We'll find it somehow; and for assurance I'll takeKonig.—Norris, I trust to you to see Mr Oliphantcomfortable; plenty of heat and rubbing, and there's nofear.—Now, captain, let's get the relief sledgesready.'

And at this point, just as I was being raised, I relapsed.

● ● ● ● ● ●

It was far on in the next day before I was sufficientlyrecovered to hear the story of the relief. Around me lay mycomrades, all completely out of danger except Pennell, who was ina high fever. Two or three of them, however, had to sacrificetheir big toes to the amputating-knife; and it was lucky, thedoctor said, that the frost-bite had gone no farther.

It seems that when a fortnight had passed and we had notreturned, the inmates of Fort Lorimer began to grow anxious.Daily journeys were made to the north-east valley; for, ofcourse, they never expected us to appear from any otherdirection; but when the sun had departed and there were still nosigns of us, they feared the worst. Their spare time theyoccupied in carrying out, so far as they could, RandolphTorrens's instructions to 'search within a radius of twentymiles;' but, like us, they had discovered not the least trace of'white men.'

On the eventful evening of the rescue the doctor was in hisobservatory, when he heard a couple of shots—those I hadfired in blissful ignorance of my proximity to the bay. Rushinginto the house, he quickly got ready several necessaries, and incompany with the whole garrison sallied in search of me.Fortunately, he was guided by the howls of the dogs, whom hefound, on coming up, standing over my lifeless body and usingtheir lungs with all their might. Not fifty yards off was a deadbear, and near him poor Cleopatra, whom he must have killed justbefore my chance shots despatched him. The faithful animal, afterher splendid services, certainly deserved a better fate, and itis little wonder that for some time Antony was inconsolable.

The instant I was safe, and the sledges ready, the doctor setoff south; and when the probable vicinity of the camp wasreached, rifles were fired every minute or two. But there waslittle need of this, for Konig led them directly towards thespot; and there, when they arrived, they found their seven matesall so sound asleep that the firing had failed to awaken them.Some of them, indeed, could scarcely be roused at all. With allspeed they were conveyed home on the sledges and put to bed;'and,' the doctor concluded, 'it's as well you were rescued then,for in another hour or two you would all have shared the fate ofFranklin!'

But all's well that ends well; and the mirth with which wecelebrated our return promised much for a winter of pleasure andsociability. We were safe, and

The Fame
Of what has been, the Hope of what will be,

was sufficient to make us look forward to the long night thathad commenced with a feeling at least of equanimity.

And here, at the conclusion of the narrative of our autumnlabours, may most fittingly be given a map showing the extent ofour explorations and discoveries in Torrens Land, and embodyingthe result attained at the expense of so much trouble and hardwork.

XI. — THE WINTER PASSES AWAY.

AS I have already mentioned, the sun was seenfor the last time on the 10th of October, and from that dateuntil the beginning of March we had continuous darkness, relievedonly by the light of the moon and stars, and the more fitful,though not less beautiful, gleams of the Aurora Borealis.

During our absence several improvements had been made uponPort Lorimer. In the first place gas had been laid on, but thecapacity of manufacture was so limited that the light had to beaugmented by that of lamps. Daily outdoor exercise beingindispensable to our health, a broad walk over a mile in lengthhad been constructed, composed of layers of snow beaten hard andcovered with sand, which, when frozen, gave it the appearance ofa macadamised road. It was part of the exercise to keep it clearof newly-fallen snow, a duty during the earlier part of wintersufficient for three hours' daily exercise for all hands.

There was plenty of recreation, tobogganing after the Canadianfashion being perhaps (now that football was impossible) thefavourite amusem*nt, but work was not altogether neglected. Both,indeed, were made to serve the same purpose—the preventionof brooding over the situation, and the relief of thatindefinable feeling of oppression caused by the unwonted absenceof light. Each man had a certain duty, connected either with themanufacture of gas, the condensation of snow and ice into water,the cleaning and repair of the buildings, or with scientificinvestigations. Of the latter the doctor had, of course, supremecommand, and it was not long before he had the most willing ofthe officers and the most intelligent of the men formed into anefficient staff to help him. The observations were taken at allhours of the day and night, and were in every respect as completeand perfect as patience and perseverance could make them.

Notwithstanding all his work (and, as on board theAurora, he was the busiest man amongst us), the doctorfound time to conjecture on the fate of the NorthernPharos, in which he took much interest.

'If you believe me,' he often said, as we sat round ourparlour stove when the day's work was done and there was noentertainment in progress, 'I'd give a thousand pounds to findout what and how much that vessel knew of us—for she musthave known something, or how could she have reached thisland?'

'Done as easily as speaking,' the captain interposed: 'beencaught in the ice like ourselves and drifted north. What was tohinder her?'

'Nothing; but until the opposite is proved I prefer to believethat it was design, and not chance, that brought her here. Forone thing, and I know it, it isn't likely to be proved; and yetthe condition of perpetual wonder in which it keeps me will hurryme to an untimely grave one of these days.'

Another subject of deep interest, and one often discussed, wasthe extent of Torrens Land and its physical features, especiallythe supposed volcano we had seen during our excursion.

'There's no reason,' the doctor argued, 'why the landshouldn't be volcanic; we've got burning mountains in Iceland andAlaska, and even the frost of this high latitude is powerlessagainst the earth's mighty interior heat. My opinion, takingaccount of the altitude of the mountain-ranges and the generalconfiguration of the country, is that Torrens Land is of immenseextent. So there's still some glory to be achieved in exploringit—more, I think, than we imagine, if not more than we havedreamt of in our own minds.'

Little did Dr Lorimer realise how prophetical his words were,or how truly, in the days to come, his half-serious prognosticwas to be fulfilled!

'What we have to do now,' I said, 'is to make another thoroughsearch in accordance with our instructions; and if that isfruitless of result, we can then carry out the doctor's dream ofglory. We've a few problems to solve; among others, the cause ofthe current in Oliphant Inlet, the existence of Mount CecilOliphant as a volcano, and the extent of land towards the pole.Indeed, our work for next year is cut out for us.'

'I should think it is,' replied Cecil, emphatically; 'and itwouldn't surprise me if we had to spend another winter here.'

'Not if we can avoid it,' answered the doctor. 'It wouldhardly be fair to the men; worse still, it might be dangerous totheir health. If at all possible, we must do all we have to dobetween April and August next year. I'll vouch for this winterwith an easy conscience, for it is a novelty to us all; butcertainly not for the next!'

Well might he vouch for that winter; for, thanks chiefly tohim, the days passed quickly away without the least trace ofillness except an occasional superficial frost-bite. Pennell, ouronly invalid, recovered slowly but surely, and before the end ofthe year was quite himself again.

It is far from my purpose to inflict on my readers a detailedaccount of our long Arctic night. If they wish it, they may haveit in the narrative of every explorer from Barents to Nansen; andfor my own part, there is still so much to tell of our subsequentadventures that to narrate everything would be to place a severetax on the patience of all concerned. Only the more importantincidents and adventures can be touched upon. For the rest,suffice it to say that we never wearied; throughout the day wehad our work; every alternate night we had a dramaticentertainment, a lecture, or a concert; and on the others aschool was conducted—'for the teaching of the higherbranches of education,' as the doctor grandiloquently put it.

Game, I may only mention in a word, was sufficiently plentifulto supply us with fresh meat now and then. During the winter weshot altogether nine bears, a few foxes, two wolves, and fifteenor sixteen musk-oxen. The whole of the latter were killed in thecourse of two days, the herds being surrounded each time andannihilated. The Aurora was a favourite meeting-placefor the bears, and on that account it had to be boarded up onevery part, to prevent them doing damage; but, notwithstandingthis, scarcely a day passed without a bear-hunt, with the vesselas base. Generally, however, the bears escaped.

November in due time gave place to December, and as Decemberin turn began to draw to a close, indications were not wanting ofthe approach of

Christmas stout,
The hearty, the true, and the bold.

The day was eagerly looked forward to by all, not only onaccount of its associations, but also because it marked theturning-point of the winter, as after the 21st the sun was againcoming nearer and nearer to us.

On the morning of the eventful day—as it was toprove—we were roused by the singing of the beautifulChristmas carols by a party of waits; and when breakfast was overwe were invited to pay a formal visit of inspection to the men'squarters. The two rooms were tastefully decorated with flags,imitation holly, and designs of coloured paper. Here divineservice was conducted, and thereafter the men dispersed to do thenecessary work.

At noon advantage was taken of the faint light to carrythrough an open-air programme that had been drawn up. There weretobogganing races, in which the luckiest won; there was a keenlycontested tug-of-war; and finally there were several excitingtwo-dog sledge races along the promenade, in which, to the men'simmense gratification, the two Paradises were invariablysuccessful. A bonfire and display of fireworks ended theproceedings, and it did not detract from their effect that theytook place early in the afternoon.

Of course the great event of the day was the dinner at fouro'clock. That the cook and his assistants had excelled themselveswas the unanimous opinion as the tables, loaded with good things,were scanned—bear steaks, roast musk-oxen, frozen mutton,hams, salt junk, tinned meats of every description, mince-pies,preserved fruits, and the inevitable plum pudding! An extraallowance of spirits was dispensed to the men, and at our mess wehad, in addition to the above, several bottles of wine that hadbeen kept specially for the occasion. After dinner EdithTorrens's Christmas box was opened by her representative, andfound to contain packages addressed by name to every officer andman in the crew, each containing a present more or less useful.You may be sure that three ringing cheers were given for the fairdonor, and that her happiness was pledged with the utmostenthusiasm; for there is nothing that goes more directly to theheart of a wanderer in a far country than an attention such asthis. Perhaps it brought home to us more forcibly than anythingelse the thought of how the day was being spent in everyhousehold in England, of those we had left behind there, and ofwhat they were thinking of the sojourners in this lonelyArctic land.

In the evening Box and Cox was played by theCircumpolar Comedy Company before a fashionable audience, theproceedings being varied by divers songs and readings. Thereafterdancing was commenced—without that it would hardly haveseemed a festival to the men—and Cecil at the piano had norest unless when the doctor took pity on him for a few minutesnow and again.

It was while Captain Sneddon, the doctor, and I were standingwatching the fun, and comparing notes about former Christmases,that the greatest surprise of the day happened—a surprisewith which we had nothing to do, and which startled us about asmuch as anything could have done. A little before midnight thedoctor drew our attention to a faint rumbling sound as of verydistant thunder, so low that it was scarcely audible.

'Bless my soul! what's that?' asked the captain.

'The ice must be breaking up somewhere,' the doctor replied;'and yet, at this time of the year, it's curious.'

Even while he was speaking the sound was repeated, and at thesame time we felt a slight shock, such as might be caused by anexplosion at some distance. The dancing stopped; the dancersbegan to throng around us. A dozen questions were addressed tothe doctor, who was regarded by all as an encyclopedic wonder;but he was obviously as puzzled as any of us.

'I don't know what it is,' he said; 'I can't even imagine;but, of course, we must find out.'

So saying he led the way outside, just as we felt a seconddistinct shock. There was a faint luminous haze in theatmosphere, through which, however, we could distinctly see theother side of the bay, with the dismantled Aurora in themiddle of it. At first the only matter for surprise was theeccentric and, to most of us, inexplicable conduct of some of thestars, which appeared to be bobbing up and down in a mannerhighly erratic, not to say alarming. The phenomenon, as thedoctor promptly explained, was an optical illusion due to thefall of imperceptible frozen particles; but the whole thing wasso unlike an illusion that some of the men flatly refused tobelieve that the heavenly bodies weren't acting in a mostimproper way!

Our attention was again turned to the affairs of this world byhearing for the third time the sound that had puzzled us; but, asbefore, we could form no idea as to its cause.

'I'm utterly at a loss'—Dr Lorimer began.

He was interrupted by several shouts:

'Look at the ice! Look at the ice!'

We did so, and saw that close into the shore it was rising andfalling like violently agitated water. This went on for a minuteor two, then the firmly frozen mass broke up, and instantly itwas piled into hummocks and ice-hills, or crushed by collisionswith other pieces. While we were intently watching this scene, wewere alarmed by feeling the ground under our feet in motion; andour alarm was not decreased, when, by the violence of the shock,part of the snow stockade surrounding Fort Lorimer was thrown tothe ground. Then, instantaneously, we realised what washappening.

'It's an earthquake!' cried the doctor.

An earthquake! But there could be no doubt of it, though sucha thing was so unexpected and out of place, as it were, in thatquarter of the world, that we had never even thought ofconnecting the previous shocks with it.

Meanwhile, the effect of the third tremor upon the ice wastremendous. While it was not sufficiently strong to do muchdamage on land, it disturbed the waters of the bay to such anextent that the ice was smashed and thrown up with as much easeas if it were only two inches thick instead of nine or ten feet.As we saw it crashing hither and thither, we grew anxiousconcerning the vessel in its midst. At first the Aurorahad remained immovable, owing to the strength of the frozen massaround her; but as this became diminished by conflicts with othermasses, she was seen to sway a little. The crisis came when thewater was again agitated, and the vessel, as if impelled frombelow, broke loose from the ice and swung round with herstern towards us.

'There's no chance for her!' said Wemyss, with a groan thatwas echoed by every one there.

'To think of foundering in harbour after getting through thepack and reaching this latitude!' muttered the captain; and evenat that critical moment one could not help being sorry for theold man.

But the Aurora had not foundered yet. For a fewminutes there was no further shock, and the frost was so intensethat the separated masses would soon have become welded togetherif they had not been disturbed. Just as we were beginning to hopethat this would be the case, we experienced the fourth and mostsevere tremor of all—so severe that we were thrown to theground, while we again saw the ice in more violent commotion thanever. Our hearts sank; and at that moment, as if to complete ourconsternation, we heard a loud crash behind us, and knew thatpart of the fort had fallen.

Two slighter shocks followed the great one in quicksuccession, and then they ceased altogether. So far we had had notime to look about us, but now we saw that, while the ice in thebay was still heaving up and down, the worst was over. And theAurora, the only link that connected us with the world,so to speak, had been jammed between two huge masses of ice, andwas again motionless—whether damaged severely or not weneither knew nor at the time could find out.

'Thank. Heaven she's still above water, at any rate!' criedCaptain Sneddon, fervently.

Ten minutes passed without further disturbance, and we beganto feel a little easier in our minds. Our steps, now that we hadno immediate anxiety about the Aurora, were turned towards thefort, which, in fear of what might meet our eyes, we hadneglected since the crash. Our joy, then, may be imagined when wefound that the main building, even including the tower, had beenuninjured, and was apparently as firm as on the day of itscompletion. But one of the storehouses had succumbed, and theobservatory was in a dangerous state, while the whole of the snowstockade had been thrown down by the destructive undergroundforce. The interior of the fort was a scene of chaos. Tables,chairs, and everything else had been overturned, the cook'scrockery was smashed to atoms, and several of the lamps werebroken. Only the stoves and the bunks had remained unshaken.Things, however, were soon put to rights, and, as may besupposed, that Christmas night was spent, not in the deepestsleep, but in animated talk over the strange events of theevening.

'I admit,' the doctor said, 'that it takes away one's breathat first, but on consideration what is there extraordinarilywonderful in it? We had already come to the conclusion that thecountry was volcanic, and if a country is volcanic, earthquakesare as natural as oranges to Seville. But then, you say, therewere no signs of previous upheavals about here. Quito so; andthat brings, me to the theory that to-night's commotion is thetag-end, so to speak—I might call it the spentforce—of some earthquake that is going on in the interior.Probably it is never felt more severely at this point; but I mustsay I shouldn't like to be within the influence of its fullforce.

'That maybe so,' Captain Sneddon put in, 'and to youscientific fellows'—with a world of scorn in histones—'everything may be as simple as the A B C; but for mypart, this is the first time I've been in an earthquake, andmy opinion is we're better without 'em!'

'Granted,' replied the doctor; 'but you'll admit that afterthe thing's over an explanation is satisfactory, and you'lladmit, too, that they're highly interesting?'

'So's a murder to some people,' dryly retorted the captain.'And what use are they?'

'Like murders—none,' I said. 'And if we have a few more,and the fort falls in, or the Aurora is crushed by theice, we may find ourselves in a fix. As it is, we should bethankful we've escaped so easily.'

The full extent of the damage was apparent when we made asystematic examination next day. Perhaps the most serious loss ofall was caused by the overturn and breakage of some of thevaluable instruments in the observatory: the building itself wasrepaired without much difficulty. The storehouse that had fallenwas also gradually rebuilt; and as for the stockade, its re-erection only gave us all some exercise for the next few days. Itwas to the Aurora, of course, that we turned with thegreatest eagerness. The ice in the bay was again one firm mass,the open spaces of the previous night being covered with it tothe thickness of seven or eight inches, and its whole appearancecontrasted sharply with its former smoothness and regularity ofsurface. A thorough inspection of the vessel only added, if thatwere possible, to our admiration of her resisting powers; for theonly injury we could discover was, as on another occasion, thestarting of one or two planks—a matter that the carpenterput right in an hour or two.

It may be as well to interpolate here that the only otherevidence of subterranean agitation we had during the winter was asingle shock in March, but it was so slight that it passed awayalmost before we were aware of it.

The new year was inaugurated at Fort Lorimer with greatceremony and much rejoicing, for in it we expected to makewonderful discoveries, and prove ourselves worthy of our trust.In January, perhaps the only event deserving of mention was aterrific storm that rose on the 14th and continued for threedays. In February, towards the end of the month, we had ourperiod of greatest cold. During the last fortnight thetemperature was seldom above -50° Fahr. (82° below the freezing-point); and on the 27th we recorded our lowest, -81°, or 113°below the freezing-point.

By that time, in anticipation of the sun's return, ourpreparations for the spring's campaign were well advanced. Plansfor a systematic survey were drawn out, sledges and provisionswere chosen and got ready, and the dogs were exercised and putinto good condition for dragging. It was arranged that there wereto be three parties—one under the command of myself andClements, to the north-east, as before; another, under Cecil andNorris, to the south; and the third, under the doctor and Wemyss,to the north of the bay, all three parties to converge on astated point. While we were away, those at the fort were to getthe Aurora ready for a cruise along the coast as soon as thewater became open; or, if that were not possible, to prepare thelaunch for a second trip to Oliphant Inlet.

Daily the period of light lengthened, and daily our spiritsrose at the prospect of some hard work at last. The sun was dueon the 1st of March, but for a day or two previously we saw atnoon evidence of his coming in a rosy glow on the southernhorizon, and fleeting gleams of fire that, like the first rays ofthe Aurora Borealis, were visible only for a moment. One livingin a country where the sun is never absent (if seldom visible)can have no conception of the excitement caused by the mereidea of his reappearance to those who have lived intotal darkness for four or five months. In our case it wasintense; and when a proposal was made that we should go to thesummit of a hill to get a better view of his arrival, nobodyraised any objections.

Just before noon on the auspicious day, then, nearly three-fourths of the ship's company found themselves assembled on thesummit of Mount Sunrise, as we named the hill. Already there wasa fiery glow to the south. Suddenly a bright ray shot up from thestill invisible luminary, and for a moment rested on the hill-tops; and then slowly and gradually, as if reluctant to shineupon our desolate world, the sun itself appeared. What thoughbarely half its disc was visible, and even that only for a fewminutes: was it not enough that in that time we had seen thebleak wastes of snow and ice suffused with a rosy glow that to uswas the harbinger of a new existence? The cheers with which wegreeted the King of Day were long and hearty; and our ecstasy wasso great, indeed, that we might have remained there long afterhis disappearance, had we not been suddenly reminded by thetemperature of -53° that motion was imperative.

'But no matter,' said the doctor, as we descended the hill;'it was a glorious sight, and one that almost recompenses one forthe winter's dreariness. And to us it means that a new year isborn—let us hope a year of glory and honour to the RandolphTorrens expedition!'

XII. — A STARTLING DISCOVERY.

ON the 5th of April, exactly five weeks afterthe reappearance of the sun, we started in the steam-launch toexplore Oliphant Inlet.

By this time the three sledge expeditions had done their workand returned. We had left as soon as the state of the groundpermitted, and had carefully searched every likely spot withinthe twenty miles' radius of Weymouth Harbour without finding theleast trace of inhabitants, present or past. The party under mycommand worked its way through North-east Valley to the pointfrom which, in the preceding year, we had seen the volcano; andon this occasion, as before, we found all our attempts topenetrate in the direction of the mountains quite unavailing, theroute being absolutely impassable. Owing to the density of theair, we never even caught a glimpse of Mount Cecil Oliphant; andafter surveying every inch of the surface around, and remainingat the spot for two days, we had to leave, to keep our rendezvouswith the other sledges. Their success having been no greater thanour own, we decided to give up the search, and return at once toFort Lorimer.

When we arrived there, the Aurora was still firmlyfixed in the ice, which in the bay showed no signs of motion asyet. But, early as it was, a lane of open water that broadeneddaily was visible off the coast, through what agency we could notimagine, as, according to the doctor, 'the heat of the sun ishardly strong enough to melt it, there have been no gales of windto break it up, and the opening isn't in the least like atemporary one.' However inexplicable it might be, we madeimmediate preparations to take advantage of it by loading thelaunch and one of the boats with provisions and ammunition forsix months, for there was no saying how far our voyage mightextend.

'If we can find our way to the Pole,' Cecil said, 'it's not tobe supposed we'll turn back without reaching it; and so it's bestto be on the safe side when there's no reason for not being.'

Besides the necessary scientific instruments, we also tookwith us the balloon, the doctor suggesting that we might findsome use for it. Nor did we forget a stock of dynamite cartridgesand the electric battery; while two light sledges and the bestdogs formed an indispensable part of our equipment.

After much consideration, the party was made up as follows:myself, Cecil, Dr Lorimer, second mate Wemyss, second engineerClements, Gates the stoker, and Nils Jansen.

The ship was left in command of Captain Sneddon, with writteninstructions to use every means of getting her free; and if thatwere done before our return, to take her as far north as the openwater extended, leaving a party at the fort to await us. He wasto be back at Weymouth Harbour by August at the latest, and if bythat time we had not arrived, to use his own discretion aboutwintering or making his way to Europe.

I have gone into this matter in detail because of theimportance the excursion about to begin was to assume, not onlywith regard to the length of time we were to be absent, but also(and more particularly) with regard to the character of thediscoveries we were to make. I do not think I am anticipatingmuch when I gravely and emphatically say that in my opinion (andI am sure it will be that of my readers also, if they willaccompany me a little farther) these discoveries are amongst themost important of the century.

But little idea had any of the seven of us of all this as wecompleted our preparations, and got ready for our eventfuljourney into the unknown regions of the Arctic world. At lasteverything was completed, the two vessels dragged over the iceand launched in the open water beyond, both of them packed andput to trial, and our personal effects placed on board. Then wesaid farewell to our comrades, the captain heartily wishing usthe fullest measure of luck, and finally steamed off with theboat in tow, amid the cheering of those we had left behind. Wesaw the last of them—not knowing that it was thelast for many months to come—as we turned a headland; but Iremember wondering if it was an omen that Konig raised a dismalhowl as we disappeared, or if he was merely bewailing thesubjects he had been obliged to desert.

The open water seemed to broaden towards the north; and,indeed, opposite the mouth of Oliphant Inlet, where we arrived inthe course of the afternoon, there was no ice to be seen excepton land. The current, also, was so strong that our progress wasslower than we liked, and the doctor was as puzzled as we hadbeen to give a reason for it.

'As you say, Cecil, my boy,' he observed, 'there's somethingto be investigated here. Ordinarily, all this should still beice-bound, and though the current may account for the open water,how are we to account for the current? And have you neverobserved,' he went on, 'that our present route up this fjord orestuary is strangely in accordance with Randolph Torrens'sdirection—to the north-east, towards the highmountains in the distance? Perhaps, owing to some ambiguityin his paper, we may have been mistaken so far, and it wastowards this point he meant us to search.'

'But it's beyond the radius of twenty miles,' I pointedout.

'Perhaps, though not much; but there's some room for doubt, Ithink, if he really intended that to apply to the command tosearch "especially in a NE. direction," etc. At any rate, if we dofind any traces, we'll follow them up willingly enough, Isuppose.'

We camped that night on a small islet about eight miles up;and on the next forenoon reached our farthest point of thepreceding year, from which the Arctic Alps and Mounts Staffordand Torrens were visible. Hitherto the inlet had wound betweenhuge cliffs, but now these gave way to gently sloping banks. Atthis time, too, the doctor made a discovery that astonished himand the rest of us not a little. He was leaning over the side ofthe launch, when his hat fell into the water, and he made a quickgrab to secure it before it floated away. He succeeded; but heimmediately threw it down, and dashed into the small cabin forone of his thermometers.

'What's up?' I inquired, as he placed it in the water,withdrew it after a little, and made some hasty calculations.

'Just this,' he said, excitedly: 'the temperature of thatwater's a little above 43° Fahrenheit, and that's the reason whythe weather's so mild;' for we had been obliged that morning, onaccount of the heat, to take off some of our furs. 'And,' hecontinued, 'that explains also the phenomenon of the icedisappearing so early, and a few other things. But the questionis, where does this comparatively hot water come from in thislatitude, and at this time of the year? It beats me altogether;but I shall be surprised if we're not on the scent of a discoverythat'll amaze Hamilton Nelson, along with the rest of thescientific world!'

The worthy doctor's excitement was shared by every one onboard the launch, even including the phlegmatic Nils Jansen; andfor the rest of the day we never tired of testing the temperatureof the water, always finding it nearly the same. Lorimer's zealhaving been roused, he could not rest until he had analysed itand subjected it to various chemical experiments, the onlypractical result of which was that he found it to be severaldegrees less salt than the ocean—strong evidence, if notproof positive, that the inlet was the estuary of a considerableriver. Our observations also showed the existence and extent oftidal influence.

Early in the afternoon, as we were coming nearer and nearerthe twin-mountains that rose up in front of us, we put into alittle cove on the port side at the request of Lorimer, whowished to collect some specimens of flora (moss and saxifrage) hesaw growing on the bank. While he was doing so, the rest of usalso took the opportunity of stretching our legs on terrafirma; and Cecil managed to improve the occasion by bagginga few brace of birds of the skua species, which were plentifularound. Gates, however, outdid this by bringing to us two pairsof reindeer horns in a good state of preservation, and apparentlyrecently shed. He had come across them a few yards from theshore, but in a position precluding the supposition that they hadbeen deposited there by the current.

'Strange!' the doctor commented, when he had examined them.'Reindeer have never been heard of within several degrees southof this, and here we have indisputable evidence of theirexistence. Gentlemen, this is another proof that we'reapproaching either a mystery or the solution of one. Let us go onas fast as we can!'

This was done, and before it became dark we had made such goodprogress that we were under the shadow of the two high mountainsof which I have already spoken. Then we saw that, to allappearance, Oliphant Inlet ran between them, and that they wereconnected by lower ranges of hills with high mountains thatstretched on each side—Mount Torrens with the Arctic Alps,and its neighbour with a range nearly as high. The inlet narrowedas we advanced between the bases of the mounts, the altitude ofwhich seemed to be at least three thousand feet; and as aconsequence the current increased in strength—so much so,that after a time we made little headway. As darkness wasbeginning to fall, and the sides rose up so precipitously that toland was impossible, we had to consider the advisability ofturning back to a safe camping-place. But, fortunately, we weresaved the necessity of this by the fjord presently widening outon the right-hand (Mount Stafford) side in the form of a bay, inwhich the current was not nearly so strong. For some distancefrom the water's edge the shore was comparatively level, and thenit rose gently; and not five hundred yards up this slope we sawwhat appeared to be steam or smoke ascending from thehillside.

'This is our place,' I said. 'Run her straight in,Clements.'

The engineer obeyed, and we landed and made fast the boats toa jutting rock. Then, while the rest of us set about raising thetent and preparing supper, the doctor went off to examine thespring on the hillside. He had scarcely reached it, however, whenwe saw him gesticulating with might and main, and heard himshouting to us to follow him. Hurrying up to where he stood, wefound him gazing as if fascinated at some object that lay at hisfeet, half-hidden by the snow, and within a yard of the littlespring, which was of hot water.

'Oliphant! Cecil!' he said, in a voice that did not sound likehis own, 'tell me, what's that?'

We looked, and for an instant discredited the evidence of oureyes, for that which lay there seemed to us the old and rustybut yet recognisable barrel of a gun! Still doubting, welooked a second time, and then glanced at each other as if todiscover if what one saw was visible to the rest.

'Can it be?' asked the doctor, interpreting the thought ofeach.

'That is easily settled,' I said, realising that the proof ordisproof lay ready to my hand; and, bending down, I endeavouredto loosen the object from the snow. But it was firmly frozen, andit was not until Gates had brought a hatchet from the launch andbroken up the mass that we got it free. Even then a coating ofice clung so firmly to it that we had to place it over theboiling spring for a few minutes before it had thoroughly melted.This accomplished, we saw that our first conjecture wasright—that our find was in reality a gun, one of the oldmuzzle-loading firearms so common before the perfection of therifle.

It was passed from hand to hand and closely inspected by all,as if in it were hidden the secret of its discovery; but it couldtell no story beyond the mute yet pregnant one that the foot ofthe white man had once before pressed this spot, and at a timenot far distant. The whole incident, in its aspect of wonder, asin its startling suddenness, was to us as the footprint in thesand to Crusoe, and none of us spoke until the silence was brokenby Cecil.

'I have it!' he exclaimed, in excitement. 'The traces of whitemen we were to search for and follow up—this is a trace ifever there was one!'

'You are right, Cecil!' cried the doctor; 'and I'm a fool notto have thought of that before. We're on the right track at last,as I've been trying to convince you—and myself—allday; and the fortunate discovery of this gun gives us a base forfurther search'——

'Which must be postponed until to-morrow,' I interrupted,noticing for the first time that it was so dark that the camp wasbarely to be seen, and moving off in that direction.

Of the discussions and conjectures to which the evening talkgave rise, I intend to say nothing, nor of our terrible suspenseduring the following hours of darkness. With the earliest gleamof dawn we were on our feet, eager to begin the work ofsearching, and by the time the sun had appeared on the summits ofthe encircling hills we had covered a considerable portion of theground around the spring, without, however, meeting with anyfurther success. The slope, it may be as well to mention, rosegently for some distance above this point, and then it graduallybecame more and more steep, until it merged in the precipitoussides of Mount Stafford. Only at one part was there abreak—a little to the right, where there was a huge cleftin the rock, as if it had been split by some convulsion. A largeamount of snow and ice still lay everywhere, and though it wasevidently decreasing daily, there was more than sufficient tointerfere materially with our work.

After breakfast we commenced a systematic survey, each of ustaking a different route and examining as thoroughly as waspossible. But for a time our efforts met with no result whatever,and this, added to the monotony of the work, began to tell uponour spirits. At mid-day discouragement had usurped the place ofenthusiasm, and it was even hinted that there was little use inspending our time in such a wild-goose chase as this appeared tobe.

'I must say,' confessed the doctor himself, 'that though Idon't advise giving it up just yet, I'm a little disappointed.But what are we to do now?'

'Begging your pardon, sir,' put in Gates, 'but might I saywhat I'd do?'

Gates, I should have said before, seemed to take an interestin our projects greater than any of the other men. He was acanny, intelligent, ingenious Scot, able to turn his hand toalmost anything; and if he had lost most of his Doric inwandering over the world, he had also managed to keep his eyesand ears open to some purpose. As we had more than once alreadybenefited by his advice, we told him to speak on.

'Well, sirs,' he said, 'you'll notice that there's hills onevery side here, except at that bit pass up there'—pointingto the cleft I have mentioned—'and so I think there'slittle use in searching up and down. If they came by a boat,likely they went away in a boat; and if they didn't, it'slikeliest they came by that pass. Anyway, we might search therebefore we leave.'

'A sensible suggestion!' exclaimed the doctor; and so weimmediately set about putting it into effect. From the spring weworked steadily up towards the cleft, prodding in every likelyspot with our pointed spears, and carefully scrutinising everyinch of the ground; and it was not long before Gates had thesatisfaction of seeing his theory triumphantly verified. A littleto the right of the direct line, Clements drove his spear quiteunsuspiciously into a natural-looking mound, but the next momenthe was energetically breaking up the mass of snow andsimultaneously shouting to us. Even before we came up he hadhalf-uncovered what we made out to be a sledge, by the side ofwhich was a clasp-knife, such as is used by sailors.

'We're on the right track!' I cried. 'Don't waste timehere—let us get onward!'

With our feelings of excitement and anticipation at theirutmost stretch, we pressed on, and within ten minutes discoveredother two evidences of our predecessors—a compass and asecond gun. By this time we were at the mouth of the cleft, whichwas about a hundred feet across, and seemed to cut right throughthe mountain. We had not gone much farther, when we were pulledup short by an exclamation from Gates, whom we saw pointing tosomething that only became visible at that moment.

'Look there!' he cried.

We did so, and saw on an elevation close into the left side ofthe cleft what seemed only a mound of snow, but surmounting itwas a pole, to which still clung a few shreds of what haddoubtless once been a flag. We rushed forward with the eagernessof men whose long-deferred hopes were at length to be fulfilled,but the next moment fell back in horror—some with cries ofdismay. For there, in a kind of natural cave formed between therock and the hillock on which the cairn stood, we distinctly sawthe remains of several men, covered but not hidden by athin shroud of snow.

XIII. — WHAT WE SAW FROM MOUNTSTAFFORD.

WHAT we had seen in that single glance—thescattered bones of one man, and the outlines of the forms ofothers—had so shattered our nerves that for a moment weheld back from a further examination. Then another feelingsupervened.

