Beadle's Half Dime Library (no. 159) (1880 08 10)
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$2.50 a year. NIM CNET Single Vol. VII. Single, " The Lost Captain: Skipper Jabez Coffin’s Cruise to the Open Polar Sea. BY CAPTAIN FRED. WHITTAKER, AUTHOR OF “RED RAJAH,” “THE IRISH CAPTAIN,” “THE SEVERED HEAD,” ETC., ETC. CHAPTER L WHAT CAME OF A DAY’S FISHING, “Srzapy, Rube, steady, or he'll have ye over- board,’’ cried Uncle Jabez. ‘Here he comes, the varmint! Geerewsalem! That’s a ten-pounder!”’ Reuben Macy did as he was told, for he had been brought up, sailor fashion, to obey orders. The boat was dashing along at racing speed before a rattling northerly breeze ious the opening be- tween Nantucket and Tuckanuck Islands, the best No. 98 WILLIAM blue-fish ground on the New England coast, right in | the teeth of the flood tide, which was running like a mill-race. The seas came sweeping down toward them, great green walls, crested with white foam, and it seemed every moment asif one must come aboard; but the sharp cutwater surmounted them without an effort, and away went the little craft, mounting and descending the huge billows like acork, while the white mainsail swelled above, and Uncle Jabez sat jammed up in the stern-sheets to wind- ward, with his feet braced against a rib on the port side, as he hugged the tiller and kept the Lively Sally steady on her course. He had the wind on his starboard quarter, but the force of the opposing seas was 80 great, that it needed a careful hand an watchful eye to keep the Lively Sally from jibing without warning almost any minute. Unele Jabez, with his red face seamed into count- less wrinkles, his fringe of gray whisker round the chin, his half-shut, bloodshot eyes peering from un- der shaggy brows, looked asif he was in his ight place at that helm in just suchacommotion. Ja Coffin was a born and bred Nantucketer, a sailor to the backbone, and now that he had retired from the Price, 5 Cente. quarter-deck and blue water, he never seemed se happy as when cleaving the green swells round his: native island, teaching his nephews how to take the. voracious fish that swim the blue Atlantic. They were both in the boat with him to-day, Rew- ben and Jonathan Macy—the only relatives beaides their mother that Jabez Coffin had Btn res for forty years and more. He was an old helor, lett an orphan in early manhood, with one little sister, twenty years younger than himself, who in due time had fallen in Jove with and married handsome Jona than Macy, mate of the whaler in which Jabez had made his way to fortune, beginning as a foremast hand and ending as captain and owner of her and another craft. But that was very nearly twenty years before onr story commences, and the good ship Sarah Jane was ying idle at the wharf in the harbor, while the ride of Nantucket, Jonathan Macy, Master, was now supposed to be somewhere up Dayis’s 8 look ing for seals and furs among the Esquimaux, ince Jabez Coffin had retired from the seas, whal- ing had become a pursuit of the past, all of its profit having vanished with the coming of lard-oil and pe
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=~ mse 2 “sroleum, and the keen old Nantucketer, had beon one of the first to recognize the change and take to sealing instead of wialing for a livelilood. ile the Pride of Nantucket was away—over a now—the two young Macys staid at home with eir Uncle Jabez, their mother and one girl cousin, ‘Kate Macy, a wild hoyden of seventeen, of whom we | | sayin’ you could—he’d give us a tow out, mebbe a Shall soon hear more. The boys were longing for on Sei they would be able, like their father, to sea; and Uncle Jabez used to inflame their with all sorts of sea-yarns, like the grim old ; that he was. Jonathan Macy, the younger, was now a fine boy of nineteen, and his brother Reuben, who had just struck a bluc-fish, was seventeen. “Steady, Rube, steady!” again called out Uncle SJabez, warningly, as the lad showed symptoms of t excitement, for it was his first blue-fish. “ Haul him in, and don’t let your line slack a bit, or he'll unhook himself, suve. 1ere he jumps!” ‘Rube kept a steady haul on the line as he was bid, wnd out of the water leaped a blue-fish, about sixty eet from the boat, shaking his head savagely, as if idetermined to unhook himself. “Haul him in hard, Rube,” cried Jonathan from' ‘the other side of the boat. He had not got a bite : and the waves were tossing the Lively Sally up a down in such a way that the lines were con- wtantly slackening. ‘Steadily Rube hauled, though the line almost cut ; ‘h mittens, and at last the fish was pulled in, hardall the time, Then his brother came 40 help, and both boys, with one good swing, ‘tanded the blue-fish in the bottom of the t, where “he unhooked himself in a moment witha last savage n k to your line, Jon’than. Yonder’s a slick /” ‘shouted Uncle Jabez, excitedly at this moment, and _Jonathan jumped, for he had been out in the open- fing before, and knew what a ‘‘slick’’ meant. two boys, looking ahead, saw that they were fds and ih the narrow strait between the two and that the curling white-capped waves ‘were growing larger, showing that they were enter- img deeper water. Right in the midst of the tossing bt was a a oily nee of was a the vely ly was heading straigint forthis patch, Jonathan knew well enough what it was—a blue- Wish “slick.” He had seen such before—sure signs ofa school of these voracious but delicately fla fishes. The blue-fish, when in large crowds, «are in the habit of exuding a sort of oil which calms ‘the water for some little distance around the school, ‘so that the fish can see their prey—mossbunkers, sels. and shiners—more Geen. t into the slick steered the Lively Sally, and in moment both boys were fast toa of ten- spounders, while the “ skittering lines"’ on the out- vigrers, with their shining squibs jumping over the ‘waves, were seized by another pair; so there was the Li 4 with four fish hooked, and only two Sboys os them in, if they could. Both mene acys had heavy woolen mitten the best things or handling their slippery lines, an both hauled in for dear life. Jonathan brought his on board first, and then turned his attention ‘to the skittering line on his side, which had a check word from the boat to draw it in without disturbing the outrigger. He pulled with all his might, for, ahough he was & strong young fellow, six foot high, “he had hooked a twenty-pound fish this time, anda teventy-pound blue-fish can fight like a tiger. By s#the time he had it on board, the Lively Sally had run mearly a mile out to sea, and then he turned to help his companion. Reuben was much smaller and slighter than bis lder brother and had much harder work. He had ‘not in his fish yet, though it was close to the 7 shaking its head as viciously as ever. As Jonathan came to help him, Reuben ore a last effort and swung his prey—as he thought—into the Alas for the vanity of human hopes and green “Wishermen! The blue-fish struck the gunwale instead wf the inside of the boat, and Reuben had the morti- fication of seeing his prize, with one last shake, rid dtgelf of the hook and vanish in the green waters. ‘iewas ready to cry with his disappointment, for ke was a delicate boy, something spoiled as the of the family, but Uncle Jabez comforted f with the remark: “Never mind, Rube. They often do that. A ey hard fish to get aboard is them blue-fish. in the other and look out forhim. Help him, two boys, thus encouraged, hauled in on the ‘wheeck line with little difficulty, for the fish was pretty “well tired out after its rapid mile run, dragged by Whe n and was nearly drowned besides. In it game a rapid pull, and was almost up to the ‘oat, when another fish—a perfect monster to the ¢ of Reuben—darted through the waves close to of the Lively Sally, and swallowed blue- oe line and all, in a moment! came @ sudden lurch of the boat, both boys nearly . and Uncle Jabez roared out: overboard a go! Let gothe outrigger! It’s a hoss-mack- vorel ! But, before either could obey, came a snap and ‘twang as the line parted, and ‘both boys fell over “backward into the bottom of the boat, while the ‘horse-mackerel darted away rejoicing. “Waal, boys,” said Uncle Jabez with a sort of rueful grin, as ir icked themselves up, “ this port of Loris what they call fisherman’s luck, and Timea luck at that. Ef your father was only .@board, I'd be even with that critter, for never did 408 & ‘hter dart than Jon’than’s: but ‘tain’t no “Let me try the harpoon, uncle,” interrupted Jonathan | The Lost Captain. . “Please let me try it. I've struck porpoises before this, and we can take that fellow home to mother, if you'll let me.” . Uncle Jabez shook his head doubtfully. “Ye don’t know what a hoss-mackerel is, boy. | They goes up to two thousand pound, sometimes. | Ef you e wd strike that feller—and mind I ain't matter of five miles,and— Gee-rewsalem! Ef he ain't there again, the varmint.”’ Sure enough, the huge fish, in shape and manners almost the portrait of the blue-fish they were after, but measuring seven or eight feet in length, lea from the water near the boat and was seen to dart ahead of them, straight toward a second slick, which they were approaching. Uncle Jebez eyed him critically and then nodded his head to Jonathan, saying: “You kin try him, boy, ef you want, He ain't over six hundred.” In a moment Jonathan had darted to the bow of the Lively Sally, and was hauling out from under the half-deck the harpoon and line that always la there, The little craft was cat-rigged, and her dec ran aft to the usual cockpit with a high combing round it and water-tight lockers behind the ts, so that there was hardly a possibility of the boat’s sink- ing in any sort of sea, unless the bottom was stovein by some accident. In a very few minutes, you Jonathan had the strong harpoon-line, a hundr fathoms long, out with its reel in place at the ex- treme bow, in the step prepared for its reception, and stood ready with his harpoon poised, by which time they were almost on top of the slick. Reuben, forgetting all about blue-fish in the greater excitement, had abandoned his lines and followed his brother, so that three shining squids were still trailing and skittering along in the water behind the Lively Sally, entirely unheeded. Right through the slick swept the boat with a hissing le, as the keen cutwater cleft the waves, but not a bite came on the lines. Jonathan steod on the bow peering down into the water, but not a fish could be seen. “The big varmint’s skeered ’em alloff,” observed Uncle Jabez as they drew out of the calm water of the slick. ‘P’raps he’s huntin’ the school down. Look s: , Jon’than!”’ ““T see him—no, it’s another—there’s another still —a school |” exclaimed the young harpooner, in low tones of extreme excitement, as he stood with one hand braced —s the mast and os mae 3 a coil of line, while the other held his harpoon. “ Get the lance, Rube! Quick!” “ Keerful, boy, keerful!” cried Uncle Jabez, warn- ingly, as he saw Jonathan abandon his hold of the mast and poise his harpoon over his head, But Jonathan was too intent on his prey to hear the caution. With a swing of the body he sent his weapon back to the length of his arm and then darted it forward into the waves. One keen glance down, an exclamation of triumph, and then he sprung to the mast again and set his foot on the whizzing reel. Hardly had he done so, when the boat received a great shock and Uncle Jabez cried out: “Let him have the line, all there is, or he’) have ye overboard !”’ And indeed it seemed likely that Jonathan would be overboard anyway. Bie, athletic young man that he was, the huge fish he had struck took the whirling reel from under his foot in a moment, and he had to ont to the mast to avoid toppling over into the sea. In less than a minute the hundred fathoms were all out and nothing was left but the reel stand, a strong iron bar, let into a hole in the stem, calculated for jut such strains. The occupants of the boat were sensible of the end of the line being reached by the shock to the Lively Sally and her immediate increase of velocity. She was going free, with a spanking breeze on her star- board quarter, but now she seemed fairly to fly through the water, while her sail began to flatten in a 7 that showed she was almost in advance of the wind. Uncle Jabez, cocl as a cucumber, saw this, and called out to the young harpooner: “Come in, Jon’than, and let go the halyards. Give the varmint somethin’ to drag.” Jonathan understood the hint, and immediate stooped down to the cleats at the foot of the " let go peak and throat halyards, and jumped back into the waist to draw in the fluttering canvas, while Uncle Jabez jibed the boom over amidships by a turn of the helm till the sail was safely secured. Then they became sensible that they were being’ towed along by a monster fish of some kind, so tha the seas swept aft to the hatch comb every in- stant, and would have come aboard but for the ex- treme buoyancy of the Lively Sally There was nothing to do but to sit down in the cockpit, dipper in hand, ready to bail out, while the fish exhausted itself, and Unele Jabez assisted the process of fatiguing their prey by steering from one side to the other, to offer as much resistance as possible. “How big was the feller you struck, and how did you strike him, Jonathan?” asked the old sailor in oue of these struggles. ‘“ He feels like a whop- pr,** ’ “Well, uncle, I don’t want to brag, but I should say he was about as long as our boat,” was the quiet reply. “I caught him in the side just over the sound-bladder, but I guess I didn’t send it in deep enough, or he wouldn't pull like this.” ‘i vars Jabez puton a serious expression of face as e said’ * J, e-rewsalem! boy, ef so be he’s as long as this boat, he must be a two-thousand-pounder, and he'll lead us a chase.” SATS SE SNR ney CHAPTER fl. WHAT THE FISHERMEN FOUND. Wuen Uncle Jabez delivered his opinion on the size of the fish, Jonathan looked serious; but Reu- ben, who was full of excitement, exclaimed: “Won't that be splendid: Why, we can feed half Nantucket!” Uncle Jabez screwed up his wrinkled face in a curious grin. 4 ‘*P’r’aps—ef we get him aboard—but he ain't here yet,” was his only reply. “Oh, but they’ve taken just as big ones in Gaspé Bay, uncle,” was the quick reply. “I was reading about them in Scott’s American Fishes only yester- es and he says that they take them of all sizes.’’ nele Jabez made no reply. Like most men who have risen from the ranks by practical experience, he had very little faith in books in matters of which he knew anything, though he had a eg respect for ‘‘l’arnin’,”’ as he called it, in the abstract. Reuben, the youngest and favorite son of his sister Sally Macy, had always been fond of books, and had enjoyed a much better education than his elder brother on that very account. When he was six her could read better than Jonathan, who was then eight, and by the time the boys were twelve and fourteen respectively, Jonathan was so disgusted with school life that he begged to be allowed to shi in acoaster and earn his living, so that Reuben Lookl be sent to High School and College as the *“‘smart one "’ of the family. The consequence was that now, when Jonathan was nineteen, he was a first-class seaman, strong and active, but knowing very little of books, while Reuben was a slender, pale-faced boy with a big head, an enthusiastic reader, and quite a skillful amateur in various branches of science taught at Harvard, from which college he was now absent on vacation. The two boys were the antipodes of each other in habits; one all theory, the other all practice; but oan were united by a strong band of love: for, while Jonathan rather looked down on Reuben in practical matters, he fairly adored the other's stores of learning, while slender Reuben displayed po pride in bis brother’s physical prowess, ut while we have been telling the internal affairs ofthe Macy family, the at horse-meckerel has been taking the Lively Sally out to sea, and by the time the s of the monster began to slacken, the white sands of Nantucket were almost out of sight, while the sea was rapidly changing from green to dark blue. ‘Now, boys,”’ observed Uncle Jabez, who had been keenly watching the line slapping into the waves ahead of them,” she don’t drag under any more. That feller’s weakenin’, Guess we'd better haul up and lance him. Rube, kin you help your brother? “T think so, sir,’’ was the reply inrather an offend- ed tone, for Uncle Jabez had a way of treating Reuben in the light of a baby that was somewhat exasperating to the boy. “Waal, let’s see what ye kindo. You reel, while Jon’than hauls; and stand ready to hand your brother the lance when he gits nigh enough.” “Ay, ay, sir,’ was Rube’s response in sailor fash. ion, at which the old man smiled, as usual when his nephew put on nautical airs. ow the bows of the Lively Sally began to rise from the strain to which they had before heen sub. gee and presently they became awere that the ne was slackening and the boat driftirg on the waves; while the breeze, which bad been quitestrong over the shallow water, had died away elmost into a calm. As soon as this bappened, Uncle Jabez. atter a keen squint all round the sky, looking for clovds in- dicating squalls, left the tiller and joined his nephews in the task of hauling up to the big fish. Two hands at the line made b> eo pulling, till their prey, fechng the smart of the harpoon under the renewed strain, gave another rush forward, leaped out of the water not two hundred feet from the boat with a mad flirg, and revealed to their eyes a monster of his breed, “the biggest hoss-mackerel I ever see’d,”’ as Uncle Jabez declared. No sooner was the leap over than the line slacken- ed and Uncle Jatez hauled in with all his might, rying: * Hare he comes, boys, t in, Rube! Don’t let that lives. Lance! Lance!” Reuben rent the reel whizzing round as fast as he was able, using up the line as it came in, and shoved the lance out on the bow of the boat beside his uncle at the same time. In a very few moments they could see the great fish heading straight for the boat with open mouth, and Uncle Jabez caught up thelance. It was comp ot a blade nearly three feet long, shaped like a bay leaf, both edges as keen as razors, the staff about six feet long, with a line and cork float attached. The great horse-mackerel ceme tearing up to the hoat as if to devour it whole, but. swerved aside, frightened, as it came nearer. “Haul in hard, Jon’than,’’ muttered the old man | in excited tones, as he grasped one of the stays and | leaned over the side in bis eagerness. Jonathan obeyed with all his power, taking a turn of the line round one of the halyard cleats to sive, himself an advantage, and then the fight hegan, The great fish pulled and leaped, but wes not strong enough to stand the pain any longer, as the line drew the barbed harpoon, flesh ard all, toward the . At every fresh jump the line slackened, and Jona-. than hauled in the slack promptly, securing it by the cleat and his foot. At last the fish was close beside the boat and began to flap its huge tail against the gunwale with a sound like thunder, when Uncle Jabez plunged the lence into its lls, burying it up to the shaft. ‘another game, Reel ne kink ef you vally our