'We must get to the bottom of this,' I said, and moved towardsthe cave.

Followed by Cecil and the doctor, I entered. The rest watchedus from without. From the situation of the place in the corner ofthe cleft, it had evidently been protected from the weather, andthe small amount of snow in it was apparently of that year.Across the open side of it were the remains of a wall, composedof small pieces of rock, that had long since fallen to pieces.Just within this lay the ghastly relics—a skull to whichwas still attached a few pieces of skin, and below it theskeleton of a powerful man. Farther back, at the upper end of thecave, were the bones of two others, covered by waterproof cloakswhich had retained to that day the impression of the bodies thathad long crumbled to dust beneath them. Round about were manyarticles that for us had a sad and painful interest—arms, abag of ammunition, empty pemmican cans, instruments, a spirit-lamp, and several other things. But Dr Lorimer, while Cecil and Iinspected these, heeded none of them, being engaged in minutelyexamining the floor of the cave. Suddenly he pounced uponsomething that lay beside the dead man at the threshold.

'What is it, doctor?' I asked.

For answer he held up a small notebook. At the same spot weafterwards discovered a pen and an empty ink-bottle.

'This,' he said, 'contains the secret; you won't findit, Oliphant, by further groping in there. Let us leavethese'— indicating all that was left of the tenants of thespot—'where they are a little longer until we know theirstory; it doesn't matter to them now what we do or how we treatthem. Poor fellows!'

Half-sickened as we were by the scene, and almost overpoweredby the thought of these men—countrymen of our own, it mightbe—and the death they must have died, we willingly followedthe doctor into the open air. He handed me the notebook, whichwith scrupulous delicacy he had refrained from opening. I did so,and glanced over the contents. There were only a few short pages,but the first words that met my gaze told me that we hadaccomplished the primary object of the expedition. Withoutreading further, I looked up to address the doctor, and found theeyes of every member of the party fixed upon me with such extremesuspense that it would have been the most refined cruelty not toread it aloud.

I give it verbatim:

August 7, 1856.—This day aparty of six men belonging to the steamer Weymouth, atpresent lying in Weymouth Harbour, reached this spot by sledge,having crossed the land in a NE. and then N. direction, MessrsTorrens and Stafford, owners, in command. It being certain thatthe water-way was an inlet, the commanders resolved to return byit to the ship in our india-rubber Halkett canoe. As it onlyholds four persons, they chose John Pearson and Benjamin Rodgers,seamen, to accompany them. The rest—self, AlexanderCollins, mate, in command; Thomas Butler and John Reas, seamen;and James Parr, cook—were left behind with the followingverbal instructions:

(1) To return by the same route that we cameby to the harbour, and a party would be sent to meet us if theothers reached it before us; or (2) if that were foundimpracticable, to remain where we were, and a second party would,at the same time as the other, be sent for us. A record in theformer case to be left here for the guidance of the latter.

At mid-day Messrs Torrens and Staffordstarted, and were soon out of sight. They took with themprovisions for twelve days, and their personal effects. Theremainder of the food, supposed to be rations for a month, wasleft for our use, along with the eight dogs, the sledge, andeverything else. On examination, however, I found to my horrorthat most of the pemmican was uneatable, and that in reality wehad scarcely enough for a week. We must push on quickly to theharbour, but, remembering the stupendous difficulties, I havelittle hope. We start to-morrow morning.

August 8.—To-day, two terriblecatastrophes have happened. I dare not think of the consequences.In the morning I discovered that the dogs had devoured most ofthe good meat during the night. Thereafter, when they had beenharnessed, they bolted, Reas being on the sledge. Becomingnervous, and thinking they would be sure to return to us, hemadly cut the traces. They bolted, and have never been seensince. This knocks our idea of returning overland on the head,and if we have not help within the week, which short ofProvidence we cannot expect, God help us! I cannot write morefully.

August 9.—Calm and mild day.Explored round about, but could come to no decision but to remainwhere we were.

August 10.—Our food beingalmost at an end, to-day we ate some of the bad pemmican. Minecame up; the others now very ill. I cannot bring myself even tohope.

August 11.—Butler died thismorning, quite suddenly. Buried him on the other side of thehillock. Others no better. We must soon share his fate unless weare relieved.

August 12.—Being a littlestronger this morning, I climbed the high mountain behind this inthe expectation of getting a good view. Though the ascent waseasy, took seven hours. Saw to the east a green country, withplenty of game. Many volcanoes. If we can only reach it, we havestill a chance. Felt very weak while descending, but shot twosmall birds. On arriving at the cave, I found both Reas and Parrin delirium—they had eaten more of the poisoned meat.Evidently they cannot survive the night.

August 13.—Reas died early thismorning, and Parr an hour later. I am so weak that I cannot dragthem outside. No food left. God help me!

August 14.—Am unable tomove.

August 15. —

And there the journal ended. The last words were a merescrawl, barely legible, and had doubtless been written while theunfortunate Collins was at his last gasp. I do not think therewas a dry eye in the company when I had finished the patheticrecord of how these men had lived and died at this spot.

'Poor fellows!' said the doctor, softly, for the second time.'Their end was a sad one, and yet they are as truly martyrs tothe cause of Arctic discovery as Franklin and Crozier. Peace beto their souls!'

With one consent consideration of the startling informationcontained in the document was postponed until we had paid thelast rites of religion to the men who had awaited them for thirtyyears. The remains were reverently carried outside and buriedbeside those of Butler, which we found at the spot indicated; andas I read the service I wondered what those to whom we were doingthis last duty would have thought if they had known that morethan a quarter of a century was to elapse before it was done.Then the more valuable of the relics were removed to the launch;and before I go farther I may mention that a monument of wood wasprepared that evening by Gates, and placed next morning upon thehillock behind which was the grave. The simple inscription on itran:

'Now,' I said, when these ceremonies were over—by whichtime it was far on in the afternoon—and we had seatedourselves round the portable stove for a council, the officersclose in, the men a little farther back—'now, what are weto gather from this diary?'

The doctor, as all of us had expected, was the first tospeak.

'I've been thinking over it,' he said, reflectively, 'and Ireally cannot see that it throws much light on the mystery.Indeed, I question if it does not deepen it. We find that MessrsStafford and Torrens leave four men of a sledging-party at acertain point, with the promise to return, for them. By the 15thof August all those men are dead; on the 17th (according to therecord we found at Weymouth Harbour) the vessel sailed forEngland. From this it is evident that there has either been themost cowardly desertion on the part of these gentlemen, or thatthere are circ*mstances of which we know nothing. Iunderstand'—addressing Cecil and me—'that Mr RandolphTorrens was a man of the highest honour?'

We made an emphatic motion of assent.

'Then I confess I can't comprehend it. I'm afraid this mustremain a mystery so far as we're concerned, unless, indeed, wecan learn something of that vessel that went down—theNorthern Pharos—and find a clue in that. For myown part'—with a suggestive shrug of the shoulders—'Igive up surmise on the present basis.'

'I fear you're right, doctor,' I replied. 'But as to RandolphTorrens, I'm certain that he was as incapable of leaving tocertain death the poor fellows we have just buried as of highwayrobbery. If he had done so, no condemnation would have been toostrong for him. Of this Stafford we know nothing, but we mayidentify him by judicious inquiry when we return.'

'Might he not have some connection with that NorthernPharos?' inquired Wemyss.

This had already occurred to us, but had been put aside asimprobable.

'Maybe,' said Cecil; 'but what is really wanted is the motiveof Randolph Torrens in despatching the expedition. If we getthat, it seems to me that we get the key to the wholeaffair.'

'And,' concluded the doctor, 'nothing is more unlikely thanthat we shall get that key.'

This being the general opinion, discussion on what had been sooften debated before died out after some further unimportantremarks. But our interest in the diary was immediately raised toa higher point than ever by the doctor.

'That being disposed of,' he went on, 'I want to call yourattention to something that is far more important to us than whatwe have just been speaking of;' and he read out the passage underdate August 12. 'Saw to the east a green country, with plenty ofgame. Many volcanoes. If we can only reach it, we have still achance.'

This, of course, had attracted our notice on being read thefirst time, but had been banished from our minds by subsequentevents. Now, on being quoted with significance by Lorimer, we sawat once the full importance of the few words.

'That can mean nothing but what it says,' hecontinued—'that on the other side of the mountains is acountry better than this. There's no ambiguity about it; "a greencountry, with plenty of game," is plain enough. But'—seeingthe excitement into which we had been thrown by the possibilitiesconjured up by the words—'we mustn't forget that the manwas at death's door when he wrote it, and, like his comrades, mayhave been a little out of his mind.'

'I don't believe it!' cried Cecil, emphatically. 'There's notthe least sign of insanity in the whole journal, and I shalltrust in it till the opposite is proved!'

'Certainly,' said the doctor, quietly; 'but what I mean topoint out is that we mustn't be too sanguine, else we may bedisappointed. For there's only one thing to be done, and that isto verify Collins's statement by ascending the mountain to-morrowmorning. Till then—till we see what lies beyond—wemustn't give our imaginations too much rope.'

'So be it,' I said; and, shortly afterwards, the only sound tobe heard in our little camp was the musical murmur of the water,interrupted now and again by a less musical snore.

We started next morning with the advent of daylight, Clementsand Jansen being left behind to take care of the boats. Theascent, as the diary had informed us, was for the most part easyenough, Mount Stafford swelling gently up until within a thousandfeet of the summit, when it became more precipitous. As all of uswore snowshoes, in the use of which we had become proficientduring the winter, the snow offered no serious impediment to ourprogress—indeed, it is a question if it did not facilitateit. In some places it had drifted away altogether, and there weinvariably found beds of lava, sometimes composed of large lumps,but oftener of surfaces of smooth clinker.

'Another evidence of volcanic origin,' the doctor said.'Indeed, I shouldn't be surprised to find that those two peaks,without doubt extinct volcanoes, have been active at no distantdate—probably within fifteen hundred or two thousandyears.'

I happened to be walking with Gates as he said this, and couldnot help smiling at the stoker's amazement at the ideas held byour savant regarding the calculation of time.

'Curious man, the doctor,' he remarked to me, aside; 'for me,fifteen hundred years would begin to look rayther faraway. But it's not easy to account for other folk's tastes.'

It was not until we had reached a height of nearly fourthousand feet that our real difficulties began. Hitherto, owingto the great slope of the mountain, all had been as easy aswalking on level ground; but now we had to experience somegenuine alpine climbing, that put to a severe test both ourmuscles and our wind. Crevices, hidden or visible, had to bejumped or avoided; in some parts the ascent was as nearlyperpendicular as it could well be; and in others it was so roughthat to advance was almost an impossibility. When the time camefor the mid-day meal, of which we partook under the shadow of agigantic pyramidal mass of rock, we were in such a condition thatwe regarded with some dismay the work still before us.

'It strikes me,' said Cecil, between two bites at an enormoussandwich, 'that this mountain must have changed considerablysince 1856, for I'm dead-beat to know where the easy ascent comesin now, or how a dying man like Collins could havegained the top alone in seven hours.'

'He must have mounted by some other route,' I replied; 'andI'm half inclined to think that he skirted it lower down thanthis, and got round to the other side without ascending to thesummit. He doesn't say he was there, you know; and if he was, Ican't imagine how he did it any more than you, Cecil.'

'Couldn't we do the same?' inquired Wemyss.

'We might try, at least. Anything is better than acontinuation of this work.'

So, after the doctor had completed some observations in whichhe was engaged, we made our way round the mountain instead oftowards its highest point; and that the suggestion was a good onewe found as we went along, for the exercise was much lessexhausting, and the obstacles hardly so numerous. In the end, tocut a long story short, we effected the purpose that had broughtus there. For a few minutes previous to the successful moment wehad been scrambling over a small plateau, on which sharp piecesof rock protruded above the snow, and had been too intent uponour next step to mind our surroundings. Suddenly Konig, who waswith us, darted forward with a sharp bark, and we glanced up justin time to see his tail disappear over the edge of the plateau.Not an instant later a flock of birds rose into the air with awhirr (too quickly, as it happened, for our surprised sportsmen),and then Gates, who had hurried after the dog, uttered anexclamation.

'Mr Oliphant! doctor! look down here!' he cried, speaking in atone of excitement.

He was standing on the extreme edge, with the returned Konigby his side; and when we had joined him, this is the scene thatwe saw spread before us like a map. Below, Mount Stafford slopeddown even more gently than on the other side, and the lowerslopes were not only almost free from snow, but were covered by adark green growth of vegetation. Before us stretched a narrow butlevel valley, in which patches of snow alternated with green, thelatter being principally by the side of the water that flowedthrough it. We could just distinguish here and there movingspecks that by the aid of our glasses we made out to be game ofsome kind. The valley was bounded by low hills, but farther backwe saw noble peaks of a much greater altitude than that on whichwe were standing, and on the summits of many of them was thepeculiar cloud of smoke that told us they were volcanoes. Througha gap at the upper end of the glen we caught a glimpse of anotherand apparently larger valley, with the sheen of water and in someparts a mist as of rising steam.

At this scene we gazed as if we feared that, if we removed oureyes from it, it might disappear altogether; and at length thedoctor spoke.

'From whatever point Collins saw this,' he said, 'he hascertainly described it well. "A green country, with plenty ofgame." Yes, wherever there's vegetation there's game; andwherever there are both of them we may find—something else.And our luck hasn't deserted us. Don't you see Oliphant Inletrunning right up the valley and out of sight at the other end?'and he pointed to the dark streak of water that cut the glen intwo. 'How far it's navigable we don't know, but I'll wager thatwe shall at least get up as far as we can see.'

Presently Cecil called our attention to a distant volcano onour right, on an almost direct line with Mount Stafford. Itseemed to be in full eruption, the smoke on its top beingilluminated by gleams of light every few minutes.

'Allowing for the difference in distance,' he said, 'thatresembles the modus operandi of the volcano we saw fromNorth-east Valley last autumn, doesn't it?'

'It does, indeed,' I replied; 'and from its position Ishouldn't wonder if it really were Mount Cecil Oliphant'—asupposition that was converted into practical certainty by acareful calculation and comparison of different observations.

We should have liked nothing better than to descend at onceinto the valley that lay before us. But the afternoon was wearingon, and, after taking another long look at the fascinatingpicture, we were compelled to turn our reluctant steps launch-wards. The descent was speedily accomplished, and before long wewere telling our comrades what we had seen, and preparing theboats for the attempt to be made on the morrow to penetrate intothis oasis in the heart of the Arctic desert.

XIV. — SUCCESSES AND SURPRISES.

'NOW,' said Dr Lorimer on the following morning,as we cast off from the bank and headed the launch up stream, 'anhour or two at the most will carry us into the Happy Valley,"where," in the words of the ancient chronicle, "game abounds,and everything points to a bountiful nature."'

But, alas for the doctors reputation as a prophet, ourdifficulties commenced simultaneously with the voyage. Thecurrent was so strong that at full pressure we barely held ourown against it, and when two hours had passed, instead of beingwithin the glen, we had not made half a mile from the camp. Worsethan this, the inlet narrowed as we advanced, and as a naturalconsequence the current increased in strength. On either side thewalls of rock rose up perpendicularly to an immense height, insome places overhanging the inlet so that only a small patch ofsky was to be seen.

'What's to be done, Clements?' I asked, when I saw that wewere making practically no progress.

'I don't know, sir,' he answered; 'I've full steam on, and Ican do no more with safety. Even as it is, the pressure's as muchas she'll stand, though she's as stout a boat as ever Imanaged.'

We were at that time in the middle of the stream, and thedoctor suggested that we might do better if we ran in close tothe shore, though the danger of being dashed against the bank wascertainly greater. Accordingly we made for the left or MountTorrens side, on which, as we came nearer, we noticed that therewas a broad ledge just above the water-line.

Clements looked critically at this.

'Couldn't you help her forward a little by towing or warping?'he inquired.

'It's hardly feasible, I think,' I said; 'but we may as welltry it.'

We did so, and the result far exceeded our expectations. Thelanding was effected with difficulty, ropes warped to a point ofrock some distance in front, and then all hands, except Clementsand Wemyss, who were required on board, pulled as if their livesdepended upon it. Whether it was that the current was much lessfierce inshore, or that our efforts really went for something, Icannot pretend to say; but, at any rate, the two boats assuredlygained several hundred feet with comparative ease. In this way,taking advantage of one fixed point after another, we continuedfor some time, and although our progress was nothing to boast of,still we had no reason to be discouraged.

A little farther up the inlet broadened out once more, and toour relief we were able to get on without extraneous aid. Here itwas seen to take a sudden bend, and as we approached the turn weheard a distant sound as of a fall.

'If it is a fall, we're done for!' I said. 'We shallhave to turn back at once.'

'Nil desperandum!' responded the doctor, cheerfully.'The water is not so agitated as it should be if there's a fallnear. But patience! a couple of minutes will put us out ofsuspense.'

The bend being somewhat difficult to navigate, and the soundmomentarily becoming louder, we were quite excited by the time wehad taken the turn. And then we saw the cause of the noise. Abody of water issued from a cleft at least five hundred feet upthe side of Mount Torrens, and fell into Oliphant Inlet with adin that seemed scarcely proportionate to its size. From where wewere it looked like a ribbon of white mist on the mountain-side,but as we came nearer it assumed a more formidableappearance.

'There must be a strong eddy there,' said the doctor, 'and I'mafraid it won't be altogether easy to pass it without beingsucked in.—Clements, you'd better keep her as much tostarboard as you can with safety.'

Fortunately, the current was comparatively weak at that side,and Clements was thus enabled to get up way for a rush when wereached the critical point. The moment we came abreast theeddying and foam-crested water, we dashed forward at full speed.For an instant it seemed as if it would be of no avail. Thelaunch's head spun round towards the left and vacillated; butfinally she righted herself and, after a shock that reminded usof the old ice-pressures, gained the calm water beyond. In theface of our success, we did not heed the fact that we were alldrenched by the falling spray.

That, as it happened, was the last of our troubles, andthereafter we advanced slowly but surely, and without meeting anyfurther obstacle, until the mountains on each side begangradually to recede. Within an hour of sunset we had reached thevalley, and the occasion was signalised by the shooting of abrace of eider-ducks by Cecil. Larger game we saw also, but itwas too dark to make out of what kind. At the first patch ofgreen by the river-side (for the term inlet must now give way toriver), which we found to be of coarse grass interspersed withmoss, we made our camp, and had a royal supper in celebration ofour arrival in Dreghorn Valley.

Some time during the night I was awakened by a sound outsidethe tent; and, stepping out of the sleeping-bag without rousingthe rest, I took my gun and proceeded to investigate. For alittle I could see nothing, so intense was the darkness, and thenI distinguished a dark mass by the water-side. Theanimals—whatever they were—must have scented me atthe same time, for immediately thereafter they scampered off inthe opposite direction. I fired at random, with what result Icould not guess. After reassuring my comrades, who had beenbrought out in a state of great alarm by the sound of my shot, weall turned in, and slept soundly till dawn.

That I had done some execution, after all, was evident nextmorning from the track of blood that was visible for somedistance. Before breakfast Cecil, with the help of Konig, hadmade a welcome addition to that meal by again bagging a fewbirds.

'We're in a perfect paradise of game, apparently,' he said,'and I think we should have a regular hunt as soon as we can. Ishould like to find out what kind of herd it was that disturbedus last night.'

'Let us get farther up the valley first,' I answered; 'thereappears to be more game there, and it would be a pity to wasteour time here.'

To this he assented, and shortly afterwards we resumed ourvoyage.

That day the temperature was higher than it had been since thepreceding year, and as we steamed gently up the glen, with thegreen banks on each side and many signs of animal life allaround, we could almost imagine ourselves on an autumn tour inNorway or some other European country. We noticed numerous sealsbasking on the rocks as we passed, and hares appeared to beplentiful enough on land; but the only kind of big game we sawduring the forenoon was a herd of musk-oxen. Cecil wished to goashore, and was only kept on board by the promise that we shouldstop the next time.

By noon we were near a peculiarly shaped flat-topped rockabout ten miles up, and when we were within a few hundred yardsof it Cecil pointed out an object under its western side that hadhitherto escaped our attention. It was circular in form, and halfhidden by some masses of rock; in front of it was a little streamthat ran into the river; but even with our glasses we could notmake out what it was.

'I'm at an utter loss,' said the doctor; 'but, of course, it'sunrecognisable at this distance. Is it worth while to runin?'

'Certainly it is,' I replied, and gave orders to thateffect.

As we came nearer, the object assumed a more definite shape,but still we could form no conjecture. At length the doctor,after a long scrutiny of it through the best telescope, hazardedan opinion. 'It seems to me,' he said, hesitatingly, as if afraidof his own thought, 'that it's a ruined stone hut, or at least anold habitation of some kind.'

Every one on board was startled by the suggestion, and atfirst seemed half-inclined to scoff at it; but then, on lookingagain at the mysterious object, we were forced to confess thatit* appearance certainly corresponded with that of a hut. But alldoubts were soon put to rest by the launch touching land. Thedoctor was the first to jump ashore and rush towards the spot,which he reached while the rest of us were still some distanceoff.

'It is a hut!' he shouted a moment later.

The news caused us to make for him at an increased speed. Whenwe came up, we saw that there could not be the least doubt of thematter. The building was of large and small pieces of rock placedtogether in the same way as a dry-stone wall, and covered on theoutside with moss and lichen. The roof had fallen in; otherwise,the hut was quite entire. It was about thirty feet incircumference, and eight or nine in height; there was a prettylarge doorway, and two openings as if for windows; and insidethere were the marks of a fireplace in the centre, along withsome bones and other refuse.

'I may be mistaken,' observed Dr Lorimer, after a carefulinspection of the whole place, 'but I'm of the strong opinionthat this wasn't built by Esquimaux. The plan of the building nodoubt resembles their snow-houses, but it is so well built andproportioned that I cannot credit them with it. If it istheir work, all I can say is that they are more highly endowedthan we have hitherto imagined.'

'But if it wasn't Esquimaux,' I said, 'whom could it havebeen?'

'That I don't know,' he replied, 'and there is really nothingto indicate.'

'Has it been long built?' Cecil asked.

'I cannot answer that either, but I should say at no distantdate.'

I saw Gates smile at this, and remembered that Lorimer hadused the same words on the preceding day. Presently the stokerquietly inquired of me: 'Is that fifteen hundred or two thousandyears, Mr Oliphant?'

'No, my boy,' answered the doctor, who heard him; 'it means inthis case—volcanoes and huts being differentthings—within a decade or so.'

'Within a decade or so!' I repeated; 'then the chances arethat this land is inhabited?'

'Indubitably; but perhaps like Greenland, merely by a fewwandering tribes that are as few and far between as frivolousScotsmen'—at which Gates grinned, as an honest complimentto himself and his compatriots. 'However, we must now keep a keenlookout for natives or further signs of them; and in the meantimeI propose, as there is no more to be done here, that we resumeour journey.'

This incident, naturally, added a still further excitement toour voyage, and many were the inferences and anticipationsfounded upon it for the next hour or two. They did not end, infact, until Cecil (who had been keeping his eyes openextraordinarily wide for reasons of his own) sighted some game inthe distance, and claimed the fulfilment of my promise. Hishunting instinct had been steadily rising all day, and now hewould take no refusal, the rather that the game did not appear tobe musk-oxen or any other species we had met so far. I had togive in; and after issuing orders for the launch to go no fartherthan could be soon from that point, a distance of perhaps threemiles, he and I took our guns and two of the dogs, and set off tocommence our stalking.

About half a mile from the river the valley began to rise, andthe ground became very broken; and as it was in this part thatthe game had been seen, we made for it lower down than the exactspot. Owing to the conformation of the surface, they wereinvisible to us for the greater distance, and it was not until wewere within some seven hundred yards that we caught sight of themagain. Then, to our amazement, we saw that they weredeer—animals that we no more expected to findthere than we did hippopotami.

'Do you see that?' whispered Cecil, excitedly. 'If we can onlymanage to get within range, what a feast of venison we shall haveto-night, and what a trophy that stag's head will be for thedoctor!'

The herd, consisting of nine animals, mostly young, werepeacefully browsing on a green patch of vegetation around aspring from which steam was rising. So graceful did they lookwith their long, branching horns and beautiful skins, and sooblivious of danger did they seem, that I felt a pang ofcompunction at the idea of shooting them. As Cecil, however, didnot share my scruples, we proceeded to creep from rock to rockwith the wariness of redskins, doing our utmost to make no noiseand at the same time to keep the dogs in hand. But all ourprecautions were of no avail. While we were still about sixhundred yards from them they appeared to scent their imminentdanger, and without a warning dashed off to the east.

'Fire!' cried my brother, jumping up and letting fly atthem.

I followed his example; but, as may be supposed, we might aswell have kept our shot for a better opportunity. Half-inclinedto curse our luck, we hurried forward to the oasis, thevegetation of which we found to be a finer grass than we had yetcome across. The spring was, as we had imagined, of boilingwater, and resembled that on the other side of Mount Stafford.But we did not stop to pay much attention to it, for, seeing thatthe game had again come to a halt about a quarter of a milefarther on, we resumed our hunt. A second time they bolted beforewe were within range; but on this occasion, observing that theirspeed was nothing very phenomenal, we set the dogs free andhurried after them as fast as we could. The deer made straightfor a ridge of rock that ran across the valley transversely withthe river; but on reaching it they swerved suddenly andunexpectedly to the right and took to the hills, still hotlypursued by Konig and Antony.

'Something must have startled them,' said Cecil. 'The launchcan't have come up yet, can it?'—for, being on low ground,and the river being hidden, we could not make sure.

'Hardly likely,' I replied; 'but suppose we go and see?There's not the least use in following the deer farther; weshould never overtake them; and the dogs will come back as soonas they see we aren't at their heels.'

For a moment Cecil looked disappointed, for he would haveliked nothing better than a long chase.

'It's a pity to lose them after all this trouble,' he said,'but I'm afraid there's nothing else for it. And we may seesomething else before the day's done.'

In a few minutes thereafter we were at the base of the ridge,and then we began to ascend it at the very point at which thedeer had turned. But before we were halfway up we heard a soundthat caused us to stop and look at each other in completeamazement; for, if it was not the sound of clashing steel, it wasas like it as anything we had ever heard. After a moment's pause,and as if moved by one impulse, we resumed our climbing. Mybrother was the first to reach the top; I saw him, as his headrose above the ridge, glance down on the other side with a lookof bewilderment, open his mouth as if to speak, and then motionme to hurry up. A second later I was at his side, and this iswhat my hurried glimpse revealed. Down below, about a hundredyards from us, was a party of armed men, apparently white likeourselves, clothed in bearskins and with swords and shields,surrounding another man clothed and armed in the same way, who,standing in a cleft in the side of the valley, seemed to beholding his own against them all. I had just time to notice this,and that they were assuredly not of Esquimaux origin, when itappeared to me that one of the men turned in our direction; and,apprehensive of the effects of being seen, I hastily dropped downout of sight, pulling Cecil with me.

'Get the guns ready,' I whispered; 'I am sure he saw us.'

XV. — EYVIND.

A FEW minutes passed, and we were not disturbed.Then we heard a second time the loud clash of steel, followed bythe long, agonising cry of some poor fellow who had received hisdeath-thrust; and, our curiosity overmastering our prudence, weclimbed again to our old point of vantage.

We perceived at a glance that the one attacked still held hisplace; before him lay the man he had just despatched, and aroundhim thronged six others, all of them, by the expressions on theirfaces, thirsting for his blood. He himself was a splendidspecimen of manhood, standing at least six feet. Seemingly he wasnot more than twenty-four or twenty-five years of age; and withhis long yellow hair and moustache, and his ruddy countenance, hemight have been taken for one of the old Saxon or Norseconquerors of early Britain come to life. Above a dress of somedark material he wore a magnificent bearskin, thrown back overhis shoulders so as to allow his arms full play. His headpiecewas of ermine, ornamented with three feathers. His only arms werea long sword and a small round shield; but beside him on theground lay several peculiar-shaped spears, which, as weafterwards gathered, had been thrown at him and caught on hisshield, thence rebounding harmlessly to the earth. Fortunatelyfor himself, his place of defence was so skilfully chosen that hecould not have more than two of his opponents before him at atime, and thus he was enabled to defend himself with some hope ofsuccess. We could not but admire the masterly way in which hewielded his weapons, now receiving a thrust on his shield, thenext moment parrying one with his sword, and at the same timepressing the enemy back by a well-directed lunge. Our sympathieswere, of course immediately with him, for we thought it almostimpossible that, however long he might hold out, he couldultimately escape.

Of the assailants, the only one who seemed to be of the samerank, and who also wore the three feathers in his cap, was amiddle-aged man, who appeared to direct the attack from behind,always taking care not to come within the range of his foeman'sweapon. He was identically armed; but his five men had longspears instead of swords, and three of them had also by theirsides the smaller kinds, which they were doubtless keeping for agood opportunity of hurling at Fairhair. These five were darkerthan the other two, and had many points of variance, that in somerespects indicated a different race.

For the moment there was a lull in the combat, and while itlasted we had an opportunity of taking in the whole scene. At thefoot of the valley was the river, of which there was a good viewfrom where we were; and farther up, about midway between it andus, was a hut resembling the one we had already seen, butapparently complete. There were a few patches of green here andthere, but for the most part the glen was bare and sterile.

'There they go again!' whispered Cecil, while I wasscrutinising the river for some signs of the boats.

Turning, I saw that the combat had recommenced. Apparently amore determined effort than ever was now to be made. One of thetwo leaders suddenly rushed forward and engaged Fairhair with hisspear; and while he was doing so the other attacked him in flank,as if to take him by surprise. But Fairhair saw him, and by onelightning-like stroke dashed up the spear of the first; the nextinstant, received the second's point on his shield; and then,lunging forward so quickly that his opponent could not get out ofthe way, brought down his sword with the full force of his arm.Dropping his spear, the man tried to parry the stroke with hisshield, but the only effect was to turn it from his head to hisshoulder. He fell, and doubtless another thrust would have givenhim his coup de grâce if his comrade had not againattacked Fairhair, and thus called off his attention.Simultaneously we noticed one of the men farther back hastilythrow his short spear; but, notwithstanding his other engagement,Fairhair saw him also, and by a sudden jump easily avoidedit.

'Well done!' cried Cecil, in a tone louder than was altogetherprudent, and fingering his Winchester as if he longed to be in itwith the rest.

Hitherto we had been too much interested in the fight to thinkof our own position; but now I could not help wondering if itwould not be better to return to the launch than to remain there.It is true we were in little danger of being engaged against ourwill, for the combatants had something else to do than to keeptheir eyes on all parts of the compass; but still it was aquestion if it would not be more prudent to creep quietly awayand prepare our friends for what was before them. I whispered mydoubts to Cecil; but in reply he energetically shook hishead.

'No, no,' he said. 'Let us see it out; I don't intend to letthose beggars get it all their own way. Besides, there's nodanger.'

I acquiesced, and no doubt everything would have gone well hadit not been for an event which we might have foreseen, but didnot—the return of the dogs from the pursuit of the deer. Infact we quite forgot all about them until we were unpleasantlyreminded of their presence by their noses being thrust into ourfaces. Cecil promptly took Antony by the throat, and so ensuredhis quiescence; but I was less fortunate with Konig, who eludedmy grasp, and, as if to mark his indignation at our conduct, gavetwo or three loud barks of defiance. This, of course, broughtmatters to a head. Before we could drop down out of sight, evenif we had wished to do so, some of the combatants had turned andseen us, and their bearing plainly warned us that we need expectno friendly reception.

'We'll have to face it now, at all events!' cried Cecil, inany tone but that of disappointment; and, with a cry to me to'Come on,' he lowered himself into the valley in which the combatwas taking place. Though inwardly I blamed his foolhardiness inmixing in an affair with which he had no concern, I had noalternative but to follow him.

On seeing this move of ours, the officer in command of theattacking party gave us one startled glance, and said somethingto his men. Two of them immediately turned, so as to face us,leaving the remaining two (not counting the wounded man) toengage Fairhair. Thereafter he shouted a remark evidentlyintended for us; but, as we did not understand him, we couldreturn no answer.

After a short pause he issued an order, and then, with his twomen, advanced in an unmistakably threatening manner. We raisedour guns in menace, but, as they paid no heed, it was plain thatthey were unacquainted with their power. Suddenly the hand of oneof them wandered to the short spear at his side; half a secondlater I was jerked aside so unexpectedly by my brother that Inearly fell; and, almost simultaneously, the spear flashed pastwithin half a foot of me. In a minute they would have been uponus, and as it would have been simple madness to allow them, armedas they were, to come to close quarters, we fired together. Thetwo men fell, while the officer threw himself on the ground witha shriek as if he, too, had received a conical bullet through thebody.

So far the defender and his opponents had been too muchoccupied with their own concerns to look at us; but now, as theyheard the sound of our shots for the first time in their lives,they stopped in sheer consternation. But Fairhair didn't takelong to realise that our arrival had immensely simplified mattersfor him; and while his two assailants were still looking as ifdumbfounded, he darted forward, broke through the guard of one ofthem, and passed his sword through his body. The other, thoughnow no match for him, pluckily continued the fight, but in asecond he also had shared the fate of his comrade.

Now ensued an extraordinary scene. The officer, findinghimself unhurt, had risen; and Fairhair, altogether heedless ofour presence, rushed forward to where he stood, with a shout thatsounded to me like one of joy. The other seemed not to like theprospect (especially with us at his back), but he faced his enemygallantly enough, and answered his shouts with others equallydefiant. For a little they stood thus, and then the conflictbegan. They were equally matched, for if Fairhair had theadvantage in weight, the other had it in freshness; and there,with the dead bodies around them, and we two as spectators, theyexchanged thrust after thrust and blow after blow with fearfulrapidity. We could not tell which, if either, had the best of it;and it is doubtful how it would have ended if they had been leftto fight it out. But just then, as luck would have it, we heardthe familiar sound made by our little steamer, which soon aftercame into sight at the foot of the valley. Its appearance was toomuch for the duellists, and they dropped the points of theirswords and made as if to flee. But only Fairhair's opponent didso; and Fairhair himself, quickly recovering when he saw hisfoeman's back, lifted one of the short throwing-spears that layon the ground, and with unerring aim hurled it at him. He fell,and when we got forward to him he was quite dead, with the pointof the javelin sticking out a full inch in front.

The launch, meanwhile, had been run inshore, and those onboard seemed to be in a state of great excitement, probablyhaving witnessed the final act of the Homeric struggle. Turningto Fairhair, we observed him alternately scrutinising us and ourvessel with a look in which wonder was blended with fear, and wewere afraid (and, as he afterwards confessed, we were right) hewas thinking of showing us a clean pair of heels. But, doubtlessremembering the help we had rendered him, and that hehad no cause to fear us, he advanced slowly and hesitatingly, asif his mind still wavered. Seeing this, and noticing also that hecast furtive glances at our firearms, I passed mine to Cecil, andwent to meet him with outstretched hand. At this his fear seemedto vanish; he sheathed his sword, and with a look of frankconfidence took my hand and shook it heartily. Notwithstandingthe rifles, he went through the same ceremony with Cecil, andthen addressed us both in some language we did notunderstand.

While we were thus becoming friendly the doctor came up,followed by all the others except Gates, and in a few words wemade him acquainted with what had passed.

'It's obvious enough that he's no more of Esquimaux breed thanwe are,' he said, when he had recovered sufficiently from hissurprise to allow him to speak; 'and what he is, and where hebelongs to, we must get out of him somehow or other.' After aminute's thought: 'Leave him to me, Oliphant, and I'll do mybest. I think I shall manage. Perhaps, in the meantime, you andCecil may find that some of these men are not quite dead.'

After this gentle hint he turned to Fairhair, who had beenregarding him (and especially his eye-glasses) with an expressionof unadulterated wonder; while we, quite content to leave mattersof this kind in his hands, proceeded to examine the stranger'svictims—and our own. All were dead except two, and one ofthese expired in the course of a few minutes. As for theother—the one who had received Fairhair's stroke on hisshoulder—he also succumbed after lingering little more thanan hour, though Cecil did everything in his power to savehim.

Leaving my brother to attend to this, and perceiving thatLorimer was still engaged with our native, I turned to our threecomrades, who looked as if they thought they were dreaming.

'What does it all mean?' inquired Wemyss, with a bewilderedglance, first at the bodies, and then at the gesticulating doctorand his listener.

'That's more than I can tell, Wemyss,' I replied; 'all that Iknow is that we came up in time to take part in a fight betweenour friend there and several others whom you now see on theground. Who they are, the doctor is trying to find out.'

'Old sea-Northmen,' suggested Nils Jansen, looking approvinglyat Fairhair's goodly proportions, and apparently quite roused outof his usual lethargic state.

The same idea had occurred to me, and certainly our now friendcame very near one's mental picture of a Viking. But before I hadtime to pursue the conjecture further, he moved towards us withthe doctor.

'Can't altogether classify him yet, Oliphant,' said thelatter, 'but I don't despair. If I could only get him to speakslower I might succeed better. But by his signs I make out thathe wishes us to accompany him to his hut.'

This, it may be remembered, was situated farther down thevalley, and thither we went at once at Fairhair's heels. When wereached it, we found that it was considerably larger than the onein Dreghorn Valley—capable, indeed, of accommodating theseven of us without the least inconvenience. It had curtains ofsealskin for both door and windows, those for the latter beingheld back by loops of skin fastened to points in the wall. In thecentre was the fireplace, and around the wall a raised platformof beaten earth, part of it covered with furs as for a bed. Hereand there were spears, knives, and freshly-stripped skins ofvarious animals. The purpose of the building was evident.

'A hunting-hut!' exclaimed the doctor. 'It's easily enoughseen that it isn't a permanent residence—only something, Ipresume, equivalent to a shooting-box.'

Meanwhile its owner had motioned us to be seated, after whichhe had gone outside, returning immediately with several pieces ofvenison, which there and then he proceeded to cook over the fire.When they were done, he brought from a corner four plattersingeniously formed of stone, and four metal drinking-vessels.These he handed to the doctor, Cecil, Wemyss, and me, at the sametime saying something which was doubtless meant as an apology fornot being able to supply us altogether. The cups he filled from alarge jar, also of metal, produced from the same corner; and withthe venison we each received a piece of some dark substance whichon examination we discovered to be rye-bread!

'Rye-bread here!' ejacul*ted Lorimer, in a tone, not ofsurprise—for we were past that—but of wonderingperplexity.

'And ale,' supplemented Cecil.

And on tasting the liquor we found that it was certainly ale,though neither in taste nor appearance did it resemble theEnglish drink.

Hardly knowing what to make of the discoveries, we ate on insilence, but I saw that the doctor was deep in meditation. Whenour repast was finished, Clements and Jansen were entertainedlikewise, and then Fairhair himself, after having drunk a cupfulof the beer to us, again shook us all cordially by the hand.

'I see it now,' said Cecil. 'This has been a sort of eating ofsalt, you know, and after it we are to be friendseverlasting!

'Then, to ratify the treaty, we must get him down to thelaunch,' I said.

By means of signs we succeeded, with some difficulty, inmaking him understand what was wanted. He seemed quite willing,having by this time, no doubt, conquered his reasonable fears;but while we were on our way he turned aside into a little valleythat struck off parallel with the river. Here, in a minute ortwo, we came upon the bodies of two men pierced by javelins, and,seeing Fairhair's grief, we concluded that they had been hisfollowers, and probably killed by his own assailants. Havinghelped him to bury them, we were led down to a little cove, inwhich lay two boats, one about twelve feet long and the otherabove sixteen, made of fir—and exceedingly well made theywere, too. The sterns were considerably higher than the prows,and the latter tapered almost to a point.

'Wood also,' I heard the doctor mutter to himself. 'And whereon earth have I seen boats like these before?'

Before he had answered the question to his own satisfaction,apparently, we were on board the launch, and of Fairhair's wonderat everything he saw I need say no more than that it was, judgingfrom the expression on his face and in his eyes, and from hisincessant remarks, boundless. Hitherto, I think, he had regardedus as superhuman, but now he appeared to be convinced of ourmundane origin by the shape of the whale-boat and by the goods itcontained, and perhaps also by the excellent biscuits, hotcoffee, and other delicacies with which we regaled him. And yet,on looking at the vessel, that went without any visible effort onour part, and remembering how strangely and mysteriously we hadkilled his enemies, his mind could not help vacillating alittle.

While we were thus doing the honours of our boats to the bestof our ability, the doctor was unusually preoccupied. The onlythings he seemed to pay any attention to were the frequentexclamations of our visitor, and for the rest he was completelylost in thought. At length, quite suddenly, I saw his facelighten up as it always did when he had come to any conclusion ordecision, and then I knew he had struck upon a plan of somekind.

'I have it!' he exclaimed, so energetically that Fairhair'shand involuntarily wandered to his sword.

Without condescending to explain any further, he slowly anddistinctly said something to the stranger in a language withwhich we were unacquainted. Fairhair pricked up his cars, lookedpuzzled, and then said a few words, but whether in the samelanguage or not we could not make out.

The doctor answered, and so it went on for a long time withoutany of us becoming the wiser.

'I have succeeded!' cried Lorimer at last, breaking off hisconversation for a few minutes to inform us of the result. 'Withdifficulty we can understand each other. Those boats put the ideainto my head, for I remembered to have seen somewhat similar onesdug up in Norway about twenty years ago. Then I recognised in hisexclamations one or two words of Icelandic, and all at once itflashed on me that it might be of Norse origin. So I tried himwith Icelandic, and though it took him some time to comprehendit, he eventually did so in a way. Now I've found out wherein thedifference lies, and before to-morrow I'll undertake to masterhis dialect;' and here he went into details into which it isneedless to enter in this place, the more so that the subjectwill be exhaustively treated in a scientific work which DrLorimer has in preparation. The gist of them was that theoriginal tongue had become corrupted somehow or other, and thatnow it was so changed that almost all the terminals weredifferent from those of the Icelandic.

'But even that, I understand,' he continued, 'isn't the commonlanguage—it was certainly not the one in which he spoke tous first. His own name, he tells me, is Eyvind. I've had no timeyet to ferret out anything more, but we're on the brink of greatdiscoveries, Oliphant—discoveries, unless I'm mistaken,that'll surprise the world!'

Here an idea struck me.

'Nils is a Norwegian,' I said. 'Are the languages near enoughfor them to understand each other, do you think?'

'I fear not,' he answered, 'but we might try.'

Nils Jansen, who was below, was called up and told to speak toEyvind—to call him now by his proper name—inNorwegian, but the experiment was unsuccessful. There were indeedwords common to both, but these were so few, and the structureand pronunciation had become so different, that the two wereunintelligible to each other.

'Just as I thought,' observed Lorimer; adding: 'And now, ifyou'll leave us to ourselves for an hour or two, I don't doubt Ishall he able to give you some information at the end of thetime.'

And, turning to Eyvind, he resumed his conversation with him,while the rest of us, thinking over the wonderful occurrences andrevelations of the day, conjectured if we were in reality aboutto discover, in this far-off Arctic land, a race kindred to ourown.

XVI. — THIS LAND OF ISLÖKEN.

THE conversation between Dr Lorimer and Eyvind,in spite of the difficulties of carrying it on, continued for thebest part of two hours; and then the latter, after a generalsalutation to the company, leaped on shore and made his way upthe valley towards his hut.

'He's off,' explained the doctor, 'to make things ready foraccompanying us to-morrow morning. Till then we're to remainhere. And, really, we have something to see, if we're tobelieve what he says—a country inhabited by thousands ofpeople, many hundreds of miles in extent, and capable, as wealready know, of producing corn and wood! That's what I gatherfrom what he says, for he was much more eager to ask me questionsthan to answer them. He wished to know everything aboutus—where we came from, what our purpose was, how I hadlearned his language, and so on—and I had to gratify him.He is a savage, in many respects, but assuredly an intelligentone. In the end be agreed to guide us into this land, from thepeople of which, he says, we are sure of a hospitablereception.'

'So far, so good,' I said; 'but how did he explain his littlequarrel with his countrymen, as I suppose they were?'

'In this way. It seems he is now the head of a family whichhas long been at feud—like the old Highland chiefs, Isuppose—with a neighbouring one. A few years ago hehappened to kill a member of the opposite family, and since thattime there has been war to the knife between them. Eyvind's sidehas had the best of it, and to such an extent that of a numeroussept of foes there ultimately remained only one, who took toflight. A few days ago our friend came down here with twoattendants to hunt the seal'—which, we were subsequentlytold, frequented only this and a few other estuaries—'and,unsuspicious of danger, kept no particular watch. But his enemy,who was named Thostar, had been following him, and the firstwarning Eyvind had of his approach was the death of his men,which he saw from a distance. He was chased and hemmed in at thepoint at which you found him, and there he held his own againstthem all until you came up and effectually aided him inexterminating the family.'

'If that is their usual way of settling disputes,' said Cecil,'their country must be a particularly nice place to live in. Nodoubt they make up for the temperature by extra warmth oftemperament. And our friend Eyvind seems a good specimen of thenoble savage, to whom might is right.'

The noble savage was at any rate an early riser, for we foundwhen we awoke on the following morning that he had alreadyremoved his goods and chattels from the hut to his boat, and wasengaged in placing in the other the arms and accoutrements of hisslain enemies.

'He says,' the doctor informed us when he had made inquiries,'that he must prove in this way that he has really beenvictorious. Otherwise he mightn't be believed. He also wants toknow if the "iron magic-boat," as he calls it, can drag anotherboat, as the management of his own will be quite enough forhim.'

'Certainly,' I replied. 'Both of them if he likes, if thecurrent is not too strong'—an offer which he accepted atonce.

It must have appeared a strange fleet that started from thetiny river-side cove early that forenoon—the powerfullittle launch loading, followed by the well-packed whale-boat andthe two peculiar-looking native vessels.

Eyvind, who lost no time in making himself quite at home ondeck, had an insatiable curiosity regarding the nature and use ofevery article on board; and though his mind failed to grasp muchof the information liberally supplied to him, that did notprevent him overwhelming the doctor with puzzling questions.

Lorimer by this time was perfectly fluent in Eyvind's dialect,and the cross-fire of query and reply went unceasingly on hour byhour. Nils Jansen, too, strangely enough, soon picked up as muchas made himself understood, merely by listening attentively tothe conversation; but then, like many of his compatriots, he hada wonderful faculty for acquiring languages.

As we continued on our way up the valley we saw still furtherevidence on every side of plentiful game, and even caught sightof several bears. Of course, all kinds of animals fled at ourapproach long before we could get within shot, and we were soeager to proceed quickly that not even Cecil suggested anotherchase. But he kept his rifle near at hand, and his eyes open, andwhen he did observe a flock of brent geese hovering over thewater within a hundred yards of us, he took immediate advantageof the chance. In an instant the fowling-piece was at hisshoulder and he had fired, and so truly that he managed to bringdown two of the birds. They fell on the water, and we easilyrecovered them.

Eyvind had watched the proceedings with the greatest interestup to the moment that Cecil pulled the trigger, and then, as heheard and saw the result, he gasped in pure astonishment.

'Ye are gods!' he exclaimed at last to the doctor. 'None butgods have such power over fire and thunder as ye, or can killwithout arrow or spear! Ye must be gods!

And in this belief he persisted in remaining thenceforth, andI may only remark, incidentally, that he was further confirmed init on seeing several of us smoking—a proceeding which gavehim more uneasiness than oven our method of slaughter.

All forenoon the valley had been gradually widening out; andsoon after this incident—before, indeed, Eyvind hadcompletely recovered from its effects—we came to a point atwhich it merged altogether in another and larger one. Hitherto wehad been prevented from seeing beyond by rising ground; but now,on turning a bend in the river, we saw before us a scene that inits magnificence, unexpected as it was, almost deprived us of theuse of our senses. On both sides lay a level plain stretchingaway to distant mountains, covered almost entirely by a mantle ofgreen, with only here and there a streak of white that seemed ananomaly amidst the surrounding verdure. In sight were severalhouses, mostly standing a little back from the water; and hereand there we observed herds of either game or cattle. A few milesin front of us was a lake, from which the river issued, and onthe farther side of it the varying scenery of

Mountains that like giants stand
To sentinel enchanted land.

But the principal feature of the foreground was neither theinhabited plain nor its highly-cultivated appearance, but thegreat numbers of what could be nothing else than geysersthat were visible on all sides. Of the spouting sprays of water,each partly veiled in steam, many of them of a considerable size,there must have been close upon a hundred within an area of a fewsquare miles. In the background, except to the north, we couldsee snow-covered hills backed by mountains of a great height, atleast three of the peaks of which, we noticed, were volcanoes inviolent eruption.

'This is Reydverá, one of the best and most fertile portionsof the land of Islöken,' explained Eyvind through the doctor, onseeing our surprise. 'Yonder'—pointing to the north, wherethere was a break in the mountains—'extends the land manydays' journey, to the great mountains which no man has yetcrossed. There, in Hjalnord, sit the king and chiefcouncil of the nation.'

'And,' added the doctor to us, 'whatever its present name, itshould be called the Paradise of the North;' and thence-forward, amongst ourselves, the land of Islöken—as itappears was the proper designation of the wholecountry—bore no other name than that thus bestowed uponit.

As we approached the first house, which was a one-storeyedbuilding of stone, not unlike the rude erections of Iceland, weperceived that there was a goodly number of people standing infront of it, and none of them, by their furtive glances, at theirease. As we came near enough to make out that they resembled thespearmen of whom Eyvind had disposed, and that there were two orthree herds of tame reindeer and cattle grazing around the place,a loud, clanging bell began to toll, no doubt to warn others ofour arrival. Our savage, obviously not too well pleased by thismark of attention, angrily addressed those on shore as we passed,and the sound immediately ceased. But the natives, men, women,and children alike, after their first feeling of consternationwas over, swarmed along on both banks, easily keeping abreast ofthe boats; and as they were momentarily joined by others fromevery point of the compass, we seemed likely to have soon aconsiderable escort.

'How is it, I wonder,' I asked, 'that those people differ somuch in every way from Eyvind? They appear to be of another racealtogether.'

'Thou art right,' answered Eyvind, when the doctor had put thequestion to him. 'It is said that ages ago a people came over thesea from the land to which the sun goes when it is always dark,from the far south, and found in Islöken another people whom theyconquered and made their slaves. Of the slaves these'—witha contemptuous gesture towards the shore—'are thedescendants, and of their masters I and the other chiefs of theland! But the language of the people is still the language of theslaves, and it is only the chiefs who are taught this, the tongueof our first fathers.'

The doctor mused for a minute or two.

'Strange!' he said; 'but it is strong confirmation of myNorwegian theory, and I must investigate it further.'

Before we had reached the lake there must have been at least ahundred and fifty people on each bank, among them several fair-skinned persons to whom extraordinary respect was shown, and withwhom Eyvind exchanged salutations. All of them had either two orthree feathers in their caps, and wore bear-skins. The commonpeople, both men and women, were clad in some coarse woollenstuff, made (we afterwards discovered) from the wool of the musk-ox. The women, as far as we could see, were neither beautiful norgraceful, but we were quite prepared to accept our guest'sstatement that the females of the 'upper classes,' of whom we sawnone, were both.

The river being rather rapid on issuing from the lake, we hadsome difficulty in forcing our way into the latter; but when wesucceeded in doing so, we found the water so calm that we wereable to proceed at a much accelerated speed. Those on shore wereleft behind; and we, under Eyvind's guidance, headed directly fora cluster of houses that was visible on the left side of thelake, about two miles distant.

'That is Orn, at which the justice-council of Reydverá sits,'said the chief.

In crossing the lake, we saw on shore in several places tracksof ground that, in strong contrast to the surrounding fertility,lay bare and desolate, as if they had been the scene of someterrible convulsion of nature, as we suspected had been the case.And we were right; for, according to Eyvind in his somewhatfigurative language, the wicked gods imprisoned beneath the earthhad made one of many unsuccessful efforts to escape, and this wasone of the consequences.

'When did this happen?' Cecil inquired.

'Four moons ago, when the darkness was at its greatest,' wasthe reply.

'It must have been the same, then, as the one we felt—orwhose tail we felt—at Weymouth Harbour on Christmas night.Ask him, doctor, if it was a very severe one.'

Eyvind coolly answered that only a score or two of hiscountrymen had been killed, and one or two houses swallowed up;from which it may be inferred that earthquakes are of prettyfrequent occurrence in Islöken. The whole country, indeed, is thescene of violent volcanic action; everywhere, in the days thatfollowed, we noticed evidences of past and present activity; andit may be questioned if anywhere else on the face of the globe,even in Iceland, the underground forces are so strong and sodestructive. No wonder they are attributed by the superstitiousinhabitants to wicked gods imprisoned for their sins!

By this time we were nearing the town of Orn, which, we saw aswe approached it, was situated between two streams that here fellinto the lake. Several boats were lying in the larger of the two,that to the right, and on its right bank there were afew houses more pretentious than those on the opposite side, inthe town proper, which were small and by no means handsome. Therewas not the least attempt at regularity, and scattered here andthere on both banks were curious-looking knolls or hillocks.

We were soon observed, and, long before we were within hailingdistance, the various boats—there were six of themaltogether, each about the size of the larger we had intow—had been manned and were advancing to meet us. In eachwere eight rowers and a chief with three feathers as commander,all fully armed.

'These are the principal chiefs or council of Reydverá,'observed Eyvind, 'and they draw near to demand of ye who ye areand whence ye come.'

At first the boats came on with much vigour and dash, but asthey got nearer, and their occupants had a better opportunity ofscrutinising our strange and wonderful appearance, they showedless eagerness in approaching us. Finally, five of them stoppedaltogether about thirty or forty yards off, rowing back as weadvanced; but the sixth, the chief of which was a bold-lookingman of middle age—Orná, the head-man or ruler of Reydverá,Eyvind told us—came much newer, though it also drew upwithin ten yards or so. That being done, Orná hailed Eyvind, andsaid something to him in the common language.

'No doubt he's demanding "who we are, and whence we come,"'said Cecil.

Eyvind, standing in the bows of the launch, answered him atsome length, in all likelihood detailing everything he knew ofus. At first the chief looked as if a little displeased, and thenwe saw his expression of surprise deepen into one of the mostabsolute amazement; and at every sentence he and theothers—who had ventured to draw nearer to hear what wasbeing said—gave vent to sundry exclamations of wonder.

But the conference came to an abrupt end while our guest wasstill in the middle of his harangue. Suddenly, during thenarration of some incident more than usually interesting,Clements happened to open the escape-valve (whether inadvertentlyor not I should not like to say), and the silence was broken bythe sharp, hissing, unpleasant sound made by the escaping steam.The effect was instantaneous. The moment the sound was heard, andwithout waiting to discover the cause, the six boats weresimultaneously turned and headed for the shore with all thestrength the rowers could put into their strokes. Chiefs and menseemed alike in consternation; and I can only account for theirflight by the supposition that they had been so upset by ourmysterious and—to them—marvellous appearance thatonly such a slight thing as this was needed to cause them to losetheir heads. At any rate we did not for a moment put it down towant of courage; though, as it was, they never stopped until theyhad reached the inlet.

Even our friend Eyvind had been somewhat affected by theunlooked-for interruption to his speech; and now, a little palerthan usual, he was standing on guard, with his hand on hissword.

While I gave the engineer a gentle reprimand, the doctorhastened to explain to the chief that the sound was merely causedby the escape of some of the power that drove the vessel.

'Devils?' he inquired inquisitively, and a little anxiously;but being assured that we had no connection with such, he seemedquite at his ease at once, and even laughed at the recollectionof the fleeing boats. Evidently, if he had not sufficientunderstanding, he had faith.

By his advice we ran straight in instead of waiting until thepeople got over their fright and made another move. As we camenearer, however, we saw that the shore was lined by a great crowdthat showed no signs of fear, and in front of them, we could see,were large numbers of armed men holding their spears and shieldsas if in readiness for us.

'It looks as if we were to have a warm reception, after all,'said the doctor, gravely.

Agreeing with him, I thought it as well to have our riflesready also, in case they might be needed.

XVII. — CONCERNING THE PARADISE OF THENORTH.

OUR fears, however, proved to be unfounded. Aswe entered the estuary of the little river we remarked that thesix chiefs were standing, not amongst the crowd on the left bank,but by themselves in front of a large building on the oppositeside of the water. Near them was a company of their armedfollowers; but now that their feet were, so to speak, on theirnative heath, they seemed to have quite recovered their lostcourage.

'I suppose we shall land there?' I said.

'Yes,' answered Eyvind, through Lorimer. 'That is the council-house of Reydverá before which the chiefs are standing. There, Idoubt not, they will welcome ye to the land of Islöken.'

The people in the town, meanwhile, appeared to be somewhatdisappointed that we had not landed on their side; and as weturned in towards the council-house, we noticed that they weremaking a rush towards a narrow part of the stream a littlefarther up, across which a rude bridge had been thrown.

A moment later we had touched the bank. Eyvind was the firstto leap ashore, followed by Cecil with a rope to affix to an ironpole which stood there, presumably for that purpose. Then therest of us, except Gates and Jansen, who were left on the launchwith strict orders to allow nobody on board, also landed andadvanced towards the assembled chiefs. As may be supposed, we didnot forget to take our loaded firearms with us. They, on theirpart, looked at us a little askance, and Eyvind was addressed byOrná in what seemed to me rather a peremptory tone. He replied,no doubt explaining the episode on the lake, and then turned tous.

'Strangers,' he said, 'the justice-council of Reydverá demandyour business in this land, and whether you come as friends or asfoes?'

'Tell the council,' the doctor responded, 'that we come from acountry to the far south, and have no other purpose in visitingthy land than to see its wonders and be friends with its people,whose hospitality we now claim.'

Of the effect of this politic answer we could not judge; but,at any rate, it led to an animated conversation of severalminutes' duration, in which Eyvind took a prominent part. In theend the latter requested us to accompany the chiefs into thecouncil-house. But before we did so, we pointed out to him thatthe mob was now thronging dangerously near the boats, and that,if the restraining presence of the chiefs was removed, it mightnot be easy to prevent them boarding them. He agreed with us,spoke to Orná, and then issued a command to the soldiers, theconsequence of which was that a cordon was drawn around the spot,and the people thus effectually kept off.

This done, we accompanied him towards the house, which wasconsiderably the largest to be seen, and fairly regularly, ifplainly built. It was, like all the others, of one story only.Passing through an open doorway into a passage ornamented withtrophies of the chase, we reached a large room; and into this,the council-hall of the district, we were ushered by our friendEyvind. The floor was covered with handsome furs, and the wallsembellished in the same way as the lobby; and in the middle ofthe chamber was a rough table of fir-wood, with a dozen chairs,also pretty rough, around it. And, most home-like of all, at thehead of the room was a fireplace, not unlike our own, and in itwas a fire, in which was being burned coal. That fuel, it seems,is to be found in abundance all over Islöken, in most placesalmost at the surface, and so it is in universal use.

We were immediately invited to sit down, which we did, andfound the seats by no means soft. Then Orná commenced acatechism, which, having evidently decided at length that we werereally men like himself, he strove to make as searching aspossible. In this he was materially aided by his brother chiefs.The doctor answered to the best of his ability; and at the closethe ruler of Reydverá was pleased to deliver himself somewhat asfollows:

'Ye say ye are strangers from a far country, whence nostrangers have ever, within the memory of man, reached the landof Islöken, and that ye come to visit this land without evil inyour hearts. If that be so, ye have nothing to fear from thepeople of Reydverá, who are over ready to welcome others. But ifye are enemies with the faces of friends, come to spy out theland, beware! for ye shall be found out and killed as surely asthe snow conies and melts again!'

He paused, and we saw a faint smile hovering round Eyvind'smouth. Doubtless he was thinking that Orná and his othercountrymen had not yet had experience of our various magicalsecrets, and of his own superiority in that respect.

'But now, strangers, ye are welcome to Reydverá,' resumedOrná, 'and ye have freedom to go where ye will and see what yewill within its bounds so long as ye deal fairly with us. Andthat ye have comfort until Aleif the king and the great councilthat sits at Hjalnord know of your coming, ye shall have thehouse that stands next to this for your own, and the men of Ornare your servants, to do with them what ye will.'

So far we had no reason to feel dissatisfied with ourreception, and in a word or two the doctor thanked Orná and thecouncil for it. The former acknowledged the compliment by a nod,and then he turned from us to Eyvind, to whom he spoke, not inthe semi-Icelandic dialect, but in the native language. We sawEyvind's eyebrows draw together, as if in perplexity, but withouthesitation he plunged into the narrative of some episode orother. Soon, by his gestures, we made out that he was describingthe combat between himself and Thostar's party; and we couldobserve also that Orná's brow grow blacker and blacker as he wenton. Evidently, he was not pleased with the recital. When Eyvindhad finished, a lively conversation took place between thechiefs, still in the native tongue, and finally our friend saidsomething with what was obviously a considerable amount of heat.Orná as warmly replied, and then addressed the doctor.

'It seems,' he said, sternly, 'that ye strangers have aided inkilling a chief of this land and his men. It must be looked into;meanwhile the promise I have given ye holds good As your hungermust be great, a repast has been prepared for ye in your house,and when ye are again required, the council shall send forye.'

The doctor was about to reply, before acquiescing in thispolite dismissal; but Eyvind, with a look that plainly indicatedthat it was his affair and that of nobody else, forestalledhim.

'I have already told thee, Orná,' he cried in Norse, 'that thecombat was a fair one, and that whatever blame there is falls onme alone! And I am ready to answer for it, man to man, or beforethe great council at Hjalnord. But as to these strangers, theyare my guests; and Orná should know by this time thatEyvind of Hjetla can defend that which is his!'

This was apparently an allusion the head-man did not relish(it had reference, we were subsequently told, to an attempt heand some others had made on Eyvind's property, in which they hadbeen badly routed), for he turned rather red, and answered in asharp tone. But Eyvind merely smiled disdainfully, andthereafter, with a somewhat ironical bow to the company, asked usto proceed with him to our new residence.

Outside, the crowd was densely packed around the soldiers, hutthere was no rushing or rough play. The building to which we wereled was smaller than the council-house, consisting only of twolarge rooms (one of them a kitchen) and three smaller onescontaining beds and leaden baths. The large chamber was furnishedmuch in the same way as the one in which we had been examined,save that the table was of slate instead of wood. At the back ofthe house, at some distance from it, were several of the curiousrocky knolls I have already mentioned.

As soon as we were within the room the doctor lost no time inasking Eyvind the cause of the change in Orná's bearing.

'It is thus,' he responded. 'Thostar, whom I slew—he wasthe last of his race—was married to the sister of Orná, andthey were great friends. Orná has ever hated me. So when I toldhim that I had vanquished him and those with him, and with littlewisdom mentioned the part which Godfrei andCecil'—pronouncing our names almost perfectly—'tookin it, he waxed wroth, and fain would kill us all. Besides, bythis I become a more powerful man than he; for to my own slavesare now added those of Thostar and his family.[*] His heart,therefore, is full of evil against us all, and it behoves us tokeep a watch upon him, for if he can do me or ye a hurt he willhesitate not to do it.'

[* A curious custom, by which, in Islöken,the victors in a feud, if the defeated party is annihilated,become possessors of their enemies' territory and property.]

The doctor gave us an expressive glance after translatingthis.

'Is the danger great?' he asked our host.

'Perhaps; but I think not,' replied Eyvind. 'Openly he darenot attack me, and now that ye are under my protection he willthink twice before attacking ye.'

After his previous information this was consolatory in anegative sort of way, and he had a few more grains of comfort instore for us.

'But,' he continued, 'he may do harm under the pretence offriendship, and so'—with a significant look at ourrifles—'it may be well to have thy magic ready. And to makesure, I will send at once a trusty messenger to my own valley fora body of men, and when they come, in four or five days' time, yecan either remain in this place under their care, or go with meto Hjetla—as ye will.'

And after another warning to be on our guard, he went off tocarry out his purpose, while we sat down to a substantial mealthat was brought in from the kitchen. Of the delicacies peculiarto Islöken it would be more difficult to say what we had thanwhat we had not, so many and varied were the dishes; but theprincipal appeared to be venison, beef, several varieties offowl, fish, eggs, hot rye-cakes, and a strange compound of thecurds of milk, covered with cream, and divers other substances ofwhich we were ignorant. It was not unpleasant in taste, and seemsto be the national dish of the people; and the moment the doctorheard its name—skyr—he identified it with afavourite of the ancient Norsem*n, and frequently mentioned inthe Sagas. For drink we had water, milk, and ale adlibitum, and very good indeed the latter two were.

'Well, what do you think of our position now?' asked I, whenwe had done full justice to Orná's hospitality, and Wemyss andClements had relieved Gates and Jansen on the launch.

'Think of it?' repeated the doctor, and then went onenthusiastically, 'Why, Oliphant, I have never felt so happy as Ido now! We have reached the Farthest North; we have discoveredthis land, with its wonderful configuration and phenomena and itsmysterious people; we are, I hope, on the road to furtherdiscoveries: what more is wanted?'

'You're right so far, doctor,' said Cecil, a littlequizzingly, 'but what about our friend Orná and his ways? Itseems to me that if we're sent to join the late Thostar, oursuccesses are and will be of very little use to us.'

'And that's true enough also,' replied the doctor, 'thoughwe'll wait until the massacre comes off before giving up hope.Perhaps, you know, we shall have a word to say on thesubject too.'

But the next few days passed away quite peacefully, and inspite of our watchfulness we saw no reason for doubting ourperfect safety. Orná, it is true, kept out of sight, but this didnot prevent us taking advantage of his permission to do what andgo where we liked. Under Eyvind's guidance we made ourselvesthoroughly acquainted with the natural features of the districtand with the social life of the people, and investigated almosteverything, I believe, into which inquiry was possible.

Their political system may be explained in a few words. Thewhole land is divided into some sixty districts governed bychiefs who really wield independent power. They are nominallysubject to King Aleif and the National Assembly or Council ofHjalnord, composed of representatives from each district; butthat body exists merely for settling disputes between chiefs atthe last extremity, and its authority is never otherwiseexercised. In each district is a justice-council of the minorchiefs. The common people without exception hold their farms invassalage from the chiefs, and are slaves in name; but slavery aswe understand it has practically no existence in Islöken. Betweenthe masses and the rulers is a middle class composed ofdescendants of former chiefs, and, in fact, all of the race ofthe original conquerors, who fill the offices above the capacityof the commonalty and below the notice of the rulers. Thesegentlemen are distinguished by two feathers in their caps; thebadge of the chiefs, as you know, is three.