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' how. — Seizing the line before the @oat could follow it overboard, the old man hauled out the keen weapon, which offered no resistance, and out flowed a torren’ of blood from the fish, dyeing the sea crimson, Again and aeein did Uncle Jabez lance the great horse-mackerel in the gills, and at each thrust its struggles became fainter, till at last it lay on the pe belly up, and the old sailor pronounced it ad, “And the next question is, boys, how shall we git the critter to hum, for we can’t haul him aboard, no- *Twould cant the boat over, so she’d fill and go down.” “Why not cut it up and leave the head and tail ; and all but the meat here?” asked Reuben, a little , timidly, for he was afraid of his uncle’s obvious — ——s ' “You, Rube, you’re the best scollard, : send oheaas inthe bottle; for ef I ain't mistook thar’s contempt of his voice in all fishing matters. Uncle Jabez favored him with a nod of approval this time. 2 “The books hain’t sp’iled ye, arter all, Rube. That’s jest what we'll do with the varmint. Mighty pene meat in him, too, I tell ye. Git a line round is head, Jon’than, and Ill make his tailfast. If we don’t have a good twelve hundred o’ fresh fish for your ma to-night I'm a lubber.”’ In five minutes they had the fish secured geen come of the now motionless Lively Sally, and lay rocking idly on the ground swell, the wind having sunk to a mere ee Overhead thesky was pale blue, with nota cloud to dim the expanse, and Reuben inquired: “*How shall we get home with our fish to-night, uncle?” It looks as if the wind was all gone.” The old man cast a keen glance—the habitual weather look of a sailor—to the southward, and then observed: **Don’t you be skeered *bout wind. We'll have all the wind we want to get home gice og lucky if we ae more’n we kin stand under, with sich a oad,” Reuben made no more remarks; but he looked more narrowly at the sky than he had hitherto done and observed that while it was aperenty quite @lear, a second glance, ro over the blue, could detect some faint hazy threads, or stripes, in regu- lar succession, terminating in a faint whitish bank on the southern horizon, and stretching across the heavens like the rounds of a great der. They were very faint, and seemed to disappear as you looked close at them; but as soon as the eye roved rapidly from the zenith down to the horizon it be- came sensible of these parallel stripes, The boy said nothing about his observation, for he was silent and retiring, like most “ bookish ” young men, but he took occasion while they were cutting up the meat of the horse-mackerel, to look ain and again at the sky, and every time he looked the stripes seemed to grow plainer. They took the great carcass of the fish alongside with nooses of rope at head and tail, and then Uncle Jabez exercised his skill as an old whaler in remov- ing the flesh from the skeleton, It'd be a sight handier ef we had a couple of blubber-spades,’’ said the old man in a grumbling tone, “but I guess we'll have to make shift with the lance this time.” So saying, with deft and skillful cuts, that showed he knew the anatomy of his prize by previous ex- perience, he detached the whole of the flesh of one side from the backbone and ribs to which it adhered hauled it on board with the help of the boys, and cut it into slabs of manageable size as it came over the nwale, till four hundred pounds of good solid rownish flesh lay on the floor of the cockpit and Uncle Jabez observed: “There, boys, I guess that’s all we kin get without we have some hooks a sight larger than any we’ve ot here to turn the varmint over, T’other side ‘Il Eave to go to the sharks, Iguess. Yon’s one of ’em, waitin’ now.” As he spoke he was Roading over the side, jabbing idly away at the remains of thecarcass, when the keen lance slip in between two of the ribs into the stomach the horse-mackerel, and instantly the unmistakable “‘c ” of steel on Uncle Jabezstarted with surprise. “‘ Geerewsalem !”’ he exclaimed, ‘‘ ¢/ the va hain’t got a bottle in his insides, call me a lubber.”” Reuben burst out rly: “Tknow! It must a bottle some r fellow has thrown overboard with a letter inside and the fish has swallowed it. Get it quick, uncle, for here comes a shark!’’ There was much excitement in the boat as the old sailor worked his keen lance to and fro, cut asunder the soft bones of the horse-mackerel, then thrust his bare arm into the hole he had made and pulled out a square junk-bottle, sealed up with a care that told of the on whieh it been sent. Then the remains of the fish were cast loose and they could see the shark rushi ph after it into the depths of the : ow } y ot He + tay wd hg on or here comes t. wind,” observed Uncle Jabez as he went to the tiller. s0 you kin paper in there. As he spoke they felt the first gust of wind, and Reuben, looking up, saw that the faint stri he Noticed hall ‘ae hour before had crepe up p in, lowed by others plainer atid thicker, till the sun was | the shock enly a few days The Lost Captain. that as soon as theytsaw the care with which it was sealed up. A paperthere was, evidently torn from & ship’s log-book; agd the blurred writing told of the haste with which it had been committed to the deep, probably in some moment of extreme peril. But what made Reuben start and stare so at the faded character? ‘*What is it, Rube, what is it?” hurriedly asked Uncle Jabez, for that boy had turned as pale as | death. A short cry told the tale. “ Tt's father’s wi tting |” A dead silence of dismay was broken by Uncle Jabez, who said in a husky voice: “Read it, Rube. Let’s hear the worst!” In trembling tones the boy obeyed. The paper | was small, for a few words suffice to give bad news. It ran thus: “*Whoever picks this paper up, I beg them, for God’s sake, to take it to Captain Jabez Coffin, of Nantucket. The ship Pride of Nantucket was nipped by the ice, August 19th, 1873, in latitude 84 deg. 87 | min. north, longitude from ‘Greenwich 76 deg. 40 min, west, and is now sinking in Smith’s Sound. We are taking to the boats. God have mercy on us all. JONATHAN Macy, Master.” For several minutes no one spoke, and then Jona- than groaned out: ‘*My poor mother! What shall we do?” Uncle Jabez coos Shays his lips in a determined | way as he answered: “Do? We've got to find him, boys, that’s all | about it! My poor little Sally!” | The last words broke out’in spite of himself as | the weather-beaten old salt hastily brushed the back of his hand across his eyes and turned away his head. To him the mother of these boys was still the “‘little Sally’ of yore, his baby sister; and the thought of what this message would be to her was the hardest trial of all to him—greater far than the loss of the ship in which lay half his fortune. Presently he turned to the boys, who both sat, pale and s thless, as if stunned, and observed, in a tone of ill-assumed cheerfulness: “Don’t be downhearted, boys. He mayn’t be— dead—arter all. I’ve knowed many—oh, my poor little Sally!’’ Uncle Jabez fairly broke down and could say no more for some time, till the increasing wind and darkening sky turned his attention to their own safety, and the next hour was passed in a hard struggle with a stiff north-easter t came down on them in torrents of rain and mist and cost them a fight to gain the harbor in eee uring all this time Uncle Jabez said not a word, nor did his nephews, but all were thinking their hardest, and the result of the old man’s cogitations revealed itself as they went up the wharf, weary and dripping. Captain Coffin laid his hand on Reu- ben’s shoulder there and said: “ Listen awhile, boys ; I’ve suthen to say to ye. I don’t believe Jon’than’s dead, but I do think he must have been in a bad fix when he writ that let- ter. Now, I want you to keep wp your mother’s | spirits and jest remember this: ere goin’ to find | him, alive or dead. The Sarah Jane lies at the wharf, and, if need be, I'll spend every cent I've got left in the world to find Jon’than in that ship. e Pride’s one, but Jon’than ain’t, and we're goin’ to find him. ou hear me! Waal, then, put on your best faces and don’t Jet your mother think there’s any real danger, if you valley her life. Now come in!’ Then Uncle Jabez led the way to the house. | | CHAPTER It. KALATOONAH AND KABLUNET Presently, as Uncle Jabez turned in his uneasy walk on the slippery deck, a head rose from the | eabin-hatch and out sprung a female figure with a gay leugh, coming sliding down the steep incline of | ed into the lee scuppers and bringing up against the bulwarks. ‘““What cheer, Uncle? How’s her head? My! don’t it blow, just!” cried this new-comer, all in a breath, as she turned a Fp of particularly saucy gray eyes on en Coffin. It was evidently a girl, from the voice and the smooth face, but the dress was far more like that of aman and a sailor, for Katherine Macy—more com- monly called Kit—was such a born hoyden that she abho: the slavery of long skirts; and continued, at seventeen, to wear a costume more common at the tender age of seven. A round sailor-hat, a long pea-jacket to the border of her short blue skirts, and in- rubber boots might have suited a child, but were out ofplace on most young women; and yet no one ever thought of commenting on Kitty Macy’s dress as unsuited to her. She was so strong and lithe, so active and plucky, that every one said she ought to have been a , and as far as her own tastes went gg ty 4 5 ee n orphan t) father had drowned in a wreck when within sight of his home at Nantueket, and her kag vee! had after later, leaving tiny Kitty te near- ‘ Talis ee a the care of her uncle, Jonathan Macy, who cared for her ever after. The pet and plaything of the Macy family and oi Uncle Jabez, as she always called him—though he was no relative—Kate had grown up to be what the Nantucket folks called ‘‘smart asa steeltrap, but wild asa hawk."’ She had been the pride and torment of the school for her quickness at learning ard ber tricks on her neighbors, but she had learned all that Nantucket could teach her long ago, and had been running wild ever since. All the advice and reproof in the world would no’ keep her off the water, where she was es much a! home as any of her boy comrades; she could pr?) a oar or sail a boat as well as any sailcr in Nantucket. | and joined to these accomplishments that oj swimming like a fish. ** Well, uncle,’ began Miss Hoyden, throwing back the curls that came blowing into her face—the moc feminine thing about her—“‘ where are we now?” “Off Whalefish Islands, monkey,” growled L Jabez like a good-natured bear, “Where: Aunt Sally and the boys, Kitty?” “Aunt Sally’s asleep, and Rube’s werking ¥ »- at his tiresome old latitudes in the cabin, tikeal’ worm as heis. As for Jon'than, I left him get... on his sea-boots to come on deck.”’ “Well, monkey, and how do you like comirs ' sea in real earnest?” asked the old sailor. “**Tuin as nice as you thought ’twas; is it?” “Oh, Z don’t mind the bad weather,” retorte:. Kitty; ‘‘but I do hate this drizzle and fog all the time. Ain’t we ever going to see land, uncle?" “Tf I ain’t mightily mistaken we'll see somethin’ on’t pretty soon, my girl. The clouds are breaking over to windward, and we'll have a clear sky iuside of an hour.” Just then a long quavering cry came from «loft where the look-out was stationed: the well-knowa i 4 of, “‘Lanp o#!!!” itty Macy clapped her hands. ‘Hooray for land! Where away?" She answered the hail of the mast-head with her customary saucy independence, ignoring all nautical customs, and the answer came back; ‘Broad away on the weather bow, miss.” Kitty Macy was a privileged character on beard the Sarah Jane of Nantucket, for any one else would have been Moy! severely snubbed for taking ihe ees office from him; but nobody ever scolded tty. Hardly were the words out of the look-out’s mouth than away went miss up the main rigging, straining her eyes to get a glimpse of the land, for she kric.w that the look-out was above the fog and mist, which hung close over the sea. But she did not go far. Before she reached the maintop, something attracted her attention ou («. « sea below, looming out of the fog, and she stopped, screaming out: “*Oh, uncle, look, look! Here's a boat!”’ Old Uncle Jabez hurried to the lee bulwarks where Kitty was pointing, and, sure enough, there wis a boat of some kind, skimming up and down the preat seas and coming toward the Sarah Jene. Kitty hurried down the rigging justas her two cousins attracted by the noise on deck, came cut of the cabin, and in a few minutes all the ship’scom- pany who were awake were crowded on thé sice of he ship, watching the aprcoeching stranger. Such a boat and such a boatman Kitty anc her cousins had never seen before. The craft in which he sat was a long slender co1.0e, completely decked over, and apparently mace cf the thinnest of parchment, so thin that as the vir washed over it, one might see the outlines of the man’s legs and the skeleton of his boat threrphk the transparent covering. Hard and stiff as tu n-uch horn, it skimmed over the tops of the waves ard cut through the foam on the crests with the ease of a sea-bird, while so close was the union between man and boat thatit was difficult to tell where one be- gan and the other ended. The boatman sat in a little round hole in the mid- dle of his flimsy craft, clothedin a jacket of scclekin which fitted lightly over a circular rim to the« pen- eeves were tight at the wrists e1d he the waves with A ee ix - le, Girsi. I Co “ Wha is that queer fish?”’ seacinie beg ant Mls agit pe the et sailor, “an ux m ‘ guess the: "ve £ us from shore. If so, this feller’s the pilot, and Tought rook, there’ another,” suddenly cried R x 's er. en ed Reuben, pointing; and, sure h the have can. Ee a second enough, | trifle smaller than the first, and int like carrying a second figure, point for the other, save that the hood of this one rose 0 a peak acre top of the head, crowned with the tail of a ox “Here’s his twin brother,” laughed Jona’ as this second kayacker came skimming ee bee Cagis Sates Pine S Sry anit oe hesans: “That's you know, oe: That's a though I never seen one in a kayack’ afore. rewsalem! If the critter ain't comin’ aboerd!” The two kayacks looked like egg-shells, tocsed about on the heavy sea, which was runnirg eng be high as the Sa Jane’s lower yards; tut t managers seemed to be perfectly at home, whenever they came in sight on the crests of the waves, When ey disa) pod! fe es Se hardly 0 see them again, but presen e slim noses of the canees poked themssivcs page eo
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>. & ‘ky wide in the foam on a wave crest, and on they aurne with a swift glide, more like the flight of a bird ‘ern The progress of a boat. “ Ain't they darlings! My! don’t I wish I had rts & boat!’ cried Kitty, in ecstasy, as she watched Meer; and then they were both close aboard and re- maimed voahge on the od of a wave like two sea- abeam of the ship, which had just hove-to. rz 1 Sheep! sheep!” cried one of the kay- yetkers—the man—in a high, shrill voice. ‘Rope, —. rope, mebbe!”’ Jabez made a silent sign aloft, for he was mat to noise on his own ship, and one of the os who had climbed out on the lee main-yard- arm, Hang a line down from his lofty perch right on oot the kayack, imaux caught it dexterously and passed uraauing bowline around himself and his frail craft. “sii rnght, cappen! Mebbe you hoist away now,” \ @aified the shrill voice; and ina moment more man mal kayack were swung clear of the water and came ‘ying om board like the end of a porerany) Both tanvied on the deck with hardly a bump, and in an- ther moment the active kayacker had cast off the fine and was yelling to the man on the yard- arn: z- , you man! Mebbe you bringin Kablunet, tun. @ my darter.” Uncle Jabez gave an affirmative nod and the man wt the yard-arm hastily gathered up the slack of the Sine and cast it out to the girl, who sat in hercanoe .wllittle way off, keeping it hovering on the top of a wave, as if afraid to venture too near the ship in her “‘Sohianct, if that were her name, proved as quick xs ber father, and came flying on board at the end af the whip with equal safety and grace. By the Sime she was inside the bulwarks, the old Esquimaux adi cast off the hide band which lashed the skirt of , Mia jacket to the kayack’s manhole-rim, and had «écaera himself out of his shell. Then all his grace and activity were gonein a mo- mem. The curious gazers saw a short stout man, ant more than five feet high, with a round smooth Save, high cheek-bones and little black eyes, a dark icowrn skin and a general Indian look about him. We was dressed in a suit of brown sealskin, and Yoked lumbering and unwieldy as soon as he stood vp. Yet his flat face was the personification of shrewdness and good-humorif it were not handsome tad. Kitty could hardly help laughing as he turn & Uncle Jabez sayingin his shrill tones: “Wow do, cappen. Mebbe you got glass rum ™oard, hey? Baccer, hey? The Kalatoonah, best giot in Disco—Ruim and baccer, hey?” “Give Mr. Kalatoonah a paper of tobacco anda ass—a small glass, mind, steward—of rum,” said facle Jabez witha smile. ‘‘And what will the lady have for herself, Kalatoonah? How comes it that allow her out in a kayack? I thought your were only let into the oomiaks.’’* ; nah’s face changed from its usual merry in, and he took Captain Coffin to one side and said a mysterious tone: ; “No say nothing—Kablunet hear you, she sink at witch—Aub to let Kablunet go in kayack —all mans 'fraid.”’ Captain Coffin smiled and looked rather curiously ¥ the girl, who had just disengaged herself from the ole of her canoe. Kate Macy and the boys were staring at her with great interest, for such a being ®ey had never seen before. lunet, though a girl, was much taller than Kalatoonah, and in fact would have passed for a tall woman even among Europeans. Her face was en- firely different from that of her Esquimaux com- panion, possessing a keen aquiline profile, large dark eyes, and @ small red-lipped mouth with beautiful teeth. The shape of her countenance was oval, and as ion melancholy and ees As for. being Kalatoonah’s daughter that did not seem possible, for no sort of likeness existed between them, save fin dress and occupation. Tho girl wore a cap plumed with the tail of a «hite fox, and her other garments were just like ‘those of Kalatoonah—a jacket and trowsers, met by hich boots reaching to the middle of the thigh. The nzvterials however were very different from those of tho kayacker’s rough oes being composed of oe costly fur of the blue fox—a delicate dove color ..\vhile her boots were dyed a bright scarlet, and a geaviet sash was wound round her waist, ¢: ving a picturesque éffect to the whole dress. This singular creature now stood in the midst of sus ship’s deck, looking round her wistfully, when Thacla Jabez observed: “Why, Kalatoonah, you must have been in a hoarey 4 was here only ten years ago, and you ere ey Seven. period then. How does this girl come to be wour daugher?’ The Little pilot screwed up his chin into a funny me grin and whispered back: “Nos dat-way, cappen. She my darter, she my, and no mans dare say notings. Cappen, I tell wen she great much ice wiich.” Kate y Overheard the remark, and turned to ova if som girl neeapye Be aeune, a Sabres = perontly nspecting the rigging anc weather, for her eyes were roaming ste, and * Rayack means simply “man’s boat ” and ‘* oomi- nk'’“ woman’s boat.’’ The oomiak is a large flat- Letiomed craft; sharp at each end, but made justin me same way as the kayack, with a very light wooden frame covered with sealskin as thin as grechment. It holds as many as tenor fifteen peo- g- No Esquimaux man will ever condescend to en- an 00) He regards his own swift but danger- aus craft as only fit to carry a man and a ere tuan ter, ~ hu The Lost Captain. she walked to the weather side of the ship and peered out to windward. Presently she came back to Kalatoo laid her hand on his arm, and said some words in the harsh ps er pm tongue. The little pilot nodded, and said to Captain Coffin: “‘Cappen, Kablunet say we hab sun in minute. Ice coming down. Make sail.” ‘‘All right, Kalatoonah, if you say so. Fill the maintopsail, Mr. Folger, and stand on. This pilot knows his way well enough.” The mate obeyed orders, and the Sarah Jane once more leaped forward over the waves like a living creature. Kablunet, after one glance over the crew, earnest and searching, asif seeking a face she knew, hurried away and walked to the quarter deck, pass- ing Captain Coffin, and approaching the little group formed by Kate and the two Macy boys. In the same earnest manner she scanned them from head to foot, when asmile of pleasure a ared on her face, and she extended her hand to Kate Macy, say- ing. some words in a strange, soft language, very different from that in which she had spoken to Kala- toonah. Kate, half curious and half puzzled, took the proffered hand, and replied in English: “How do you do?” With a frown the strange girl threw away the hand, uttered a sort of impatient, a nacee,| ages then turned to Reuben, whom she greeted in the same words that she had used to Kate. To the surprise of every one, Reuben immediately answered in the same tongue, when the girl uttered acry of joy and clasped him round the neck, burst- ing out crying and kissing him. efore the astonishment had ceased, Kate Macy peaitn, ll pulled the stranger away, calling out angrily: ** How dare you kiss my cousin?” In a moment the face of the wild girl changed from intense emotion to bitter anger as she uttered a sort of sob of despair, then drew the knife in her belt and turned on Kate. Uncle Jabez started for- ward between them in alarm, when the mood of this singular being again changed; she thrust the knife back in her belt and burst out into a flood of angry words in thesame soft language in which she had addressed Reuben, then rushed to her kayack and re with it on the bulwarks, from whence she Dp unged overboard into the boiling sea in the midst of the fog, which swallowed her instantly just as it broke loose from the vessel under the rays of the sun, The sun had come as Kablunet said, and the wind had changed, but the girl had vanished asif she had never been, and Captain Coffin ejaculated: ‘““What in the world is the matter, and what did she say, Rube? The gal’s crazy as a loon, I do think.’ ** No, uncle,” answered the boy in a tone of some feeling, ‘she is a ean girl who has not heard her own tongue for eight years. Oh, Kitty, why did you insult her? She said—think of it—that she came to us hoping to find Christians, and that we were worse than savages, and she called on Heaven to punish us for rejecting an orphan’s prayer.” ‘Spanish!’ cried Uncle Jabez, amazed, “Why, eres who is this girl? Is she not one of your people?” Kalatoonah was ghastly pale, and his teeth were chattering with superstitious fear as he replied: “No, no, cappen. She witch—witch, I tell you— come in storm—go in storm— She— Hayee!!! Stabboard | |!” He ended in a perfect shriek of agonized warning to the helmsman, and pointed wildly to the bow. There, not three hundred feet away, towered a huge iceberg, hitherto hidden by the fog, and the ship was running directly on it before the wind, CHAPTER Iv. THE ICEBERG, For & moment wasall confusion on board the ship, the crew gazing at each other panic-stricken; and then the man atthe wheel hauled at the spokes like mad, assisted by Jonathan Macy, who sprung to his side without orders, while Jabez Coffin roared: “Port braces! Haul for your lives! Let go the starboard braces! Haul, I say!” Recovering their presence of mind, the sailors rushed to their posts and pulled the yards round; while the ship, with a wide, sweeping curve, shee away from the face of the great berg, shaving it so close that they could feel the rain of melting ice ouring down the side of the white precipice and ashed in their faces by the eddying wind, as they gathered away in the new direction. Such a berg they bad not yet seen in their pro- from home to Disco, It towered more than two hnndred feet in the air, with a great overhang above, the waves having hollowed it with huge caverns, from the top of which the water came pour- ing, down in sheets of rain and mist. The sun, which had burst out so suddenly from the fog, shone full on this sheet of falling water, and spanned it with a dazzling arch of brilliant colors, while the flashed out white at the summit, chang- ing into a deep, intense blue in the caverns that pierced its cold heart. Right and left in front of them it stretched as far as they could see, a wall of ice forbidding further progress, while flocks of gulls e screaming from its inighty summit round the masts of the ship, as if =~ y resenting the intrusion. e wind, which had been snispeai trom the moment the Esquimaux oo and the Ice Witch had come aboard, was now lowing right on the berg, and it seemed, for a short time, as if no human power could save them from be- ing ground to pieces against the icy face of this Arc- tic monster; but Uncle Jabez wasan old ga‘lor, and be - | held his luff like grim death, claw'ng off the face of the berg inch by inch, till at the end of half an hour of intense anxiety, the crew of the Sarah Jane had the satisfaction to weather the end of tice ice-inoun- tain and square away once more into t!.e cpen water, with the gray bluffs of a group cf rocky islands right ahead. *Geerewsalem! that was a close cal], observed Unele Jabez, wiping the sweat from his forehcad, es he surveyed the peril they had just passed. ‘That darned gal must ha’ seen itin the fog, and t! at was what she meant by calling on Heaven to punish us. Rer bea, my lad, what was that she said to you tirsi?”’ Reuben flushed a little as he answered: “She - sen beautiful Spanish, uncle. You know T picked that up at college. She asked me if I could talk it, and I said: ‘ Si, sevortta, un poco!’ "lhat’s all, ‘ Yes, miss, a little!’ And then Kit, here, flew at her. Isuppose the poor creature was glad to find some one spoke her tongue; for it’s easy to see she's no Esquimaux, though how she came here in Green land is the wonder.” As he spoke Kalatoonah called out. to the com moe aye ! bbe it hi d yee! cappen, me you git anchor ready. Ze og ground Eine , two, t’ree, forty-leven 0G ute, Unele Jabez nodded and went forward to superin- tend the process of anchoring, for he was a careful commander; and Reuben remained leaning on the taffrail, gazing idly astern at the at grounded berg. As he looked, the mist, which had been driven away to the south by the changing wind, came stealing up once more, and then out skimmed the slender kayack of Kablunet, as the mysterious Ice Witch came in sight, just at. the edge of the fog, till she vanished in a great blue cavern in the middle of the berg. “Strange creature!” muttered Reuben, as he gazed. ‘‘How came she here and who is she?” Then his meditations were interrupted by the hoarse cry of ‘‘ Let go!’’ and the sullen splash of the anchor told that the Sarah Jane was at rest. Al- most immediately the ship was surrounded by swarms of Esquimaux in their kayacks, while a big boat of the same flimsy materials—a skeleton cov- ered with parchment—came rowing toward them, propelled by six girls, and carrying in the stern- sheets a white man with yellow beard and civilized garments, This man, Kalatoonah told them, was Captain Nillson, the Danish governor of Kronprinzen, come to pay them a visit. euben went below into the little cabin, which he found deserted, and was saluted at once by a voice from one of the state-rooms at the side. “Whois that? Isit you, Kate?” ao mother, it is I,’’ he answered, and the voice replied: ‘Oh, Reuben, have we got to land yet, my boy? Is there any news?” ““We have just anchored, mother, and the Danish Governor is coming aboard. He will have news.” There was a hurried rustle in the state-room, the door opened, and a pale, dark-eyed woman came out, “Oh, Reuben,”’ she said, impulsively, “I had such a dream about your father!” “Yes, mother?” The boy spoke soothingly, as one who was used to humoring the fancies of the invalid; for Mrs. Macy was such, Pet Reuben, I saw him! He is alive! Tam sure of it!’ But before Reuben could answer her there came a clattering on the deck overhead, with the sound of steps, and the boy signed to her to listen, “Tt’s the D vernor, mother. Listen.” ‘Mornin’, Cap, mornin’,”’ they heard Uncle Jabez say. “* Glad to see yer. How's the ice up north?” They could not hear the answer distinctly, for it was made ina poe bass voice and in the guttural Danish-nglish that prevails among sea-going Danes, who are said to s all languages, including their own, equally, badly. But they could make out something like: { “Tag, Cap, tag. Ice pretty bad, but opening up, Ship ps lw by evil’s thumb,” =P Reuben started as he heard it. He knew that the ‘*Devil’s Thumb ” was a remarkable pillar of pov}: me the eure Gs jn lle Pie gh hae ? cp Was at $s worst, and he fea. at the pn ship ri be the lost “' Pride.” yet pee oe But he listened in vain. There ensued some other conversation, of which the listeners below could not catch the purport, til} suddenly Kitty Macy uttered a glad cry and they heard her run to the companior-hatch. “Oh, aunty, aunty, they’ve seen Uncle Jonathan's ship. The de was here last year. Here comes the Governor to tell us.” As she spoke ars s came down the con)- panionway, and Captain Coffin entered the cabin escorting the Danish Governor. He proved to be a regular old sea-dog, round and jovies fond of punch and pipes, and very anxious to rade with them. He satisfied them that he had seen the ‘ Pride » the year before on her “aie 4 to the north, and ag soo) as he heard that they had come after her asked j. thev didn’t want furs. Al! the American ships bought furs of him, ha said. It was ever so much cheaper than to bring them from the south; and he, Nillson, was known 5 be the most honest trader in all Greenland. They could buy jackets at adollar apiece, trow. sers of seal-skin and dog-skin sock», with: heavy see |- hide boots, at such prices that a complete Vequi- maux suit, hood, mittens and all, would not cost ten dollars, And they would take Amorican gold,
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Oh, yes,” replied Uncle Jabez; ‘tye see ‘my sis- ter, Miss Macy, she was jest Saices me to go ‘arter her husband, though I guess ’tain’t much use; and as Iseen she was bound to go, I thought we might as well keep warm. We've got the ship lined with cork, and felt over that, and she's got a solid mass of timmer in her bows, with any quantity of beams and shores to keep her from bein’ stovein. I’ve b’en in these latitudes before, and I know what a nip from theiceis. She'll lift right square owt on top o’ the ice, this ship will, afore she startsa plank or a rib, and I’ve got her sheathed with an inch -of iron from stem to stern.” L “Dat is goot, dat is goot,”’ replied Nillson, ap- rpbien ok “ Dere was six whalers all nipped by the oes in Melville Bay last Sagan and every one went own to de bottom, smashed.” ‘“* Ah, that reminds me,” said Uncle Jabez, with a start. ‘*Do you know a gal called Kablunet?”’ The question produced a strange effect.on the olly Dane, who had hitherto answered in a prompt, usiness-like way. Uncle Jabez had asked about Kablunet thinking that she might be a relic from tome abandoned Spanish ship, the story of the whaler bringing her to mind. But Governor Nillson ‘ooked so grave that his host saw at once that some- thing was the matter. “Yes, I know her,” he at length said, with. an-ob- vious effort. ‘You know, of course, that is not her uame.”’ ‘Indeed! and every one in the cabin waited to hear more with considerable interest. *“No, indeed. Kablunet is the Esquimanux word for a white woman, thatisall They call us—you— Kabloonah. This girl is not an Esquimaux at «all, though she makes that drunken dog, Kalatoonah, call her .daughter. No, she comes from no :one knows where, and the people say she isa witch.” Then the Governor refused tosay any more about her, and after a little more general conversation ‘he \eft the ship, inviting all hands to visit him at ‘the “Palace,” as he dignified a small one-story wooden house, which was the only respectable mansion in Kronprinzen. The rest of the people fived in huts nbout two-thirds buried in the ground, where \the whole family dwelt together in one room, much in the manner of pigs in a sty. Reuben ‘had, however, taken into his head a great fancy to know more of this mysterious Kablunetor White Woman, who be Spanish and came :from no one knew where. Without saying anything to.any one on board about his design, he went qohone- an the boat with his uncle. CHAPTER V. THR SPLITTING OF THE ICEBERG. WHEN Uncle Jabez Coffin returned from his trip ‘to the land ona bargain for furs, he found the weg condition, thanks to the provident care of Mr. clger, the.mate. e had very good success in his fur-trading, se- curing enough garments to make his whole crew in- dependent of.other covering in a winter in the ice, and it was with a sense of confidence and satisfac- tion that he returned to the ship and told ard to serve supper in the cabin. The party were about to sit down when Jonathan suddenly remarked: ““Where’s Beuben? I’ve not seen him since we went ashore in the boat.”’ “Waal,” observed Uncle Jabez, “that’s rather strange of Rube. Mebbe he cum aboard afore we did and issleepin’ in his berth. Go look, Jonathan.” Jonathan went and returned with the report that no one was there, and a. through the ship de- velo the fact that Reuben had not come on board at . Oneof the sailors, however, said that he had seen Master Reuben paddle by the ship’s quarter ina na- tive ka: oe heading out to seaward tn the fog, but had nob iled him, supposing Master Reuben his own business. Uncle Jabez jumped up with a pale face, evidently seriously alarmed, as he ejaculated: “ Headin’ out to sea in this fog! The boy's crazy. He'll be lost sure asfate. These fogs hangs on for weeks sometimes. the bell hard, boys, hard! If he ain’t out of hearing, that'll guide him here.” All hurried up on deek, and the ship’s bell was.set tolling as hard as they could make it go, while Uncle Jabez had the little brass signal-gun fired at inter- vals, to guide the belated Reuben into port. The unusual noise on board theship soonattracted the attention of the people on shore, and brought a cloud of kayacks hovering round them like sea-gulls round a dead whale. By questioning some of the owners of these kayacks, Uncle Jabez learned of Reuben’s late purchase, and the price paid therefor. The boy had a boat newly covered with seal-hide, with all if§ appurtenances, in return for an old ‘‘ pepper-box’’ revolver of antique pattern, which Reuben had bought in Boston at a pawn-shop for the sum of two dollars, with an eye to trading am, the savages. en Uncle Jabez heard this he gave adry sort of laugh, and observed: / . “TI guess we don’t need be skeered "bout Rube. Any feller that kin trade as smart as that, kin take keer of himself in a fog.” f Nevertheless the old sailor did not fail to inform the kayackers that his nephew was lost, and to offer a big butcher-knife tothe man that should bring him pac. ‘*What could he have gone away for?’ said Mrs. Macy, as she looked away into the fog. : Jonathan's face flushed as he answered: ‘I think, mother, he went after the girl Kablu- net, that came aboard with the pilot. this morning. / Tho Lost Captain. | [saw a kayack enter that grounded iceberg just as the stew-— the fog closed; and there was Rube by our taffrail staring out after it. He’s out in that grounded berg, and I’ll bet on it.” They were ‘startled ‘by a low groan from ‘Uncle Jabez as Jonathan finished his story. “Then Lord ha’ mercy on the poor boy!” he ejac- ulated; “for that berg’s goin’ to split jest: assure as— 7 He stopped short, when aloud crash Tike thunder was heard outin the midst of the fog, followed by the frightened screams ‘of sea-guills ‘and the shouts of the kayackers in the fog. *“She’s split, by thunder!” ejacaiated the old sailor, unable to control himself. ‘‘ The Lord grant they were notinside the berg! Hold: on, for there’s a big sea coming.” The kayackers out ‘in the fog here uttered a sim- ultaneous ery of warning, long and shrill, and the sailors could hear the low roar of the surf on the Dai outside the harbor, swift|yadvancing toward them. Then the ship began to roll uneasily at her anchor, and every one, by an instinct of peril, caught hold of the nearest rope or belaying-pin for support. Presently Kate Macy, who was by ue taffrail, screamed out: **Look, look! Hold on tight.” But Jabez Coffin had his sisher fast long before that, and stood with one arm round her and ‘the other holding a shroud, waiti Mrs. Macy strad- dered and hid her face in the:old sailor’s breast after one brief glance astern. There, looming up ont of ‘the fog, came a smooth green hill of water, apparently as high as the ship’s main-top, eweeping straight down on them as they rode to anchor on the ebb-tide, stern out to sea. In another moment it was on them. The hip rose to meet it till theanchor snubbed her, when the great billow swept over the ttaffrail and cleared the ecks in @ moment, roaring down the open hatch- ways ina mighty torrent,:and sending loose ‘spars. boxes and bales washing down toward the share o Kronprinzen. As for the living beings, every one that could not hold on was washed overboard, including three sheep anda chicken-coop ‘full of fowls; and, worst of all, Captain Coffin and his sister were dashed up against the footof the mainmast, being torn from their hold at the mizzen rigging. That done, as if satisfied with its errand of harm, the monster wave spent itself on the beach at Kron- rinzen without doing further damage, and teft the Borah Jane tossing wildly to and fro on the succeed- ing billows, each jess than the first, until the sea again subsided into calmness. CHAPTER VI. WHERE WAS REUBEN? But where was Reuben and where was Kablunet all this time? Jonathan and Kate were so busy at first that they had no time to think of this. There was Uncle Jabez down with a couple of broken ribs, and Mrs. Macy strangled into insensi- bility by the great wave, the cabin three feet deep with water and the hold nearly the same, By the time they had sent the two patients to upper berths in the state-rooms, and had the crew well to work at the Paes $s clearing the water from the vessel, the win had dissipated the fog almost entirely, and they could see for ten miles iin any. direction. But though the kayacks were plenty, dancing abeut on the white-capped swells, not a sign could be seen of the blue fox fur of Kablunet nor of Reuben’s pes janket in one of them. awhile the men began to come in slowly and unwillingly, as if they disliked to lose their promised reward, and brought the report that in their opinion the young Kabloonah must have been close to the berg when it broke up, and must have been pierced by a falling fr ent, for had he been outside the range, »o sea, however high, could have sunk his little craft. As for Kablunet, they only shook their heads mys- teriously when asked about her, and expressed an opinion that she was all right somewhere, no mat ter where. She was a witch and-never so much at home as among dead men. Indeed, she had sucked the blood of many of them. This sort of stuff, delivered in broken English at such a time, had its effect on the sailors, already frightened by the accident to their ship and com- mander; and several old salts came aft to Mate Fol- ger, now in charge of the vessel, to ask that he would set sail to return to Nantucket. ‘There was no luck aboard the Sarah Jane with a crazy woman on board and darned Greenland witches trying to swamp the ship. What if the curse had failed once, it might drown them all next time, and in the mean- while they ought to be going home. There was no luck on the ship anyway, for she had sailed on Fri- day; and now the eaptain was down and going to die. They were not going to be put under no oungster like Jon’than Macy, who had never sailed ia any craft bigger than a schooner before, and was no. navigator besides. They wanted a sailor like Folger to lead them.” The mate—he was'a big, brawny Nantucketer, and a devoted friend of Jonathan Macy, senior—heard them patiently through, and when they were all finished demanded: ‘Well, my lads, d’you know who owns this here ship and who fitted her out?” “*Cap. Coffin,’’ was the general reply. * Jess so. Cap. Coffin. Well, and ef he dies, who owns this ship?’ There was a puzzled silence, till am old seaman an- swered; - pt Santi Sa Data “Dunno, S*pose Marm Macy. But’she’s & we man, Shecan’t sail a oe “Waal, and can’t Jsail it fur her?” asked Folges, in louder tones. ‘‘ Now you look a-here, Doys, di you git afore you're burt. Cap. Coffin aint dead yét by a long chalk mark, and Marm Macyain’ dead nather, and ef they both dies, this ship b’longs. to Marm Macy’s children, and I’ve been made ‘t guardeen all shipshape and reg’lar, and I’m a-gois to take this here ship jest as fur into the ice .as the Lordi let us git, a-huntin’ fur Cap. Macy. You hear mef And you're a-goin’ with us and a-gein’ to de your dooty without any more grumblin’, or I'll know the reason why. And if there’s any man here that thinks he kin whip Zek1 Folger, jest let him step ow here and I'll ‘tend to him, all shipshape and reg’lar Now, then.” As the burly mate finished, there was a blank Silence among the men, and then the old sailor whe had before spoken said: “Waal, ef ye take it like ‘hat, we’ve no ‘more & say, mister; but there ain't no luck around this hem sh - We knows our dooty. Good-mornin’.” olger grinned as they went forward, evidenti; much crestfallen, and observed to Jonathan Maey. who had just come up from the cabin: “Don’t you be skeered, Master Jon’than. I'll kee¢ this here ship fur you and Master Rube jest as lon, as there’s a stick afloat.” “ Alas, Zeke, I fear we shall never see poor Reuber again,’’ was the desponding reply .of Jonathas. ‘* Where can he be?” “Why, aboard the berg in coorse,” was the con® dentreply. ‘’Tain’t to say because‘one man’s.ons split-face berg over a mile long, that.he’s a-goin’ ti stand right in the very place that it splits, is &% Them there bergs jest drapped off easy, arid He likely didn’t cant more nor fifty or ‘sixty feet in amile. It’s the size of the critters makes then ‘am waves. Why I’ve seen ’em up at Omenak’s where we're a-goin’, break off from the giacier tie two mile ata time, and send aswell:clear acresstr: the Middle ice, nigh twenty mile off. \But, the beg don’t bape right over, as them professors tells ax, lt jest draps over easy-like, a square mile af », e ” “Then what do you think we'd better do, Zeke” asked Jonathan. ‘Waal, I’m thinkin’ that as there’s a. good si® breeze and open weather now for awhile, them berge: is likely to stay in sight sometime. The kayacker daresn't go close to them, for fear of gittin’ sw ed ef they was to shift suddent. You jest take (im life-boat and four men, with a lug sail,:a compass and some grub, so you don’t git starved if. the fige ketches you, and you kin sail there afore they a out of sight. Go near each berg and holler for tiales like sixty. If he’s thar, he'll answer.” The mate ordered out the starboard quarter‘eum and four men were told off for her crew, awmt provisions and a compass put in, the boat let d and then the fours sailor went over the side took command. The nearer the boat came to the be the cvs sensible were the rollers; and just as they swe within about three hundred yards of the larngestet’ these monsters, down went one side, up went other, and the antic rocking and heaving oeu- menced anew. e boat was lifted up and Speed: about like a cork. Again and ~ Jonathan hailed at the top of Siw voice, sounded a whistle, and fired off one baradei® his pistolat the berg. All was in vain. Thepaee nothing but a clean precipice of ice before dtu. from which they kept at a respectful distance Full of forebodings, he ordered the men to steak: out toward the other berg. j Within half an hour they had sailed clear rowé this, hailing at intervals, but obtaining no resporae Poor Jonathan persevered as long as thane was sort of hope, but at last he broke down with of despair, threw himself back in the stern-sheeteat® the boat, and groaned out: ‘““He’s dead, boys, he’s dead or he would havea swered me. Pul back to the ship. I'm all aise now. Ihave no brother.” CHAPTER VIL. REACHING THE PACK. Wuen Jonathan Macy returned to the ship @i» the sad news of his brother's disappearance % "+ came a serious question with all w hether they 4 not return to the United States and abandon: ject of the expedition at its very beginning. The any Doreen who op ae" this design was ae now in command of the Sarah Jane. The-siret. lantucketer had a great deal of determinaticm his character, and was not easily put down versity. He comforted the young people by tae senting to them that to go back would entail a magi. passage of at least three weeks before reachingusgy lace where a surgeon was available, while by geting orward as far as Uppernavik, the most norte the Danish settlements, they would meet doctor. The ‘“ Inspector ’’ or Governor of thatgiase: was a Danish surgeon, formerly of the navy.wae had settled there for some years and was Pf ans sess great skill. Encouraged by these representations Jonciive: made no opposition to the project, and the Sissi Jane weighed anchor within twenty-four houveatitrer his return and stood off.to the north along theeam: The wind being fair and good, they passed Siam Island the next day, and noticed on the way theda berg which they had seen drift off from betium Kronprinzen. and which they looked on. as thodt stroyer of Reuben. * The great ber was sailing majesticclly out tow into the Middle Ice,” as Folger informed the:
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= Pe. —= we ag 2 eee se Sega ga entry Gy -- Aes eae <= . th» Aretan regions. | gad ies morning straight for us fromm the middle of we ahd G rere a ite «xurrse bemg now no longer northerly, but due west, “ Batt where is this Middle Ice?”’ asked Kate, who vai] oomme on deck for a few moments and overheard Sizes remark. “The sea is open and there is no ice in waht, ‘Gractiret Fo looked up at the sky, and then «eeled ronnd to the westward. Kate’s eyes follow- ed bis, ut saw nothing to indicate ice, save the one roving berg. The sky was of the softest and purest been, asdark as ever it is in Italy, and not a cloud fvrcke the expanse. The sun, which had been shin- ug wight and day for over a week, hung in the north- west, for it was some time after nominal midnight, avathe great orb of day had recommenced its as- enon, (4@in the west there was a bright yellow glare, rr iow geveral degrees from the horizon, and it was af ters that Folger pointed. “F¥sat. miss, is the icebluik, as you've no doubt Keerd tell on. Whenever you see that, thar’s ea @ caniy of ice fur the sun to shine on. Hf you'll kio® aver the land you'll see the same, for the ice evverw all Greenland, so I’ve heerd them say as ought So know.” ; “Was any one ever been there to find out?” asked ite. “€heess not, miss. Some’s tried it, but as soon as ty gets upon the hills in the summer they finds t * now so slushy they can't git over a mile or two fora the coast; while as to goin’ there in winter, no « xwreould stand the cold,” ‘What is the reason that we see that line of ice «* the coast yonder, breaking the black rocks?” xt & Knute, pointing to the north-east. There was, indeed, a singular interruption at that p iat te the frowning monotony of the black bluffs | x4. have given to Greenland its appropriate name 4) tien “Land of Desolation.” dont five miles to the north of them commenced "@ypexdicular wall of ice, losing itself on the hori- 2%, is edge outlined sharply against the rocky pe Wy, * Vhet’s the great glacier of Omenuk’s Fiord,” an- 1 vered fare mate. ‘Talk of not seein’ ice anywhere! Yoo see enough inside of three hours to satisfy yor fur the rest of your nateral life, iniss; or my nmeneain’t Zeke Foleer. That’s only the beginning of 4 not if goes up north for forty mile in the clear, * ¥i the bergs breaks off in the middle all the sum- t.°e. Now’s the thick time for’em, The Hoskies ¢ %9 the glacier a cow and says the bergs is the «.,@s. I tell yeou it’s a grand sight to see the { " were a-oalvin’. We'll see enough on’t afore Kore ‘fe poin!c4 off the starboard bew of the ship, and ti-9 eonid sea, outlined on the horizon amid the —_ how wlar. of the ice-blink, a fleet of sparkling white b sca, that seemed to stretch out in front of the great glacier. lt of Omenak's Fiord, Within half cn_hour they were close to the fliord roi weheld {he sea covered witha confused mass of Te-taané floes, crashing into each other and slowly reverting inthe currents and eddies of Baffin’s Bay. On* ta sea stretched the white fields as far as the eye eo mee, bergs frozen fast in floes, floes ping them- schves cp in himmocks at the foot of bergs, and fortes that vast and impenetrable mass, wn srceng whalers as “The Pack” or “The Middle Ve” ‘itherbo they had known nothing of the possibili- ?) waf dee navigation, having traversed open water tit Qyey reached Disco Bay, where the grounded hice was their first introduction to the wonders of if» fey saw the terrible Middle Ice as it ap- ag mg the-shore, and a sufficiently cheerless soli- “atin nye pede tothem. Only between it and the Bboy ed a narrow black line of open water, wei Graig into pools here and there, from which ra- ©. sf @ similar streaks of black into the heart of the ‘mt : “-Vwern’s the ‘leads,’ and that’s the coast-water,”’ «xy tamed Folger, pointing them out to his passen- errs ~ AK slong the edge of the glacier thar’s allers «yvoa Water, batAve y rena nto it now, till the ti. b's bet the iee out further. Ef a berg was to break «°? «we we-inside of a mile off, blessed if I don’t } Seve we'd git swamped teetotally, or git bum %:Y “gen” the foes hard cnough to smash every stick oe thee barky.” “ren what shall we do?” asked Kate. 7 \ ang hereto either we've got to haul up to one of thean bergs and wait our time till the ice As ogg ear imtee gt te foller one of them leads, with a chore «ff its -closin’ on us and givin’ us sich a nip as word set ws high and dry, if not bu’st us to * 7. i’, : “Yeh, tam, mot That,” said Kate, with a shudder. sa ~ eae wuake me think of poor Reuben all the B baa AG “yam wait Tt is,” replied Folger; “‘and ef we @im.'| see Master Rube afore the ice opens I’m much a1 yek One comfort in these latitudes is, a feller get” sols, further than the ice ‘ll let him, and the Folk peed kin allers ketch up as soon as they both rem.:! ” Vice while he was spewing Jonathan Macy, who Tri com wep in the rigging I this time, hailed the <ievt: fm tenes of great excitement from the fore- weg st yard : ) Eer’! Folger! I see some one on the ice, coming Sh wou.” ~irberekway, boy?” hailed the mate, in answer. *}pow"s toc G00 sure ’tain’t a seal or a b’ar.” “Nome a man dragging a canoe, It’s a Hosky bae Meer took up his glass, gazed in ‘he direction in- Mewsad. wd theo mutterec: | j eee ee The Lost Captain, ** Sure enough, ’tis a Hosky with his kayack. What in thunder was he a-doin’ out thar?” They could only see with the naked eye a little lack speck on the whiteness of the ice, but that it was moving and advancing toward them became plainer and plainer. Folger put the ship about and skirted the pack till | he came toa lead, which opened a black, winding water-way in the direction of the moving speck, Into this lead he steered the ship, under a fair wind, which was doing its part, with sun and current, to widen the pa: e. The black speck had already resolved itself into a man dragging a kayack, and nowit hastened toward the lead, and soon after came down toward the ship, the canoe skimming along over the black water. Within twenty minutes it was close aboard, and they saw the squat figure and comical grin of Kala- toonah in his kayack. ‘**Hoyee, sheep, sheep!’ shouted, or rather yelped that redoubtable hunter, holding up a square white aper; ‘“‘me got letter, much heap letter, Missy : ube. : Mebbe me come aboard forrum and *backer, ayee?’’ And Kalatoonah laughed heartily at his own wit. CHAPTER VIII. REUBEN’S LETTER. Tae Sarah Jane was the scene of great excite- ment, immediately on the receipt of Kalatoonah’s news. Jonathan came flying down a backstay, in his haste, too eager to take the regular way down the shrouds. As for Kate, her face was a study in its alternations from red to pale, from pleasure to re- sentment. Folger grinned all over his face with pleasure sepeettig: “T told yeso. That boy ain’t no green hand, I tell yeou, ef he never did f° to sea afore this.” The very foremast hands, who had been the loud- est grumblers before, crowded to the side of the ship to hear the news, and began saying to each | other that: ‘That ’ere quiet Macy boy was a chip of the old block, arter all,” Folger called up the steward to provide the biggest plug of pigtail tobacco, and an extra large tin cup of strong grog for Kalatoonah, while Jonathan ea- gerly superintended the lowering of a whip from the yard-arm to bring the hunter on board, boat and all, seeing that Kalatoonah declined to come without his kayack, Xe last he had extricated his body from the man- hole and stood on deck, holding out the letter, which was addressed to: “CAPTAIN JABEZ COFFIN “Snip SARAH JANE Macy.” ‘Call up Uncle Jabez. No, he’s asleep, and we cannot disturb him. What shall we do? Who'll open the letter?’ cried Jonathan, the picture of per- plexity. He had scruples against opening the letter, and yet felt that it was important to all that the in- telligence should be made known quickly. Mrs. y solved the doubt. Quite restored by the excitement of joy and hope combined, she burst into Uncle Jabez's state-room, crying out: “Jabez, Jabez, the boy’s alive! Here’s a letter from Rube.”’ The old sailor turned round in the berth with dif- ficulty and answered, gruffly: ‘Then why in thunder don’t ye read it out? I hain’t no glasses here, and you knows that as well as I do. t’s hear what the young reprobate’s got to say for himself with his greasy Hosky gals.” The old gentleman was in great n and some- what light-headed, and had evidently forgotten all about the su posed death of his nephew in the enor- mity of his elopement with a savage ee . Macy, nothing loth, tore open the folds of the letter, which was not inclosed in an envelope but written on the leaf of a note-book, and read it aloud to the group of eager listeners that had followed her into the cabin. The note was short and business-like: “Dear UncLE JABEz: “There is an open lead of coast water two. miles wide across the face of Omenak Fiord, which you ean take the ship through if you push on at once. Melville Bay is more open than at any time for some years, and we can reach Smith Sound by the first of August if we bh . Push on. I am going ahead over the pack with Dolores to look for leads and watch the ice. There are plenty of birds and seals. Iam well and will meet you in the North Water. ‘Your dutiful nephew, Revusen Macy.” 6 fh nna — I tell ye?” ctnled phiyal Zeke Fol- ger, with a broad grin on his wr ognomy. “ That boy aint’t no slouch, Cap, is her Uncle Jabez had been lying listening to it all placid- ly enough, but now he growled out: ‘““Who the dickens is this Dolores he tells on? That ain’t a Hosky name.”’ ‘In coorse not,’ replied the mate, soothingly. “Don't git grouty over it, Cap. The boy’s a-doin’ more nor any one of us could do in his place, for we couldn’t travel on the pack, and seems he hin.” **But who's Dolores?” repeated the injured man, obstinately. “It’s a + agg om name, uncle,” said Jonathan, rather timidly, for he was mortally afraid of rousing his cousin Kate’s jealousy; and, like many another big fellow was a hopeful subject for the henpecking process. seen having anything to do with his family; and his n sober moral ancestry of ms and era seemed to rise up in sedans against this unknown | Dolores, no matter what services she might render othe object of his expedition. “I know who ye mean, boy,” he went on. ‘It's hat crazy gal they call a witch, and she’s got our Rube bewitched as like as not. The boy's crazy and | we’ve got to hunt him down and tie him up. If I don’t give him and his Dolores a taste of rope’s-end when I ketch ’em, my name ain’t Jabe Coffin. Zeke Folger, you make sail on this here ship till T gets Ww nuit to come on deck, and you go through the leads this boy writes about. If so be we gi the North Water, as he says, all reg’lar and quick, | very good. But when you meets him and his Dolores, you jest send down for me. You hear?” “Yes, Cap,” replied the honest mate, soberly. “Then git out of my state-room, all but Kate,” said Uncle Jabez, in the same crusty tonss. “T want to sleep and Kate kin bring me a mug of beef tea afore that.”’ Then the old sailor turned his face to the wall in sulky mood and his auditors left the cabin somewhat cast down in spirits. Kate was the only one who seemed to be cheerful, and she devoted herself to Uncle Jabez with an as- siduity that showed how she appreciated the punish- ment he had promised to mete out to her unknown rival, as Kate persisted in thinking her. Folger grumbled a little to himself when he got on deck, but made no audible remark on the subject of the captain’s ill-temper; and then he called the hands aft and made them a short speech, telling them how Mas er Rube was out in the pack hunting out a safe passage for them, and that he hoped to be safe through Melville Bay and out in the North Water in a few days, if they had any sort of luck, So great was the change from their previous | gloom produced by the prospect of change that the men saluted the speech with three cheers and re- turned to the forecastle to work with a will, The ship was now put about and ran out of the lead into the strip of coast water between the pack , and the + emg of Omenak’s Fiord, when Folger stood boldly on toward the north. Foagen still shone brightly out; for the space oc- cupied by the open water was too small to occasion any very heavy mists, and the Arctic atmosphere is always dry over the land. There let us leave the Sarah Jane, entering the re- cesses of Melville Bay, where so many whalers have into | come to an untimely end, while we return to the | absent Beuben. CHAPTER IX. THE ICE QUEEN. | Revspen Macy had, as the Esquimaux said, left the ship in a kayack and. rowed out into the fog to find the mysterious Keblunet. Within five minutes from the time he paddled out he was entirely lost: | in a gray sea of mist. Presently he was sensible of.a bright white sheen in the fog on his right hand, while a chilly atmo- sphere enveloped him, and the rush of falling water warned him that he was close to the berg. The fog was so thick that he could not tell how near he was except by the splash of a torrent in the sea ahead of him, of which the drops came in his face atintervals. Therefore he turned to the right and skimmed round the foot of the berg, foll ng all its sinuosities through the bewildering mist, — by the v hite glare, till on asudden he came what seemed a great black cloud, and knew that the cavern was before him. Judging his distance when he had arrived at the center of this dark opening he steered in, and was soon rewarded by a strange sight. in the very heart of the iceberg, gleamed the ruddy light of a fire. The tunnel through which he had penetrated into the berg was about fifty feet high by twice that breadth, marki the existence of some softer stratum of ice in the original glacier which the sea had excavated from its more stubborn vicinity. As he made these observations and found the air clearing around him, he looked up and saw that the roof of the tunnel was rising and the pa e itself widening into a vast hall, apparently in the very heart of the berg. From this roof lines of falling raindrops proclaimed the frail tenure by which Na- ture held all this magnificence ‘in the face of the monarch sun, even while the drops themselves looked like gems or sparks as they flashed in the ree atbeautiful and weird this au and weird as was scene, Reubev noticed it but little. All his attention was con- centrated on the mysterious Ice Witch herself, as | she stood on the icy shore of this strange luke- | chamber, leaning on the paddle of her _ oo while her frail craft lay beside her. The support on which she stood was a smooth mass of ice, rounded by the action of the water and | made of harder materials than that portion of the | berg which had fallen away into the tunnel. This | ley promontory stood out from one side of the lake, | and was the only place where the walls did not come | down spate wey into the water. Reuben | wanton 4 th his paddle as he entered the lake and | found that he could no longer touch bottom, while the blackness of the water indicated greater depth. He swept forward as noiselessly as possible, for | the seine ack was turned to him and dhe was gaz- | ing into the fire—made of driftwood—when an un- ‘A Spanish name is it?’ sneered Uncle Jabez. | wary splash of his paddle in the deep silence of the “Thanky. I knowed that afore, wor I've be’n to | icy solitude startl u @uby and Peru many’s the time. t how did a | Spanish gel git up here?” The oid sailor, in his pain and irritability, had ta- ken 2a dim hatred to the idea of tho wild girl he had her. Ina moment she drop her own paddle, caught up from the ice a long slen- der harpoon and turned on the new-comer with an expression of fierce resentment, pouring out a tor- rent of Esquimaux words. ; ) \ i \