The religion, if it may so be called, is a question toocomplicated to be entered into here. There is no regularprofession of priesthood, but at certain periods festivals areheld, at which the gods are worshipped with much religious zealand bacchanalian fervour. The fact that the dominant race is ofNorse descent is proved, if there can he any doubt about thematter, by the mere names of the divinities; and, indeed, thewhole mythology, with hardly a change, is that of theScandinavians of old. Odin, and Thor, and Loki—to mentiononly the principal—admit of no doubt. The theory of thecreation is also identically similar to that given in the ProseEdda—how Odin slew a terrible monster, and out of his bodywas made the earth, of his blood the ocean and waters, of hisbones the mountains, and of his skull the sky. The fire-demon,Loki, is their Satan, and they have it that he and his followersare imprisoned below the earth; hence the earthquakes anderuptions so common in their land, caused by his Herculeanefforts to escape.

Stories like these, in the forms of ballads and tales, are thecommon property of the people. Writing of any kind is absolutelyunknown, and from this the doctor formed the supposition that theoriginal Norsem*n had left their native country before theinvention of runes, though, of course, these might have existedand none of this particular party been familiar with them. Anyother than physical education was not popular in those times. Butthis surmise was a little upset by Eyvind. According to him,there was a legend that in days long gone past a body of learnedmen had flourished in the land who had testimony of theirancestors' arrival and of the country from which they came, butthat in some disastrous convulsion they had all perished andtheir learning been lost for ever!

'And so,' said the doctor, regretfully, 'we can know nothingof these wonderful adventurers save that they were Vikings, andthat, more than a thousand years ago, they penetrated through theice and discovered this continent. And what of thosethey found here, and whom they conquered? It is all aprofound and insoluble mystery!'

The social conditions of Islöken are in many respectsanalogous to those of Europe. Monogamy is practised, and as aconsequence the women, as in more civilised countries, were tame,took them in and put them to use. They had multiplied fast, andnow there was hardly a family in the district without one or moreof them.

'Why,' said Cecil, when he heard this, 'they must be theanimals that bolted from Collins on the other side of MountStafford thirty years ago! Ask him, doctor, how long it is sincetheir first appearance.'

Dr Lorimer did so.

'From his calculation,' he answered, after receiving Eyvind'sreply, 'there can be no doubt of it. Only another instance of thewonderful!'

Our own dogs, I may add, did not agree well with the nativeanimals for some time, and many were the fights that Konig andAntony had until their canine adversaries became reconciled totheir invasion.

The country literally swarmed with game. It seemed to be, andprobably was, the breeding-place of every kind of bird native tothe Arctic regions; and Dr Lorimer had not the least doubt thathe had solved that vexed question for ever. Deer, foxes, hares,ermine, and lemmings were plentiful, and the mountains wereinfested by bears and wolves. In the rivers and streams, too,there were salmon, trout, and other fish in abundance, more so,we were told, than in any other district; and in this fact thedoctor had a clue to the etymology of the name 'Reydverá,' whichhe made out to mean 'trout (or salmon) refuge.'

And now to the remarkable natural features of the country. Ihave mentioned the great number of geysers everywhere to be seen,there being, in fact, one to every field or two; but I do notthink I have touched upon a very peculiar feature in connectionwith these. From the springs there was not, as one would expect,any great overflow; but where they were near streams, we noticedthat there was a continual oozing of water into the latter. Fromthis the doctor drew the deduction that the water, flowingunderground and keeping the surface moist, was one cause of thefertility of the land. I could give a score of startlingobservations we made, but as this is more purely a narrative ofour personal experience, and as Dr Lorimer is about to produce anelaborate scientific work in which all such matters will bethoroughly discussed, I do not feel at liberty to enter intodetailed and perhaps tedious particulars. In a word, however, Imay say that within three miles of Orn (itself a town of aboutfive thousand inhabitants, and with no features worthy of specialmention) there are at least two lakes of a considerable size, inwhich the water is always boiling—a phenomenonpeculiar to Islöken, I suppose, but certainly common enoughthere.

The climate of the Paradise of the North was worthy of thename all the time we were in it—ever mild, and occasionallyeven hot. But the winters, we gathered, were little lesssevere than anywhere around, though some of the rivers, onaccount of their high temperature, were never frozen over. Thelong months were spent in hospitality and festivity, varied bybear-hunts when the moon was sufficiently bright. With the returnof the spring the ice and snow soon melted, furs and wraps werethrown aside, and the natives worked hard, as long as the sun waswith them, to prepare for the succeeding winter.

XVIII. — THE BREAKING OF THESTORM.

BUT our period of quietude soon came to an end.At first, as we went among the people, we found them respectfuland kindly, if rather curious; but on the third day we noticedthat an entire change had taken place, and that, in contrast totheir former hospitality, they now avoided us as much aspossible. While we were speculating on the cause of thedifference, Eyvind arrived with the advice to keep within doorsfor a day or two.

'Why?' asked the doctor, with some curiosity. 'What hashappened, Eyvind?'

'I know not as yet,' replied the chief. 'I only know that Ornáhas been putting the slaves'—slaves, be it understood, wasused by Eyvind in the sense that we use'peasantry'—'against ye, and that it may be well to haveyour eyes wide open when the time conies. And,' he continued, 'besure that ye forget not to have the wonderful magic ready.'

We promised him that we should not; and, as the advice wasgood, at once brought up our guns and a large mount of ammunitionfrom the launch, that we might be prepared for anycontingency.

In connection with the launch, a somewhat ludicrous incidentoccurred that evening. So far, owing to a proclamation by Ornáthat any one molesting us would be severely punished, no attempthad been made to approach nearer to it than the bank. Now,however, the decree seemed to be reversed. That night, as it wasbecoming dark, and while Gates was on board alone, engaged belowin cleaning, he saw through a small porthole in the side of thelaunch two boats coming cautiously down the river towards ourvessel. There could be no doubt of the purpose in view, for theywere full of armed men, and their caution spoke for itself; andthe stoker immediately realised that a surprise was to beattempted. His first impulse was to fire his rifle to warn us;but remembering the way in which the natives had fled under thealarm caused by Clements' joke, he thought that the affair mightbe disposed of without the least fuss. Being a man of readyresource, he instantly invented a plan. The boiler was nearlyfull of water, not exactly boiling, but hot enough to frightenpeople receiving some of it upon them; and, with the help of thehose, Gates was ready for the enemy. But, in case of need, he didnot forget to have his loaded firearms by his side.

On the boats came until they were within twenty yards of thelaunch. Seeing nobody on deck (for Gates, of course, kept wellout of sight), the men of Reydverá evidently thought they wouldhave an easy task. But they were mistaken; and the stoker, whenthey were near enough, turned on the water, and simultaneously awell-directed stream issued from the porthole, falling full andfairly upon the occupants of the first boat. There was a horridyell, followed by another as the second boat was served in thesame way; and, seized by panic as they saw the water proceedingfrom the side of the launch apparently of its own volition, theenemy turned and made for the opposite shore as fast as theycould row.

Startled by the cry, we came out only in time to see thefleeing boats. We could not understand it until Gates, with manybursts of laughter, had explained; and then we joined heartily inthe merriment, the doctor remarking that after that nobody couldsay that a Scot had no sense of humour. But the episode had alsoa serious side, as showing the development of Orná's hostility;and so, in addition to supplementing the watch by Clements andJansen, we thought it as well to keep the vessel's lamps lit allnight.

Shortly afterwards we had a visit from Eyvind, who was in astate of great excitement.

'The town is full of the magic!' he exclaimed, 'Two boats witha score of men, they say, were drawing nigh to the iron magicboat to see it, when it became jealous, and of itself threw out ajet of hot water that scalded them. It is wonderful! No one daresto go near it again, not even at the command of the chief!'

We told him how it had happened, and he was vastly amused whenat length he comprehended. But, as he said, the deception must bekept up, for as long as the people thought the vessel enchantedthey would steer wide of it.

We were not disturbed until the afternoon of the next day, andthen we were summoned to appear before Orná in the council-house.The doctor, Cecil, and I went, accompanied by Eyvind, leavingWemyss and Jansen to watch the house, and the other two on thelaunch. We observed large numbers of people standing here andthere, doing nothing, and were half-inclined to expect treachery;but as each of us had a rifle and a couple of revolvers, and knewthe natives' nervousness, we felt not in the least alarmed.

In the council-chamber the whole of the council was assembled,with Orná at their head. As soon as we were seated that chiefaddressed us.

'Is it well,' he began, 'that ye strangers should receive thepeople of this country, who have treated ye kindly and actedhospitably towards ye, as ye did last night? I said that as longas ye were true to us, no harm should befall ye, but now it isplain it is otherwise. Ye have aided in killing a chief of theland; ye have shown yourselves our enemies; and now I ask ye,that ye may have fairness at our hands, if ye submit to thejustice-council of Reydverá, that ye may be tried for that withwhich ye are charged?'

Before the doctor had time to translate this, Eyvind leaped tohis feet and angrily replied.

'No, Orná,' he cried, 'they shall not submitthemselves to the justice-council of Reydverá, that thou mayst doas thou likest with them! They are my guests, and the guests ofEyvind are as a part of himself. And as for thy charge, canstthou tell the purpose of those for whom thou complainest, and forwhom they acted?' Orná changed colour, and Eyvind wenton: 'Thou knowest; and yet thou bringest such a charge againstthe strangers, for thine own purposes! Do thy worst, Orná, andremember the fate of thy kinsman Thostar and his family!'

The other chiefs looked apprehensive, but whether on accountof Eyvind's words or in fear of Orná's passion we did not know.The latter, on his part, took no notice of his opponent, butmerely said to the doctor, rather too quietly for comfort: 'Isthat the will of the strangers?'

We consulted together, and decided that we had no alternative.'It is,' answered the doctor.

'Then ye must bear the consequences,' retorted the chief,menacingly; and, with a wave of his hand, he intimated that theinterview was at an end.

'It seems to me that it's becoming serious,' said I, as soonas we were again in our own quarters. 'Ask Eyvind, doctor, whathe thinks of it.'

'Orná has some plan in his head of which we know nothing,'replied our friend. 'Not against me, perhaps; I do not think hewill try that. But if he can strike me through you, so as to bein the right, he will not hesitate; for there is no love betweenus. But if he only lingers long enough to allow my men to arrive,we may then bid defiance to him, and, if need be, burn Orn to theground before he can sound the alarm-bell.'

'Rather bloodthirsty, I'm afraid,' was Cecil's comment. 'Butwhen are those warriors due?'

'Hjetla is two days' journey by water,' said Eyvind, 'and alittle more by land, but as I ordered them to make all haste, wemay expect them to-night.'

'By water!' I repeated, as an idea struck me. 'Askhim, please, if we can go in the launch to this place ofhis.'

He considered a moment, and then said that it was quitepossible.

'Then why can't we go off just now,' I resumed, 'withoutasking Orná's permission or troubling him further, and thus saveall the unnecessary slaying and so forth that seemsinevitable?'

To the others, as to me, this seemed a sensible way out of thedifficulty, but the chief at once vetoed it.

'It cannot be!' he exclaimed, decisively, 'If we go, and mymen, whom I have told to march straight here without entering thetown, arrive like oxen without a leader, Orná may kill or capturethem all as invaders of his district. Under me, they are equal toall Reydverá. We must stay; and surely, with the aid of the magictubes, we shall keep Orná and his men at bay until minecome!'

The matter being put in this light, of course we could notrefuse; and, after all, I don't think we had much fear of theresult. Our only doubt had been for the launch, but now,according to Eyvind, it was, owing to the natives' fears, as safeas if it were a hundred miles distant.

'And I have a plan of more use than our magic tubes!' suddenlyexclaimed the doctor. 'If the beggars do turn up, I'llfrighten them out of their wits, so that they'll never come nearus again!'

So, while Eyvind went into the town to do a littlereconnoitering and news-collecting, Lorimer took temporarycommand and set us all to work. From the launch were transferredthe electric battery and several dynamite cartridges withdetonators; and then, under his direction, we drilled holes inthree of the peculiar-shaped mounds of rock behind the house, ofwhich I have already spoken. In these the doctor placed thecartridges with the wires affixed, and then plugged up the holes;and when the wires had been connected with the battery inside thehouse, we felt ready for the combat.

About five o'clock Wemyss, who was on watch, reported thatthere was a large crowd of people in front of the council-house,whom Orná seemed to be addressing. They were armed, and by theirshouts in a somewhat belligerent mood. A little thereafter,Eyvind turned up with three or four natives belonging to hisvalley, who had volunteered to stand by him, and also withseveral swords and spears for us. He reported that the head-manhad tried to inflame the commoners against us by various charges,and was now assembling his serfs for a general attack.

'But they care not for the work,' he said; 'and if it were notthat Orná is too great to be resisted, they would only laugh intheir hearts at his words, and say ye did right.'

When, in the course of half an hour, the mob was seen to be inmotion, our iron gate was closed and barricaded with all speed,and we took our places at the windows, weapons in hand. In a fewminutes there was a dense throng of armed men in front of thebuilding, prominent among them being Orná and the other membersof the justice-council. The moment Eyvind caught sight of thechief, he hailed him from his window, and demanded the reason ofthe attack.

'I know not by what right thou askest,' Orná answered, withassumed dignity; 'but I say that by the order of the council ofReydverá, to whose judgment they have refused to submit, thestrangers thou befriendest must be given up.'

'The order of the council!' retorted Eyvind, scornfully. 'Thouknowest—and if thou dost not, I call thy men towitness—that the council is thee, and thee only! As to thestrangers, thou hast my answer and theirs already. And now, Orná,I say this to thee face to face, and again call thy people towitness, that I challenge thee to fight me singly, that by thydeath or mine this dispute may be settled!'

He paused an instant, and there was no reply from the other.We did not wonder at it, for neither in size nor strength wasOrná his match, and probably that gentleman knew it. 'Thourefusest,' he went on: 'so be it! But take my opinion of thee asa coward, and take also the strangers into thy charge—ifthou art able!'

'I will, and thee too!' shouted Orná fiercely, almostmaddened, I suppose, by Eyvind's taunts; and forthwith he orderedhis men forward.

But the doctor, stepping into our friend's place, asked hisattention for a moment, and with looks of curiosity the throngingmass again came to a stand-still.

'Beware of what ye are about to do!' commenced Lorimer in hismost impressive Icelandic. 'Ye know not who we are or the powerswe possess; beware lest we bring upon ye and your families somegreat evil! Think ye,' he continued, as he warmed to his work,while we within, guessing his meaning, almost laughedaloud—'think ye that it is not within our power to smite yewhere ye stand? Begone while it is yet time, or ye may repentwhen it is too late!'

Orná smiled incredulously, and, without condescending toreply, turned to his men.

'Then but advance one step, Orná,' concluded Lorimer, 'andthou shalt have such a sign of our power as thou shalt neverforget!'

Still sceptical, the chief renewed his command to advance, andas his warriors began to press forward, the doctor brisklystepped within the room, saw that the electrical apparatus was inorder, and with a smile sharply turned the handle thrice. Nextinstant there was a loud report, followed within a second by twomore; then the air was filled with rising and falling rocks,smoke, and flame; and with a simultaneous howl of terror, chiefsand men alike took to their heels, and never stopped until theyhad placed the water between them and our uncanny vicinity.

'A brilliant success!' ejacul*ted the doctor, gleefully. 'Iknew it would be, and it has been!'

'It is, indeed!' said Cecil, grimly, as a descending mass ofrock crashed through the roof of our house, and carried away partof the ceiling. Nor did the neighbouring buildings, andespecially the council-house, escape the effect of theexplosions.

In the meantime, our attention was recalled to ourselves byseveral groans from the inside of the room; and, looking, we madeout that Eyvind's native followers had cast themselves on thefloor, and were there writhing as if in severe pain. The chiefhimself, more used to our ways, was on his feet, but he stared atus in a manner that signified that he wasn't altogether sure ofus.

'What is it ye have done?' he inquired of the doctor, whohastened to let him know that there had been nothing supernaturalin the display he had witnessed.

'It may be so,' he replied, doubtfully, 'but though ye havecaused Orná and his men to flee, I cannot say that ye have madematters better. For,' he continued, 'ye have sacrificed to thefire-god the sacred mounds of Odin, round which the yearlyfestivals take place.'

This was said in a tone of such intense horror that thedoctor, somewhat impressed, asked particulars of the ceremony. Itseems that the great festival of the year is celebrated at theconclusion of the harvest, and that then these peculiar knollsare used by the appointed priests as platforms or pulpits. Theyare therefore held in the most sacred veneration, and Eyvind wasalmost beside himself at the mere idea of our involuntarydesecration, and of its possible consequences.

'But of course ye knew not,' he went on, after a pause; 'andnow we are safe for a time, for the cowards are too muchfrightened to attack us again—until, it may be, Orná canrouse their anger against ye for the destruction of the mounds.And before that'—more cheerfully—'my men may arrive,and then we need not fear them.'

The natives having been reassured, and some food taken, Eyvindventured out to reconnoitre around the house. The launch andthose in it, he reported on his return, were all right; therewere no signs of the enemy on our side of the water; and thecouncil-house was in a state of nearly complete ruin. Onlyanother addition, as the doctor said, to Orná's score againstus.

'And with this incident of the sacred mounds,' commentedCecil, 'added to his original feelings, it must be prettyconsiderable as it is.'

For an hour or two there was no movement. Then, about teno'clock, as the darkness was deepening, a most unearthly howlingwas heard from the opposite bank of the river, and at the sametime we could see many lights moving hither and thither in a mostmysterious manner.

'What's up now, I wonder? asked the doctor.

Eyvind did not know, and was apparently much perplexed. But ina minute or two, after thinking the matter over, he was readywith a proposal.

'I cannot venture into the town myself,' he said, 'but we maysend one of the men, who are unknown to be with us, and he caneasily and safely find out what Orná is doing.'

He indicated the natives with us, who now, barring anoccasional furtive glance at the doctor, appeared quite at theirease; and we looked at them a little doubtfully. Lorimer, indeed,could not help asking the chief if his messenger was sure toreturn. With something approaching indignation, he emphaticallyreplied in the affirmative; and, choosing the youngest of thegroup, he gave him his instructions in the native tongue and senthim off.

For nearly an hour we waited in suspense, the distant tumult,meanwhile, continuing unabated. Then the scout returned with thenews that the whole population was assembled near the bridge, andthat Orná was enlarging on the enormity of our offences and thepunishment they merited. Worse than that, he was supplying allcomers with as much ale as they cared to drink, and already,according to our informer, most of them were in various stages ofintoxication.

'Just as I feared,' said Eyvind seriously. 'Orná is as thefox, and knowing that while sober his men would altogether refuseto attack ye, he has filled them with ale, that under itsinfluence they may do so. And for us it will be worse by far thanif they had been sober.'

'And what about the launch?' suggested Cecil. 'If they attackus while drunk, they aren't likely to spare the boats.'

This was true enough, and various proposals were made; but inthe end we resolved that our best plan was to order Clements toget up steam and keep at a good distance from the shore. At thesame time he was to be prepared to take us on board if we becamehard pressed. I think that, more than anything else, it was thesight of the launch as it cruised about, looking like a livething moving on the dark water, that prevented interference withit.

I went down myself to give the engineer the order, and while Iwas speaking to him I fancied that the noise sounded as ifnearer. Presently, looking intently, we made out a line of lightscrossing the bridge and advancing on our own shore.

This was enough for me. With all speed I bounded up the slopeto the house, while Clements and Gates proceeded to carry out theorders I had given.

As the rabble approached nearer and nearer, the drunken shoutsgrew louder, and in a few minutes we heard the rattle of a volleyof throwing-spears against the iron door, followed by a number ofblows, as from some heavy instrument.

Cautiously peeping from the windows,[*] we saw that the wholespace in front of the building was covered by an unruly crowd;and as the light of the torches carried by some of them fell upontheir flushed countenances, we realised that there was littlehope for any of us if we fell into their hands.

[* Glass manufacture being an unknown art inIslöken, it should be mentioned that the windows are merely openspaces, with shutters of curiously formed trellis-work. On stormydays these are closed; at other times the air is allowed freeaccess into the room.]

XIX. — FROM REYDVERÁ TO HJETLA.

AFTER an interval of a minute there was anotherdischarge of javelins, several of which crashed through thetrellis-work, fortunately without doing any damage; and at thesame time the attacks upon the door were renewed with greatenergy. The fastenings began to give way. 'Ready, now!' I cried,as this became apparent. 'Keep in shelter, and fire low.'

As I spoke, the shutters on each window were cautiouslyopened. The doctor and I were at one, Cecil and Wemyss at theother—Jansen being at the back, where as yet the enemy hadnot appeared. We glanced quickly at the crowd, saw that ourrifles were ready, and then I gave the word. Crack! crack! andsimultaneously with the report there was a yell from ourassailants, and an instant cessation of the assault upon thedoor. Again and again, as quickly as the spent cartridge-shellswere jerked out and others brought into their places, we firedamongst the amazed multitude, until at length, when we thoughtthey had had enough, the shutters were closed, and we awaited theresult of our experiment.

For a little there was silence, and we half hoped that ourvolleys had rendered us the same service as the afternoon'sexplosion. But, whether it was that the Dutch courage of the menof Reydverá was impervious to fear, or that they had managed toconquer it, certain it is that they wore soon again battering atthe door with their old vigour. Shoot as we might, we seemed tomake no further impression. And by Eyvind's attitude, and themanner in which he held his sword, it was evident that he was inexpectation of a hand-to hand fight.

'Look out, there!' suddenly shouted the doctor, who commandedthe best view.

Before the words were well out of his mouth, the door fellinwards with a crash, and through the opening we saw the nowinfuriated crowd, eager to be at our throats, and yet hesitatingto come to close quarters. Perhaps they did not altogether careto face Eyvind and his followers; who, half-sheltered by apartition of stone which had been erected earlier in the day,held this point. There was a momentary inactivity; then a quickrush and a clash of steel; but what the result was we could onlyguess, for the windows were likewise assailed by the adventurousnatives. With a few shots we beat them off, however; and when wehad time to look it was seen that the enemy had withdrawn fartherback, and that before Eyvind, above the fallen door, lay severalbodies.

'It is well!' said the chief, pointing grimly to his and hiscompanions' victims.

As if in answer, the men of Reydverá sent a flight of javelinsthrough the open doorway, and we dropped down behind thepartition only in time. But this, apparently, was their lastspasmodic effort. They made no further attack, and though theystill shouted and flourished their spears and torches somewhatdemonstratively, one could see that their taste for the work wasgone.

It was during this lull in the storm that we were startled byan unexpected 'Hist!' from Eyvind, who was listening intently, asif to some distant sound. I followed his example, and for amoment could distinguish nothing above the din made by ourassailants; but then I thought I made out the steady tramp,tramp, of a large body of men coming nearer and nearer.

'It is my men: we are saved!' excitedly whispered the chief atlast. 'We must reach them, Loràmar'—his name for thedoctor—'we must reach them in some manner or other beforethe men of Orn hear them.'

But, as was evident from the quietness that all at once fellupon the enemy, they also had heard the sound. If anything was tobe done, it must be done without loss of time. Eyvind soon madeup his mind. After issuing a rapid order to his native followers(doubtless to hold the house against all comers), he motioned tous to follow him, and quietly opened one of the back windows. Acautious look round revealing nothing suspicious, he jumped out.Cecil did likewise, and I followed. But in doing so Imiscalculated the distance, and fell rather heavily to theground; and before I could gather myself together I saw the gleamof torches, and heard the hoarse cries of many people all aroundme.

Then 'Godfrey! Doctor! Hurry up this way!' came to my ears inmy brother's voice; and I rushed forward towards a confused massstruggling at some little distance. Almost before I was aware ofit, I was in the midst of a general mêlée, thrustinghither and thither at mere random, but refraining from using myrevolver in case the bullets might reach wrong destinations. Whatfollowed I scarcely know. I remember something of a sharp tusslebetween me and some one unknown; and then, by the light of atorch suddenly flashed upon the scene, I saw Eyvind and Cecilfighting against big odds. A moment thereafter I reached the sideof the former just as a soldier was about to stab him; and when Ihad disposed of that man, my brother and I used ourrevolvers to such good purpose that we soon cleared off the mostenergetic of the enemy. Guided by the flashes, the doctor,Wemyss, and Jansen pluckily cut their way through until they hadjoined us; and after that we could do our best, standing back toback, without fear of wounding a friend.

But in spite of our good fortune in escaping unhurt, oursituation was decidedly critical, surrounded as we were byenemies, and liable at any moment to be killed by a chancethrust. This view seemed to strike Eyvind.

'Move towards the sound,' he said to the doctor, referring tothe tramping we had heard within, and which now appeared to bequite close.

It was easier said than done. As if to frustrate the plan,there was just then a rush from that very direction. We were evenborne back a yard or two. Those around, also, began to press uponus with more determination, and with the utmost exertions wecould make we barely held our own. Had it not been for theintense darkness, which was more against our opponents thanagainst our compact little corps, we should never have borne upso long. As it was, thrust after thrust, and blow after blow, wedelivered in every direction; more by chance than by goodguidance we managed to parry the dangerously long spears of ourfoes; but still they swarmed around us without showing the leastsign of breaking up or going off.

While affairs were in this critical state, and we werebeginning to think we had had enough of it, Eyvind abruptlyshouted something in a loud voice. It was distinctly heard abovethe general din. Immediately there was a continued rush againstus from all sides; and, while we were doing our best to repel it,we were conscious, more through the shouts and counter-shoutsthat rose on every side than through actual experience, that anew factor had entered into the situation. Then our assailantsbegan to break and run in the most inexplicable fashion; weourselves were caught up in the panic, as it were, and sweptforward; and in a word, in the darkness and confusion, we lostour heads altogether. This went on for a few minutes, and at theend of the time Cecil, Jansen, and I found ourselves togetherclose to the house, breathless and exhausted, but unhurt. Whereour friends were, we knew not; but in the distance we could stillhear the occasional clang of steel, telling us that the battlewas not completely over.

'Did you see any of the others go down?' I inquired,anticipating the worst.

But before I could get an answer we heard from our immediatevicinity shouts for us; and, going forward, we were in a secondor two amongst our companions again. And around them, we couldjust make out, was a large body of armed men, to whom ourdelivery was obviously due.

'These are the men of Hjetla,' said Eyvind, with a littlepardonable pride, 'and to them we owe, at this moment, oursafety, and perhaps our lives.'

After the doctor had acknowledged the debt, the first thing wedid was to march round to the front of the house, putting toflight on our way a small party of the enemy. From the movementof the torches, we could see that the men of Orn werereassembling in large numbers at a safe distance, doubtless todefend the town if we should decide to avenge ourselves byattacking it. Eyvind's men, as they stood before the house in thefaint light issuing from it, looked decidedly well. In all, theynumbered about a hundred and fifty, and seemed as well armed andmuch better disciplined than Orná's, who had, in fact, nodiscipline at all.

Within the house we were duly presented to our friend'sbrother, the commander of the men—a youth who had a strongfamily resemblance to Eyvind. He spoke the old Norse languagewell; and, according to him, he had realised at once, on hearingthe noise of the fighting, that his brother was in danger. But,owing to the darkness, he was afraid of making a mistake, anduntil he heard Eyvind's shout (which that chief had made in thehope that it might reach his men) he had been in rather adilemma. After that, however, he and his followers had simplydashed forward and swept the others before them.

'And now,' said Dr Lorimer, when he had concluded, 'what arewe to do?'

'I have a word to speak,' replied Eyvind. 'There is now no usein staying in this place, and it seems to me best that ye all goupon the iron magic boat, taking with ye my brother Hreidmar, whoshall guide you to an appointed spot. Thither I shall conduct mymen by land, chastising Orná if he dares to stop me. And afterthat we may continue our journey in peace to the vale ofHjetla.'

To this sensible proposal there was, of course, no objection;and while Eyvind gave his brother his instructions (no doubtletting him know what to expect, and warning him not to befrightened at the wonders he would see), the signal agreed uponbetween Clements and me was given, and the launch put in. Theengineer, it appears, had been in the greatest suspense as longas the fighting lasted, and had even made up his mind for theworst. Asked what he would have done if we had been exterminated,he promptly answered that he would have made a rush for the lake,and was certain that he could have got down the river and inlet,and so to the open sea without much difficulty.

Everything belonging to us having been transported to theboats, we said au revoir to Eyvind, and with Hreidmargot on board. As we steamed out of the little inlet, towing thethree boats, we added the finishing touch to the probableamazement and bewilderment of the natives by letting off somerockets and other fireworks.

'My brother says that ye are not gods, but only men from a farcountry,' said Hreidmar, when he had witnessed with surprise ourpyrotechnic display, 'but it seems to me that ye must be. Duringthe fight I saw the flashes by which 'tis said ye kill, and nowthis: if ye are not gods of fire, then what is the power yepossess?

Evidently a gentleman of an inquiring mind, I thought. Thedoctor explained to him as well as he could, and really ho seemedto understand the substance of much he was told.

Under his directions we steamed cautiously on until daylightreturned, and then we saw that we were approaching themountainous country which I have mentioned as being situated atthe head of the lake. But before we were really within it, we putinto a small bay into which a stream ran, on which stood a hamletof three or four houses.

'Here,' said Hreidmar, 'we shall be joined in time by Eyvindand our men.'

And, sure enough, they appeared in the course of the forenoon,very tired and worn out by their long march. Fortunately forhimself, Orná had thought it best not to molest them further.

In the afternoon we started again, the launch going slowly tokeep time with those on shore. All day we wound through mountainscenery of the most magnificent description, the snow-coveredpeaks contrasting strangely with the fertile valleys at theirfeet, and with the dark water ever which they cast theirshadows.

The journey of the day following was up a long and tortuousfjord to which, by all appearances, there was no outlet; but onarriving at the head of it we remarked that it was only separatedby a neck of rock a few hundred yards broad from another inlet orlake. And through this isthmus, to our great surprise, weobserved that a narrow channel had been cut, connecting thetwo.

'Was this done by man's hand, Eyvind?' asked the doctor, aftercarefully inspecting it on both sides.

'It was,' answered the chief; 'and 'tis said that though twotribes, by order of the king, were employed at it, it took threegenerations to cut through the rock. That was ages ago, and atfirst only very small boats could pass through. But since then ithas been widened, though even yet I doubt if there be room forthe "magic boat" to pass.'

But, luckily, we had no insurmountable difficulty. The threeboats were first rowed through, and the launch followed; and,although at one place there was hardly an inch to spare, andGates declared that she touched the bottom, she finally reachedthe other inlet in safety, amid the gleeful shouts of Eyvind'smen, who appeared to take quite a family interest in theboat.

We were now in our friend's territory. Everywhere as wecontinued on our way we were received with marks of considerationand hospitality. From the curiosity, in distinction to theamazement of the people, we deduced that the news of our cominghad preceded us. The country itself resembled Reydverá in somedegree, save that the scenery was grander and the soil hardly sofruitful.

It was late that evening before we reached our destination andblew off steam in front of the house of Eyvind, thehofudr (chief) of Hjetla. The place was situated in themidst of a broad valley entirely surrounded by mountains, and hadthe same characteristics as the rest of the country—theinnumerable geysers, the curious phenomenon of the oozing water,and the fields of pasture, rye, and barley. The 'justice-town' ofEyvind's territory was at the extreme end of the loch on which wehad been steaming: and quite near to it, probably at about thesame distance as Vesuvius from Naples, was an active volcano atthat moment in a state of chronic eruption.

On our arrival, to quote the stereotyped phrase of thenewspapers, we got quite an enthusiastic reception. The warriors,having gone by some short cut, were before us; and, as they hadin all probability had time to spread our fame, there was a bigcrowd of all sorts and conditions of people awaiting us. Nearestthe landing-place stood a group of two-feathered chieftains, allof them, we were told, uncles or cousins of Eyvind. This was, aswe rightly suspected, the justice-council of Hjetla. Farther backwere the armed men, and behind them the general populace.

As we stepped ashore there was loud shouting, renewed as wewere presented in turn to each of the councillors. Then, afterEyvind had spoken to the people in the common tongue, a verypretty ceremony took place. The ranks of the soldiers suddenlyopened up, and half a dozen girls, dressed in white and wearingthe two feathers that denoted their rank, came forward bearinglittle baskets of cakes and other delicacies. These theypresented to Cecil, Wemyss, and me in succession; but when itcame to the turn of the doctor, who stood next, we noticed thatthose around were indulging in sundry meaning looks and quietwinks, and that a general feeling of expectation seemed toprevail. The reason was soon apparent. Instead of the usual fare,we saw to our great amusem*nt that our learned physician's basketwas filled with small stones, pieces of rock and lava, andvarious roots!

'Jupiter Tonans!' cried Lorimer in amazement, peering at thespecimens through his eye-glasses, and glancing alternately atthem and at the contents of our baskets, 'I'm surely dreaming!What does all this mean?'

We laughed outright at his look of blank consternation, andour hilarity was echoed by our hosts, though in their faces eageranticipation was also marked.

'Don't you see it?' asked Cecil. 'Why, man, they believe thatyou live on stones and roots instead of ordinary food; and as itwould be a shame to disappoint them, you must live up to theirexpectations! There's no help for it, doctor.'

The doctor didn't seem to relish the idea.

'I'll see them in Jericho first!' he said, emphatically. Then,turning to Eyvind, he asked for an explanation of the curiousceremony, and if it meant anything specially complimentary tohimself. The chief, who was at first no wiser than ourselves,made inquiries, and replied at some length.

'It's easily accounted for,' the doctor continued, with atwinkle in his eye. 'The warriors have seen me collectingspecimens of the geology and flora of the country whenever I havehad a chance; and they have come to the conclusion that, likeNebuchadnezzar, I have a stomach adapted for the mostextraordinary food. They meant it as a compliment, it appears.And that is all!'

But when it was seen that Lorimer did not rise to theoccasion, the people looked somewhat disappointed.

'Can't you manage to swallow just a little?' said Cecilpersuasively. 'They expect it, and it would add greatly to yourreputation.'

'Then I'm afraid,' retorted the doctor, gently, 'that I shallhave to suffer—unless Mr Cecil cares to act in mystead.'

Mr Cecil declined; but, all the same, it was a long timebefore Lorimer heard the last of the basketful of rocks androots.

This episode over, and the rest of our party having been (likeus) gracefully treated, we continued on our way to the house. Itwas by far the largest we had yet seen in Islöken. In fact, itwas more like a castle than an ordinary house, being built in theform of a quadrangle, with battlemented walls, a spaciousinterior court, and spacious rooms everywhere. The firstimpression of it, indeed, was one of spaciousness; the next, Ithink, of comfort.

'Welcome to Hjetla!' said Eyvind, as we entered a large hall,warmed by a huge fire roaring in a chimney that somehow remindedone of old English rooms at Christmas time, as seen in ancientpictures. 'Welcome to Hjetla as my guests and my brothers!' andwith that he shook hands all round.

Needless to say, with such a reception, we were before longquite at home.

XX. — A SUMMONS FROM THE KING.

EYVIND, in the pleasant days which followed,showed us that there was more than one side to his nature. Thoughnaturally and usually of a kindly temper, I have seen him flyinto the greatest passions on the least provocation, and whileunder their influence be nothing less than an unreasoning tyrant.And yet he was positively adored by his people, more especiallyby his armed tribesmen. Nor was he merely a good soldier andlocal administrator; he revealed to us on more than one occasionthat he had schemes in his brain that would doubtless havestartled Orná had he known of them.

'Look yonder,' he said, one time when we had climbed to thesummit (or as near to it as we could get) of the active volcano,and inspected its lava-beds and other phenomena—'lookyonder, and tell me if ye see two burning mountains closetogether.'

He pointed over the hills to the east, and, true enough, wecaught a glimpse of the peaks he referred to, some twenty milesdistant.

'Around yon mountains,' he continued, 'is the district thatonce belonged to Thostar, whom I killed, and which is now mine.Yesterday, Hreidmar, my brother, with fifty chosen men, started,as you know, to govern it in my name; and before the next wintercometh I shall have five hundred spears more, trained as mineown, ready to fight for me and my cause.'

He paused, as if in contemplation of the pleasant prospect,and then went on: 'Ye may not know that mine are the only men inIslöken trained to act together, instead of man to man as ourfathers did; and with them'—proudly—'I can defy anyother tribe in all the land! Think ye,' he continued, 'that Ihave done this for nothing, or only that I might please myself?Think ye that it was merely for the love of slaughter that I slewThostar and all his family?'

'I don't suppose so,' said the doctor; 'but if it was not,what was the reason?'

'Listen, and I shall tell thee,' he replied. 'Thou knowest,Loràmar, that the king of the land is Aleif of Hjalnord. Aleif,as it happens, has no sons, but he has one daughter they callSigrida, who is as yet unmarried, and who is as beautiful in myeyes as the sun when it reappears after the winter days arepast;' and there and then he indulged in some strong languageconcerning Sigrida's charms, which the doctor did not think itnecessary to translate. 'I know not if Sigrida is willing, butwhen the time comes for the great council to choose for her ahusband, I shall be ready with men and arms to make good myclaim. And when Aleif dies, as die he must sometime, then I,Eyvind of Hjetla, shall reign in his stead—and reign, too,as he hath never reigned, so that I shall be master fromHjalnord to the great mountains of the south!'

From this it was to be gathered that with Eyvind's dream oflove was mingled another of ambition; and that, like a wise man,he was taking time by the forelock in preparing for thestruggle.

'And what will the other chiefs say to this?' inquired thedoctor.

'I know not—nor care,' responded Eyvind. 'Long ago, 'tissaid, my fathers for many years were kings, and were dispossessedby usurpers. But again, if I have my way, my race shall reign atHjalnord, and let those who oppose it have care! But,' hecontinued after a little, in an altered tone, 'this matters notto ye as strangers; and yet it may be of use to all of us in thedays to come, for I have sent to tell the king that ye are here,so that sometime we shall have to travel towards the north.There, be sure, ye shall be well received, for I am in goodfavour with Aleif, and my influence in the council is alreadygreat.'

Shortly afterwards, in descending the hill to where the escortaccompanying us had been left, Eyvind recurred to the subject ofhis soldiers.

'Yes,' he said, in the tone that at once lets one know thatthe speaker has been pursuing the same train of thought in hismind for some time, 'it may not be long before my men shall havean opportunity of showing their worth, and that, too, in defenceof their chief and his guests.'

The doctor looked surprised.

'What!' he ejacul*ted. 'Is our presence here a matter ofdanger, Eyvind?'

'I intended not to have spoken of it,' replied the chief, 'butmayhap it is as well that ye should know. A day ago I had wordfrom Reydverá that Orná is gathering men and asking help fromother chiefs, that he may come hither with an overwhelming forceand demand ye to be given up. But'—with a smile—'weshall see, not which is master of the most followers, but whichof us knoweth best the use of his sword and his spear.'

This was serious news, and as soon as we could have a word inprivate that evening we proceeded to talk it over.

'I don't know,' I said, 'the reason of Orná's unconquerablemalignity towards us, but it appears to me that we're bound to bein perpetual hot water as long as we remain here. And not onlythat—we're also involving our friends in the same risks.Now what's to be done?'

'I can't make out what you're driving at, Godfrey,' saidCecil; 'but if you mean that we're to give ourselves up to Orná,I for one decidedly object to it. It may be selfish, but I've noparticular wish to be javelined just yet, merely because a queerold savage who doesn't know that you should love your enemies,takes it into his head to dislike us!'

Dr Lorimer nodded in approval.

'For my part,' said he, 'I have some cases of valuablespecimens that I should like to carry to England in safety.Besides, Hamilton Nelson is still to be annihilated. So, ifEyvind wishes to fight, let him do it, and we shall help him tothe best of our power to "smash up" Orná and the rest ofthem.'

Apparently the doctor, in spite of his learning, had notaltogether conquered his inherited instincts.

'But, notwithstanding,' he went on, 'I certainly hope that weshall start for this place called Hjalnord before Orná turns up.I wish to see as much of the country as possible, to complete myobservations. And we must remember, too, that we have only amonth or two at the most, for we must reach the Auroraagain by the beginning of August.'

At this time it was well into May, and we had already been afortnight in Hjetla. The time passed quickly. Everywhere we foundevery facility for inquiry or observation. And now and again wehad royal bear or wolf hunts amongst the mountains, and otherforms of amusem*nt and recreation to make our stay in the vale apleasant one.

But the end of it was near. One evening, while Eyvind and hisguests were at supper, we had the first intimation of thebreaking of the storm. They were celebrating, I think, somefestival connected with one of the gods, and the largest hall inthe building was crowded with Eyvind's kinsmen and theirfamilies, met together as his guests. The scene was a remarkableone. At the head of the table, which was laden with substantialjoints and dishes, sat the chief himself in full bear-skins; wewere next to him, on either side; and then came his relatives intheir order of precedence, with their wives, and sons, anddaughters. Each man was fully armed, his shield and heavierweapons being placed by the side of his seat; and at his back wasa personal attendant, also armed to the teeth. The doctor askedEyvind the reason of this, but the only reply he got was that 'itwas a custom;' and in Islöken customs are stuck to aspertinaciously as in the most conservative country in the oldworld.

Supper was in progress, the ale-flagons were going round asmerrily as they might (the quantity of drink consumed beingsurprising); it was then that we observed some commotion amongstthe serving-men at the foot of the hall, and a tall man, haggardand dusty, as if he had travelled far, advanced up the roomtowards Eyvind.

'What is it?' demanded the chief, in the common tongue, ofwhich by this time I knew a little—enough to make myselfunderstood, and follow a slow speaker.

The guests laid down their knives and leaned eagerly forwardas the man began his recital in a rapid tone, and with muchgesticulation. As he went on, their excitement visibly increased,until, when he had reached what was evidently the culminatingpoint of his narrative, all of them were on their feet, onlyawaiting the end to give utterance to their thoughts andfeelings. For ourselves, we could merely guess his meaning byrecognising such words as 'Orná' and 'Reydverá' here andthere.

'Good!' was Eyvind's only comment when at last he hadconcluded; and then he gave the traveller into the hands of oneof his servants, doubtless with orders to see him welltreated.

Then, turning to his excited kinsmen, he said a few words tothem, the effect of which was that they shouted again and yetagain, until it seemed as if they had all gone mad. Swords werewaved; the ladies joined in the enthusiasm; and finally the wholecompany broke into a song which was obviously one of war.

While the tumult continued, we, knowing nothing of its cause,could only sit still and watch. At length Eyvind seemed toremember us.

'Strangers!' he said, 'I have just received the tidings thatOrná, with a great army, has seized the little channel betweenthe two lakes, and is advancing upon Hjetla. As yet I know nothis errand, but he is welcome, for we are ready!'—astatement that evoked a loud shout. 'In a few hours my men shallbe assembled to sweep him and those with him into thewater!'—another and louder shout. 'Strangers! will ye fightwith us and aid us to conquer—will ye lend us your help asif of our own race and blood?'

The enthusiasm must have been catching, for the doctorpromptly responded in our names that we were with him to thedeath, at which the loudest shout of all rose from the chieftainspresent.

'It is well!' replied Eyvind.

He began his preparations with soldier-like alacrity. Therewas not a minute's delay. At once the loud alarm-bell began toclang, and before long we heard through the open windowsanswering peals from distant hamlets or farms. Messengers weredespatched in all directions to rouse the tribesmen, and spies towatch the movements of the enemy. Henceforth all was bustle; theladies retired to their rooms, or to chambers provided for them,while their husbands or brothers hastened away to bring up theirown men, or to aid in the general mobilisation. All night thewarriors trooped in from every point of the compass, and beforemorning seven hundred were sleeping on their shields around thehouse.

While we were at breakfast a spy came in with the intelligencethat Orná had camped the previous evening at the canal, but thathe would doubtless move at daybreak, in the hope of taking Eyvindby surprise. This determined our chief to march at once; and so,by mid-day, we were encamped in a favourable position, directlyin the path of the invading force. We were upon the summit of alow hill; on one side we had the lake, and on the other somebroken and impassable ground, so that, at least, all theadvantages of position were with us.

As the afternoon wore on, messenger after messenger arrivedwith news of the approach of Orná and his men; and at last, aboutthree o'clock, the vanguard came in sight half a mile distant.Before long the whole army was visible, and then we saw that innumbers it was greatly superior to ours, there being in itperhaps twice as many men.

'That is so,' said Eyvind, when some one pointed out the factto him; 'and so the defeat will be the worse for Orná, and themore honourable the victory to us;' a remark that his followersenthusiastically cheered.

The enemy came on—I can't say steadily, for there waslittle regularity in their advance—until they were barely aquarter of a mile from the foot of our hill, and there theyhalted. Evidently they were ill pleased with the position we hadtaken up. If they had reckoned on a surprise, Eyvind's readinessmust have been very galling to them; and through our glasses wecould see Orná and the other leaders in earnest consultation, nodoubt as to what should now be done.

'Shouldn't we have a few shots at them? inquired Cecil,anxiously. 'Even if we did no damage, it might be goodpractice.'

But, on the ground that hostilities hadn't yet commenced, Ivetoed his half-serious suggestion; and shortly afterwards one ofthe two-feathered gentlemen with whom Orná had been consultingwas seen to be advancing towards us, unarmed and unattended.

'He is a herald,' explained Eyvind.

In a few minutes the herald had entered our lines, and havingstated his business and demanded to see our chief, he was broughttowards the spot at which, with his principal officers and us,Eyvind was standing.

'Orná of Reydverá to Eyvind of Hjetla,' he began, in the oldNorse, as the official language of the country. 'Thou hast withthee seven strangers from the Utgard,[*] who have entered thiscountry only to do, with their magic born of Loki, hurt to itspeople, who have destroyed the sacred knolls of Odin and thecouncil-house of Orn, and who have killed the son of Orná thechief. With these crimes they are charged, and that they maysuffer the penalty of them. Orná now demandeth of thee that theybe given up to him forthwith. Then Orná shall depart out ofHjetla in peace; but if not, then he shall destroy thee, Eyvind,and all thy people, and make thy territory as his own. Thou hasthis message!'

[* Literally 'out-yard,' the name givento the land around Islöken uninhabitable on account of thecold.]

Having thus spoken, the herald was about to depart, but by agesture Eyvind stopped him.

'And thou hast my answer, to carry with thee to thy master!'he said. 'Tell Orná that here I scorn his threats oven as Iscorned them at Orn. Tell him that he who enters Hjetla witharmed men, whatever he his errand, is at war with its chief. Tellhim that he knoweth on whose shoulders rests the blame of thecrimes with which he has charged my guests. And tell him,finally, that if he wishes the strangers, to take them—forEyvind of Hjetla is ready!'

And with that he turned away, while from his followers arose acheer so loud and hearty that it must have been heard by theenemy. The messenger, after rather an apprehensive glance around,went—somewhat quickly.

'Now we have the reason of Orná's deadly hostility towardsus,' said the doctor; 'the death of this son of his, probably inthe fight around the house. Is that not so, Eyvind?'

'Without doubt,' answered the chief. 'He was his only son, andbe sure that if by any means he can accomplish it, he will restnot until he has avenged him. The more reason,' he added, 'why weshould defeat him now, at once and completely. Only let himattack, and'—The rest was left to conjecture.

But Orná was too old a bird, and could see too well thestrength of his opponent's position, to fall in with hisarrangements so nicely. As the herald delivered his message, weobserved him through our glasses stamp up and down as if enraged,and thereafter consult again with his councillors. In the end, inobedience to his command, his men retreated a few yards to theshelter made by a thin group of dwarf birches.

This chafed the spirit of the impatient Eyvind. 'Orná was evera coward!' he cried, and proposed to rush down and attack him onhis own ground, but he was dissuaded, and instead sent a messageto the effect that if 'Orná was afraid to give himbattle with double his forces, he (Eyvind) was willing to fighthim anywhere with an equal number of men on either side.'

To this challenge, at the moment, no answer was returned.

Thus, for the next hour or so, we sat watching each other, andjust as we were beginning to become tired of the inaction theenemy was seen to be in motion. Evidently Orná had made up hismind to attack us. Slowly and cautiously his men advanced untilthey had covered half the distance between them and us, and then,halting for a moment, they divided into two parties, the largerof which held back as a reserve, whilst the smaller but pickeddivision came towards us at a run.

Eyvind, meanwhile, had given a few rapid orders, and wasready. As the leading party charged up the hill, shouting somehoarse battle-cry, he lifted his sword, and, he leading, hiswhole force dashed downwards on the assailants. There was ashock, an instant of resistance and no more, before disciplineand superior skill prevailed; and then, broken and demoralised,Orná's vanguard was fleeing towards his reserve. Now we saw hisscheme. He had drawn up the larger division in square, meaningthus to receive the men of Hjetla as they charged down, on groundmore favourable to himself. But he had reckoned without his host.The moment the vanguard was scattered Eyvind perceived the traplaid for him and ordered a stoppage; and, thanks to hisdiscipline, on which Orná had failed to count, his forceimmediately drew up and returned to its old station, within theshelter of the birch-wood.

'It is not,' he explained, 'that I fear to meet him, but I seenot of what use it would be to throw away the lives of my men,when I shall gain the same result by waiting here.'

It was now that an interruption to the hostilities took place.Wemyss pointed out to us that two peculiar-looking carriagesdrawn by reindeer (of which more again) were rapidly approachingOrná from the opposite direction, and as they came nearer we sawthat they contained several persons in red robes, and fullyarmed. On reaching the birch-wood the machines were drawn up, anda man bearing a weapon not unlike a halberd, and with a curiousheadpiece resembling a jester's cap, leaped out of the first.

''Tis a herald from the king!' cried Eyvind; but what hiserrand can be, save'—

He stopped in perplexity; but he and we were not kept long insuspense. The herald for a little spoke to Orná, and then amessage came inviting Eyvind and 'the strangers' to aconsultation, to be held midway between the two forces.

''Tis in reference,' added the messenger, 'to a summons fromKing Aleif to give up to him the strangers from the Utgard, thathe may himself speak with them and examine them before the greatcouncil that sits at Hjalnord.'

XXI. — OUR APPROACH TO THE POLE.

NONE of us objected to the course proposed, andon descending to the spot indicated we were immediately joined byOrná and the royal herald. The former greeted our friend stiffly,but took no notice of us.

'This, Eyvind, is Egil, the herald of Aleif, the king,' hecommenced, without preliminary, 'and he bears a command from theking that the strangers be delivered forthwith into hishand.'

Eyvind, with half-concealed contempt, turned from him to theherald.

'Thou art welcome, Egil,' he said; 'but before thou givest thymessage I must ask thee if thou art here as an herald to Ornáalone, or to me?'

'My message is this, Eyvind,' he returned. '"The command ofAleif, the king, to Orná of Reydverá, or to whoever may have thecustody of the strangers from the Utgard: that these strangers bedelivered into the hand of Egil, my herald, to be brought toHjalnord that I may have converse with them; that they bedelivered forthwith, as I now command; and that to the chiefsthrough whose countries the strangers may pass on their way toHjalnord my command be also given to treat them as chiefs, thatthey may not grumble in good faith of the people ofIslöken."'

'Good,' said Eyvind, as if pleased. 'And as it is I who havethe custody of the strangers, it is to me that the command isaddressed, and Orná, without doubt, will now give up his claimand retire to his own district.'

Orná smiled in a vindictive and most unpleasant way, and wesaw that he did not altogether relish this method of disposing ofhim.

'It is to me'—he began.

But Eyvind interrupted him.

'The message is plain, and allows of no argument,' he said;'and even if it did, I would argue not with thee. The strangersare, and always were, my guests; thou knowest that thou canstnever take them; and so it becomes thee not, Orná, to demandthem. But a weak cause needs big words. My case rests with thee,Egil.'

'And thou art right,' quickly responded the herald. 'Thecommand lies—"to whoever may have the custody of thestrangers."'

The facts were so indisputable that Orná could not but seethat his game, for the present, was up.

'So be it,' he cried, but with an ugly look in his eyes. 'Asit is the king's request, I go; but remember, Eyvind—andye, strangers—that I shall never forget the harm ye havedone me!'

And without another word he turned on his heel and walked off.Five minutes later, his army was on its homeward way.

'Ye have heard,' said Eyvind, as, along with the herald andhis retinue, which had by this time come up, we returned to thecamp—'ye have heard the words that have beenspoken'—which the doctor had translated to us as they wereuttered—'and ye must know that the time has come for ye tostart for Hjalnord. But for the sake of safety I shall go withye, and take with me a strong guard. Besides,' he added,ingenuously, 'I wish again to visit the king, with whom, as Ihave told ye already, I am in great favour. And it is as well tohave a friend beside Aleif, lest Orná may find means to poisonhis mind against ye.'

To most of us the announcement was highly satisfactory; and toDr Lorimer, in particular, it was a matter of peculiargratification.

'Just what I wished!' he cried, 'that I might get all myobservations completed. And the sooner we start the better!'

The chief, seemingly, was of the same opinion. Part of thewarriors having been detached to watch Orná's withdrawal fromHjetla and see that he did no mischief, the rest of us returnedat once to the capital.

There preparations for the long journey were begun withEyvind's characteristic energy. His brother was summoned home torule in his absence; a hundred of the best men were picked to actas an escort; and the swiftest reindeer and all the chariotsavailable in the district were got ready. The latter merit a wordof description. They are large, roomy machines, holding sixpersons and the driver, and constructed on the same principles asthe earliest stage-coaches, with the exception that they areopen. As the roads are smooth and well kept, being laid only overground suitable for the purpose, although the longest détours mayhave to be made to gain this end, the want of springs is not somuch felt as it might otherwise be. Each chariot is drawn by fourreindeer, and sometimes by six, these animals in Islöken beingspecially trained to draw wheeled vehicles during the summer.

Two days later we started. With Eyvind in the leading chariotwere the herald, Dr Lorimer, Cecil, and myself; in the next wereWemyss and Clements, along with one or two of the chief'scouncillors; and Gates and Jansen had charge of a special machinein which were the instruments, arms, and, in fact, all ourluggage. Gates, by the way, had managed—how, even he couldnever explain—to pick up enough of both languages used inIslöken to make himself understood.

'It's just this.' he would say in answer to any inquiry on thesubject. 'You've only to get a sort o' grip of the common folk'slingo to get into the way o't, like; and as for what the doctorcalls the Icelandic, it looks to me like Shetland—and everywhaler kens it.'

The route, instead of being via Reydverá, was to theeast of Hjetla, at first right into the heart of the mountains inthe midst of which Eyvind's valley lay. But soon we emerged upona plain resembling that of Reydverá, and only separated from itby a low range of hills. Across this we struck as nearly aspossible in a bee-line. In this place, for the reasons I havealready given, I do not intend to go into the particulars of thejourney. It was interesting enough without being absolutelystirring. The principal excitement in it, indeed, was that of thechiefs and people through whose country we passed. Suffice it tomention, then, that we crossed by fords several considerablerivers flowing west, which must empty themselves into the sea onthe coast of Torrens Land; and these, by means of their currentsand comparatively high temperature, are doubtless the cause ofthe open water. Everywhere we found the same phenomena; andeverywhere game was so plentiful that we kept the whole companysupplied with fresh meat with the greatest ease.

As the sun now shone without intermission throughout thetwenty-four hours, usually we began our day's progress quiteearly. One morning the doctor was strangely preoccupied, and Inoticed that he seldom took his eyes off his compass except tomake an occasional calculation. When we halted for the mid-daymeal, I took occasion to rally him on his abstraction.

'What's the matter, doctor?' I asked. 'You, who are ordinarilythe cheeriest and most talkative of mortals, seem to have someterrible secret on your mind. Nothing wrong, is there?'

'Nothing—in fact, far from it,' he replied; but still inan absent manner, as if his thoughts were in the clouds. 'But Iwish Gates would come up with the instruments. I can't doanything till I get them. As it is, I'm almost certain ofit—but I shall have to make sure.'

Sure—of what? But as nothing was to be got out of himjust then, I wandered off with my gun, thinking so much ofLorimer that I scarcely heeded the paradise of wild-fowl allaround me, and missed more than one good chance.

When I returned I found a group of excited persons around thedoctor, who himself appeared the most excited of them all. Gates,who was beside him, and had obviously been aiding him in hisobservations, was the only calm one present; but I knew that itwould have taken nothing less than an earthquake or an explosionto excite him.

'Well, doctor,' I said, 'are you sure?—though of what,I'm yet ignorant.'

Lorimer didn't answer for a moment, and when he did, it waswith a gravity that only emphasised, so to speak, the excitementin his eyes and on every line of his countenance.

'Yes, Oliphant,' said he, 'I'm sure of what I should haveknown before, but never suspected until to-day. For the last dayor two I've had an idea of it, indeed; but it was only thismorning that I found out that, whatever the roundabout way, wewere going steadily north. I have just taken an observation, andchecked it, which gives us our exact position. In aword'—speaking slowly and impressively—'at thismoment we're only eighty-one geographical miles from theNorth Pole!'

We gasped in astonishment; the Pole had been so far from ourthoughts of late that we could scarcely realise the fact.

'And that's not all,' the doctor went on, more in his usualenthusiastic manner. 'There's every reason to believe that thePole itself is in Islöken, and not far from this Hjalnord towhich we're going. According to Eyvind, we're still four days'journey from it, in the same direction. Now, we make about thirtymiles a day; four days give us a hundred and twenty miles; and,allowing for détours, that brings us very near it. And yet I canhardly believe it—that we shall discover the North Pole,that point which has been the central idea of every Arcticexplorer for centuries!'

And the thought was certainly one that almost lay too deep forwords. Again the doctor went into a brown study. As for the restof us, no doubt we should have done the same had not some onehappened to announce that dinner was ready; and dinner, as weknow, is as a rule an excellent antidote to reflection andsentiment. With Gates, at any rate, it was so.

'Well, well,' said that astute Scot, as he carefully packed upthe instruments, 'the doctor is a queer man in someways, but I cannot say I quite comprehend what he thinks he'llfind at the North Pole. From what I've heard tell, it's only whatthey speak o' as a geographical expression. If ye was to getsomething substantial now—like the gold they used to get inCaliforny, for instance—I might see through it. But only asort o' equator without a Neptune—ugh!' with whichexpressive comment he went off to his meal.

Eyvind, also, seemed to have much the same idea. He found ithard to understand our sudden excitement for no apparent reason;and as for the doctor's explanations, however learned they mightbe, they were of course utterly incomprehensible to him.

'You tell me that for ages your fathers have striven to reachthis "Nord-Pole,"' he would say, in perplexity; 'but if it is inIslöken, and they never heard of Islöken, how could they havedone so? Surely it must be a wonder, to bring ye so far; and yetI know it not, nor where it is. Gates says it is nothing;but'—expressively—'ye are not mad, and Loràmar is notmad! It is strange!'

And in his perplexity, in spite of all our efforts, hepersisted in remaining.

It was not long, however, before the thought of it was drivenfrom his head—and for the time being, from our own—bya more startling event. We were again amongst mountainousscenery, and that evening, on approaching a defile in the midstof it, Eyvind sent forward half of his men as an advanced guard,on the ground, as he said, that it was a favourable meeting-placefor a turbulent tribe that was little better than one of robbers.It was as well that he did so. The pass was a narrow one betweentwo walls of rock, with barely room in some parts to allow thechariots to pass. Scarcely had we entered it than we heard a loudshout, and, looking up, saw the sides of the defiles dotted witharmed men, the figures of some of them silhouetted against thesky, and others lower down. If their purpose was to surprise usthey had chosen their moment well, the first part of our escortbeing considerably in advance, while the rest had not as yetentered the pass.

'Enemies?' asked the doctor.

Eyvind nodded; he was too busy watching their movements tospeak. Suddenly he uttered a sharp cry, as if of warning.

'Look out!' shouted Cecil at the same time.

We were conscious of a whistling sound about our ears, andseveral javelins and arrows rattled into the chariot, the driverand two of the reindeer falling under the former. It was by amiracle that those inside it escaped unscathed.

If it had been the intention of the assailants to killus (as seemed evident from the fact that none of theother chariots were attacked), they had lost their last chance.At a run the rearguard entered the pass, and those in advance,turning, began to scale the rocks in pursuit. We, on our part,opened a fusilade with our firearms that brought down more thanone. Doubtless they had expected to be successful at the first,or had never imagined that we should make such a promptresistance, and after keeping their places for a second theybegan to scramble away as fast as they could climb. Away oneither side went the men of Hjetla in pursuit. The latter weregood mountaineers, and, notwithstanding the start gained by thebrigands, five or six of them were overtaken, and with scantceremony tumbled down the hill to where the chief was standing.Most, however, got clear off, but they left behind them threekilled and two wounded, besides those captured. On our side theinjury to the driver was very slight.

'Now we shall see how Eyvind dispenses justice,' said thedoctor, with some curiosity.

The inquiry was of course conducted in the vernacular, theherald taking a prominent part in it; but we could only stand byand try to guess from a recognisable word here and there what wasgoing on. At last the chief turned to us.

'It is as I thought,' he said. 'This is Orná's doing. By thepromise of much reward he has induced the tribe to attack us, notsaying that we should have with us the royal herald. Well, it isdone: the tribe must bear the penalty; and with Orná I shall dealwhen the time comes.'

'And these men?' the doctor ventured to inquire, noticing thatthey were being removed by the escort.

'Shall reap what they have sown!' replied Eyvind, with anangry gleam in his eyes, and a gesture that plainly told theirfate.

Into the matter we thought it as well not to inquire further,but a little later we heard a cry or two that were only toosuggestive. The men, without doubt, richly deserved theirdoom.

But for a vexatious delay we should have reached Hjalnord wellwithin the time specified by Eyvind. On the day previous to thaton which we should have arrived, we were met by couriers with theintelligence that part of the road had been destroyed by thedescent of lava streams from a volcano in eruption, and that weshould either have to wait until a new path was made, or make acircuit of fifty miles. The latter alternative was chosen; butthe delay was the more tantalising from the fact that, by thedoctor's calculations, we were within twenty-five miles of thePole!

'However,' said Lorimer, cheerfully, 'it's some consolationthat it can't disappear like the Northern Pharos, and,after all, when we take into account the hundreds of years duringwhich it has been the goal of every civilised nation, surely oneday sooner or later doesn't matter!'

Notwithstanding, nobody was more impatient than he to reachHjalnord; and when, a day or two afterwards, we came in sight ofthe city as we surmounted a range of hills, nobody was more eagerto get a better view of it. It lay right below us, in a valleysurely the most beautiful in the whole Paradise of the North, byfar the largest town we had yet seen, in the land, regularly andsystematically laid out and surrounded by walls. What struck usmost was that all the streets converged upon a low, flat-toppedhill, like the spokes of a wheel upon the hub. Around the townwere fields and gardens highly cultivated; everywhere the geysersand hot-water springs, to the sight of which we had become soaccustomed that we should have thought it strange if there hadnot been any; and here and there a stream or small lake. In thedistance was a range of snow-covered mountains rising to animmense height, beyond which, we were told, no man had everpenetrated.

'Yes,' said Eyvind with some pride, as he noticed ouradmiration, 'that is Hjalnord, the seat of the kings of Islöken;yonder in the middle is the hill from which the law is given tothe people; and beyond, ye see the great snow-clad mountains onwhich neither animal nor plant can live.'

'It is magnificent!' cried the doctor, forgetting for a momenthis one idea; but it was only for a moment, and then he added:'But let us get down to it as quickly as we can. There are manythings to be done, my friends.'

The descent was not so easy as it appeared, however, and itwas late in the evening before we approached the gate (there wasonly one) of the city of Hjalnord. We were evidently expected,for the gate was opened as we came near, and two heralds,followed by a large company of soldiers, came forth to meet us.To them we were presented by Egil, and in the name of King Aleifthey welcomed us to Hjalnord and assured us of a hospitablereception.

'This being the birthday of the king,' supplemented one, 'heholds to-night his great feast; and it is his command that if thestrangers arrive they and the chiefs and councillors with themattend him at once in his palace.'

Although we were tired and sleepy, there was no gainsayingthis. 'We must obey,' said Eyvind; and so, descending from ourchariots and falling into line behind the heralds, we passedthrough the gateway and along a broad street, leaving our luggagein charge of the escort. The houses, we saw, were as a rule largeand roomy, built much in the same style as Eyvind's château, andthe palace itself, which was situated under the shadow of the'Law Rock,' opposite another large edifice, was merely on abigger scale. There were few people about, except one or twogroups of armed men around the palace. From this, as we nearedit, we heard sounds of mirth and revelry which told us that thebirthday feast of King Aleif was at its height, and told us also,only too plainly, of the nature of the festival.

XXII. — DR LORIMER'S GREATDISCOVERY.

PASSING along several corridors we reached adoorway hidden by a thick curtain, and on drawing it aside andentering, we found ourselves in a large room, heated by twofires. On each side of a long table running right down theapartment, and covered with viands of every kind, there must havebeen at least thirty men. Most of these—all, in fact,except the few who had drunk not wisely, but too well, of theking's ale—leaped up as we entered, and when they saw whowe were, there were loud cries of 'Eyvind! Eyvind!' Evidently ourfriend was popular.

Without taking much notice of the demonstration, the heraldsled us towards the head of the table, at which stood a man justpast the meridian of life, with a certain look on his thin faceas if of weakness. His hair, too, was white, although hismovements were still those of physical strength and vigour. Andhis eyes, as we were conscious by his scrutiny as we advanced,were bright and keen. It hardly needed Eyvind's whisperedintimation to tell us that this was Aleif, the king: his verydress and arms were sufficient to point him out amongst the restas the chief of all.

'Then ye are the strangers of whom I have heard?' he said, aswe came to a stop opposite him. The fact was indisputable; and,after another close scrutiny, he continued: 'It is good! Ye arewelcome to Hjalnord, in my own name and in the name of my greatcouncil.'

And, turning, he gave an order to those standing beside him.Immediately four or five chiefs on each side of the table vacatedtheir places, which he motioned to us to take. We did so; he andthe company seated themselves; and then we seated ourselves inthis order—to his right Cecil, Wemyss, Clements, andJansen, and to his left the doctor, myself, Eyvind, and Gatesrespectively.

'Seems to me,' whispered Lorimer in my ear, after a glancearound, 'that we're in for a regular "wassail-bout"—asurvival from the tenth century. Doesn't the scene remind you ofit?'

As I surveyed it, I had to admit that it certainly did. Thethree-score men, all of the dominant race, and bearing on theirfaces the proofs of their kinship to our Viking forefathers; thelarge metal flagons full to the brim of the national beverage;the hall itself, with the weapons and shields upon its wallsreflecting the gleam of fire or midnight sun: all these tended tocreate an illusion that we were in reality attending a 'wassail-bout' in the days of Harold Haarfa*ger.

Food meanwhile was placed before us, and until we hadsatisfied ourselves the king would listen to no conversation. Butduring the interval, we noticed, he paid much attention to hisale-cup, as indeed did every one of his guests. Then the doctorhad to tell our story (or as much of it as Aleif was likely tounderstand), to explain whence we came, our purposes in coming,and generally to make his majesty acquainted with our history. Byhis look he was much interested; and when the narrative came toan end, he filled up his flagon and pledged us.