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Not exsioniery admiring the idea of being spear- edb e beautiful savage, Reuben suddenly called out in Spanish: ‘*Setiorita, fear not, it is I, a friend.” As he had expected, the effect was quick and sud- Coe The girl dropped her harpoon and her hands. “Oh, friend, friend, how long I have waited for you!” she ejaculated. Reuben swept his little craft up to the icy shore and disembarked there without further speech. _ Then she turaed on him and addressed him in Spanisa, gravely and rather suspiciously: s wi the blue blood.” ; Iu his best Spanish, Reuben replied: ‘““Why should I wish to harm you, Sefiorita Do- tvres? Lhave come tosee you, to ask pardon for | i.e rudeness of which my cousin Kate was guilty ¢5-day.”’ * Katrina! ! z.rl, ina strange tone of voice. not gotin my way, I would have killed her.”’ Her eyes gleamed with such anger as she spoke | that Reuben felt heartily glad that Kate was not noar them. He preserve calmness, however, and answered, gravely: “You should not say that. Remember that my father and hers were brothers. In her veins flows | thesame blood, If you hurt her, we cannot love you.”’ “ “Love me!’ repeated the girl, with an accent of | “ Alas, Lhave had no one to | indescribable patios, ‘ dove me ever since the Maddalena went down into the cold, black sea.”’ “The Maddaiena was the ship in which you were wrecked?" asked Reuben. The girl hesitated a moment, and then said: “T will tell you, for yours was the first voice that I heard speaking my own dear tongue for eight long, Weary years, “You know perhaps that the Basques are whale- fishers of old, and that their boats used to come here many centuries ago. They are, you know, a people of the north of Spain.” “ Are you then of Basque family?” asked Reuben. **Sejor,no. Ishould not then be a true Spaniard, But my father always loved the Basques, and loved the sea, too. He had made more than one voyege hither after whales, when the trade was good. J, who was brought up at home, always loved the sea and used to beg my father to take ine with him. At last he consented, when I was twelve years old, but said that this should be his last voyage. My mother, who loved him tenderly, begged to be per- mitted to go with us, for she said she had a presen- without her. Ah, seAor, the presentiment was true. “We had a pleasant voyage, and touched at Julia- nashach on the south coast cf Greenland, where we earned that the ice was unusually open and that ‘whales were plentiful tothe north, Full of hope for @ short season and good cargo, we left Julianashaab and steered out to sea, where strong seuth winds carried us along and noice was seen, At last one day the wind died aw2y, and we beheld t dark clouds coming down from the north. e did not fear, for my father said it portended only a change of wind, and our ship was prepared for any storms. Alas, sefior, those clouds brought down a tempest and such thick fog that it was dark as night around ‘us, even while the sun shone, as we knew that it did. My mother and Lhad been sent below, where we had fallen asieep, and [remember my father had come down to tell us that the storm was abating, when we felt a fearful shock and heard the men shouting ‘while the masts were faliing and the ship crashed agar something that we heard tearing her to pieces. Pale as death we rushed on deck, and found ourselves dashing powerlessly against the face of a at wall of ice, We heard another crash over- ead, saw a white mass falling on us, and then came a shock to my poor head, and I knew no more tillI found myself on shore at Kronprinzen, with the bar- | barians round me, I called for my father and they stared and asked me ; tongue. Then I knew that I was alone in the world. ‘That is all, sefior.”’ ane silence in the heart of the berg till Reuben asked: “And how have you lived since? The Governor fells strange stories about you, I suppose you ow She laughed bitterly, * 4 Danish swine, as stupid as the The Governor! Hosky* hunters he lords over, He wanted me to marry his son Peter, a lout that can spear a seal 8 and counts it a glory to live on these icy coasts, What, I, Dolores Zuniga, whose father was a hidal- 9, marry a seal-hunter and live here forever! No! ther perish as my father did!” “Then that was the reason that you left his house?” asked Reuben. The girl made him no answer, but stood staring at the fire with one finger uplifted, asif she was listen- ing tosome sound that Reuben could not hear. A moment later she gathered up her harpoon, paddle and other + tala and ran to her lit- tle kayack, crying out: “Get afloat, quick, and follow me or you are lost. «Quick, Isay.” Vaguely dreading, he knew not what, Reuben obeyed her, and both pulled their light vessels to the water’s edge jum in, and paddled out into the center of the lai.e. As Reuben struck out from the side of the lake he *“ Tosky * is the common Danish term for Usqui- hitting ‘ ‘*Why have you come? Do you mean to harm | mo? I? you do, take care; for Dolores Zuniga comes | Is that her name?” asked the wild | “She is a demonia | a she devil—I hate her, Oh, if that old man had | a demeanor of quiet uestions in their barbarous | The Lost Captain. —-+ heard a faint whine, like that of a young puppy, somewhere within the depths of the ice, Derinning in a low key and running up intoshriller accents. He saw Kablunet hastily lashing the skirt of her short jacket round the rim of the kayack, and then remembered that he was clothed only in cloth gar- ments. Realizing that he was in some unknown way to encounter waves that would wash into his kayack, he hastily stripped oif his pea-jacket, made itinto aroll, and wedged it into the manhole of the not occupied by his own rim. B the midst of the cavern, and he heard the whining sound again, seeming as before to proceed from the body of the ice. Novice though he was in Arctic lore, he needed no explanation of the meaning of this sound, and fell, and then rose again till it increasedinto a shrill scream, while the water of the lake trembled | around them, ing into a roar like thunder, and he shot his kayack up to Kablunet’s side, asking: “* What shall we do?”’ “Keep here,’ was the quict answer in tones of resolute confidence. have been on them before.’ Then came a sudden crash, and a flood of day- light poured into the cavern, as the berg split open above their heads, What oe aire next, Reuben hardly knew. The | floor of the lake seemed to meet them as the end of the berg rose up, tossing thein aloft, while the water receded into the end of the cavern, filling it up and drowning the fire in an instant, Then came another wave, as the berg rocked to and fro, and the light erson pressing against the about like feathers. Reuben plied his paddle manfully with the instinct of keeping ia the middle of the water, to avoid being dashed against the wall of the cave, and had the happiness in a few moments of finding that the waves hadsubsided, and the water in the lake settled to its new levelin quietude. what had been done, They were in one half of the former cave, which had been cloven asunder as cleanly as f divided by some mighty ax, and the sun was shining in upon them froma pale blue sky. The old floor of the cave had been tilted up at an middle quite dry, and the water had settled into one side, from whence it was running off in a rushing torrent by the line of the old gallery, now inclined to the sea at an easy slope. Within three or four minutes this torrent ceased to run, as the water in the cave sunk below the calm little pond, not more than a hundred feet across. He paddled up to Kablunet, ejaculating: ** Heavens, what an escape!” The girl smiled rather scornfully. “Tt is nothing. I knew the berg was hung ona rock below, and would break just here. We are afloat now and going north with the eddy toward Omenak’s Fiord, I oy yo like to be on a berg when is i: oa you are in the right place it is glorious, no’ “It’s fun after it’s all over, but only if one is pre- by it for it,” he grumbled. ‘But I shouldn’t like to it often.” olores paddled her Rarnele to the side of the little pond, without noticing his ill-humor, **Come,”’ she cried gayly, “follow me. You must learn to be an ice-master, for Iam the Ice Queen. Ah, it isglorious to live onaberg. You cannot sink and there is always plenty to eat if you know where = find it. Follow me and I will show you my king- om. CHAPTER X. | LIFE ON AN ICE-MOUNTAIN, Do.vores scrambled out of her kayack and led the way to the top of the berg, which cost them buta | few feet of climbing over + hat had been the roof of the old Pe ys T ° ice here bred mg formed of compac snow, and gave way easily to the gras permitting holes to be dug with fingers and pane. ~" When they reached the top, Reuben uttered a cry of delight as he looked out over the great field of ice and thence upon miles and miles of sun-kissed waves. The wind was warm and pleasant, the fog had rolled aware under theinfluence of the sun nd could see the coast around the bluffs of Kron zen, Ye the broad strait between that and rin- The fact was, as Reuben realized as soon as he got into the open air, the splitting of the nae had thrown their end up out of the water, till the top was nearly as high as the steeple of Trinity Church. The Sarah Jane, lying at anchor, looked like a toy ship, and the kayacks that were spread over the sea were mere dots on the waves. As they looked, they saw the rollers which their own berg had rade, just receding from the shores | of Kronprinzen, eid the kayacks were dancing about | like eggshells bet ween the berg and the shore, Look- ' ing out to sea, Reuben perceived the other half of | their berg floating afew hundred feet off, slewing | pe ge in the currents that were carrying it further out, | . Then he turned his attention to the summit of the | floating island on which he had so strangely arrived and perceived that it was the home of various an | teeming life, a5 Dolores had said. | 4» the first placa il was strewn with | and fragments of voci, imbedded in the ice, some of them having sunk beneath She surface, waring round canoe, so as to fill up as much of the opening as was | the time he had done this, Kablunet wasin | It rose Then came a terrible howl, broaden- | “The berg is splitting, but I ’ | kayacks were caught up from the ice and dashed | Then he had leisure to look round him and see | ane'p of some ten or fifteen degrees, leaving the | | level of the gallery, and they were once moreina | timent that she would never see us again if we went | they | reat bowlders | $$ $$ $$$ ns wells above them, Then there were similarly shaped: masses of ice studded over the top of the berg, and reflected in the lakes and pools of fresh water with | which the hollows of their island were filled. All round these ponds, and blackening the surfaea of the ice, were thousands of sea-birds, There were immense flocks of the little awk, « bird something like a clumsily-built duck, with very | short wings and legs set at the end of its noes ‘The. | tvory gulls, with their pure plumage and black | beaks, circled overhead, screaming angrily at the im- ' trusion, as Reuben and his guide advanced, vehile the great burgomasters, as large as geese, sat on the: | ice pinnacles and looked composedly down on tite» ; turmoil below. There were a few crows, the same old birds which | inhabit every latitude from pole to equater, ard they were, as usual, quarreling over carrion, the refuse of dead fish brought up by the gulls to devour: in peace. “Are all icebergs as full of life as this?” asked? Reuben, as he gazed on this scene with much inte« rest. E ““Some have notso much,” she replied; ‘* but theres: grounded bergs attract the gulls for miles, whemthe , bears leave them.”’ “ Lhope there are no bears on this one,” Reubem | observed. | “Ohno, they keep on the floating ice which gets | among the floes; for they live on the seals, and how could a seal get up here?’’ ‘““Very true,’ he admitted, and then they con- tinued their walk over the top of the berg, till they: found that their kingdom comprised an extent of about half a square mile, thickly pepulated with. auks and gulls, Dolores seemed to be in unusual spirits and con- versed cheerfully, answering all his questions aut showing @ complete acquaintance with the life around her. “At, selor, I told you it was not all gloom here," she said. ‘* We could live on this berg all the suv | mer, if we were so minded.”’ | ‘¥es, but I don’t see exactly how,” he ob* ctw: ‘“*Thave no gun, and I don’t know how we ?° 3 to | anything without one.”’ | Dolores laughed merrily but withor’ Ber usual | sardonic spirit. } | “Twillshow you. Thatisone thi’ «iwhich these Hoskies =re expert, and Ihave le ed it all from Kalatoonah, ey can spearthe jor duck on the wing or the coot when he dives; & * they nevergo out, any more than I do, withou. ~ air weapeus. | See this,” m She showed him a slender rod which > carrer” in her hand. It bore a one goat ofivory, @Y & the tusk of a walrus shaved down, and twe ert prongs beside it. “That is the neuveak—the bird spear; and herei« the noonsock—the holder, Now _ shall gee me bring down one of those ducks as they pass.” She pointed to a flock of eider ducks thet were coming along from the south, fiying directly in a line with the berg. The birds flew quite low and grazed the summit of the ice mountain very closely. Just as they came in range, Dolores took the. noca- sock—a rounded truncheon of wood, one side of- which was shaved flat, with a groove down the mid—. dic—in her hand. Reuben had been wonderin age to cast the bird-spear wit how she woukd man- any degree of foree,. for it was too slender to be grasped iu any way ex- cept by the tips of the e rs. be holder, however, solved the problem in asin: - the size tu receive the shatt of the bird-spear, the rounded outside afforded a good grasp dor the whole hand. In a trice Dolores had fixed the light weapomdén its. groove, and then cast it with admirable through one of the ducks, piercing it through anil — and bringing it Gown on the summit of tle erg. “There,” she said, “My poor little man—shal wild lands, she has found out how to spear @@masa on the wing.”’ But Reuben, much as he admired the girl’s skitly was not yet converted to the delights of life om am iceberg. “There is plenty of game," he admitted; “but. where is our fire and how are we to cook it?’ By Dolores laughed. “Did you not find me by a fire in the ice cavern? ple manner. The groove down the center was: ju: | Ihave my flint and steel yet, and there is wood. tur spare, floatin - me sea. When Kalatoonah comes, right. “Very well, then,” answered Reuben, ‘tI hayvede- / we shall be a cided, I will stay, if you will take me where I shui!’ hear tidings of my father.” Dolores turned toward him with the aa smile that had marked her when Jonathan ad- | dressed her in Spanish, and threw her arms round | Reuben’s neck. — ‘‘ My darling little boy,” she cried out; “now we will be as happy as birds.” “Here comes Kalatoonah,” continued his eom= panipne payly, drawing him toward the other side-of' he berg; and there, sure enough, came the ? black figure of the hunter, trailing his kayack him over the ice. Kalatoonah came up with a broad grin on a swaithy face, seeming to have entirely lost all the awe he had affected toward Kablunet when om | board the ship, He began by hailing Reuben. | “Hayee, youu. Kabioduai, all mighty heap sheea *hout you. Tink youdrown, Boat oun after yee, and kay ackers nrovvse big hle baile, if der Pew pee aidy BO) FROW IR LesGu0iy cae roudly. ecito—my laa starve Whe Rolorcs bik with him, for if she has learned no more in ther» .
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* imal life. The bi ‘\ burgo The Lost Captain. ce aa CHAPSER XI. OMENAK’'S FIORD. the Maddalena went down. And here, too, I have found m only companionship save of pigs Jusr about the time when the Sarah Jane was | of H weig&ing her anchor at Kronprinzen the dark Wa- = of enak’s Fiord, studded with floating be: ing out to join the wilderness of the Middle Pack, were also bearing on their bosom three of the fragile kayacks in which the Hosky hunters constantly brave the dangers of the deep. oe occupants were respectively Kalatoonah, Kaalunet and Reuben Macy. The boy looked hag- ard and weary, for he was unused to the persever- ng effort required to propel a kayack, as his had been paddled over forty or fifty miles of open sea. Ile was only seventeen, while his companions were of full age, and though Dolores Zuniga was a wo- man, she had acquired in her hardy life a strength / ef limb equal to that of many men and far superior ‘to the untrained powers of Reuben. When at last vy 4 skimmed into the line of coast- water at t's foot of the great glacier, Reuben utter- edavizh of relief and wasso much exhausted that he could hardly scramble out of his canoe on the white land-ice that stre!ched out for half a mile or more from the foot of the cliffs. Dolores noticed his weakness and exhibited un- usual tenderness toward him, The girl, besides be- ing three omg his superior in point of time, was at least ten his superior in oo of practical ex- perience in the scenes around her, and treated him with a sort of protecting love such as she would have bestowed on some delicate pet. She cheered him up to the exertion of landing and relieved him of the light burden of his kayack, which was all too heavy for the boy in his present state of lassitud> and depression. Then they set forth on their tramp over the “‘ice- foot,” as Arctic voyazers term the belt of land-ice, and in time arrived at the base of the frowning gray rocks that skirted the edge of the vast glacier, bounding itsicy flow asin walls ofiron. — Leaving the kayacks at the toot of the rocks, ey ascended the bluffs by winding crevices, with whic Dolores and her companion seemed quite familiar, pen up which Reuben followed them as well as he co Arrived at last at a little plateau surrounded by frowning walls of rock, the girl said to Reuben: “Now, mi probecito, we can rest and sleep, for we ‘are come to my garden.” Weary as Reuben was, he could not help a sigh of pleasure and admiration as he looked around him, The little ampitheater lay at the edge of a tongue of glacier from which the melting ice trickled in a tiny stream that wound its way through a green carpet of moss, sprinixled with all sorts of beautiful flowers. The short Arctic summer, with its absence of nicht, its constant flood of warm sunshine, had filled this little nook with the most exquisite ver- dure. Reuben, who was an enthusiastic botanist, could some of bis home friends—the wild honeysuekle, the anemone and the snowdrop min- led with primroses, saxifrages and gentians. Beau- Fitul mosses and lichens were creeping over the ne and rising about two or three inches from he surf: while he could see little willows, averag- ing about six inches, actually overtopped by tufts of Tpit wes mrmething halffunny, balfaiathetio’ was som funn ~ tic in this li@le patch of garden at the adele of the wilder- ness of ice, enjoying its few weeks of sunshine ere ; ——— be hidden under the snows of an Arctic winter. pid swe uben flung himself down on the moss and bask- ed in the sun in this sheltered recess, where the air was positively sultry, and then tired nature asserted itself and he fell we + When he awoke, nothing seemed to have ch save that the sun wasin a different r of the sky and that the smoke of a fire near by was mount- ‘ing straight up in the calm air, Overhead the gulls nvere soaring above the open leads, while the chat- tering and fluttering in the crevices of the rocks showed where the little auks had built their nests. Far out as he could see stretched the wilderness of the Middle Ice, studded with hundreds of huge bergs ‘tangled among the floes, the yellow glare of the sun ‘on the ice dazzling inits intensity, and only relieved by the dark lines of the occasional water-holes and ‘dears seaming the pack. All this was stretched out as in a vast noram . about three hundred feet below him eat he coul see the dark bodies of the seals by hundreds scattered over the floes, basking in the sun, while the white puffs of spray in the middle of the water-holes showed where the whales and narwhals were spout- = lay. a rose to his feet and uttered a cry of de- ht, va How beautiful! Who would have thought to find such a scene here!” -. It wasindeed a perfect teeming preserve of an- s—auks, divers, ducks, wild geese, master and razor-back gulls, ivory gulls,grebes and coots—blackened the whole surface of the floes * round the leads and water-holes, while a great herd of walruses were snorting and splashing in the ooast water at the foot of the cliffs. And what was that? Reuben peered eagerly out into the coast water — the ice-foot. Yes, there was the unmistak- ‘able outline and creamy whiteness of a Polar bear! He could distinguish it even at that distance; climb- ‘tng out of the dark water on the iae-foot, and stalk- ing forward with lumbering tread toward the herd of walruses. ' He had seen his first bear! “Isit not beautiful, sefior?”’ asked the soft voice of Dolores at this moment. “IT told you it va: not e'igioom up here, Ihave found here the only mo- ments of peace ni happiness [have known sidew ole > . ons * ata - = ar : . ‘*What do you mean!” asked Reuben curiously. “T mean that Mother Igloolik lives here.” Reuben started and remembered the errand on which he had come. “Mother Igloolik here!’’ he cried. ‘“‘Oh, take me toher. I feel quite strong now. The rest has re- freshed me wonderfully.” “ And has made you hungry too, mi pobrecito—is it not so? See; E have been roasting you some birds that Kala‘oonah has killed forus. Eat, muchacho, eat, for we have hard work before us, and I must keep my little friend fat, or his ugly people will wait to leave Dolores behind when she es him back to him.”’ J “T don’t think there is much danger of that, Dolores,” he answered gratefully. ‘‘ You have been 50 gon to me that they cannot help loving you for my sake.”’ My hope so,” she answered shortly. ‘That de- monia cousin of yours gave me but a cold greeting after eight years among the savages. Eat, mucha- cho, eat, for we have far to go and you must send a letter to your people by Kalatoonah while we go on again over the pack ice to the North Water. You may find your father, but for me, alas, there is no hope, for my father is dead.” uben obeyed her in everything wrote his letter by Kalatoonah, as we have seen, anda few hours later the trio separated. CHAPTER XIL THE NORTH WATER, WE are out in the Middle Ice in the month of July. The great floes that ground themselves sd into ridges and hummocks in the long winter night are now reduced to a soft and wpny d state, disintegrat- ing rapidly in the sun, and o: ly s ielded from entire annihilation by their enormous thickness, The hills and valleys that used to render the surface almost impassable have sunk to mere roughnesses, and the great field looks yellowish White, tinged with brown, as the season advances further and further. Scattered about in this wilderness of field ice are fleets of great bergs, for the most part fresh from the glacier, carrying their loads of bowlders and gravel from Greenland valleys. These bergs appear to be stemming the ice fieldsas if impelled by some invisible power, for the surface current is setting the floes one way, while the bergs, stretching down for a hundred fathoms into the sea, have met the counter-current which is driving them onward in the opposite direction. The low crashing of the loose ice as it streams past the bergs is a perpetual reminder of the restless character of the sea in those latitudes, and the fre- quency and size of the leads and water-holes isa proof of the warmth of the szason, . Up to the north, at the Mo edge of the Middle Ice, the waves roll in on the fields, and the swell is transmitted for nearly a mile into the loose brash at the border: of the pack. This is the favorite haunt of all the living peng = strange assembl that —_ a summers in migrating from place to place onthe ice. --- : The birds of all sorts—ducks, auks and gulls—are thicker than ever at this period of the year while the open water to the north is all alive with spouting whales. Since the decline of the fishe ut few ships come out after whales now, and of these still fewer succeed in reaching the North Water safely year by eg Therefore the huge creatures gambol undisturbed, along with shoals of the graceful yee ted narwhals, with their ine ivory horns, like sword-fishes, only more beautiful. As for seals, they are tumbling and diving every- where, and walruses are nearly as plentiful. One low flat berg is covered with these brown monsters of the ‘deep, as large as cong ae and more than one r is prowling about behind the hum- mocks and bergs of the Middle Pack, watching his opens to dive unobserved into the loose ice after the seals, who are always on the look-out for their wily enemy. Into the midst of this confusion of animal life, just as we come upon it, skimmed two Esquimaux ayacks, about ten days after the Sarah Jane re- ceived Reuben’s letter. Dolores was in one of these frail vessels and Reu- benin the other. No ship could have ewe where they did, and the p of an o boat would have been almost equally difficult and labori- ous. With their light, kayacks on the other hand the travelers oy enced no difficulty in goit where they would, and on the morning of the fift day after ne Omenak’s Fiord arrived at the borders of the Middle Pack, and saw before them the dark waves of the North Water rolling pegs under a cloud of gloomy fog that showed the dif- ference of temperature between water and ice. Here they were compelled to stay for several days. exploring leads and waterways, hunting ducks an seals, an generally enjoying a holiday while they waited for the appearance ef the Sarah Jane. At last, on the morning of the tenth day, they saw the white sails of the ship coming down one of the dark waterways through the loose brash at the edge of the Pack, and Dolores pointed it out to Reu- ben, saying, with a sigh: “Phere, muchacho, are your friends, We have been very happy, have we not?—and now it is all OV ” er. Reuben had been so happily engrossed in watch- | ing the habits of the animated nature around him | that he had forgotten the existence of everything disagreeable in fie world. ) “Why should $6 be over?” he asked... ‘You will ” ait : come on board with me and everybody will he gled tosee you for ha taken care of me and showed them the way through the Ice Pack.” “No, no, muchacho, 1 know better,” answered Dolores, sadly. , ‘* You see that they will look on us coldly and perhaps drive me away from them with penne. Observe that Kalatoonah has rot come back as he promised. They have bribed him to ray on board and he has deserted us.” **Oh, nonsense, Dolores,’’ answered the boy, with all the impulsive warmth of extreme youth, **T) oy sha'n’t turn you away; I won't letthem. You shall stay with us all and we will take you back to Spain as soon as we have found father. I won't let them send youaway. Ilike you ever so much, Dolores.” “Do you, muchacho?” she repeated, in a wistful tone. “Well, you willsoon have an opportunity to shew if you ©, for your friends will be here. Let us go to them.’ hey entered their kayacks and paddled out into the dark swells of the North Water, where there was nothing but a gloomy sky wherever the eye rested. The ship was ome through the last brash ice and immediately fired its signal gun and hoisted a flag, as a signal that those on board etige ee ther. hey skimmed rapidly on over the waves, the south breeze carrying the ship at a rate that enabled its ily to overhaul them, and then came the first intimation from on board that Dolores was right in her conjectures. The face of Uncle Jabez looked over the quarter, and the old seaman shouted in a gruff voice: “Come on board, you young sinner, this minute, What are you doin’ cruisin’ about_in company with a heathen Jezebel in breeches? Come aboard this minute, and see what you'll get.” Reuben was so much astounded by this salutation that he hardly knew what to reply, and very nearly got under the cutwater of the Sarah Jane in his con- fusion. Asfor Dolores, she said nothing, but kept her light kayack dancing about on the waves till the ship had passed them both, when Reuben was left under the stern, close to her, as the Sarah Jane rushed Wy, “Paddle up into the teeth of the wind with me, muchacho, if you want to come with me,” said the girl, in a quiet tone. “Your friends are angry. What said the old mavinero ?” Reuben explained in Spanish that his uncle was angry with him. “And for being with me?’ she asked, keenly, as the ship went rushing away from them under the influence of the wind, sweeping round in a wide curve. at was obliged to own that she had divined y% lores compressed her lips with an expression of pain, but her eye flashed with some of its old fire, as she answered: “Yes. Had TI let you drownin the splitting berg where you followed me without being asked, it would have been all ie I have saved’ your life and they are angry. ell, good-by, muchicho, 1 had a am that is over. You l go to your friends.” $0 saying, she — mg right into the wind's eye toward the ice of the ddle Pac just as the Sarah Jane wore round and trimmed her sails to come back after the runaways. Reuben hesitated a moment and then paddled after her, calling out: “Do not go, Dolores, I will stay with you. I will not go back to them, if they do not take you on board too.” ~ Dolores smiled slightly and her face brightened u as she plied her dle, but she said not a word tit they were in the mouth of a-waterway, heading di- rectly south into the eye of the wind, and bordered by the rotten brash ice at the edge of the Pack. Then she turned and looked round. The Jane was close-hauled, heeling well over to port asshe rushed up toward them. She had already entered the loose ice around the waterway, and her bow was pointed in a direction to cut them off from the Pack. The ship was not more than fifty yards off, and it was clear that she would pass before them. The crew were clustered on the bows and looking curiously over at the kayacks, but the face of Uncle Jabez, red and angry as ever, hung over the lee-quarter, and Reuben could see his mother, his brother Jonathan and his cousin Kate, as the ship heeled over, all watching him anxiously. Present , the Sarah Jane came crashing out of the ice into the waterway not twenty feet from them, and Uncle Jabez roared: “Throw him a rope, the young sinner. Come aboard, I tell you.” “T won’t, till you promise not to hurt Dolores,’” shouted Reuben in reply, and then the rope fell on him as one of the sailors cast it with due skill over the kayack. Reuben threw it off impatiently, waited till the ship was almost on him, and then skimmed away under her quarter and out to windward, followin Dolores straight up the waterway into the heart o the Pack, where the birds and seals, frightened by the unusual sight of the ship, had already nearly dis- a > R Come back, you Young villain, or T'll send a boat after you,” shouted Uncle Jabez, shaking his fist at Reuben, as the Sarah Jane plunged helplessly into the brash in, before she could haul her wind; but. Reuben ed on straight up the lead after Do- res. Then the vessel tacked and came racing after them, going rapidly but still not b's enough for the kayacks, which continued to paddle straight into the wind’s eye. ' Uncle Jabez scemed to be aware of this, for just as he crossed tho waterway a second time, be drappe@ t —_ =
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The Lost Captain. 9, a whale-boat from his quarter, which pulled straight away after the runaways. ** Now, m 0, do your ” cried Dolores, as she paddled on; and Reuben o ed, so that the race me exciting. The whale-boat was well manned and pulled hard, so that the kayacks had all they could do to muain- tain the lead with which they had started—about a | hundred yards. After a little it became plain that the boat was gaining on them, and Reuben could hear the voice of his brother Jonathan shouting: **Come back, Rube, come back. It is I, Jonathan, and I want to speak to you.” But Reuben was too angry to listen. He stuck to his paddle, following Dolores, and presently saw the girl skim in toward theice, jump ona large floe, and set off at a run, dragging her kayack. He imitated her, reaching the ice when the whale- boat was not fifty yards behind him, and followed Mae heard the clatter of shippt J e e clatter o pping oars, and Jona- by po ag od i ne : ‘Follow him, boys en dollars to the man who catches him," ; _—. CHAPTER XI. DOLORES, Many hands make light work, and the crew of the whale-boat had no di ry A in hauling their craft upon the ice and sho it forward over the floe till they reached the next lead. But by so doing they gave up all their advantage, inasmuch as the kay- ackers could change from water to ice and vice versa five times as rapidly as the crew of the big boat. Before two leads had been crossed Jonathan saw that the chase was a ge Eg Re wegne rg Hg. the word to pull back to the ship, which was cruis- about near the edge of the Pack. © sooner was this the case than Dolores called Reuben’s attention to it. “Your friends are turning, muchacho. Now you can do as you please about returning to them. 3 they are pulling back to the ship.” re watched them a little while and then said himself: be They will come back again. They will not leave me. ““What say you now, seforito?’”” Dolores asked. He had relapsed into English, “TI said they would come back for me, See, there is another.” A second boat was seen to drop from the ship's side and pull up the lead in which they were. Reuben watehed it closely and began to tremble, “It is my mother,” said he. Dolores looked wistfully at the advancing boat and then any a strong effort observed: “Then you must go to her. I cannot keep you from her. Go, muchacho, go to your mother.’ Reuben trembled still more as he answered: “‘Not without you, Dolores. You have done too much for me. Let us wait till they come up. My mother will not be so unreasonable as the rest.” Dolores made no answer, but remained quiet in the lead, watching the coming whale-boat, which con- tained his mother in the stern-sheets and was steer- ve pe thin hailing dis d soon they were within tance an une Moar began to call out: “Reuben, my boy, what ails you? Will you not come back to us after all the misery you have gaused us? What makes you act so?” “T’m ready to come back at once, mother,” re- a the boy, resentfully, ‘‘but I'm not coming on oard to be abused by any one. I’ve been y Ae more to hunt up father than any of you." “ But that was all a mistake, Reuben. Your uncle was hurt the other day. Mr. Folger says that his ribs were broken, and ever since they have been get- ting better he has been terribly cross, Come on board with me, my son.” ‘But then there is my friend and preserver, Do- lores; she will be hurt or driven away,” objected Reuben. “I cannot come unless she properly a ell ate } 'y looked surprised and offended as she coldly: “T had oped, my boy, that you would not have had the assurance to mention such a brazen creature to me, your own mother.”’ Reuben flushed scarlet and glanced at Dolores. He felt very thankful that she did not understand English, for she kept looking from one to the other in a. uzzled sort of way as they spoke, ay well, mother,” he retorted. ‘I tell you that if I had, not found this lady, your ship would not be here now, and that without ine we shall ne- ver find father. If you don’t choose to take her aboard, I shall go on with her. We have crossed a Pack without the ship, and we can cross the sea, ph saying, he turned away, when his mother cried “Reuben, my boy, come with us and we will do anything to please you. I cannot do without you.” en the boy with a stroke of his paddle sént the gxayack close to the stern of the whale-boat, where his mother leaned out to clasp him in her arms, Like most boys of seventeen, Reuben was much averse to public ogee of affection, and he quickly extricated himself with the low remonstrance: “Don’t, mother! I’m allright. Speak to Dolores and treat her civilly.” Thus urged, the mother looked at Dolores Zu closer than she had hitherto done, as the girl sat in her kayack a little way off, regarding. them with a solemn, thoughtful expression of countenance. “Come here, Dolores, this is my mother,’. ex- plained Reuben, in Spanish, and the wild girl in- stantly glided to the boat, where she gravely saluted Mrs. Macy with her Spanis> “ Dios con usted, senora.” “What does she say, Reuben?” asked the mother, dly. She says ‘God be with you, madam,’” answered the boy. ‘* What shall I say to her from you?” “Tell her ’'m ve happy to see her, and that I hope she’ll come aboard to see her father Kala- toonah,” was the reply, with some reluctance. Reuben was shocked, “Her father! why, she treats him like a dog. She is a Spanish /ady of good blood, mother, and will be treated with respect or we shall lose her for good.” “Very well, my dear, do as you please,” said the mother, resignedly. ‘Ask this lady—though a very funny lady she is—to come on board and then we will sail away as quick as we can, for Mr. Folger says the season is past its hight already.” ‘ Ay, ay,” observed that worthy, who had main- tained a discreet silence during the colloquy between mother and son, but now thought it was time to put in his oar; Pe coy My ast midsummer, and we begins to have nights in August. Glad to see ye, Master Rube, and hope as how ye’ve heerd something about Cap. Macy. e found the channel jest as you writ about it and got through the Pack quicker’n I ever seen a ship goafore. If you bea ee you bids well to make a good one, Master Rube.” As they neared the ship Jonathan stood at the angway to receive them, but Uncle Jabez and te were not to be seen, having remained below in sulky humor. Now, however, all disagreeable things seemed to be banished by one consent, for Dolores was wel- comed on board with perfect peering Chay a kayack and that of Reuben placed on deck beside that of Kalatoonah, who lay fast asleep on the lee side of the galley during the whole of the troubles, havin gored himself repletion on the flesh of a s led by a shot from the Sarah Jane. Then the good ship wore round on her heel and stood off to the no under a cloud of studding- sails, alow and aloft, leaving the white wastes of the Middle Pack behind and plunging through the dark oo that hung over the waves of the great North ater. Dolores withdrew herself to the taffrail soon after she came aboard and remained gazing idly over the stern at the wip wake of the ship, Reuben was closely e d with his mother and Jonathan a little way off, answering questions as to his doings and discussing the probability of finding any traces of the crew of the Pride of Nantucket, so that the girl was entirely alone, and as usual gloomy in her oughts. The fogs and mists had settled in on them as soon as they reached the open sea, and the gloom of the sh ag was equaled by the gloom in her thoughts. lores was in a singular position, left all alone amid strangers of a strange tongue so early, and now @ second time cast among others, to whom even Danish and Hosky were unknown. She felt herself more alone than ever, and a few silent tears had stolen down her cheeks when she suddenly started as some one touched her shoulder. Looking round she saw Reuben, Jonathan and Mrs. Macy her kindly, when Reuben ad- her: = rey yl said the boy, in his best Spanish, “* my mother has s0 much of you that she requests beg rg Will you me to ies you her thanks an not join us in the cabin at dinner, and accept the use of a state-room and some dress more like that you ought to wear?” For the first time Dolores glanced down at her scanty imaux dress, fitting so Sony. without a vestige of skirt, and blushed scarlet. he senti- ment of civilized conventionalities, s0 long disused, returned to her in a moment as she looked appeal ingly at Mrs. wing avoiding Reuben’s glance. rs Macy saw the glance and understood it better than all the Spanish. She came to Dolores at once, and saying, “‘Come along, my dear,” carried her wnee low, where they were soon heard con- ve amicably, Mrs. Macy using broken English as loud as she could speak it, under the common de- lusion that such a method makesa language more intelligible to a foreigner, while Dolores was answer- ing with such few words of English as she had pick- up, eked out with Spanish. Jonathan and Reuben remained on deck with Fol- er, as the ship plowed on her way to the north fnro h the open water, and saw but little of the wild girl for the next three days—if days they could be ed where there came no night to end them. When next she appeared they could hardly recog- nize her, clothed as she was in the garb of a civilized woman, her dark hair tecoming Nee eee her face ve and demure, having lost that independent and defiant air which characterized her when she first sprung from her kayack, The effect of her appearance under the wing of the mother of the family was immediate and striking. Jonathan became shyer and more distant than be- fore, while Reuben waxed enthusiastic to his brother over the beauty of Dolores; Kate looked on in secret envy, and the mother was calmly satisfied with her work, As for Uncle Jabez, he bled no more af- ter he had once set eyes on Dolores in the dress of a Christian woman, but on the contrary began to tax his memory for all the Spanish egy he had picked up in the course of sea life, to converse with the sefiorita. Therefore there yet yt once more on the Sarah Jane, a peace that e their quest ever so much more pleasant, as they put degree after degree of latitude behind them. They arrived at the northern boundary of the open water in a few days more, and saw before them the great sweep of Humboldt Glacier, which stretches / eee ee ~ out a vast wilderness of ice, winter and summer, for a hundred and fifty miles. , an water; now for the trouble in earnest,” observed