'I would hear more of ye and the land from which ye come,' hesaid, 'and of the wisdom and power which doubtless are yours."'Tis our own fault," as the proverb says, "if from a stranger welearn nothing new." But it must be another time, for now thefeast must go on. Ye are my guests, however, and shall be as longas ye care to remain here.'

And he shook hands all round, with a warmth that might havegratified us had we known how much of it was heartfelt, and howmuch the effect of the ale.

The flagons were refilled and emptied time after time, and ata signal from the king several men carrying instruments notunlike harps advanced to the head of the room, where one of themimmediately commenced a recital in a sing-song, monotonous voice,accompanying himself on his harp—as by its sound it was.Occasionally his companions joined in, when the effect was notunmusical. Every one listened with the greatest attention to theskald, who, we were told by Eyvind, was narrating an entirely newballad in reference to the feats of some former king. No doubt itwas very interesting, but we were not sorry when it was finishedamid a round of applause.

Then one of the others struck up a song. For a moment or twohe had it all to himself, but as soon as the company could pickup the tune they joined in with heart and soul. The noise madewas terrific; certainly it could not have been worse if acongregation of a thousand persons had been singing in a room ahundred feet by thirty.

An interval followed, during which more ale wasconsumed—so much, indeed, that we could not comprehend howthe drinkers disposed of it. I don't know if we were expected todo in Rome as the Romans did; but if we had tried we could neverhave succeeded, even though our lives had depended on it. Eyvind,I am bound to say, showed no backwardness; and as for the rest,they were all much too busily engaged to watch our capabilitiesin the way of imbibing.

Cecil, however, was in a more awkward position, being directlyunder the eyes of Aleif, who had seemed to take a liking to himat first sight. Observing that his majesty himself never passedthe huge flagon from which the cups were filled, and that helooked with displeasure on any one who did, my brother was in afix. He did not wish to displease our royal host; he knew that tokeep pace with the natives was beyond his powers. But he soonstruck upon an expedient. On the table between him and the kingwas a huge haunch of venison, and behind this he sheltered hiscup, drinking just a little each time, and filling up as theflagon came round. In this way he managed to keep himself sober,and at the same time—as was afterwards to beproved—to rise in the king's estimation with every cupfulhe was supposed to have drunk.

So, for five long hours after our arrival, the bout went on.We could not leave the feast, of course; sleepy as we were, wehad to sit and listen to song, ballad, and story that were asHottentot to us, and to watch the steady drinking and the gradualcapitulation of the drinkers.

'When will this end?' I inquired of Eyvind, who was stillpegging away at it as if it were enjoyable, as perhaps it was tohim.

'Not until the king chooses to stop,' he replied; and as Aleifappeared to be the hardiest of all, I leaned back in my seat withlittle hope of a speedy release. But it came sooner than Iexpected. The king appeared suddenly to realise that the flagonwas circulating much more quickly, and that most of hissupporters had given it up; and with the knowledge came thereflection, I suppose, that he also had had enough of it.Accordingly, he issued an order; the minstrels sang a last songand then disappeared, and all was over.

'Strangers,' he said, 'the feast is now ended. I have given myorders that rooms be prepared for ye, and when ye are refreshed Ishall hope to see ye again.'

So saying, he rose and attempted to walk off, forgetting thequantity of ale he carried; and he would have fallen had notCecil promptly caught and steadied him until two of hisattendants relieved him. Aleif's head was clear enough, andlooking at Cecil with something like admiration, he said, 'Thouart a man!' as he left the room.

For ourselves, we followed the servants with alacrity to ourchambers, where it was not long before we were in the deepestslumber, dreaming of quaffing whole barrelfuls of nut-brown alearound a gigantic post yclept the North Pole!

When I awoke it was nearly eleven o'clock, and hearingfamiliar voices somewhere near me, I dressed and passed directlyfrom my room into the interior court of the palace, which waslaid out as a garden. There I found Cecil and Wemyss, and aminute or two later we were joined by Dr Lorimer.

'Nobody seems to be up in this place yet,' said the latter,'and I'm anxious to get a meridian observation to-day. Where onearth can Gates be, or Eyvind, or any one who can tell me wheremy instruments are?'

'Gates and Clements have disappeared,' replied Cecil, 'and asfor our native friends, no doubt they haven't recovered yet fromlast night's carouse.'

'It's a wonder to me that you have,' said the doctor, with alaugh. 'How many gallons of ale in all did you drink, or pretendto drink? But, joking aside, I wish we could unearth somebody,for I feel more miserable the longer the settlement of thisquestion is delayed.'

Knowing that to which he referred, we shared his feelings in aless degree. But in a minute he had his wish; on turning a cornerof the quadrangle we came upon a little side-court hidden away ina quiet nook, and were just in time to catch a glimpse of a ladyin white disappearing through a doorway, whilst our friend Eyvindstood near, trying hard to look innocent.

'The old game!' muttered Cecil, who may be supposed to knowsomething of it. 'Ask him, doctor, who the lady is, and if we areto congratulate him.'

The doctor did so.

'The lady is Sigrida, the daughter of Aleif, whom I met hereby chance,' was the dignified answer; on hearing which each ofus, I think, laughed in his sleeve, having somewhere or otherheard the same reply before.

'And now, if ye will,' he went on, as if eager to change thesubject, 'I will show ye the town—or, better still, thewonders of the Law Rock which ye saw from the mountains.'

We were agreeable, but before we started the doctor asked howhe could get at his instruments.

'It is easily done,' said the chief. 'I shall tell one of theslaves as we go out to send them after thee to the Law Rock.'

'All right,' replied Lorimer. 'I suppose the rock will do aswell as any other place.'

Accordingly, as we passed through the entrance-hall Eyvindspoke to one of the servants loitering about, evidentlydescribing to him what to bring, and then he followed us into thestreet, in which he pointed out the opposite building as that inwhich the great council of the nation met. Some one referred tothe size and appearance of the houses as compared with those ofReydverá, for instance; but the reason, he said, was that anearthquake had never yet, as far as was known, occurred inHjalnord, and that, therefore, people had confidence that if theyerected anything it would not be demolished in a day or two, aswas the case elsewhere.

'But look!' cried Cecil, interrupting this explanation;'yonder are Clements and Gates perched on the summit of the LawRock, like venerable seagulls on a solitary islet!'

The rock itself, now directly in front of us, was a squareblock of basalt about five hundred feet in height, with smooth,precipitous sides and a flat top. I have never come acrossanother exactly of the same kind or configuration, nor even readof one. On a knoll in the centre of the summit, used as a rostrumfrom which proclamations were made, sat Gates, and by his sidestood Clements, both of them apparently admiring the view.

Eyvind led the way towards one of the angles, at which, we sawas we approached, a narrow and precarious path led towards thehill-top. Up this we ascended perhaps half-way, and then to ouramazement we observed a large fissure in the rock, from which wasvisible an open and well-lit space, as if of an immense cavewithin the mountain. Here Eyvind stopped.

'Within,' he said, impressively, 'are the great wonders towhich I referred a minute ago. Shall we go in?'

I nodded, and we were about to do so when the doctor stoppedus.

'Here comes the man with the instruments!' he cried,excitedly. 'I shall have to see this place another time; just nowI must take my observations. Clements and Gates will helpme—there's time yet! Excuse me, will you?'

So leaving him where he was, we trooped through the fissure atthe heels of the chief, who whispered to me in the nativedialect, which by this time I had nearly mastered:

'Is Loràmar, then, still looking for this Nord-Polewhich is nothing and yet may be found? By this time hisfoolishness is surely gone, or he must indeed be more foolishthan he seems.'

I did not answer, for at that moment the narrow passage we hadbeen threading broadened out and finally merged into a greatcavern or hollow space, that by its feeling alone, so tospeak, gave one the impression of vastness. In reality, it was ofno stupendous length or breadth. Indeed, when our eyes becameaccustomed to the faint twilight that penetrated into it througha thousand cracks in the roof and walls, we could distinctly makeout all its dimensions, except that of depth. We ourselves werestanding upon the extreme edge of a narrow shelf that seemed torun right round it, and at our feet there was nothing butblackness—the rock sheered perpendicularly down so far as,at that point, our eyesight reached.

Following Eyvind, we groped our way along the ledge for alittle distance, until we came to a part at which it dippedconsiderably; and there, at its lowest point, the chief haltedand told us to listen. We did so, and heard a low sound as ofdistant breakers; and on looking over the edge I thought I coulddistinguish, many scores of feet below, the presence of water. Iasked our guide if I were right.

'It is water,' he responded.

'Then what is marvellous in that?' I demanded, adding to theothers: 'It would be more marvellous if there was no water at allat the foot of a hole like that.'

'Wait,' was the simple reply.

A few minutes passed, and then he called our attention to thefact that the faint sound was momentarily growing louder andlouder. Then, gazing eagerly into the abyss, we observed that thewater at its foot was beginning to rise, and that it rose higherand still higher, until finally it was only twenty feet below us.Thus it remained, agitated and broken, for perhaps ten minutes;and then, as suddenly as it had risen, it subsided to its normalposition. And, at the same time, the noise also died away.

We watched the progress of the phenomenon with interest andsome surprise.

'Is it often thus?' I asked Eyvind.

'Continually—at stated times,' said he. 'But no manknoweth the cause, neither where the water comes from, nor towhat is due the sudden rising and falling. Mayhap Loràmar mayknow'—this with a meaning smile. ''Tis said that once itrose so high that it reached the ledge, and flowed through thefissures and down the mountain side.'

Nor was this the only wonder of the place. Having againfollowed the ledge for a hundred yards or so, we were pulled upshort at a transverse ledge; and here we saw that the abyss wascut into two by a solid wall of rock, in the middle widening outinto an islet (if it may so be called) about forty yards incircumference. On one side of this was the wonderful tidal wave;on the other, according to Eyvind, nothing but an unfathomablechasm, the depth of which was beyond the calculation of man. Asproof of his assertion, he threw in a piece of rock, which felland fell until we could no longer hear the sound of itsdescent.

'Shall we cross?' he inquired, pointing to the naturalcauseway, not more than six feet broad, that connected the ledgewith the islet.

I looked at it somewhat doubtfully, but before I had time toreply the chief himself was on his way across. After that, ofcourse, we had no alternative but to follow, which we did rathergingerly and with much care; and then we found that the spot wascovered with little knolls that were highly convenient as seats.On the other side it was also connected with the ledge.

'Here,' said Eyvind, as we seated ourselves, 'the greatcouncil met for many ages, before the city of Hjalnord was built,and while the land was full of turbulence and warfare. For thecouncil it was the only place of perfect safety in Islöken, forthe Law Rock can be held by few against a multitude; and 'tissaid that the people cared not that they should leave it, as theyheld it almost sacred.'

And he went on to give us many instructive particulars of 'thebrave days of old,' that might have interested us more had ourknowledge of the language been less imperfect.

At last, seeing no signs of a renewal of the phenomenon, Isuggested that we might join the doctor above; and so, crossingthe other causeway, we emerged into the open air by a fissure inthe opposite side from the one by which we had entered. As wewere climbing to the summit we heard loud shouts quite near us,and the next moment were confronted by Gates, who was in aterrible state of excitement.

'Quick, Mr Oliphant!' he cried. 'I don't know what to do! Ithink the doctor's daft, and Mr Clements as bad! They're bothlike it, anyway. Quick! or they'll be doing somethin' desperateto themselves!'

The man's concern was so obvious that I lost no time. Heedlessof the steepness of the path, I ascended at full speed, fallingmore than once, but always picking myself up almost before Itouched the ground, and again dashing on in the stoker's wake. Ina minute I had reached the summit, to find the doctor andClements shouting as if demented around a British flag they hadraised on the mound I have mentioned, upon which were also theinstrument-tripod and most of the instruments.

I touched the doctor on the shoulder.

'What's wrong?' I demanded. 'What great discovery have youmade now, Lorimer?'

For a moment he seemed speechless, and could only seize myhand and shake it with the utmost fervour, repeating the sameoperation on the others as they appeared. At length he found hisvoice.

'The greatest discovery of all!' he exclaimed. 'At last wehave succeeded! At last perseverance and endurance, added to goodfortune, have enabled us to reach the farthest northern point ofthe world! At last we've found it! Here,Oliphant—at this point—where this Union Jackis—where we, members of the Randolph Torrens Expedition,are standing—is the North Pole itself!'

XXIII. — SIGRIDA.

I AM afraid that, as the doctor thus impetuouslyannounced his great discovery, we were at first more incredulousthan he expected. But his manner at once showed us how much hewas in earnest.

'The North Pole!' I exclaimed, involuntarily lookinground as if I expected to see it.

'Yes,' he quickly replied. 'There can be no mistake about it.Clements and I have checked our observations and calculations inevery possible way, and the result is invariably the same. We'restanding on it! Look wherever you like, you're looking to thesouth. Here there's neither east nor west, nor even north. Thewhole world, so to speak, is under our feet—and, myfriends, we are British!'

His tone was so sincere as to be, in itself alone, almostconvincing, and five minutes' examination of his figures put thematter beyond a doubt.

'One can hardly realise that we have really solved the vexedquestion of what the Pole is,' I said, telling the doctor of thestrange phenomenon below us, which now assumed a new aspect whenconsidered in the light of the discovery made since we had seenit.

'And that reminds me,' suddenly said Cecil, with a twinkle inhis eye, 'of the ancient legend that, when the Pole wasdiscovered, a Scotsman would be found sitting on its summit. Nodoubt you have all heard of it. Well,' he went on, in a tone ofassumed solemnity, 'nothing is more extraordinary than the way inwhich these legends are verified—as, for instance, witnessthis very case.'

We stared.

'Why! How do yon make that out?' inquired the doctor.

'It isn't a case of "making out" at all. It's a statement ofsimple fact. When we issued from the house this morning, whom didwe see sitting on the Pole, apparently quite at home? It wasGates. And isn't Gates, as he has told us many times, a native ofScotland, and of Dundee? Thus it is, curiously andprovidentially, that prophecies are fulfilled!'

Whilst we were laughing at this coincidence (and nobodyenjoyed it more than Gates himself) we noticed that our oldcomrade Egil was ascending one of the paths. Aleif, he said onreaching us, was about to partake of his mid-day meal, anddesired our presence at his table. This reminded us that, as wehad tasted nothing since the previous evening, we should berather hungry, and that bringing with it the knowledge that wewere so, in spite of the startling events of the morning, webegan the descent of the Law Rock with surprising alacrity. Asthe doctor said, 'the Pole could wait, but not our innerman.'

'So, Loràmar, thou hast found this Nord-Pole of whichthou wast in search, and found it not to be nothing, as thousaidst, but the Law Rock!' was the comment of Eyvind, deliveredon our way to the palace. The astute chief had gathered so much,and formed his own conclusions, from our rather erratic behaviouron the mount.

'It is true, Eyvind,' returned the doctor; 'we have indeedfound it.'

'Then of what good is it to thee?' was the not unnaturalretort. 'It is of no use that I can see, for ye cannot carry itaway with ye when ye leave this land for your own.'

This was undeniable; but fortunately for the doctor we arrivedjust then at the palace, and thus he was saved the trouble of along and useless explanation.

Egil led us into a different room from that with which we wereacquainted, but furnished much in the same way, with theexception of the table. Near the fire sat the king, and oppositeto him a lady whom we recognised at once as his daughter Sigrida.As she rose on our entrance we saw that she was tall andgraceful, clad in a simple robe of white, looped up here andthere with hooks of copper, and with a scarf of some softsubstance draped gracefully around her neck, the ends of itdangling over her right shoulder. Her features may not have beenvery regular, but they bore the mark of refinement anddistinction; and her eyes—large, quick, and of a deep blue,in which there was sometimes a suggestion of black—morethan compensated for any defect she might have. Owing to anarrangement of her hair on the top of her head, she had a moredignified look than might otherwise have been the case, moreespecially as she seemed of a quiet and modest nature.Altogether, however, she was undoubtedly the most handsome Eve wehad yet seen in the Paradise of the North, and Eyvind's choicewas certainly a credit to his good taste.

In turn we were presented by the king, and I watched Sigridaclosely to see the effect upon her. She scrutinised each of uscritically, and yet with the curiosity of her sex; and I washardly surprised that her glance finally rested upon Cecil, forhe was without doubt the best looking amongst us. More than onceher eyes travelled from my brother to Eyvind (on whom they alwaysrested with a softer light in them), and if she did compare them,I am certain that the one to whom she awarded the palm was not ofour party.

Whatever her ideas, those of her father were mostobviously in Cecil's favour. He had greeted him with exceptionalwarmth, making him sit down by his side; and when, after somedesultory conversation, dinner was announced, it was on his armthat he led the way into the dining-hall. Jansen was there,apparently not quite at his ease among the members of thecouncil; and on seating ourselves, Eyvind adroitly manoeuvreduntil he got next to Sigrida The lunch was substantial, the drinkagain being ale, warmed and spiced by the addition of some nativeherbs.

During its course we managed to get on such good terms withAleif that, at its conclusion, he proposed to show us in personover his gardens and around the town.

There was no delay. Within ten minutes of the end of the meala motley crowd—including Sigrida and Eyvind, the seven ofus, all the council, and a company of soldiers that kept at aconvenient distance behind us—was thronging through thequadrangle at the heels of Aleif. Coming out at the back of thepalace, we entered a great park planted with occasional groups ofsmall birches, in some parts highly cultivated, and in otherscovered with dense undergrowth. In the latter hares and othergame were plentiful, and must have done much damage to thecultivated portions.

Here Aleif handed over his daughter to the care of Cecil andwalked on with the doctor, with whom he entered into a longconversation concerning us and our land, showing a curiosity andinterest that even Lorimer found it hard to appease. As forCecil, he appeared, in spite of his very fragmentary knowledge ofthe language, to get on exceedingly well with Sigrida, and withsome amusem*nt I noticed that Eyvind, who was walking with me,did not altogether relish this. His eyes and his thoughtsremained fixed on them, and in consequence he either did notanswer my questions at all, or did so in an utterly irrelevantmanner. At last, in turning a corner, Sigrida happened to shoothim a glance, and the ungrateful being, without even an apology,immediately deserted me and took up his station on her left.Human nature is the same from the Equator to the Pole.

But in the end he did not gain much by the change. Whether itwas that the princess thought it her duty to devote herself toCecil as a stranger, or, with woman-like coquetry, she delightedin cooling her lover's ardour, it is impossible to say; butcertain it is that the chief of Hjetla got scarcely a word or alook from her. And accordingly the green-eyed monster began togain a little in influence over his savage heart.

Thus for some time we wandered up and down the park, Wemyssand I extending our acquaintance with the native chiefs, and therest engaged as I have mentioned. Then the king motioned to Ceciland me to come forward, and handed the princess over to DrLorimer, who lost no time in improving the opportunity with asmuch ardour as if he had been twenty years younger.

'Thy friend they call Loràmar,' said his circumpolar majestyto me, 'has shown me that ye are of a wonderful people, but yet Ihave seen little of your wonder. I should like,' he addedsomewhat peremptorily, 'to witness those marvellous powers ofwhich Orná has sent to tell me, and Egil, my herald, hasreported.'

More by force of habit than by design Cecil had brought hisWinchester repeater with him, and he was the only one of us whohad his rifle. On him, therefore, must devolve the temporaryrôle of Merlin.

'Ah! thou art a man!' repeated Aleif, turningapprovingly to Cecil, when I told him that my brother wouldfavour him with an exhibition of our magic. And from that moment,I believe, he had the fixed and unchangeable opinion that Cecilalone possessed the startling and occult powers of which he hadheard so much.

We were then at the foot of the park. On the other side of anarrow and sedgy stream was a stretch of rocky surface, overwhich myriads of ducks and similar birds were hovering, and toour right was a piece of waste ground literally swarming withhares. Curiously enough, these little animals seemed perfectlyoblivious of our presence at not more than fifty yards' distance,and not in the least frightened. There was thus a splendid fieldfor the exercise of Cecil's talents.

Guessing that something unusual was in the wind, the wholecompany, aristocrats and soldiers, had clustered closely behindthe king, and were now standing at attention. Cecil, pointing toa rocky bluff on which was a cluster of birds all unconscious ofthe fate in store for some of them, asked me to tell Aleif tokeep his eyes on it. I did so. Then, taking a steady aim, mybrother fired. Wheeling quickly round without waiting to see whatdamage he had done, he covered an audacious-looking hare on theright just as it turned to flee; and over it went, as dead as oneof the ducks at which he had fired a moment before.

As the double report was heard and its consequences seen,there arose a prolonged howl, and one or two nervous individualseven lost their heads and bolted. The king himself rolled hiseyes uneasily, and gave a little shriek. As for his daughter, sheuttered a louder one, and in her consternation would have fallenif she had not been supported by the strong arms of Eyvind, whothereafter completely forgot that she was in that position, andforgot also all his jealous and uncharitable feelings! And at thesame time there was a horrid discord as the air was filled withthousands of screaming birds.

'Shall I do it once more?' Cecil inquired, through me, as hesaw that the bluff was again occupied by a flock of birds,heedless of their comrade's untimely end. Aleif nodded; hiscourtiers looked a little apprehensive.

Another bird fell, but this time every one stood firm, thoughEyvind slyly took advantage of the alarm to clasp Sigrida yetmore firmly round the waist. And Sigrida, strangely enough, didnot appear to object.

'More! more!' shouted the king, who, having got over hisfears, was now eager for further indulgences.

Cecil, looking up and seeing that the air was still filledwith the wheeling and bewildered birds, complied by firing atrandom into the midst of them until his magazine was empty. Theresult was beyond all expectation. Down fell the slaughteredvictims in such multitudes that the ground was nearly coveredwith them, and in awed whispers the onlookers assured each otherthat it must be the work of a god. In his ecstasy Aleif dancedabout and cried 'More! more!' until he was pulled up short by aslight misadventure. As he was eagerly gazing at the fallingbirds, a heavy brent goose that had been winged descended on hisupturned face, and with such force that it brought him sharply tothe earth.

'Another victim!' cried the doctor, as we ran forward to hisassistance.

But immediately he was on his feet again, and now we had anexample of his headstrong temper. Taking the goose by the neck(it was still alive), he dashed it amongst the soldiers; then,stooping down, did the same with a few more; and having thusrelieved his feelings, and laughed heartily at his well-directedaims, he was himself again!

'It is good!' he said, though his warriors had no reason tothink so. 'Thou hast indeed wondrous powers, Cecil!'—with aglance, half of admiration and half of awe, at theWinchester—'and Orná and Egil have but spoken the truth ofthee! Never did I think mine old eyes should see such a slayingof the birds of the air within so short a time! To-night we shallfeast upon them, in honour of thee and thy comrades!'

And with that, after giving orders to his men to gather thedead and put the wounded out of their pain, he led the waytowards the palace; and on the journey, with many looks in thedirection of Cecil, he said something to the members of the greatcouncil which seemed to meet with general approval.

It was not long before the incidents and impressions of thisday began to bear their fruit. As time wore on, the unboundedadmiration and liking of Aleif for Cecil increased; and it wasevident to the rest of us that we were only looked at in a sortof light reflected from my brother. Fortunately, we were allpretty thick-skinned. The king, too, besides practicallymonopolising Cecil himself, took every opportunity of throwinghim into the company of Sigrida; and I am bound to say that heresigned himself to the situation with much grace and meekness,and even pretended (so successfully, indeed, that the pretencewas barely to be seen) to like it! And it was wonderful how,under the tuition of the princess, he improved in his knowledgeof the language.

As may be imagined, our friend Eyvind was not blind to allthis, and the sight of any one other than himself with Sigridawas apparently as gall and wormwood to him. I have a suspicionthat he upbraided Sigrida, and very properly received a rebuff.At any rate, he gradually became moody and silent, and altogetherunlike himself, and many a time wandered off alone and wasmissing for hours. On one occasion I came upon him in this state,and could not resist asking what ailed him.

He turned on me quite fiercely.

'Thou askest me that!' he exclaimed, 'when it is tothee and thy brother that all my misery is due!' After a pause,more gently: 'But it is not thy blame, Godfrei; forgive me myfoolish words.'

He looked so woe-begone and pathetic that, although I wasalmost laughing, I could not help feeling for him. Perhaps bothof us felt a touch of the nature that makes the whole worldkin.

'Thou needst not fear my brother, Eyvind, as a rival,' said I;'nothing, I know, is further from his thoughts.'

'It is not that!' he cried. 'But if Sigrida's love is gone,dost thou think it matters to me whether or not thy brother lovesher?'

And without giving me time to reply, he shook me off and wenton his way.

A few days thereafter, or about a fortnight from the date ofour arrival at Hjalnord, I happened to be with Sigrida alone inthe room in which I had first seen her, which was occupied by herand her father as a general sitting-room. I had entered in thehope of finding some of my comrades there, but, instead, I foundonly the princess. I was about to withdraw, when she motioned meto remain, and I did so.

For a little we spoke on ordinary topics, but I could not failto see that she was absent and preoccupied, as if thinking ofsomething else than that about which she was talking. Observingher closely, too, I noticed a deeper look in her eyes than I hadseen before. At last, after glancing quickly at me once or twicein a way decidedly uncomfortable to one of my modest nature, sheseemed to make up her mind to some resolve, and hurriedlysaid:

'I know I can trust thee, Godfrei; thy brother has told methat thou art both good and true, and indeed I can see it in thyface'—which at that moment, after such compliments, musthave been rather red. 'I wish thy advice, for I am in a sorestrait. Thou must have seen the favour of my father the king forthy brother, but thou mayst not know that it is his purpose tokeep him in this land if he can, and that he thinks the only wayto do this is—to marry him to me. And that,believe me, is his intention.'

She paused, and I was so absolutely thunderstruck by thisannouncement that I could not open my mouth.

'It is so,' she earnestly continued, doubtless observing theincredulity expressed in my countenance. 'And I dare not disobeymy father, for his mind is set on this as it has seldom been onanything. But yet I cannot do it!' she exclaimed, her voicebreaking and her eyes filling with tears; and I think Iunderstood what she meant. By her tone alone she revealed more ofher womanly sweetness than she could have done by volumes ofwords.

'Godfrei,' she went on, 'I have told thee so much, and now Itell thee more, for I see that thou art my friend. I love Eyvind,and I think he once loved me; but now, since ye strangerscame'—again with a catch in her voice—'it has beendifferent. Now he looks not at me. Canst thou find no means oftelling him what I have said?—but no! thou mustnot—perhaps it is better thus!'

At this, somehow, I felt a little queer myself, and I don'tthink I was ever more glad of anything than that it was within mypower to reassure Sigrida.

'If it be as thou sayest,' I began.

But she interrupted.

'I have said it is!' she cried; 'would it were not so!'

'Then fear not,' I said, and went on to tell her of thebetrothed whom Cecil had left behind him in England, and that he,at least, would never be a party to the king's plans. She beganto brighten, and listened eagerly to the interesting particularsI gave her.

'Be assured,' I said, 'that when the time comes the king willfind out that he cannot shake our purpose. As for Eyvind, thouneedst not be afraid of his constancy, for I know well in whosekeeping his heart still is. Only allow me, and I shall soon proveto thee that it is so.'

No more was required; and I had the pleasure of knowing thatat one stroke I had made two persons happy, or at least insuredthat eventually they should be happy. And yet—soinexplicable are the workings of that phenomenon we call humannature—I myself felt far from happy.

'I thank thee, Godfrei,' said Sigrida with a smile moreeloquent than her words; 'I am glad I spoke to thee, for thouhast been a good friend to me. Never shall I forget thee, norwhat thou hast done;' and she offered me her hand, which Irespectfully kissed.

Then she rose, as if to leave.

'Speak not to Eyvind,' she commanded, laughingly, as thecoquetry once more showed itself, 'for he deserves a punishmentfor his want of faith.'

Next moment she was gone. And just then, had it not been for amemory of Eyvind's woe-begone face, I should have fallen in lovewith her myself; and as it was—well, I called myself asentimental fool, and went off for an afternoon's shooting.

In the meantime, Dr Felix Lorimer and his assistants, in thepersons of Clements, Wemyss, and Gates, had been industriouslyengaged in observations, investigations, and inquiries concerningthe Pole and everything connected therewith. Naturally, the firstthing to which they directed their attention was the tidal waterbelow it, and many weary hours did they spend in the Law Rockobserving its rise and fall. Perhaps the only practical discoverymade was that the centre of the well was directly beneath thePole, and that there might therefore be some connection betweenthe two. But as there were no reliable data as to cause andeffect, we had to content ourselves with conjecture; and thedoctor got more satisfaction from his inquiries among the peoplein reference to climate, storms, and displays of the AuroraBorealis around the Pole. The results of these investigations,the value of which to science can scarcely be overestimated, willin time be given to the world by my learned friend in person.

XXIV. — A CIRCUMPOLAR CEREMONY.

SIGRIDA'S startling revelation of the designs ofAleif had the effect of making me keep my eyes open; and lookedat in this new light, many things that I should have passed overbefore, now assumed some importance as going to confirm herstory. One, for instance, could not help remarking the manner inwhich the king habitually threw his daughter and Cecil together.The members of the council, all of whom were obviously under hisinfluence, also took their cue from him, and favoured Eyvind withfew of the warm and friendly glances of former days. To us, onthe contrary, they showed every favour. To our friend it musthave been very suggestive.

A month passed, however, without any proposal from Aleif.During that time we did as we liked; and our fame having beenspread abroad, we were everywhere treated with the greatestconsideration. Cecil danced attendance on his majesty; Jansen andI hunted and fished to our hearts' content; and so did the otherswhen they were not pursuing their scientific labours. In a word,we lived a sort of holiday existence.

But at last this came to an end. One July afternoon, as I wassitting in the quadrangle, in company with Wemyss, Egil appearedand summoned us to a meeting of the great council. ThenI knew that the critical moment for which I had been waiting wasat hand.

'Are the rest there?' I asked.

'Only thy brother, Nils, and Eyvind. I have yet to summon theothers.'

As he mentioned Eyvind's name, I involuntarilywhistled—the scene was little likely to be a peacefulone.

After the doctor and his companions, who were, as usual, onthe top of the Pole (as in jest we always designated the LawRock), had been signalled to descend, we repaired across the wayto the council-house. Around a table, in a room somewhat moreelaborately got up than the ordinary, were gathered thecouncillors, each of whom sat looking as if to smile wereimpossible, so solemn and important was the occasion. At the headwas the king; and near the foot, seats for Eyvind and for us.When we were all present, Aleif commenced without the leastpreliminary:

'More than a moon has passed since the strangers from beyondthe Utgard—from a wonderful land many days' journey acrossthe great ice—arrived in Hjalnord, and ye have all seen themanner of men they are, and the marvellous powers that aretheirs. And especially have ye seen he whom they call Cecil, whois as truly a man as ever I saw! I have bethought myself that ifever Hjalnord be threatened by enemies—as it has beenbefore, and as it may he again, so long as there are unscrupulouschiefs in Islöken—the help that could be rendered unto meby the strangers is great, greater than any force wehave. But as it may be that they care not to remain here as mereguests, I have my proposal to make, and it is this. My daughter,Sigrida, is now of an age to marry, and I ask ye if ye can findany bar to her union with the stranger they call Cecil?'

As he said this I heard a muttered exclamation from my side,and an instant later Eyvind jumped up, his face livid. Then,recollecting himself, he gave one look round, and hurried fromthe room.

'Ye have heard,' resumed Aleif, without taking the leastnotice of the interruption, 'the words I have spoken, and ye knowmy will. Now, as bound by the law, I leave the proposal in yourhands, for your sanction or for your condemnation.'

No doubt the councillors had been carefully preparedbeforehand, for at once a loud shout arose and was repeated. Itshowed that whatever opposition there might he, it would not comefrom the great council.

'It is well,' said the king, as if highly pleased.

But I was not so sure of that. For one thing, as soon as Cecilcaught the drift of the speech, he wished to refuse on the spot,and in as strong words as could be used; and it was with thegreatest difficulty that we induced him to keep his seat, for tocross Aleif in his present mood would have been simplemadness.

'Ye also have heard the proposal, and it is now before ye,'then said the king, turning to us, 'and on the morrow at thishour we shall meet here to receive the answer of Cecil.'

Taking this as a notice of dismissal, we bowed ourselves out,and right glad were we—or at least I was—to get intothe open air again.

'What does it all mean?' asked Cecil, as we crossed to thepalace.

'Just this,' said the doctor, quietly, 'that you're to marryyour friend Sigrida on the shortest notice, and that unless youdo so—well, we're in a hole!'

Cecil brought down his hand upon Lorimer's shoulder with suchemphasis that for some time thereafter our learned physician tookcare to preserve a goodly distance between them.

'Look here, you fellows,' he said, with the utmostdetermination, expressed in both words and action; 'marry her wholikes, I swear that Cecil Oliphant never shall. It is not that Idislike her—for she's really a charming girl in everyway—but most of you know, I suppose, that I'm otherwiseengaged.'

Further discussion was stopped by a message from Eyvind,delivered by one of his soldiers, to the effect that he desiredto speak with us. Guessing his purpose, it may he supposed thatour minds were not altogether easy as we followed the man intothe quadrangle, in the middle of which his master wasstanding.

'I am glad ye have come, for now I can talk plainly,' hebegan; and though he spoke calmly, we could see that he wasboiling with rage. 'On your arrival in this land I befriended ye;and now, as ye have just heard, one of ye requites me by robbingme of my bride! I know not if that be the custom in the land fromwhich ye come, but it is not the custom in Islöken; and if itwere not for the memory of our friendship, then we should seewhich of us was the better man. But ye have done your worst,' heconcluded, grimly, 'and now ye can go on your way, and I shall gomine with the hope that we shall never meet again! I havespoken.'

And he turned to walk away. But, in spite of his words, Icould not let him go in that spirit. Laying my hand on his arm, Istopped him.

'I shall not remind thee of the services we have donethee,' I said, 'but I shall of what I have already toldthee—that Cecil never was, nor ever shall be, thy rival.Until within this hour he knew no more of Aleif's purpose thanthou, and now he refuses even to consider his proposal. I leaveit to thee, then, how far either of us has been unfaithful to ourfriendship. And now, Eyvind, I have spoken, and itremains for thee to say if we shall have thine aid in frustratingAleif and changing his purpose.'

'And I say, Eyvind,' put in Cecil, heartily, 'that what mybrother has said is true; and if you care to go in and winSigrida—why, then, you have my blessing!'

Eyvind's anger vanished, and as Cecil concluded he drew awayfrom us a little shamefacedly. 'I have wronged ye,' he admitted,honestly, 'and I ask thy forgiveness, Cecil, and thine, Godfrei.Odin knows that I was only too ready to believe in the proverbthat "women are as treacherous as young ice." Again I ask ye toforgive me for thinking that of ye also.'

We offered our hands, and as he shook them heartily the treatyof peace was ratified. That done to the gratification of all (forEyvind was such a favourite that any breach with him would havebeen felt by each of us alike), we told him of our dilemma, andasked him if there was any way out of it.

'If there be a way, I see it not,' he said, after a moment'sconsideration. 'Aleif brooks no opposition, and to refuse him iscertain death, in spite of his present liking for ye and all yourpowers. No, my friends'—a little sadly—'Cecil mustaccept; there is no alternative that I can see.'

'I don't say that,' cried the doctor, energetically. 'Wherethere's a will there's a way, and if we refuse, surely we canfind some means of doing it in safety. Or couldn't we accept, andthen take ourselves off before the marriage? for' —tous—'you know it's about time now to think of returning tothe ship, if we don't want her to sail for England withoutus.'

Eyvind shook his head.

''Tis almost impossible,' he replied. 'If Cecil consents, thebetrothment takes place at once, and the marriage as soon afteras the king pleases. And it is certain that Aleif will neverallow ye to leave until all is settled.'

As, in the face of this declaration, we realised theuncompromising nature of the situation, we began to feel a littleuncomfortable. There was a few minutes' silence; and then, asluck would have it, who should appear at the other end of thecourt but Sigrida herself?

'Just the thing!' ejacul*ted the doctor. 'Woman's wit may finda way out of this that we should never have thought of. Let Ceciland Eyvind, as the two most concerned, consult Sigrida; and Ishall be surprised if she doesn't settle the matter in atrice.'

Eyvind drew back, and his face flushed a little as he said:''Twill be better for Cecil to go alone; for I cannot do it.'

'Why not?' asked Lorimer, a trifle impatiently.

But I remembered the chief's own words that if her love forhim had gone, it mattered not who loved her; and, divining thecause of his hesitation, I thought myself justified in tellinghim, as shortly as I could, the substance of my talk with theyoung lady. It was pleasant to see how the light came back intohis eyes and the colour into his face.

'Thanks, Godfrei: now I shall go!' he exclaimed. 'And comethou, too; we may need thee to remind Sigrida of her ownwords.'

I consented, and together we crossed the court towards theprincess, leaving the rest to discuss the affair amongstthemselves. Sigrida appeared surprised to see the three of us,and by her grave look I thought that she also had heard the news.When she spoke, it was evident I was right.

'Ye have been with the council?' she inquired, with a strangeside-glance towards Eyvind, as if to find out how he had takenit.

And before either Cecil or I could reply, the chief of Hjetlahad commenced to speak in the Icelandic tongue, and so rapidlythat we could not follow him. But Sigrida, we saw, blushed deeplyas our friend went on, and from that, as well as from hispleading gestures, we could guess the purport of his address. Atlast he finished, and Sigrida answered him with only a word; butthat, and the message from her eyes that accompanied it, sent theblood rushing to his face. It was with difficulty that herestrained the ecstasy within him.

In a minute both had collected themselves, and Sigrida turnedtowards us.

'Eyvind has told me,' she said, with a little laugh, 'thatthou, Cecil, carest not for a marriage between thee and thedaughter of the king. It is strange; and yet, if thou hast abetrothed in thine own land, I blame thee not. But I see not howwe can prevent it, for my father is set upon it, and nothing, Iknow, can turn him from his purpose.'

'That may be so, but he may rest assured that the offer of hiskingdom won't induce me to marry thee!' emphatically said Cecil;and then, seeing from Sigrida's rather indignant look that he hadput the truth somewhat harshly, he diplomatically added: 'For Iknow that I should thus offend both thee and my friendEyvind.'

'And that being the case,' I hastened to say, 'canst thou notin any way free thyself and Cecil?'

'Give me a moment to think,' she replied.

We watched her with much eagerness, and when, after somepuckering up of her brow and other signs of hard thought shebrightened, we did likewise, in the hope that she had discovereda loophole of escape.

'Cecil must consent, and allow the betrothment to take place,'she said; and when my brother and Eyvind would have spoken, shemotioned them to keep silent. 'In no other way can my father begratified, and thus put off his guard. Thereafter, if I succeedin postponing the marriage for a time, ye must flee, as Eyvindsays ye wish to do. I have a plan. I know that in the autumn,when the harvest is over, the king proposes to visit the variouscountries of Islöken; and I think, to please Eyvind, he may beinduced to consent to the marriage taking place when he visitsHjetla. When he arrives he must find ye gone. But that may beconsidered again; as it is, I have no other plan. What dost thousay to it, Cecil?'

Cecil looked doubtful, and said nothing. Clearly he did notlike the idea of it. Sigrida saw this.

'If I am willing to take the risk, so, surely, art thou,' shesaid, proudly. 'If ye fail to escape, the blow will fall asheavily upon me as upon thee.'

Cecil gave in. Eyvind was more refractory; but he, too, waspacified by a few words from the princess. As for myself, Iconfess that I never admired a woman more than at that moment Iadmired Sigrida.

'But if the plan is to be successful,' she went on, 'it mustbe carried through with heart and soul, that no suspicions mayarise. Thou, Eyvind'—laughingly—'must no longer beglum and discontented, else the king may not allow the strangersto return to Hjetla. Thou, Cecil, must give thy consent to-morrow, and then the betrothment will take place. After that, letus hope that all will be well.'

She bowed and disappeared through one of the side-courts, justas the king entered at the other end. Eyvind acted his part well.To his majesty he apologised for his interruption in the council-house, which he excused on the ground of astonishment, andtrusted that Cecil would amply justify the choice of the king.The latter, quite unsuspicious, cordially shook hands with him;and there the matter rested, to the present satisfaction of allparties concerned.

Everything befell exactly as Sigrida had foretold. Next dayCecil gave his formal answer to the great council, and by Aleif,who 'carried on' as if the delight had unhinged his brain, thebetrothal was fixed for the Sunday following.

'Any day will do equally well,' observed the doctor,sardonically. 'If that girl plays us false, I'm afraid there'snothing for it, Cecil, but to marry her. If not, I shall beinclined to say you've lost a perfect treasure.'

Like all necessary ceremonies in the Paradise of the North,the betrothal was a simple affair. But, although simple, it wasnot held less sacred by the natives. Cecil became rather alarmedwhen Eyvind told him that it was regarded as a mere preliminaryto marriage, and that there was no breaking of the tie, unless bydeath or a special dispensation of the great council. If eitherparty died before the final consummation, the survivor became thepossessor of all the other's property, just as if they had beenreally married.

Hjalnord was usually a quiet place, but on the eventfulmorning it rapidly became thronged by the incoming of hundreds ofthe surrounding peasantry, who had heard of the forthcomingceremony, and knowing Aleif's hospitable nature, doubtlessanticipated a sumptuous feast to all and sundry. If so, they werenot disappointed, for an open table was kept in front of thecouncil-house, and of the king's ale there was literally anunlimited supply.

Exactly at noon, two processions issued from the palace, andby different routes made their way to the Law Rock, on which, asrequired by the law, the betrothal was to take place. In thefirst was Sigrida (who was closely veiled), her father, and themembers of the great council, attended by a portion of the armyof Hjalnord; and in the other Cecil and the rest of us, withEyvind and his men. As we crossed the open space to the rock, wewere warmly cheered by the crowd.

Owing to the narrowness of the paths, it was some time beforethe whole company had assembled on the summit. The king took hisseat upon the knoll—otherwise the North Pole, as the readerknows—having on his right his own party, and on his leftthe prospective bridegroom's. The council and others stood aroundin a circle; behind them were the soldiers; and away down below,at the foot of the mount, were his majesty's loyal subjects ingeneral.

'Did you ever in your wildest flights of fancy imagine,'whispered the doctor to me, 'that one day you should be an actorin a betrothal held around the Pole?'

A prayer to Odin from the senior councillor present commencedthe proceedings. At the king's request Sigrida stepped forward alittle, Cecil did the same, and in Icelandic a long exhortationwas addressed to them, of which the latter fortunately did notunderstand a word. Then, through the doctor as interpreter, Cecilwas asked:

'If Odin wills, and there be nothing of a nature to preventit, shalt thou, Cecil, at a time appointed, marry Sigrida, thedaughter of Aleif, the king of Islöken?'

'If there be nothing to prevent it—I will,' repliedCecil, quietly.

'And thou, Sigrida, shalt thou marry Cecil?'

She returned the same answer.

'Then thus do I bind ye,' said Aleif, stepping down from theknoll and joining Cecil's right hand with Sigrida's left,emblematical of the fact, I suppose, that they were not yet fullyunited.

Thereafter two garlands of wild-flowers were wreathed roundtheir heads, and, perhaps under the same idea, left untied at oneend. All those of chieftain's rank having shaken hands with thenow betrothed couple, Aleif delivered another address, at the endof which a ringing cheer was given by those on the hill andaround it; and with a concluding prayer the ceremony, to ourgreat relief, came to an end.

Sigrida, who had borne up all through with courageousfirmness, slipped away under the wing of a friendly councillor assoon as she could; but from the summit we saw that she got atremendous ovation as she passed through the people on her way tothe palace. It was obvious that she was a great favourite withthe commonalty.

As for Cecil, he had to go through the ordeal of receivingcongratulations from chief and peasant alike. The king, withludicrous pride, would insist on presenting him to every one as asort of demi-god, and it was perhaps as well for him that hisignorance again served him in good stead.

'Marvellous powers!' the old sinner would repeat. '"Freshblood renews the stock," says the proverb'—he was great inproverbs—'and we in Hjalnord have long had need of freshblood. Odin be praised that at last we have got it!'

And by way of praising Odin and at the same time celebratingthe auspicious occasion, he gave that evening a magnificent feastto over a hundred guests. When I say that it began at seven andended at four the next morning, I may leave the rest toimagination.

Cecil, of course, occupied his official position at the kind'sright hand, and managed very successfully to hoodwink him in theway he had done before.

'My son, thou art a man,' he said more than once during theevening, as his potations began to take effect, 'and when thouart in reality my son, we shall together regain the ancient gloryof my crown, and be in reality what we are—or at leastI am—only in name.'

There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. He might nothave been so sanguine had he known what was passing in our heads,and been aware of the little plan that was ready for execution;or we, had we known what the morrow was to bring forth.

XXV. — THE WRATH OF THE FIRE-SPIRIT.

IT was about noon on the following day.Hjalnord, usually so quiet, had an unwonted appearance of bustle;for, assembled in the principal street, was a large crowdsurrounding several chariots and a company of strange soldiers,and the excitement was even spreading to the smaller and less-used thoroughfares. When Cecil and I came upon the scene, wecould not at first make out the cause of the uproar; and it wasnot until the warriors had cleared a way to the palace gate, andwe saw a man descending from one of the chariots, that we beganto share the popular feeling. For the man was Orná of Reydverá;and with ready wit the people, having doubtless heard all aboutour connection with him, had foreseen the complications likely toensue.

As Orná advanced to the gate, where Egil stood ready towelcome him in the name of the king, he recognised us, andgreeted us with the most distant of bows, which we returned inkind. Then he disappeared inside, and we looked at eachother.

'A new entanglement!' said Cecil, with a whistle. 'I only hopeit doesn't interfere with our plan. But let us see whatEyvind thinks of it.'

Eyvind was walking in the garden with one of the councillors,but as soon as he saw us he left his companion and came towardsus.

'Good news!' he gleefully exclaimed, before we could open ourmouths. 'I have just heard from Sigrida that the king is notaverse to our proposal, and that, if I speak at once, he is sureto agree.'

He was so elated that it was with a pang we had to throw coldwater over his anticipations by telling him of Orná'sarrival.

'Orná!—impossible!' he cried. 'Thou art right—itbodes no good to us. If his false tongue be once loosened, it isdifficult to say the effect it may have on Aleif. So it behovesus, my friends, to see him this moment, ere Orná can exert hisinfluence!'

The first steps to this end were immediately taken, but to thechief's chagrin it was found that Orná was already with the king.Could he affect our position in any way? we could not help askingourselves, and we had to confess that the chances in our favourwere much lessened. It was not until evening that Eyvind had anopportunity of seeing Aleif, and while he was preferring hisclaim we awaited him in our room, with what anxiety may beimagined. He was not long absent, and on his return his gloomyface told its own story.

'The king refuses to allow ye to leave until after thewedding,' he said simply.

'Refuses!' repeated Cecil in a tone of consternation.

'It is true. He has no objection to the marriage taking placein Hjetla, but he insists that until that time all of ye muststay with him. I reminded him that I was thy first host, Cecil,and had therefore some claim to thee. For a moment he seemed towaver. But Orná—may Loki blast him!—was present, andby a whispered word made the king suspicious, so that again herefused me. What he hath said I know not, but it has been morethan sufficient, and Aleif cannot be moved—his purpose isstrong and unchangeable.'

'Then what is to be done?' I asked.

The chief's eyes kindled, but for a moment ho did not reply.Then his words poured forth quickly and impetuously.

'There is only one thing that can now be done,' he said. 'Thetime for speech is past; we must have deeds—ay, and bolddeeds! My friends, we must march away without asking thepermission of Aleif, and, if need be, cut our way through allIslöken to Hjetla.'

His enthusiasm almost carried us away.

'But,' I pointed out, 'Aleif could surround thy men with sixtimes their number, and then there are Orná's also. Is it not alittle too foolhardy?'

'Listen. To-morrow night there is to be a feast in Orná'shonour, and on the following morn Aleif, as is his wont, willrise not until mid-day. We must be ready and steal away early,before any one can know of our going. Everything may be arranged;the chariots awaiting us without the town, my men warnedbeforehand and assembled at the appointed time, and, if possible,all in Hjalnord thrown off their guard. Even if our flight beimmediately discovered, it will be long before the king can beawakened and the soldiers gathered. If we get clear off, we shallnever be overtaken, for the moment we pass out of Aleifs owndistrict we shall, I trust, be amongst friends. If we are, wemust fight—and, as ye know, the men of Hjetla can fight.The risk, my friends, is a small one—so small that the mostprudent need not fear to take it.'

We were half-convinced, doubtless because we wished to be soconvinced. And the idea was really a plausible one. But thedoctor started a difficulty.

'But about thyself, Eyvind, and Sigrida,' he said: 'will notthis hopelessly compromise thee with Aleif?'

'Is it not better thus than to lose her altogether, as I mustotherwise do?' he demanded. 'And something is also due to ye. Butlisten again. If Aleif declares war against me, it shall be onhis own head; for Orná being with him, and being but badly likedby all, I shall have many friends on my side—mayhap morethan he. And to-day I shall send a messenger to my brother atHjetla, that he may collect all our forces, to be ready for myarrival. Once ye have left the country I shall soon make friendswith Aleif—he cannot afford to despise my offers—andthen the rest may be left to Sigrida. Doubt not that in the endall shall come right; my destiny is written in the stars, and itis to become master of all Islöken!'

He spoke so confidently that to oppose him would have beenpure folly. We had no counter-proposal; for the sake, not only ofCecil, but also of Sigrida and Eyvind, we could not remain inHjalnord; and if his plan was more or less risky, there are fewthings in this world that are not. By his own showing, thechances were ten to one in its favour; and it being clearly theonly alternative to staying and doing Aleif's will, weaccepted.

'Be it so, Eyvind!' I said. 'Depend upon it thou shalt haveour best help in carrying it out.'

He grasped my hand warmly. 'It shall succeed!' hecried. 'And now I go to inform Sigrida, and to despatch themessenger to Hjetla!'

Sigrida, to whom the news of Aleif's refusal had come as adisagreeable shock, warmly approved of the project, and all thefollowing day Eyvind was busy with his preparations. As for us,all we could do was to appear as usual, and be civil to Aleif andOrná. The men were ordered to take as much sleep as they couldthat day, and at five the next morning to creep away one by oneand assemble at a distance from the palace. The reindeer andchariots, under the charge of some of them, were under somepretence driven to a point outside the city. In a word, by thetime of the feast everything was in order for our dash forliberty. Even fate seemed to favour us. That night both the kingand Orná imbibed even more freely than usual, and at threeo'clock, when the carouse came to an end, were almost too fargone to speak.

'Strangers, ye have—ugh!—taken too much ale!' saidthe former, as he was carried off to bed, in the way of those inhis condition; 'I shall—ugh!—have to see to it to-morrow—ugh! ugh!'

These were the last words of his we heard, and that was thelast time we saw him.

Two hours thereafter, each laden with his most valuableluggage, we crept from our rooms like silent spectres, and met ina corner of the court. In that land of the midnight sun, we couldnot have had a better morning for our purpose, for everything wascovered and hidden by a light but impenetrable mist. We wereabout to depart, after a last look around us, when through thevapour we saw a figure in white advancing towards us. It wasSigrida.

'Eyvind—Godfrei—Cecil—my friends,' she said,softly, 'I could not have ye depart without saying farewell, forye have served me as few would have done. I am grateful. I shallnever forget ye. Be happy in your own land, and think sometimesof Hjalnord and Sigrida. Farewell!'

She shook hands with us all; and as we turned away there was asuspicious lump in the throats of more than one. I know there wasin mine. For a minute Eyvind lingered behind, and then, without aword, he rejoined us. Together we passed through a side-door intothe street—we were free. And yet, as I turned my back onthe palace of the king in all probability for ever, I felt asthough my heart had been turned into a lump of ice. Well—sobe it!

The soldiers were at the appointed spot, and—evidence oftheir love for their chief and of the high state of discipline towhich he had brought them—not one was missing from hisplace.

'The gate!' suddenly cried Eyvind, as we began to move. 'Iforgot that it is shut, and guarded by several soldiers. We mustsurprise them. Men, be ready!'

He issued a few rapid orders, and slowly and carefully wecrept nearer and nearer the gate. In a little it loomed throughthe mist quite near to us. We halted; all was quiet. Then Eyvindand several picked men glided away, while the rest of us waitedin suspense. At length we saw the gate gradually opening, and thechief returned and reported all well; cautiously we resumed ourmarch; and as we came opposite the gate, he pointed out abouthalf-a-dozen soldiers soundly asleep in a small guardhouse whichstood there.

'Disturb them not!' he said. 'But for their carelessness wemight have had a more difficult task. And when on awakening theyfind the gate open'—for, as it could be shut only from theinside, we were obliged to leave it thus—'be sure that tosave their own skins they will close it again, and swear that itwas never open!'

In a few minutes we were out of sight of it altogether, andsoon alter we reached the place at which the chariots wereawaiting us. Needless to say, we hurried on as if an army ofgoblins were at our heels.

About nine, when the fog began to lift, we saw that we werequite close to the hills from which we had first seen Hjalnord,but were approaching them at an entirely different point. Then,as may be remembered, we were forced by a volcanic eruption totake a roundabout way; but now, the road having been repaired, wewere going direct. As yet no signs of pursuit. We passed manypeople, of course, but I suppose they had no reason to regard uswith much suspicion. At any rate, it was not until, an hour ortwo later, we had reached the base of the hills that Eyvindabruptly stopped, and stood intently listening.

'The alarm at last!' he exclaimed. 'But we have had fivehours' start. On! on!'

The fog had completely cleared away, and borne on a faintbreeze from the Pole came the sound of many alarm-bells, that toEyvind's sharp ears had told its own story. On! on! with allspeed. But the ascent was steep and the road rough, and ourprogress proportionately slow. Just as we had come within sightof the summit, Cecil espied some one away down below, followingus with the utmost speed that he could flog out of the sixreindeer drawing his chariot. Nearer and nearer; we saw nothingof any one save the solitary charioteer; and then, at length, wemade him out to be Egil, the herald of the king. Before long hehad overtaken our rearguard, and halting, we drew up to receivehim.

'From Aleif the king!' he shouted, as he leaped down, hot andbreathless from his exertions. 'He demands the reason of this,and your immediate return to Hjalnord.'

'Carry my answer to thy master,' said Cecil, taking it uponhim to reply. 'Tell him that I decline an alliance with hisdaughter; that I, and those with me, refuse his demand, and darehim to compel us. He knows our powers, and he has ourwarning!'

'Good, Cecil!' approvingly cried Eyvind—adding,mockingly, 'And tell him from me, Egil, that the strangers returnwith me to Hjetla, and that there, if he please, they shall againbe glad to see him.'

'That is thy answer?' inquired the herald.

'Thou hast it.'

'It is well. Farewell, until we meet again—it may not belong!' And, seating himself in his carriage, he plied the whip sovigorously that soon he was but a rapidly-vanishing speck on thegreat plain of Hjalnord.

Then on again. In a few minutes more we had taken our lastlook at the capital of the north—at the plain, cultivatedlike a garden, at the wheel-shaped city, at the great snowymountains beyond, and, finally, at the visible representation ofthat point which we alone of all Europe had reached—theNorth Pole.

'We may never see it again,' said the doctor, with a sigh;'but it's some consolation that the honour of having settled thelong-disputed question can never be taken from us.'

On! on! We did not camp until we had covered forty miles, andwere beyond the borders of Hjalnord, but pushed on steadily andswiftly, that we might not lose the advantage we had gained. Thenext day was the same, and the next. The endurance of the men waswonderful; though our march was over the rockiest round, theynever complained or seemed tired, but, on the contrary, they werealways anxious to dash on and on still faster. Now and again, aswe passed a village, we exchanged our deer, for the animals,strangely enough, held out much less bravely than the men. And atlast, thinking ourselves comparatively safe, we settled down to amore moderate speed.

On the morning of the fourth day, however, we receivedintelligence that came to us as a thunderbolt from the blue. Onthe preceding afternoon we had passed through the town of afriendly chief, and early this morning a messenger arrived fromhim with the startling news that the whole army of the king wasonly a few hours' march behind us. Not only that, but Orná hadstarted to take us in flank, and cut off our retreat in case weshould flee from the royal battalion.

'Orná's hand is in this,' said Eyvind, 'for Aleif could neverhave conceived it. My friends, we shall have to fight'—in atone that made me suspect he was by no means averse from such athing, even against big odds—'and in a manner that we mayfirst defeat the king, and then Orná.'

'One by one, like Napoleon,' suggested the doctor.

'I know him not—is he one of your gods?' ('Only a demi-god,' said Cecil.) 'But we cannot fight here; we must push on toa position more favourable to us, and there await the enemy.'

But pushing on, that day, was no easy matter. It was as ifsome great atmospheric change was impending; the air, withoutbeing absolutely hot, was terribly oppressive, and seemed chargedwith electricity; and the sky was a dull, leaden-white colour,tinged in some parts with red. Every mile or two, owing to theutter exhaustion of all, a halt had to be called; and when, earlyin the afternoon, we came to a broad river ten miles farther on,it was impossible to advance another step.

'We need not,' said Eyvind, 'for on the opposite side we shalldo battle with Aleif's forces.'

Crossing by a ford that at its deepest reached to our chests,we took up our position on the summit of a gentle slope that, fora thousand yards or so, rose from the bank. It was Eyvind'spurpose to allow the greater part of the enemy to cross, and thenrush down and scatter them before they had time to form.Meanwhile, we threw ourselves on the ground andendeavoured—in vain—to snatch a few minutes'sleep.

In the course of two hours Aleif's vanguard came in sight, andby its disorganised appearance, and the weary way in which themen dragged themselves forward, we could see that they also wereaffected by the stifling air. Soon there was only the riverbetween us and the whole force—in all some twelve hundredwarriors, or twelve times our number. But in spite of this theyseemed in no hurry to come to closer quarters. Eyvind, on hispart, was ready, and we were eager; but it was not until aconsiderable time had elapsed that by their movements towards theford we made out that they had finally made up their minds. Onthey came, and the leading soldiers had entered the water; all onour side were intently watching them; when suddenly we saw signsof commotion in their midst, they fell back, and all at once wenoticed that it was rapidly becoming darker.

'Look up!' exclaimed Wemyss; 'the whole sky's getting as blackas pitch!'

It was true: on every side great black clouds were coveringthe heavens, gradually extinguishing the light of day. Alreadythe first shadow had fallen. Every moment the darkness increasedin density; distant objects became invisible, near ones grewdimmer and more indistinct. For a minute there was a deep andunbroken silence, as every one strove to imagine what was tocome; and then a sound that told even us, unused to suchphenomena, that which to expect.

'An upheaval!' cried Eyvind. 'Again Loki tries to escape, andthe earth trembles. Keep close together, my friends, and lookeach to himself!'

Even as he spoke, we felt the ground shake beneath our feet,at first gently, then violently and yet more violently; at thesame time the water in the river rose as if impelled by someirresistible force below, and rushed half-way up the slopetowards us; and the darkness grew more intense with everysuccessive minute. There was a cry or two from our men and fromAleif's. Another shock, and the crash of falling rocks; a third,and we were thrown to the earth; and as we recovered, stillanother that again dashed us down, bruised and stunned. Now thedarkness had, as it were, settled down, and it was only with theutmost difficulty that we could make out the agitated river belowus. The air was filled with strange noises; the solid land roseand fell like the waves of the ocean; and with each upheaval downwe went, until our heads swam and we bled from a score of wounds.So it continued, and in the power of the mighty Fire-Spirit wewere as helpless as the brute beasts.

So far we had managed to keep well together. But at last therewas a shock greater than any of its predecessors, followed by along cry from the other side that told of damage done there, andby a queer, eerie sound as of the tearing asunder of the earth'ssurface. I was thrown down, and for a little was unable to rise.When I did so, I could distinguish nobody near me, and againfalling, I rolled a short distance down the slope. I pickedmyself up and staggered forward, shouting loudly; and at length Iheard an answering cry, coming from what seemed to me a greatdistance. I ran in that direction, leaping by the way a smallcrevice that more than anything else brought home to me ourposition; and in less than a minute I was by the side of mybrother Cecil.

'This way, Godfrey!' he shouted. 'There's a big cracksomewhere about—the rest are on the other side. Be ready tojump!'

Following him, I immediately found myself before a hugefissure. I was too much confused to be able to estimate thebreadth; but with all the force at my command I jumped, andlanded safely on the top of one of the soldiers, thus in a mannerbreaking my fall at the poor fellow's expense.

'Back! back!' some one ordered; and we retreated only in time,as the fissure widened to an enormous extent. Simultaneously theopposite bank of it disappeared altogether from our sight,doubtless as the effect of a subsidence. What ensued we onlyobserved as in a glass darkly—and very darkly. There was aroar as of rushing waters; we felt the spray dash in our faces,and before we knew of it the river was rolling at our feet. Butwe did not stop to consider the startling change. In somethingapproaching a panic, we stumbled on through the darkness insearch of a safer refuge, now pulling up just on the brink of acrevasse, and the next moment being thrown down by a renewal ofthe earthquake. When we did halt, it was from the sheerconsciousness that it was all one whether we stayed where we wereor pushed on blindfold.

For nearly six hours the terrible convulsion continuedunabated, but for the greater part of that time the majority ofus were in a state of semi-insensibility, and really oblivious ofthat which was passing. When I came thoroughly to myself (and Iwas one of the first to do so), it was altogether at an end, andthe sun was again shining brightly. But on what a differentscene! The river had entirely changed its course, and now flowedseven or eight hundred yards to the left of its former bed. Theconfiguration of the ground was completely altered; in everydirection it was intersected by cracks and fissures, and hugemasses of rock lay hither and thither. Where formerly wasregularity, now was chaos; and where before was fertility, wasnow awful ruin.

'Once more has Loki done his work well!' said a voice by myside; and, turning, I greeted Eyvind. 'But to us at least he hasdone a service, for we need no longer fear an attack from ourfriends yonder'—pointing across the water to the king'swarriors, who, like us, were visibly recovering from theirtrance.

'How?' demanded Lorimer, who had also joined us.

'Because the ford is swept away, and before they havediscovered another we shall, without doubt, have reached the valeof Hjetla. But the journey will be a rough one, for the earth-trembling must have destroyed the roads—ay, and manyhamlets and villages, too. Seldom have I seen a greaterone—there will be many black hearts in Islöken to-day!'

'Thou art right,' said the doctor; 'and we may thank our starsfor our marvellous escape. Why, even science dwindles intonothing before such an exhibition of Nature's great and hiddenpowers!'

Our escape was indeed a marvellous one, for two men only weremissing, and about thirty more or less severely injured. As soonas these had been attended to, we turned our backs on the ill-fated spot and resumed our homeward march, looking as woe-begonea company as it has ever been my lot to see.

XXXVI. — OUR DASH FOR LIBERTY.

IN as few words as possible I must hurry overthe essential particulars that remain to be told of our doings inthe Paradise of the North.

As Eyvind had prophesied, our journey to Hjetla was a mostrough and fatiguing one. But at last, in spite of the universaldesolation within the belt of the destructive earthquake, and theconsequent difficulty of procuring supplies, we reached the vale,to find that by good fortune it had suffered less than thesurrounding districts, only a small corner of it having been laidwaste. Of the pursuing enemy and of Orná we saw no more. Incompliance with our friend's order, all his available forces hadbeen assembled in readiness—numbering altogether somefifteen hundred men, in the best condition, and eager for anaggressive war.

'But neither the king nor Orná is likely to attack me,' saidthe chief, 'for many lives must have been lost, and for thepresent they will be otherwise occupied. Still, it behoves us totake measures to insure our safety both now and in thefuture.'

This he did with characteristic promptitude. Spies were sentinto Reydverá and to the north, scouts posted in every direction,and envoys despatched to such of the neighbouring chiefs as werelikely to be friendly. In a day or two all was in readiness; andwhen, in the course of a short time, he got various promises ofhelp, he declared himself prepared to defy any power that Aleifand Orná combined could bring against him.

He had not long to wait. On the return of one of the spies, welearned that the town of Orn had been utterly destroyed by theearthquake, that Orná had arrived, and that he was now collectinghis men for an attack on Hjetla. Furthermore, that he had rousedthe fury of the people to the utmost by the declaration (in whichit was almost impossible that he himself could believe) that tous the convulsion was due. The credulous populace, only toowilling to credit the statement, were deeply incensed; a war tothe death against us had been proclaimed; and that they meant tolose no time in carrying it out was soon evident. Only the nextday, several of the scouts came in with the information that Ornáwas advancing with fourteen hundred men, and had already, as on aformer occasion, seized the little canal. At that point heencamped, as if to await a promised reinforcement.

While Eyvind was completing his preparations for defence, thesituation was complicated by the arrival of Egil with a messageto the effect that the king was marching upon Hjetla with hisarmy, and that, unless the strangers were instantly given up, hewould deliver over the vale to fire and sword. But if they were,a free pardon would be the chiefs reward, and a return to thefavour of his gracious monarch.

'The king is but two days' journey distant,' supplemented theherald, 'and will attack thee, if his demand be not satisfied,the moment ho effects a junction with Orná. If I may advise thee,I say, give up the strangers, for in no other way can there bepeace. Be assured that they will be well treated, according totheir deserts and the justice of the king.'

As Egil spoke Eyvind smiled grimly, and looked significantlytowards us. 'Thou shalt have thine answer soon,' was, however,all he said. The herald withdrew.

Meanwhile, we 'strangers' held a whispered consultation, anddecided that now was the time for laying before the chief aresolution previously come to amongst ourselves, in reference toour departure from Islöken.

'This is serious news,' I began, 'for to thee a battle againstAleif and Orná combined cannot be a matter of confidence andassurance. We, and we alone, are responsible; and so it is onlyour duty to relieve thee if we can. It seems that the king'shostility is merely towards us, and that thou hast little part init. Is it not so?'

'It is, indeed,' he replied.

'And if we were gone he would have little ground againstthee?'

'That is so.'

'Then,' I continued, quickly, 'we may yet balk our enemies andthine, and render thee a last service in return for thy many actsof kindness. Clements has this plan—to get ready the "ironmagic boat" at once, and dash through the lakes and away, so thatwe shall never be overtaken! In this manner, my friend, it shallbe as thou sayest, and when Aleif and Orná come, they shall againbe disappointed. What thinkest thou?'

For a few minutes Eyvind did not reply; and while he paced upand down the room in deep thought, we, to whom Clements' ideaoffered the only practical suggestion of getting clear awaywithout further trouble, watched him in some anxiety. At last hespoke.

'It was in my head, my friends,' he said, 'that in the greatfight to come ye would stand by my side, and help to gain for methe throne of my fathers; and that when it was over, and I sat atHjalnord, ye share with me the honours of our prowess.But—little sadly and reproachfully—'it is not so tobe; ye would leave the land and me, your friend; and I shouldnever see ye more! If it be your will, it is good. I can say nomore than to bid ye farewell.'

Having no reason to expect that he would receive our proposalin this way, we were rather taken aback. But as he turned toleave I stopped him.