olger when they saw before them the ice- locked waters of Smith Sound. “Ef them as we're arter went through here, we'll have hard work fol- lerin’ them, but from the looks of things, I guess we're the first humans in these parts since the days of Franklin.” As if to give the lie to his assertion, the look-out hailed the deck: “Flag, oh! There’s a flag stuck in the ice atthe foot of the glacier, sir, and it’s moving.” CHAPTER XIV. THE LONELY PLAG. Tux sight of this lonely memento of civilized man in the midst of that howling wilderness produced a great effect on the ship’s company. They had been alone so long in the dark water and desolate ice that the feelings of all had become more or less gloomy, and this flag came to them likea visit from a friend long lost. True, no one but the look-out had seen it yet, but for all that, they believed it was there, and expected to see it as soon as they approached hear enough. Uncle Jabez, who had been growing better ever since they reached the open sea, came on deck at the sound of the look-out’s cry, and eagerly asked what was in sight. The boys were full of excitement and Mrs. Macy turned pale and murmured prayers and thanksgiv- ngs. Allfelt sure that this was some memento of the lost Pride of Nantucket, for no Polar expedition had been that way since the days of Hayes, ten years or more before. Even Kate, who had been unusually silent and glum since the formal establishment of the beautiful stranger asa member of the family, came on deck with the rest and watched as eagerly as any while 3 ship rapidly approached the sweep of Humboldt acier. The change from the dark waters and gloomy clouds of the North Water to the bright skies that hang over the ice in summer was already beginning, The whole of the horizon to the north, east and west was lighted up by the yellowish glare of the ice- blink, and they could see the outlines of the great fleets of bergs cruising about in the field ice before the sheer slope of the great glacier. The scene at Ome- nak’s Fiord was repeated with greater intensity of whiteness and desolation, and it seemed as if they —_ indeed reached the end of the habitable world at last. And yet there, sure enough, as the look-out had said, perched in the land-ice at the foot of the glacier, was a dark fluttering speck that they knew dicated a flag, All the glasses in the ship were in requisition, star- ing at this relic of humanity in the midst of a wilder- ness, and Dolores was the first to call their attention 2 _ fact that there was a hut made of timber pear e 2 This’ discovery intensified the interest, and Reu ben, full of enthusiasm, proposed that he and Do- lores should take their canoes and go to explore the mysterious waif. o objection was made to this, save that Jonathan insisted on manning a doat to accompany them, and soon after the Sarah Jane had tied up to the solid land-ice A ere an ice-anchor, a keen race was going on between the whale-boat and the canoes, which should be the first to reach the flag, only at- tainable by crossing several loose floes intersected with leads and water-holes, all moving south under the surface current out of Smith Sound. As usual in such cases the kayacks were ahead, and Dolores, who had resumed her convenient if un feminine garments, was the first to reach the lonely hut and flagstaff. Desolate enough it proved to be. A small hut, built of timber that bad evidently come from the skeleton of a ship, lay before the empty of all save a few rough articles of furnitmre o the same materials. There was a fireplace of ; .onea at the back, with a chimney, now choked up by the snow and ice, which had drifted in, melted and —— again, since the fire had gone out—how long nee Reuben came up and examined the place in si- lence and disappointment. What was left of the flag was evidently not an American ensign, for the colora, as far as he could tell in the faded state of the bunting, were not the same. Thestaff bore only a few fluttering rags, of which — seemed to be a brownish red, and part a ow. hile he was puzzling over what this could be, Jonathan came up, accompanied by Folger; and the mate examined the <a a critical eye, taking the rags of bunting in his fingers, feeling the texture of the stuff, and evensnuffing at it, as if to find some- — that way. the time Dolores had been in the cabin itself, rummaging about, and presently they heard her ut- han w+ apa me they found the gir! stari wild as in, they found the ng - eyed at arude table made of planks, that lay, half- destroyed, in the middle of the cabin, Some one in former times had taken an ax to split up this tabl probably for firewood, as the charred remnants o the om? lay in the fireplace, frozen up in a heap of snow-ice. But what the girl was staring at was something in the table itself, rude letters cut in the plank. As they catered Dolores povans to mnie Ps Sees Sr. Sats m by the arm an him to,the table, where she pointed with trembling hands a@ the letters. 4 “Tell me what you see,” she panted rather than
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i ; ( ug! ee ee Ce ho f | 1 — ~ “Tell me if Iam mad or dreaming, mucha- ? Icannot believeit. What does it say?’’ Reuben eagerly inspected the letters, while a crowd of curious gazers were looking over his shoulders. : ‘There is an A, a Y, then D, E, and then the let- ter M,”’ he said, at last.“ They are on one line.” ** And what is this?” she asked, in the same hanesy tone, putting another piece of board by the table, where it filled the cavity. “That is the letter replied Reuben, wonder- ingl . “What of it?” dan younotsee? Are you blind?” she screamed, excitedly. ‘‘ What does it spell? Read it aloud.’’ Thus adjured, Reuben looked again, and then start- ed as the real significance of the letters flashed on his mind. “‘Boys,” he cried out, excited in his turn; “a Spaniard has lived here, for this reads ‘ Ay de mi !’ or ‘Woe is me!’ No one but a Spaniard would have carved those letters.”’ ** Oh, Dios, es mi padre!’’ cried Dolores, clasping herhands. “Jt ig my father, and he has been here! No one else could have done it. Oh, Mother of God, how I thank thee! He was not killed by the sea. He is alive. I shall see him.” And the eos girl began to laugh and cry in a breath, as she gener at the mute evidences of what she was determined to believe to be her father, with- out reflecting that any other member of his crew m ve re e same. ight have carved th **Do not be toosure, sejiorita,”” observed Reuben. “T should not like youto be disappointed.”’ ** Disappointed !”’ she echoed, scornfully. ‘‘ Where could another Spaniard come from in these soli- tudes? The men of the ship were all Basques, and very few could write their names, This is my fa- ther, and he is alive. Hunt now; hunt hard all of you, and we will find where he has gone and how he went. He is not dead, or his body would be here.”’ There was so much reason in what she said, when Reuben translated it, that Folger remarked: “That gal ain’tno fool, Ifit de her pa, we'll find more marks of it round here. Hunt, boys.” The whole party, sailors and all, ransacked the cabin thoroughly after this admonition, dug the snow and ice out of the fireplace, and brought out every piece of furniture to look for more carving. Dolores soon found new evidence that her father a hae there in the initials of his name, ‘'G. P. **Gonzale Pedro Maria Zuniga,” she exclaimed, joyfully. ‘There, sefiores, who can doubt now? It was he, and he has been here. I see it all. He was not drowned, but escaped to the ice-pack and tra- versed it as we did. He made his way to the North Water, and either some Esquimaux brought him here, or he built a raft and sailed.”’ “But what made him come this way, I wonder?” asked Jonathan, innocently. “I should have pan he would have tried to go to the south to get home.’ have J stayed here, sefior?” asked the girl, m . “Because I thought I was all alone in the world, and hardly cared to live. So with him, no doubt. Bethink you that at one sweep he lost wife children and all he held dear, and found him- self alone in the world, He cared not much whither he went. As well here as anywhere.” “ Perhaps so,”’ assented Jonathan, in a thoughtful tone; and then they heard a joyful shout from Fol- ger, who had been most active among the searchers. “Hey, boys!” roared the mate, gleefully. ‘‘ Here she blows! Here’s old Nantuck fur ye at last, and none of yer Spanish lingo. Look ahere!”’ The voice came from the foot of the glacier, and Folger came toward them, carrying something that looked like a pair of old trowsers, which indeed it was, An ancient and dilapidated r of canvas con- tinuations with a square patch in the seat he held up vs Bet ick ‘These is Ben ett’s old pants, or may I never draw another live breath, boys, I know that patch as wellasI knows my grandma, Ben’s be’n a-rout- in’ round these rocks, and he’s had these old over- alls on 'bove his cloth past ‘cause he was allers — neat; and the boys be’n a-gibin’ him hat sassy he throw’d these here old pants there, to be shet on ’em fur good; or else some of the boys stole em and put ’em there for deviltry. Boys, the ay a a here, and took that S off, you Indeed it seemed likely that the mate’s suggestion was true, for further search disclosed the remains of an oil cask that had been splitup for firewood, and - broken oar-blade, stam, with the letters ‘'P. of Then it became certain to the minds of all that the lost ship had been that wate had landed a pany at the hut and had probably taken away the hermit of the glacier, if he had been alive at that time. With these discoveries they were forced to be con- tent and returned to the ship, where the news pro- duced much excitement, Uncle Jabez resumed active command from that moment and seemed to recover his spirits very ckly, for the doctor at Upernavik told him t his injuries were not serious, the ribs having united under the influence of generous diet and a gece. constitution before the Sarah Jane had cleared e k ice, so that there was nothing but the weakness common to advanced age to der his rapid and complete ponowary. e old sailor at once ordered the ship’s head to be cast out to sea and cruised along the edge of the looking for an opening, while the look-out was relieved every hour to insure a ant watch. z y fo however, here at the entrance of Smith ' Sound an obstacle with which they had not to contend at Omenak's Fiord, The Lost Captain The current at the latter place had set the ice- bergs to the north, thus advanc them on their way, while at Smith’s Sound the flow was decided and steady from the north. Great fleets of be and floes, miles in extent, were coming down solemn procession into the North Water, going at the rate of two or three miles an hour, During the period that they were tied up to the land ice these fields had advanced some little dis- tance into the North Water, and as far as they could see to the north the view revealed nothing but one interminable field of ice studded with bergs of the largest size, CHAPTER XV. THE EARTHQUAKE, Reveen had gone up into the “‘ crow’s-nest,” as the look-out station on an Arctic ship is christened. It was not the first time he had been there, and his companion was Folger, the mate, both being pro- vided with good glasses, : The ‘‘crow’s-nest”’ is always rigged up in Arctic vessels as soon as the ice comes in sight. A good look-out is indispensable if water-holes and leads are to be found, and the cold at such a lofty station makes some protection for the watcher imperatively necessary. The “‘crow’s-nest” on the Sarah Jane was lined with thick felt and well provided with buffalo-robes in which the look-out could swathe his limbs while he held his weary watch. This day, however, the furs were not necessary, for the temperature was quite comfortable, never reaching freezing point un- er the constant round of sunshine, fomet had been scanning the distant ice proces- sion for some time in silence, when Reuben said: “Well, what do you think of it?” “I’m afeard there ain’t much chance for us this year,” replied the mate, ina grave tone, “I never seen the ice so open as it was in the Middle Pack, but this here seems to be thicker’n common. There ain’t so much as a single lead ’cept at the outside, veer the floes has got bruck off, scrapin’ along the acier. 7 “Then whatin your opinion will be our prospects?” asked Reuben. ‘I'm thinking, Master Rube, that this ice will keep on a-coming for the next six weeks, which will bring us into September, and by that time it will begin to freeze up again and we'll have to go into winter- ri wait till next spring—if we ever git out,’ “But what makes the ice come in_ from the north?’ asked Reuben, thoughtfully. ‘‘It must be warm up there, or it would not break up.” “That’s so, that’s so. I don’t know how "tis, but I know it’s so. There’s allers be’n a current runnin’ out of this sound, and where it comes from no one kin tell.” **T think I know, Folger.” ; “You! Dutell! Waal, and where do you think it comes from?” **You know the Japan current?” “You bet Ido. Many’s the time I’ve seen it in the Pacific. "Tis as hot as the Gulf Stream only ten times as broad.” ** Where does it go, Folger?” “Tt sweeps up from Japan along the coast of Chaney, crosses over to Ameriky, and goes up through Behring’s Straits. I’ve be’n there arter whales afore now.”’ ** And what becomes of it then?” Nea tego on and ator washing th y sho go on, and after G) islands on the north coast of America come down here by Smith’s Sound? Why not?” “Waal,” returned the mate, in a doubtful tone; “it mou’t be so, and I ain’t sayin’ ’tain’t, but all t knows is this: no man’s be’n there yet to find out.” “Why do you say that, Folger? Are we not look- ing for such a man now? He must have passed rouge here, or we should find the remains of hiS ship.’ fr That's so again, brit for all that, we may have to wait another year afore we git through this ict. oom years is better than others for ice, you ow.’ **We shall never have a better year than this, Fol- ger. Now I’m going to propose something and I want you to help me with Uncle Jabez. I’m going to take Kalatoonah and travel over that pack to the north to find an opening. We can go where the ship can’t follow and we can find out whether there’s any chance—”’ Reuben had got thus far, when he stop sudden- ly and gazed on Folger, pale and startled. The mate returned the look with equal amaze- ment, and clutched at the side of the crow’s-nest with both hands, dropping his glass. They were out in open water, skirting the flelds of ice, and yet the ship was trembling and groaning, her stout timbers quivering from stem to stern wi a succession of jerking shocks, as if they had just poter fl on @ rock and were scraping and grinding over This strange motion increased every moment, while the wind died away and the sails flapped noisi t the masts. 4 Wha: is it, Folger?’ asked the boy, hurriedly. “TI don’t—don’t know. Hold on for your life,” an- swered the mate, as pale as a ghost; and then they heard cries on the deck below, with the hurried rush of feet, that showed the panic was spreading. What had happened no one could tell. The trem- bling, jerking motion went on, and Reuben, looking over the side of the crow’s-nest, saw the sea in vio- lent commotion, little chopping waves wrin up the whole surface covering the water with white foam, as if the water were boiling. ee Then they saw a huge green wave come rolling toward them from the open sea, and the quiverin; of the ship’s timbers ceased. They heard Uncle Jabez yelling to the helmsman to “‘ meet her quick!”’ and then away went the ship on the summit of the smooth wave, tossed about like a feather and driv- ce toward the ice, which lay about a mile off. ut along with the wave came a great gust of wind from the south, and Uncle Jabez,never ata loss for a seaman’s shifts, called his demoralized crew to the braces and trimmed his sails to escape the imminent danger, while the great wave was seen to pass bodily through the midst of theice pack, tossing che great bergs aside as easily as it had toss- ed ane ship, and breaking the floes like so much thin glass. Before they had time to notice the result of this commotion,the trembling and quivering began again, and once more everybody in the ship stood pale- ig holding on to the nearest support to avoid a “What can it be, Folger?” again asked Reuben, who was turning sick at the stomach from this ter- si — ‘, . ow now,” was the half-whispered reply. “The wave told me that. It’s an arthquake, Master Rube. The Lord be merciful to us all.’ An earthquake! But the trembling and jerking still went on with- out cessation, and no new wave came to threaten them. After a little of it, the crew of the Sarah Jane, finding that no ill effects followed the motion, began to look about them at the land and ice, to see how the eae was treating the more solid frame of the globe, Reuben uttered a cry of amazement and pointed at the face of the great glacier. It was all crackeil and piled up inirregular mountains of ice, with blacic rocks between them, and in more than one place a rushing stream of water was pouring down therocks into the sea. Then came a series of jerks and shocks each more violent than the last, and loud explosions were heard far to the north in the ice, while dark clouds began to rise from thence, hiding the ice-blink and y. 4 the sun from sight. As soon as this happened, the darkness rapidly creased, and became so great that Reuben and Fol- ger could see nothing aroundthem. The outlines of the fore and mizzen-masts had vanished, while asea of warm wet mist went surging past the crow’s nest in dense clouds, impelled by gusts of air that felt quite warm, Then they heard a low distant rumble that rapidly increased till it became unmistakable thunder, ae- companied by the red flashes of equally unmistak- able lightning. “Waal, I swow,” cried Folger, in a tone of great wonder, “ thunder I never yet heard in these lati- tudes, but that’s it, sureenough. Master Rube, say your prayers, for the end of the world’s coming, sure. Reuben made no answer. He was watching and listening. Presently he started violently. A dim figure had climbed up to the crow’s nest and was getting over the edge. ** Who's that?” he cried, recoilin ** No tenga miedo muchacho,” rer “Be not afraid, my boy. ItisL” The strange surroundings, the gloom and the un natural look of everything were beginning to have their effect on the ee of the boy, Reuben was beginning to tremble, Bolores noticed it asshe peered into his face in the dark mist, and she turned to Folger, pointing down to the deck. “Go,” she said, In her broken English. ‘Dey wat oe down dere, Capitano’esay so. Go.” “ All right, miss,”’ replied the sailor, heartily. “Ef you say Cap. Coffin wants me, I’m agreeable; for sich a devil's dance as this I never seen afore, and I won't be sorry to be on deck ne So saying, the worthy mate felt his way down the , where he found everything buried in dark. ness, as much thicker as it was wpin the crow’s nest as it was possible to conceive. e little gusts of wind that he had noticed aloftwere not to be felt on deck, and the vessel was drifting blindly about in a dense sea of dark mist, with her only consolation in the supposed set of the current out to the open ied a soft voica sea. The fembling. cf the water was becoming less violent, momentarily, but the roar of the thunder was fast increasing, and altogether they seemed to be quite powerless amid the war of the elements, CHAPTER XVI. THE BOILING SBA, Ir was at least twelve hours before the shocks which had been agitating sea and land around the Sarah Jane subsided into comparative quiet, and the a lay rocking on a heavy ground swell in the midst of the same warm fog that had saluted them since the earthquake began. The darkness had not diminished; it was, if any- thing, thicker than before; but the thunder an«d lightning had died away into quietness, and not a breath of air was stirring. anc ge ss had hee Higher, ating a e, where the lamps n 00 at and a Mrs. Ma the compass with Fo em, for an instinct of pe and Kate were near seemed to driye every one on deck, just as the dry- land people rush into the open air during an can uake. All re the peril they were passing through, and it was its very rarity in those latitudes that made it the more eppeling. So great was the terror and the consequent selfishness engendered, se even res ma ped forgotten to remark the absence o uben, while res had not been missed from the deck.