'Eyvind,' said I, 'dost thou remember not the plan we made atHjalnord, and thine own words that when we left the land allwould yet be well with thee? Be sure that it is for thy goodalone that we go; were it not so, or wert thou in danger, dostthink that we should not stay and light beside thee? But we havethine own word. Yet it rests with thee. If thou sayest that theking and Orná will attack thee even if we go, then we shall stayand aid thee. It is for thee to decide.'

Again he deliberated, and when he answered, it was in adifferent tone.

'Thou art right, Godfrei: we must part, though my heart isheavy at the thought of it. Doubt not that in the future I shalloften think of the deeds we have done together since ye enteredthis land; and often, too, in the days to come, shall I wish foryour aid in time of need, when the battle may go sore againstEyvind of Hjetla. And I shall wish in vain! But it must be, forin your flight, in truth, lies the only hope for all of us. Wordsare little when the heart is full: I have finished. And now,Godfrei, I should like to hear again of thy plan.'

In a few words I indicated our intention—to make a dashfor the sea via Reydverá and Oliphant Inlet, and trust to thelaunch's speed and to the surprise of the natives to get throughin safety.

'But there is one doubtful point,' I said, 'and it is the onlyone. Orná holds the little canal between the two lakes, and it iswithin his power to stop us there. Unless thou hast some plan,Eyvind, I'm afraid we must wait until he has advanced this way,and then take our chance.'

'I have it!' exclaimed the chief, without the leasthesitation. 'This moment I shall send a body of my best men undermy brother Hreidmar, and while Orná sleeps they shall postthemselves around his camp. The ground is rocky, and will hidethem well. Ye must start early, and when Hreidmar sees ye cominghe shall fall on the sleeping men of Reydverá and sweep them backfrom the canal. Then ye may pass while Orná yet rubs his eyes;and thereafter my men shall disappear as suddenly as they came.It is good!'

The project had certainly the merits of ingenuity andaudacity, but it was none the less likely to succeed. It was, atany rate, worth trying.

'But will it not embroil thee still further with Orná?' thedoctor asked.

'What matters it?' was the easy reply. 'If he does not put itdown to the strangers' magic, as is most likely, he can do me nofurther harm; and be sure that the king cares too little for himto engage in an unpopular war on his behalf.'

And so, in the end, it was settled. The preparations for ourdeparture were begun immediately, with the despatch of fivehundred picked warriors under Hreidmar, who had full orders whatto do and what not to do. This was in the early evening; and, togive them plenty of time, we were to start at two on thefollowing morning. The launch, which was in splendid order, wasgot ready; all our belongings and the doctor's many specimen-boxes placed on board; arms and ammunition prepared in case of anemergency; and everything, in a word, put in order for ourattempt. There was a farewell supper, and at its conclusion Ipresented Eyvind with one of the rifles (which, by the way, hehad learned to use during our visit to the Pole), and also asmany cartridges as we could spare. By the glitter in his eyes ashe received the weapon, we could see that he appreciated theimmense possibilities open to him as the apostolic successor, soto speak, of the magicians from beyond the Utgard.

'I thank thee,' he said, in grateful terms; 'and while Ipossess this magic tube I shall never forget thee and the othersof my friends, nor allow my enemies to forget me! Never had kingin Islöken a sceptre of such power!'

Early as was the hour of starting, there was quite a crowdassembled. To do us honour, Eyvind had mustered nearly a thousandof his armed tribesmen, who lined the way from the house to theboat, and saluted as we passed. Steam was up; and as we tookleave of the councillors, and stepped on board, the peopleheartily cheered us. Then, each in turn, we took leave of thechief. It was really affecting to see the way in which he wrungthe hands of each again and again, and especially of Cecil andme, as if loath to let us go. But at length he gave us a finalembrace, looked at us intently as if to impress our features uponhis memory, and then abruptly turned and leaped on shore. Thenext moment we were off, and five minutes later, as we steamedrapidly down the lake, we had seen the last of Eyvind and themany friends we had left behind us in that little corner of theworld.

'Well, it is over,' said Cecil, with a suspicious-soundingsigh, 'and I suppose we've finished for good with Eyvind and hispeople. And yet, though we are returning to England, I don't feelaltogether so happy as I should. Somehow, it seems to me as if wehad been cut adrift from some sure anchorage.'

'Right, my boy,' said Lorimer; 'but we've no reason to beashamed—I assuredly am not—of our stay in theParadise of the North. Though our connection with it has beenrather stormy, it's a nice place on the whole. And we're not outof the wood yet, by any means; we have still that canal; and,from what I remember of it, it's rather an awkward place, to saythe least of it.'

'Come, doctor,' I interposed, 'don't croak till you've reasonto—there's none so far.'

It was no consolation that there soon was. After running downthe lake for a couple of hours at full-speed, we slowed a littleas we approached the critical point. Suddenly turning a corner,we saw the isthmus before us, occupied on both sides of the canalby a large body of sleeping men. There were no signs of ourfriends; and all was so quiet and unsuspicious that we began tohope that we should get through without the least disturbance.But before we had time to wonder at the seeming torpitude, wewere observed by one of Orná's more vigilant sentries; he uttereda sharp cry, and instantly there was a movement amongst thedormant invaders.

'Hold off a minute until we see what's what, Clements,' Iordered. 'And get the guns ready, my lads: we shall have a stifffight for it.'

At that moment there was a shrill whistle, and

That whistle garrisoned the glen
At once with full five hundred men.

On every side and from behind every rock that afforded theleast shelter appeared the faithful men of Hjetla; and in thetwinkling of an eye they had formed into two compact corps, oneon each side of the canal, and were rushing upon the enemy. Thelatter had barely time to jump up individually and seize theirweapons, before they were on them like a whirlwind; there was afaint resistance here and there, and then the disorganised men ofReydverá were pressed back all along the line.

'Now's the time!' I shouted, in excitement. 'Carefully,Clements—not too fast! And pepper them well as we pass, youfellows: we must keep them back from the edge!'

Next moment we were at the canal mouth. Hreidmar, prominent infull war-dress, was cheering on his men by word and example tofurther success; but the enemy, though driven back from thewater, were now closing up and making a firmer stand. It was notime for sentimentality; we could not wait to consider suchquestions as the loss of other people's lives when our own werein jeopardy. As every shot counted, we did not spare them. Withexpress and repeater we poured into Orná's ranks such a deadlyand continuous hail of lead that they were thrown into yetgreater confusion. Taking advantage of the opportunity, weentered the little channel, and while the fight was at itsfiercest managed to accomplish half the distance. But just as wehad reached the narrowest part (that at which, according toGates, the launch had touched the bottom on a former occasion) wehad a serious repulse. On Hreidmar's side he still kept hisopponents back; but on the other, where Orná commanded in person,they seemed to have become aware of our numerical weakness, andby an unexpected rally succeeded in recovering most of theirground, coming dangerously near to the bank. In fact, theirvicinity was made unpleasantly real to us by a volley ofjavelins, that might have done some damage had Cecil not warnedus in time to back the boat a little, and thus avoid them.

What passed during the next few minutes was the turning-pointof the conflict, for if Orná had succeeded in reaching the edgewhile we were in the narrows, there would have been no hope forus. But the warriors of Hjetla were equal to the occasion. Inspite of all the chiefs efforts, they resolutely held their own,or only retreated step by step as they were absolutelyforced.

'More steam, Clements—we must take the risk!' I cried,as the mass of struggling combatants, swaying to and fro within afew feet of us, threatened to fall upon the boat. 'If we don'tget through now, we shall never have another chance!'

The engineer obeyed: there was an interval of suspense asalternately we watched our progress and the fight upon the land.At length we heard a triumphant shout from the foe;simultaneously there was a break in the ranks of our friends, andjust at that instant, in the very nick of time, the good launchdarted forward into the wider channel beyond!

But we were not yet safe. Owing to the shallowness of thewater, we could advance but slowly, and the now infuriatedsoldiers of Orná on our right easily kept abreast. It wasfortunate that Hreidmar had by this time completely repulsedthose on the left bank. Still our position was critical enough.Closely as we fired, and fast as our opponents fell, it appearedto make no difference. Again and again they retaliated withflights of arrows and javelins, until it was a wonder that thewhole of us were not pierced through and through. At last, aftera volley which laid the doctor low, I noticed Orná himself, whohad hitherto kept well in the background, gesticulating fiercelyin the front rank. About a score of his men, doubtless at hiscommand, immediately plunged into the water and began to swimtowards us; and at the same time we fired once more into thecrowd on shore. How it happened I know not, but the next thing wesaw was the chief of Reydverá tumbling headlong into the canal,and his followers drawing back in utter consternation.

'On! on!' exclaimed Cecil. 'Orná's got a bullet through him,and now's our chance!'

But we need have had no fear. In a minute it was all over. Thechief never rose again; those of his men in the water maderapidly for the bank, and their comrades there stood still likesheep without a leader. Their enemies, seeing their fix, ralliedat once; and as we finally steamed out of the canal and away,they were fleeing in every direction, relentlessly pursued byHreidmar and his victorious soldiers. A more complete rout, in aword, it would have been difficult to imagine.

But we could not stop to congratulate our friend, for it wasimperative that we should pass Orn before its inhabitants hadreceived the news of their friends' defeat. Besides, we did notcare to be pressed to prolong our stay, as Hreidmar wouldcertainly have done. So, after waving a farewell to him andadding a finishing touch to the enemy's discomfiture by a mostunearthly performance on the steam-whistle, we went on our waydown the fjord, and were soon on the lake.

The doctor's wound was a trifling one, caused by a javelinpassing between his arm and his side and tearing the flesh.Jansen also was slightly wounded in the shoulder.

The current being with us, we came in sight of Orn, now aconfused jumble of ruined houses and huts, early in the forenoon.Unluckily, it commanded a long stretch of the lake, and if we hadcounted on slipping past unseen, we should have beendisappointed, for we were observed long before we were abreast.Soon four boats, full of men, put out to stop us; but they wereso insignificant that it was not worth while to change our courseto avoid them. If they courted their fate, let them have it. Aswe charged down upon them, they parted to get out of the way ofthe launch; then there was a crash, and one of them disappeared.From the other three, now following in our wake, there was alittle spear-throwing, but with our Winchesters we easilysilenced them; and soon we had left them hopelessly behind.

'Safe at last!' said I, as the boats disappeared from sight.'Now, Clements, let us see how long we shall take to do thejourney to the sea!'

As we raced along at a wonderful speed, all of us entered intothe spirit of the fun, and cheered as we passed quickly and insuccession each well-remembered spot. We dashed from the lakeinto the river, past the scattered houses, and did not slow untilwe came to the point at which we had taken our first look atIslöken, and at which we now took our last. Then onagain—past the scene of Eyvind's celebrated fight; past theruined hunting-hut that had roused the doctor's curiosity;between Mounts Stafford and Torrens, past the waterfall, and downto the little cove above which we had discovered the sad relicsof the former expedition. How our spirits rose, and we laughedand sang, as still on we went down Oliphant Inlet, between thehuge cliffs, with the twin-peaks receding into the distancebehind us! It was about eight in the evening before we really sawthe ocean, with the ice-blink away beyond; and shortlythereafter, while at supper, we were aroused by Wemyss's cry:

'The ship! the ship!'

We looked; and, true enough, there was the Aurora not a miledistant, steaming directly towards us. We were soon noticed;signals were run up; and, as we approached, the little swivel wasfired, the yards were manned, and we were received with cheerafter cheer by the good-hearted fellows. There were tears in oldCaptain Sneddon's eyes as we stepped on board after our absenceof four months, and we were not much better—the receptionwas almost too much for us.

'Thank God, you're back!' cried the old man, fervently. 'For amonth we've been cruising up and down on the lookout for you. Inever thought I should see you again—gone like many moregood men I have known—and here you are, burnt as black asnigg*rs, and as safe and sound as ourselves!'

Neither fore nor aft was there any sleep that night until ourwonderful story had been told; and when the captain heard of theconquest of the Pole, nothing would satisfy him but an immediatesalute of twenty-one guns, that must have broken in upon themidnight slumbers of the four-footed inhabitants of TorrensLand!

'It is a wonderful yarn,' said he, 'as wonderful as over Iheard; and if you hadn't such proof I shouldn't be surprised ifthe folks in the old country didn't believe all you said!'

Of his own doings he had little to tell. Everything had goneon well and uneventfully at Fort Lorimer. As soon as the Aurorahad been freed in May, he had, in accordance with myinstructions, taken her on a voyage along the coast. North ofOliphant Inlet he had discovered two other estuaries with strongcurrents, but both were unnavigable above a certain point. He hadpenetrated as far as latitude 85° 12′, but there findingthe land trending more to the west, and the ice accumulating, hehad decided to go no farther. The earthquake of the previousweek, he added, had been distinctly felt both at the fort and onthe water. 'And,' he concluded, 'everything's ready for thereturn voyage—even the ice, for there's open water to thesouth-east as far as can be seen.'

'Then we shall sail to-morrow, if that's not too soon,' saidI.

'We'll do it,' he replied.

Early next morning we were at Fort Lorimer. There we took onboard the garrison and everything of value, filled up with coal,and by afternoon were ready. The fort was left as it was for thebenefit of ourselves or future explorers, after securing itagainst the attacks of predatory bears. Then, with all our flagsflying, we steamed out of Weymouth Harbour and commenced ourreturn voyage to England.

'There's no gold without its alloy,' said the doctor, as westood on deck and watched the rapidly receding mountains ofTorrens Land; 'and there's only one thing wanting to make oursuccess complete.'

'Which is?'

'A solution of the mystery still surrounding the NorthernPharos,' he answered.

'And that,' said the captain, 'we're never likely to know, asfar as I can see. I'm afraid we'll have to be content with thecargo we've got!'

But, for once in his life, Captain Sneddon was wrong, andbefore he was many hours older he and the rest of us had gained asolution of that veritable mystery.

XXVII. — SIR PHILIP STAFFORD.

THE direction of the open water compelled us tosteam more to the east than otherwise we should have done; and itwas in consequence of this that perhaps the strangest event thathad yet occurred to us, and assuredly the most providentialhappened. It came about in this way. On the day after ourdeparture from Weymouth Harbour we were brought on deck by a cryof 'Land! land!' from the mast-head. It was apparently aboutthree miles distant, and looked like a little cloud upon thehorizon. Beyond it there was an ice-sky.

'I don't suppose we need put on shore,' said the captain,carelessly. 'It would take us too much out of our course, andit's probably only a rock.'

'We might run in a little closer, at any rate, so as to guessits size,' suggested Lorimer.

'All right—if you like,' replied the captain, and gavethe requisite orders.

How thankful he afterwards was that he did so may be imagined,for as we came nearer to the rocky islet (as it was, being of nogreat size) some one pointed out a curiously-shaped mound on itshighest point. Then Cecil declared that he saw, through histelescope, a flag-staff above that.

'A flag-staff—nonsense!' I cried. In a minute or two,however, I had to confess that he was right.

Instantly all was excitement. For the next half-hour some fivehundred theories—all but the correct one—must havebeen brought forward and pooh-poohed as ridiculous. At the end ofthat time, being quite close to the islet and seeing no signs ofinhabitants, we fired our gun to settle the question; and hardlyhad the echo died away before we made out not one man, or two,but nearly a score, dancing and gesticulating upon the summit asif demented! And they were evidently white men, too, for theywere dressed in the garments of civilisation. Running in as nearto the shore as we could with safety, we gathered from thesignals of the castaways, or whatever they were, that we shouldtake our vessel round the islet. We did so, and found that on theother side it was shaped like a horseshoe; and in the little bayforming the concavity we saw not only the cause of the rock beingInhabited, but other things even more surprising. For, lyingimpaled upon some sharp rocks at the upper end, was thedismantled and half-demolished shell of the NorthernPharos; on a small stretch of beach in close proximity wereseveral tiny wooden buildings and a larger one, and in front ofthem a partly completed schooner that was obviously being builtof the timbers of the wrecked Pharos.

'Jupiter Tonans!' ejacul*ted the doctor, rubbing his eyes asif he could not believe their evidence. 'Now, by all the powers,she can't escape us!'

'No, doctor, she's safe enough there,' said the captain,grimly, pointing to the rocks sticking through the bottom andsides of the ill-fated vessel. 'And unless we stop here theAurora'll soon be in her company.'

We did stop, and in one of the boats made for the beach, onwhich were now assembled all the haggard and wasted inhabitants,many of them bearing the marks of scurvy. As we approached therewas a remarkable scene. The poor fellows, to whom our arrival wasas a miraculous dispensation of Providence, rushed into the waterto meet us, and by their effusive welcome almost swamped theboat. Even before we had landed we were the recipients of moreblessings than we are likely to receive for the rest of ourlives; and it was really pathetic to hear the loud shouts of joyand see the way in which the men handled us and the boat, as ifto make sure that we were not phantoms.

'Is the captain here?' I asked of one of them.

Before he could give an answer Nils Jansen uttered a most ear-piercing howl, and precipitately rushed into the arms of abystander, whom he commenced hugging and kissing with all theenergy at his command. This, and a torrent of speech on bothsides, went on for some time, and then the pilot recoveredsufficiently to inform us that the man was his brother Karl, whomhe had last seen when the Pharos had made her mysteriousappearance at Tromsö.

'Have I the honour of addressing Mr Oliphant?' suddenly said adeep voice behind us. Turning, we saw in the doorway of thelarger building the figure of a tall and once strong man, but nowbent and worn by illness.

'That is my name,' I replied, glancing at him with someamazement. He was apparently between fifty and sixty, and good-looking, with a full iron-gray beard and black eyes.

'Then may I request you and your friends to step in?' he wenton; and, more amazed still, the captain, Lorimer, Cecil, and Ientered the hut, leaving the boatmen outside to the hospitalityof the other castaways. The room into which the stranger led uswas comfortable, evidently furnished from the ship's cabin. hom*otioned us to seats.

'I am owner of the Northern Pharos,' he announced,abruptly, 'and my name is Sir Philip Stafford!'

Sir Philip Stafford! In a flash I saw it all—the mysterywas solved!

'For the sake of my men I am glad you have come,' hecontinued, in the same hard voice; 'I had no idea that yourvessel was still in those seas, or even that you had reachedthem. Indeed, I hoped not. Ten of my officers and men lieyonder'—pointing through the window to a row of whitecrosses on the hillside—'and not one of us would havesurvived another winter. But tell me'—with a quick changeof tone—'if you reached Weymouth Harbour?—if youfound anything there?'

As he said this he leaned forward in his chair, and looked atus with a strange gleam in his eyes. At the moment I had half asuspicion of his sanity.

'We wintered there,' I replied. He drew a deep breath. 'Butbefore I answer further, Sir Philip, may I ask you if you are the"P. E. Stafford" who accompanied Mr Randolph Torrens in 1855-56?'

'I am.'

'Then you have a right to know,' I said, now seeing my wayclear to effect a purpose I had in view; 'and if you'll excuse mybrother for a moment, he'll return to the vessel for a paper thatclosely concerns you.' Sir Philip changed colour a little andbowed; and, giving Cecil my keys, I whispered to him to bring methe diary of the dead sailor found on Mount Stafford. 'And as toWeymouth Harbour,' I resumed, when he was gone, 'we discoveredthere, under a cairn on the right-hand side of the bay, a paperrunning somewhat as follows'—quoting it from memory.

'Was that all?' he asked, as if relieved.

'At that point; but early this year we made a more startlingdiscovery on the next inlet to the north'—

Sir Philip gave a gasp, half rose in his chair, and then fellback in a dead faint. While the doctor ran to his assistance,Captain Sneddon hastily demanded of me at what I was driving.

'Don't you see?' I inquired. 'If he's P. E. Stafford, he musthave known about the poor fellows who died on Mount Stafford; andI want to get at the truth, for certainly it looks like a mostugly case of desertion. No wonder he faints when it'smentioned!'

Under the doctor's treatment Stafford soon recovered. 'Excuseme,' he said, 'but I have been very ill lately. I shall be allright presently. Be good enough to go on with your story, MrOliphant.'

Knowing and suspecting what I did, I could scarcely keep coolenough to answer.

'And on that discovery, Sir Philip, I shall be glad if you canthrow any light.'

He did not reply, and just as the silence was becomingsomewhat embarrassing, Cecil returned. At once I handed SirPhilip the diary, and eagerly watched him—as also did theothers—while he examined it curiously before turning overthe pages.

As he read the first words he seemed about to faint again; butthen, apparently steeling himself by a great effort, he read onto the end without changing a muscle.

'Thank Heaven!' he exclaimed, at last, though for what wefailed to see. 'But poor Collins—what a fate!Gentlemen'—turning suddenly to us—'by this you havelifted a weight from my mind that has lain there for thirtyyears, and believe me that I am grateful to you—even moreso for my own sake than for saving all our lives.'

'But,' interrupted the doctor, 'there is something to beexplained—how these poor fellows were deserted in that way,and what became of you and the late Mr Randolph Torrens. You willpardon me, but it seems to me that these are matters into whichwe have now a right to inquire.'

Stafford reddened, as if in anger, and I thought he was goingto refuse. But after a look at the document in his hand, hechanged his mind.

'I can't but admit that right, even if I wished to do so,' hesaid, 'and after what has occurred I should be a hound if I did.The story is a long one, and in some respects, to me, a painfulone. But if you wish it, I shall tell it to you now.'

Needless to say, we did wish it; and in substance this is theremarkable history that, then and there, he related to us. In1855 the Weymouth, owned by Randolph Torrens and him,had drifted to Torrens Land much in the same way as theAurora; and after discovering Weymouth Harbour and itscoal, they had wintered there pretty comfortably. In thefollowing spring several sledging expeditions were undertaken,the last of them being the land excursion which ended so fatallyon Mount Stafford. After leaving Collins and the three seamen,Torrens, Stafford, and their two companions had the utmostdifficulty in managing the india-rubber canoe; and at last itcapsized, drowning the sailor Pearson, and carrying with iteverything they had. This was near the mouth of the inlet, wherethe coast is mountainous and practically impassable: and withneither provisions nor guns, the survivors were in a mostdeplorable situation. But they could do nothing but push onoverland to the harbour. What they suffered, from the characterof the ground and from want of food, Stafford even then did notcare to remember; but for three days they persevered, knowingthat on their efforts depended their own lives and those of theircomrades.

'It was the hardest experience of my life,' said Stafford. 'Wecould not have made more than a few miles a day. But at length,somehow or other, we succeeded in reaching a little cape somefive miles from Weymouth Harbour, and in view of it. Torrens andRodgers were unconscious; I was not much better; but I had thepresence of mind to take off my coat and affix it to the highestpoint. How long it was until relief came I don't know, but Istill remember the kindly face of Captain Thomson as he bent overme. Then I also became unconscious. When Torrens and I recoveredfrom the fever we had caught, it was nearly a fortnight later,and the Weymouth was many hundreds of miles from theharbour, amongst the ice. Rodgers was dead. Captain Thomson,acting on his own initiative, and coming to the conclusion thatthe remainder of the party must have succumbed, had sailed forEurope the day after rescuing us. He saw a favourableopportunity, he said, and if he had waited longer, another winterwould have had to be spent there a thing not to be thoughtof.'

He paused to take breath.

'And Collins and the others?' I eagerly inquired.

'I am coming to that. When we realised what had happened, wetold Thomson in the greatest horror of the manner in which we hadleft our companions, and implored him to turn hack. At first hewas as eager as we were; but after consideration he pointed outthat they must already have died, and that therefore it wouldonly be a further waste of valuable lives. Besides, as the icewas closing in, it was really impossible. He was right, and yetthe idea of those men dying there, indirectly by our fault, neverceased to haunt our brains. How much it cost both Torrens and me,you can never realise; and that is why I said just now that youhave conferred upon me the greatest possible blessing, by meansof this'—indicating the diary. 'For by it I see that evenhad we been conscious it could never have benefited the poorfellows. Collins, the last of them, died on the 15th of August;it was on the 16th that we were relieved by Thomson. In a mannerwe are yet responsible for their deaths; but not to the degree Iformerly supposed, and Randolph Torrens all his lifebelieved.'

There he stopped; but in a little, at our request, he resumedhis story. After many narrow escapes the Weymouth, earlyin October, got free from the ice, but in England people were alltoo much occupied with other affairs to heed the indefinitereports that were circulated concerning the voyage. Both Torrensand Stafford kept silence as to their discoveries; CaptainThomson died soon after; but the former often spoke of theconsequences of their 'involuntary act of treachery,' as hepersisted in calling it. For many years in succession theyendeavoured to penetrate to Torrens Land; but, whether inconsequence of bad seasons or bad luck, they always failed. Atlength they had to give it up. 'But,' said Stafford, 'I hadalways such a fear of the discovery of the bodies being made byothers than ourselves, and of what people would then say, that Iextracted a promise from Torrens that, without my consent, hewould never make another attempt during his lifetime. "We cannothelp it now," I argued; "let it rest until we are dead too."Well, he agreed, and the subject was never again spoken ofbetween us. Shortly thereafter we quarrelled bitterly about thelady he eventually married, for whose hand I was also a claimant;and for more than twenty years I never saw him, though many timeshave I wished that we could have a talk over old times. He kepthis promise loyally, perhaps because he was too proud to ask myconsent to break it; and, as for me, I tried to forget that I hadever been an Arctic traveller, by burying myself in the country,after succeeding to my father's title—and I failed.

'I was at San Remo when I heard the news of Torrens's death,and saw that paragraph in the Sun, concerning his will.Instantly divining his purpose, I came home immediately; got asight of the will at Somerset House, and was confirmed in mysuspicions by the reference to a sealed packet. A few inquiriesin Yorkshire put me on the right track. At Dundee I learned all Iwanted to know. For some time I hesitated as to my course ofaction, but in the end I was conquered by the old morbid feeling,and decided to follow, trusting to reach Torrens Land before you.At Tromsö you nearly had me; but after you saw us we ran round toHammerfest, and kept out of your way until you were gone.

'At first our luck was good. We were caught in the ice earlyin August, but on the 30th we managed to get free, at a pointabout fifty miles to the south-east of Torrens Land. Just as wewere congratulating ourselves on our success, fortune changed. Insight of the coast we encountered a terrible storm, which in onenight washed overboard all our boats, sledges, dogs, and two ofthe men. The vessel was driven against an iceberg, and the screw-propeller snapped. For some time she was in danger, but finallyshe drifted here, and struck on these rocks. Here we have had toremain ever since. We had no boats, else I should have tried toreach Weymouth Harbour; and we could not make one from thetimbers of the Pharos, for she had to serve as ourwinter quarters, dilapidated as she was. When the ice closed in,we did make several attempts to cross, but all failed. Thesufferings caused by discomfort and scurvy were terrible, madeworse by the death of the doctor just after Christmas. He wasfollowed by the captain and all the officers but one; and Ibelieve I should have succumbed myself if it had not been for thethought of the men. But the winter passed somehow, and in earlyspring we raised these huts, and set about building thatboat'—pointing to the one outside in process ofconstruction—'in the forlorn hope of reaching England inher. But we could never have done it—I know it; and if ithad not been for your arrival, not one of us would ever have seenhome again.'

And with much feeling he shook hands with us all, and thankedus once more for our fortunate if unforeseen appearance; whilstwe, moved not a little by the story of his life, had nohesitation in responding to his advances.

'But in my selfishness,' he went on, in a minute or two, 'Imustn't forget that I've two men lying next door seriously ill.Medical advice has been rare with us lately.—Would youmind, sir'—addressing the doctor—'coming with me andexamining them? for I'm afraid I have been treating them verymuch at random.'

Of course Lorimer assented, and after Stafford had handed usover to the first mate, the only surviving officer, they went offtogether.

Outside, the demonstrations of joy still continued. Thecastaways, indeed, seemed to think that if they did not give ventto their feelings they would burst; and we could not wonder atit, for the schooner in which they had hoped to escape was amiserably inadequate craft, that would have been destroyed by themost gentle pressure of the ice. Their gratitude to us, then, andtheir exultation at getting away with at least a reasonablechance of success, were scarcely surprising.

On the return of Stafford and the doctor from the sickroom,with the information that the condition of the invalids was notcritical, arrangements were made for the transference to theAurora of everybody and of everything of value. Byevening it was done; and although the addition of more thantwenty men must seriously have inconvenienced our own crew andcramped their sleeping-room, it is but just to say that they werereceived by all on board with the heartiest hospitality. Theunfinished schooner and the huts, with a record of their formeroccupants, were left as they were; and as we steamed away fromRefuge Island I am sure there was not one of its old inhabitantswho was not glad that, in all probability, he would see it nomore.

'For myself,' said Sir Philip, 'there is only one spot that Ido not hate the very sight of, and that is the little row ofgraves up there on the mountain-side.'

XXVIII. — CONCLUSION.

FOR close upon seven weeks the Aurorastruggled with the ice—now darting through the narrowestleads or charging the most formidable-looking floes, more thanonce beset and at the mercy of wind and tide, but stopping atnothing, by the aid of dynamite and gunpowder, to get through theterrible pack. That year, unfortunately for us, it extended muchfarther to the south than on the preceding; but by unceasingvigilance and untiring activity on the part of officers and menalike, at length we succeeded. It was on September the 13th that,in the midst of a heavy snowstorm, we burst through the lastbarrier, and for the first time for many weary days saw openwater in front of us as far as the eye could reach.

Four days later, to the unconcealed ecstasy of Nils and KarlJansen, we came in sight of the rocky coast of Norway, afterhaving caused some excitement amongst the whaling-fleets throughwhich we passed on our way thither. Rapidly, under the skilfulpilotage of Nils, we steamed through the various sounds to thetown of Tromsö, reflecting meanwhile that, after an absence ofsixteen months, we were again within the pale of civilisation,or, at any rate, that phase of civilisation represented by therailway, the telegraph, and the penny post.

'Look, you fellows!' suddenly cried Cecil, as the town cameinto view, pointing in a certain direction amongst the crowd ofsmall craft.

We did so; and there, lying close into the quay, was one ofthose beautiful little steam-yachts so common nowadays, and sotrim and clean was it that, with national egotism, we jumpedinstantly to the conclusion that it belonged to anEnglishman.

'Can you make out the name?' some one asked.

'Wait a minute—confound that herring-boat in the way!There it is—the Pendennis.'

'The Pendennis!' exclaimed Sir Philip Stafford, whowas standing beside us on deck, now looking much stronger. 'Why,that's Sir Thomas Wyllard's vessel, unless I'm muchmistaken.'

'It is,' said Cecil; 'and if he's here, there's some hope offresh news.'

By this time we had evidently been observed by those on theyacht, and as we steamed to our place we noticed signs ofexcitement on board. In a little there was a puff of white smokefrom her side, followed by a report; they were saluting us. Thenthey ran up the signal, 'Welcome back!' and simultaneously a boatwas lowered, but on the opposite side from us. As she was rowedout and in amongst the vessels we did not at once recognise thosein her; but presently my eyes were opened by a tremendous shoutfrom Cecil.

'It's Edith!' he cried; and 'It is Miss Torrens!'echoed the doctor.

In a minute the boat was alongside, with Edith sitting in thestern by the side of Sir Thomas, as pretty as when we had lastseen her—even prettier, Cecil says, though perhaps he's notaltogether an impartial judge. As she stopped on deck the swivelwas fired in salute, and by the men she was received with athoroughly seaman-like three times three.

'Cecil! Godfrey! how glad I am you're back safe!' she cried,as she greeted us all in turn before giving special attention toCecil, to whom I left the duty of telling the story of oursuccess. From Sir Thomas I heard that on Lady Wyllard offering totake her a little cruise (minus her aunt, who declined to trustherself to the treacherous ocean wave), she had persuaded her tocome to the north of Norway; and for more than a month they hadbeen cruising about in those seas, but without, as may beimagined, gleaning the least news of us. Until within the hour,indeed, they had never even suspected we were so near.

'And so that paragraph in the Sun, so promptlycontradicted, was true after all?' said Sir Thomas. 'But who'sthis?'—as Stafford came forward. 'Not Stafford, surely!That's where you've been for the last twelvemonth, is it? thoughI must say the Arctic air doesn't seem to have agreed withyou.—Well, Oliphant!'—in a tone of genuineregret—'if I had only known, I might have made thatparagraph much more sensational than it was!'

This, it seems to me, is a favourable point at which to endour personal narrative. Little remains to be told. Next day,after saying farewell to the Jansens and landing thedogs—except Konig, with whom the doctor would on no accountpart—we sailed for home in company with thePendennis. The men, on being discharged, were thoroughlypleased with themselves, their pay, and the gratuity of onehundred pounds to each, to which Sir Philip added a substantialsum. More than one of them in my hearing echoed the remark ofGates that he hoped it wouldn't be long before there was again asimilar expedition.

Dr Felix Lorimer lost no time in annihilating Dr HamiltonNelson, and so effectively that the latter threw up hisprofessorship, and accepted a much less lucrative one in America.The defeat must have been very severe.

Before Christmas there was a marriage at the Grange; and whenCecil and his bride had started for Sir Philip Stafford's placein Devon, where they were to spend the honeymoon, the rest of uswho had been with him to the Arctic—Captain Sneddon,Lorimer, Wemyss, Clements, and Stafford—had a long andregretful talk over the days spent there and the strangeexperiences through which we had gone. But as a secret, knownonly to Professor Lorimer and a select few, I may tell you thatit may not be long before we make another effort to penetratethrough the ice to the high latitudes of Torrens Land, and pay asecond visit to King Eyvind—as we hope to findhim——and our other friends in the Paradise of theNorth.

THE END