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- The Lost Captain. 43 Uncle Jabez looked haggard and anxious as he the compass, The needle was wandering to and froin a capricious, unsteady way that showed them the ship was drifting at the mercy of variable currents. Sometimes it would sw slowly all round the compass bowl, indicating that an eddy was turning the ship helplessly round; at other times it shifted back and forth, a point at a time, showing that she was drifting in a serpentine course. “Tf we could only git steerageway on her, I wouldn’t mind so much, Zeke,’ observed the old man, to his first officer, ** but I’m blamed ef I kin tell where she’s goin’ now.” “S’pose we give her a heave of the lead, Cap,” observed the mate. “I ain’t much afeared but Ms mad we’re in good water, but these currents is risky ings,”’ The leadsman obeyed the order that sent him into the chains, and the a twenty-eight pound ingot of lead, armed with its tallow at the end, plunged sullenly into the sea. eS five seconds elapsed before the man called out: “Bottom, sir. Hold the lantern.” tS ss Jabez started violently as the report came ck: “By the mark, seven.” They were in seven fathoms only of water, and their last soundings had been in ninety-four. “Tt’s the Mader | ace Cap,” whispered the mate, confidentially. “‘Don’t skeer the wimmin folks. The crust of the ’arth has riz and I’ve knowed it to sink again. We're in the Lord’s hands, Cap.” “Ay, ay,”’ observed the oid sailor, gravely; “* you say true, Zek’l. He knows whar we're going, ef we don’t. Lord help us all and keep us from harm.” The lead was brought on board and they examined the end, which was covered with coarse sand and shells. Folger looked at it curiously and then passed his hand along the wet line, sweeping off some of the sea-water. Look ahere, Cap,” he said, in a tone of interest. “ Here’s a curious thing. Feel this line.” Uncle Jabez mechanically imitated the mate’s ex- ample and uttered a short exclamation of wonder: ** Ti's warm!” Folger nodded and went down to the cabin from whence he soon returned with a long thermometer fastened to a fish-line. He held it close to the binnacle lamp and read out the > bee xty-eight degrees, Cap, and we was down at forty-two this morning. Let’s see what she says in the water.” He let down the instrument over the side of the ship, when Mrs. Macy, who had been sitting on the taffrail in a sort of dreamy state of terror, came for- ward and asked: “What is it, Jabez? What have youfound? Any new danger?’ ‘Nothin’ to be skeered on, Sally. Nothin’ but warm water. Whar’s Rube now? Young f’losofy ought to be able to tell us about this.” The old sailor tried to put on a cheerful air, but it wes forced. His own philosophy was giving way under his strange surroundings. Presently Folger pulled in the thermometer and uttered a cry of surprise, for the instrument nearly scalded his fingers. “A hundred and fifty-seven, by the holy poker!” Hes my “Why, Cap, the water’s a’most a- n While they were yet in the full flush of excitement consequent on this discovery, Reuben came slowly down the rigging, followed by Dolores, and the first words he uttered were addressed to his uncle. “Uncle Jabez,” he cried, “‘I’ve found out what’s the matter. It’sno miracle at all. We shall be in — open sea in twelve hours, or I am much mis- en, QHAPTER XVII. AWAY NORTH. Revsen looked tired and haggard from the un- usual strain on his boyish nerves, but there was a triumphant light in his eye. ‘ “I’ve found out what's the matter, uncle, There’s @ volcano in eruption near us.” “A what?” asked the old sailor. ‘‘ Who ever heard of volcanoes in these parts? Why, the ice would freeze ’em out.” ““ Why, uncle, did you never hear of Mount Hecla in Iceland?” asked the boy, Steg, roel “Don’t you know that tho Fox Islands in ‘’s Straits are all extinct volcanoes? The wonder is that I ne- ver thought of it before. It explains everything. The volcano has made an earthquake, and the earth- quake made the wave. Don’t you remember the great earthquake at Arica in South America? The crust of the earth sunk and a great wave came tear- ing ships from their anchors and carrying one American frigate three miles inland. Then the crust rose again and the wave went back, leaving the ship high and dry ina forest. This acts just the game way, uncle.” : * Waal,” replied the old captain, cautiously, “you may be right and you may be wrong. L’arnin’s a reat thing, Rube, but all we kin do, with all our farnin’, is to — = sun comes out again.’’ So they waited for the sun. It was & long time coming. Hour after hour stole by and no change was visible. The anchor was dropped to prevent any dangers in aries the sails were handed and furled, and there lay the the midst of the hot sea, all swathed in vapor. They soon found, from the way in which she rode to her anchor, that the eurrent was coming pretty steadily from the ues, Oe as time went on and they cast the thermometer in n and the mercury indicated a rapid fall of temperature. ship in: From being a hundred and sixty at one time, it sunk to a hundred in about four ho and then re- mained statio for another four, when it sunk all on a sudden in fifteen minutes to seventy degrees, where it again stopped. This increase of cold was soon perceptible in the air. Those who had been stripping off their outer clothes and walking aboutin_ shirt-sleeves began to put on their jackets again, while the mist condensed and came dripping down in streams from every yard and rope overhead. The darkness grew thicker and thicker as the tem- perature fell, and the mist turned into regular tor- rents of rain, quite warm, which washed their decks thoroughly. Then came a low sighing murmur in the rigging, and Folger remarked: *“*Here comes the wind at last. Now if we only could see a little, we'd be all right.” As if in answer to his prayer, a dull red globe made its appearance in the fog overhead, and a shout of joy went up as the belated sailors recog- nized the sun at last. It was but a sickly sun to be sure, and it vanished almost immediately as fresh clouds of vapor wc across it; but it was the sun, and they had seen it. The rapid sweep of the clouds over its face showed them that there was wind aloft, and very soon it was felt on deck, and seen, too, as it drove the fog wildly over the heaving swell, pereetng through the rigging. As the wind rose, the light also rose. The c fog changed to dark y, then to light gray, and finally to white, while the red globe of the sun made itself visible again and again, till it shone uninter- ce, through the white waves of Ves nner and thinner grew the haze, till they could see the heave of the waves for several hundred ards round the vessel, and then came a loud whist- g inthe rigging asthe breeze became a smart gale, when the fog rolled away to the south in a great cloud, revealing to the astonished watchers the blue sky, the bright sun, and a wonderful panorama all round them. A simultaneous cry of wonder burst from every one on deck. When the mist closed in on them, after the earth- quake about sixteen hours before, the whole north- ern horizon was full of field-ice and bergs starti from the grand sweep of Humboldt Glacier, an barring their way as with a wall of iron. Now, what a change! The field-ice had vanished, and a great expanse of black water stretched out to the north, studded with icebergs, not one of which seemed to be at rest. Wherever they looked the great ice-mountains were toppling over and over in the water, sinking first on one side and then on the other, each bathed in a lu- minous halo of condensing vapor, as the mist of the warm water met their cold surfaces. The great smooth sweep of the glacier had van- ished, to be replaced by rugged masses of ice, al- ternated with long stretches of black rock, and here and there the line of the coast seemed to have been raised into swells, while at other points it had sunk into valleys, down which torrents of turbid wa- ter were rushing to the sea. The change was sosudden and vast, that, although something of the kind had been looked for, the ac- tual fact took them by surprise. Folger was the first to comment on the change in a manner that showed practical sense. “*Cap.,”” he said, briskly, ‘the Sound’s open and we're safe in seven fathoms of water. "Tain’t for me to say what’s to be done, but I'll jest ax—have you any orders for me?”’ Uncle Jabez smiled. * All hands up anchor and make sail, Mr. Folger,” he said, ina cheerful tone, ‘‘ Keep the lead going, and stand on as far as the ice will let us.” Hardly were the words out of his mouth, when the stentorian voice of the mate started the cry: ‘‘Allhands! All hands up anchor, and make sail! Man the capstan bars, there! Lively, boys, lively! Stand by to go aloft! *Way aloft!” The change from silence and expectation to bustle and activity was immediate under the influence of his ing ag voice, and within haif an hour the Sarah Jane was bar me rapidly through the open water of Smith’s Sound, tacking among the ee: pe: ra brn making her way at the rate of seven or eight knots an hour to the north. heir are ress was by no means unattended by ril. ne field ice had vanished but the bergs were n unusual profusion, and these monsters of the pene were constantly rocking to and fro, raisin quitea heavy sea as they careered before the fres north wind. The temperature of the water rapidly fell as they advanced into the vicinity of these masses Of ice till it reached the normal temperature of the Arctic Ocean in summer, only a few degrees above freezi oint and still the ship pressed on under the bright rays of the summer sun of the Pole, that never sets till it disappears for six months, Hour after hour they pressed on and still the bergs grew thicker and thicker, while the ominous ice-blink made its appearance once more on the northern horizon, The sweep of Humboldt glacier began to show it- self on the right hand whenever their course carried them in that direction near the land, and they began to realize that the center of the volcanic action, pow- erful as it had been, had after all produced but a small effect on the vast masses of ice that gird the Pole with their rigid zone. The lead, however, revealed one encouraging fact. The water was ye ga fast as they advanced and they ceased to feel their way by its use after they attained a minimum of a hundred fathoms. The chronometers showed them that they had been along in this way for forty-eight 2 hours, and Folger had just bees working out tho > ee by dead-reckoning, showing that they attained the unprecedented north latitude of eighty-four degrees when they began to see small lumps of field-ice floating in the water. The texture of these waifs was soft and . water-soaked and rotten to the touch, and they parted in small f ents as the ship sped on, but none the less they increased in number and size as the Sarah Jane advanced, till a great fide made its appearance holding several bergsin its embrace and bordered with some half a mile of brash ice through which the waves undulated with an oily swell. ‘*We ain’t out of the ice yet, Cap,” observed Fol- ger, thoughtfully, when he saw this. “‘That ‘arth- quake gave us quite a lift, but it ain’t killed the ico by a good deal.” Uncle Jabez, who had been pacing the quarter- deck full of hope and cheerfulness all the time they were beating up the Sound, looked at the ice and then at the ey. “We've come this far safe, Zek’l,”” he observed, brightly, “and we’re going through if the Lord lets us. Iain’t going back now tillI hears or sees some- thing of Jon’than.” 4 t’s right, Cap,” responded the mate, heartily. “I’m with ye all the time, but I don’t put so much faithin the volcano as the rest of ye seem to do That’sall. Look at the blink,” He pointed ahead where the bright yellow glare of the ice-blink covered all the horizon, while a line of white peaks gleaming in the sun was slowly rising from the bosom of the sea, stretched right across their path. 4 “That don't look much like goin’ further, Cap,” he observed. ‘That's land, and land that no white man has ever visited, I guess.” “Well, then, we shall be the first to see it, Zek’l, and we'll name it ‘Mac Land,’ arter Jon’than. How’s that, shipmate? Old Nantuck will be ahead of all their fine scientific expeditions then.” “Waal, Cap, as for that | wouldn’t keer so much about diskiverin strange lands as I would to see Cap Macy onst more alive and hearty, and that’s what I fear we'll never do. We've goy up here this far, but as for gettin’ back again, we won't do that this year; you mark my words about that.”’ And Folger went forward to look after the men and con the ship through the now rapidly-increasing ice. As the mate had predicted, their troubles were by no means over. Not only was the floating ice thick- er, but the temperature of the air had fallen and — mr falling, while the character of the ice had changed. That which they came on now was hard and firm and the leads were few and not so wide as formerly. The white peaks on the horizon rose rapidly in view, disclosing themselves as a chain of mountains covered with glaciers which stretched down into a wilderness of field-ice studded with bergs, and the Sarah Jane was at last compelled to lower her sails and bring up at the edge of this vast field, plantin, an ice-anchor for security, and faced by the unwel- come fact thatsome ten miles of solid land-ice lay between them and any further progrens. The wind came down over this white waste with piercing chill and the contrast between their present and past condition made the temperature doubly se- vere on them, The thermometer marked only fifteen degrees above zero in the shade, rising to twenty-eight in the full rays of the sun, and they began to realize the influence that a mass of land always has on the weather as contrasted with the equability of open sea. The anchorage of the Sarah Jane after her long run through the open channel had its effect on her passengers. Mrs. Macy had gone below to watch over Reuben who had fallen into a deep sleep after the earthquake shocks, and saw that the boy was stirring as the cold increased. Pretty soon he woke up and stared around him, asking where they were. His mother noticed that he looked unusu bright and healthy, and had evidently forgotten about the terrible scenes attending the volcanic eruption and earthquake, for the first question he asked after the usual “Where are we now?” was whether the ice was opening yet. Dolores, who also had been hidden in her state- room as long as the ship was gliding smoothly along made her appearance the cabin just as Reuben insisted on coming on deck, and_Kate Macy followed the rest into the open air, keeping away from the Spanish girl, who seemed to have resumed her close equi maux dress for good now. mrxy, As there was clearly nothing to be done for some hours in getting the —_ forward, the whole com- pany fortified their spirits with a hot breakfast, the rst regular meal taken since the Sarah Jane first brought up in front of Humboldt Glacier. They had passed entirely out of sight of this monument of the frost b Gat time, and all to the south-east, south and south-west was stil] open wa- ter, over which the dark mists hung, while the icc and ice-blink lay like a bright wall barring their fur- ther p ss to the north. After breakf they got up the anchor, stood ont to a“ and began to run along the icy coast to the east. It was under Folger's advice that this move was made, for as the mate very sensibly said: “If we can’t git through one way, we kin another, and this here land don’t go all round the world. It’s an island of some kind, if a big one.” Reuben, who seemed to have recovered all his old spirits and energy, was full of enthusiasm as they coasted the shores of this unknown land. As Uncle Jabez had suggested, it was christened Macy Island, while the most prominent peak in sight received the Baw 74 .
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f oo ae ee - — 12 name of Mount Coffin in honor of the captain him- self. As for Folger, he was rewarded for his ser- ices in the cause of science by the honor of giving a name to the first projection of the coast, and Reu- ben plotted out Cape olger on the chart in latitude 84° 30’ north, longitude 73° 47’ west from Greenwich. With the resumption of movement in the ship the spirits of all rose, and so they dashed along to the east under a nipping northern breeze, the sea cov- ered with fragments of land ice broken off by the action of the water, but with no serious impediment to their progress. Reuben was full of enthusiasm at the actual cer- tainty that they were traversing new and unknown lands; Jonathan and his mother were cheered by the thought that they were approaching the spot where father and husband were to be found; and Dolores watched the coast with eager eyes, as if ex- ecting at every turn to see some mark of the pres- ence of one whom she had mourned as dead for eight long years. _Even Uncle Jabez was bitten with the prevailing fever of discovery and adventure, for there was something peculiarly fascinating in the way they were cruising about in these waters, never before traversed, so far ag they knew, by civilized man, if, indeed, the Pride of Nantucket had ever got so far uninjured, Kate Macy alone looked gloomy, and that was easily explained by the fact that her cousins were too much preoccupied to notice and spoil her as usual. So they sailed along, skirting the unknown shores of Macy Land, till a dark cloud made its appearance hed a the eastern horizon, and Folger joyfully cried: “The water sky again! We kin git through! By the hely poker, it seems as if there were an open Polar Sea, arter all, Cap.”’ The ery attracted the attention of all on deck, and a crowded to the bows looking ahead. There they could see a low, dark bank of clouds; the well-known and welcome “ water sky ’’ stretch- ing up from the open sea to the south right across their pest about ten miles ahead and hanging black pehind the sharply-defined peak of a lofty mountain ‘sapped with ice. ehind this dark cloud they could see half-vailed hy the mist atits foot the faint outlines of another peak, how far away they could not tell, but that it was far higher than the one in full view they could easily see. The water-clouds were then the har- bingers of a strait. CHAPTER XVIIL THE UNKNOWN LAND. Yrs; there was no doubt that a strait lay before them, dividing the icy peaks of Macy Land from the still more lofty summits of another country, equally own, As they swept along under the bright, never-ceas- ing su ht, every glass in the ship was eagerly tiurned to the shore, searching for signs of human or animal nature, but allin vain. The land rose up in precipitous bluffs of gray rock, so sheer in many places that neither snow nor ice could cling to them; and from these bluffs rose again lofty conical Pee of volcanic outline, ands in dazzling cones of snow and ice, glittering so brightly that the eye could not bear the sight. Not a shrub or tree, not a shred of moss, was to be seen anywhere. Gray and black rocks and white snow united to form an unrelieved panorama of esolation, where there was ncither bird nor beast break the monotony of white. The gulls and auks, the seals and divers, the bears and walruses that had enlivened the borders of the Middle Ice, seemed all to have vanished; and not a fish jum out of the dark waters that washed the ice-bound shore, They had seen multitudes of dead fish, seals and walruses in coming up Smith Sound, but that sight had been easily explained. The terrible volcanic whee and sudden beat- ing of the water had killed evén the whales there, and no one had wondered at it, But here it was pretty clear that the convulsions of nature had not disturbed the perpetual mono- tony of the ice kingdom, and the absence of animal ‘fe was not 80 easily accounted for. It produced a depressing effect on Folger in par- ticular, who observed thoughtfully to Reuben: “Tt don’t look asif any human critters as got here could find much to live on, does it? I’m afeared mis hain’t much chance of findin’ the Pride’s people ive, Reuben was searching the dark cloud-bank with the glass as the mate spoke, and he laid down the telescope to reply: ‘“*We're only on one side of the land yet, Folger. ‘Who knows what’s on the other side? I have a theory that we shall find living creatures as soon as we get into thet dark water. It must be warmer bee rk, or there would not beso much vapor rising m it, Uncle Jabez heard the remark and addressed his nephew with a respect that had been growing ever since the boy had returned to them, The fact was that so many sirange things had happened iatcly that the old sailor's experience was wie at fault, and he began to turn to Rube's “ l’arn- \” for a possible explanation. “Waal, young; f'losofy,” he observed; “tell us whet your theory, age on eall it, may be. It’s as rood as anything in these latitudes, ‘cause no one rin con ct you,” Reuben reddened a little and replied: ** It’s only a theory, and we shall soon find if it’s vorrect; but I have a suspicion that we have reach- od the Open Polar Sea which Hayes fancied he saw 41 his last expedition. This land in front of us is ‘ The Lost Captain. ice clings to it.” “But if it’s land, why ain’t there any livin’ cree- tur’s?” asked Uncle J abez, obstinately. ‘‘There’s be’n seals and gulls everywhar else.” “We are on the south side of the land,” said Reu- ben, quietly. “ Look at the shadow, uncle. It falls toward us and the sun is on the other side of the mountains. Weare on the night side of the earth, and this face of the hills gets only half as much sun o ne other orIam much mistaken. However, we a > F Down from the crow's-nest came a long Lake cry, interrupting the goleany. It was the well- known signal, dear to the whaler: ‘THERE SHE BLOWS !”* Uncle Jabez started like a war-horse at the sound of the trumpet, and shouted back: “Where away?” “Dead ahead, sir,’ was the prompt reply. “A whole school of ’em in the fog.” A general rush to the rail to see, and there were the little white jets of spray at the edge of the dark water-clouds, toward which the Sarah Jane was dashing at the rate of eight knots an hour, with all sail set and the wind abeam. All was again joyful excitement at the prospect of areturn to animated Nature after the sterile mo- notony of the cliffs of Macy Land. The whales were in plain sight, not three miles off, and seemed to be in very large numbers, spouting and leaping as if at ay. Behind them were the dark mists of the water- clouds, and away into the sky for a background tow- ered the great icy peak which had first attracted their attention, n went the Sarah Jane through that unknown and mysterious sea, and at last began to turn the shoulder of the last cape of Macy Land, revealing the fact that they were coming to a strait of open water of very remarkable width. Mage pee the hight of the peak on the other side, they had judged the ppening to be at the ut- most four or five miles wide, but the further they sailed round the end of Macy Land the wider seem- ed the expanse of open water, till the conviction forced itself on their minds that they were entering a channel at least as wide as the Straits of Dover— say twenty-five miles—and that the peak they saw must be one of the tallest mountains in the world. Reuben, who was nothing if not scientific, brought out his sextant and took its altitude ag they went along, every two minutes, making a rough calcula- tion as he went, and estimating it at thirty-five thousand feet. ‘*Six thousand more than the biggest of the Himalayas, uncle,” he said, “if I haven’t made a mistake in my figures, and as big as the biggest, anyhow. What shall we call it?” “Call eet Monte Katrina,” said a soft voice at his elbow, and there stood Dolores, gazing at the moun- tain withasmile. ‘She eez leetel, but she is goot. Shall ve not call it dat?” She turned with a winning smile to Kate, who was hovering near by under the wing of Uncle Jabez; and the suggestion was adopted with acclamation, so that the hot-tempered little heroine had no fur- ther excuse for sulking, and from that moment be- gan to look more favorably on the Spanish stranger, come to them insoremarkable a manner, But meantime the good ship swept bravely on her course to the eastward, till she had cleared the cape, and then trimmed ber sails flat and stretched _ away to the north-east, making for the foot of Monte Katrina through the mist. As they advanced, the whole of the sea seemed to be alive with whales, spouting round them, not by hundreds, but literally by thousands; while the vapor which had looked so thick in the distance diminished when they were in it to a thin haze. “Them whales ain’t never been hunted,” observed Folger, as one huge monster leaped clear out of the water like a salmon, so close to the ship that the spray flew over the quarter. ‘Don't look yet as if any one lived here, Cap; for what man could see them critters jumpin’ without tacklin’ one, if so be he had a barpoon? See how tame they be.” Indeed it seemed as if the whales looked on the ship as something of their own kind, for they came gamboling up alongside, and more than once the cutwatér struck one of the unwieldy monsters on the back as it lazily crossed their bows, However, all this did not impede the progress of the Sarah Jane, as she stood on under the cliffs of Mount Katrina, without a speck of ice visible on the water, A thermometer let over the side showed a tem- perature of seventy degrees, while a strong current was evidently setting out of the strait to the south. The nearer they came to the slopes of Monte Katrina the taller itlooked, and then they began to see that the snow and ice of the peak no longer came down to the sea level in the strait. There was a great ice foot stretching out into the sea they had just left, but it ended ina well-defined glacier edge about three miles up the strait, to be succeeded dark cliffs with a bank at the bottom, coming down to the water in a beach of white sand, bordered by the first green that any of them had seen since leaving Omenak’s Fiord. It was unmistakable green, dark and velvety, at first a mere thread, but growing broaderas the coast trended away to she north; and with a glass one might distinguisn actual shrubs and grasses, among the usual profusion of Arctic mosses, Now indeed the excitement was reaching fever heat, on board the ship, Uncle Jabez was as craz as the rest, and declared that for his part he didn't care whether the winter locked them up there for good ornot; he was going to stay. On went the Sarah Jane, and the further they ad- vavced the warmer grew the north wind. Itseemed evidently only an island, and that is the reason the strange to them, but nevertheless they found that ever since they had left the south side of Macy Land it had been growing warmer, and that on the whole they had been approaching a milder climate all the way from the edge of the Middle Ice in Baffin’s Bay. Within three hours from the time they entered the strait, they were close enough to hear the surf roll- ing on the beach at the foot of Monte Katrina, to see the mosses and flowers, with a few small birch trees about a yard high, and to smell the perfume of the entians, saxifrages and primroses that carpeted the ootof the rocks, It was quite a trial to be compelled to leave this prospect for a while, but the water was shoaling so rapidly that it became necessary. ith their advent into these unknown seas they came upon another mark that they had passed the limit of ice-action. The water, which had hitherto been turbid and muddy, from the berg deposits, had now become as clear as crystal, and they could count the shells and pebules on the bottom, as they looked over the side of the ship, where the lead showed fit- teen fathoms of water. The breeze, which had been so brisk at first, roughening the water considerably, had sunk to a warm and gentle gale, under which the or. glided sony along, and the Sarah Jane hauled her tacks and stood off from the foot of Monte Katrina, making another long stretch over to Macy Land, Thinner and thinner now grew the haze, as the temperature of air and wate? became more equable, till they could see from shore to shore of the strait with no more difficulty than one has on the Jersey coast in the warm, misty Indian summer. Then it became plain that they had entered either some very deep bay or strait, which narrowed rapid- ly toward the north, for all the horizon ahead of them was occupied by a line of blue mountains, in which no gap appeared. But no longer had the hills the forbidding aspect that had met them on the south side of Macy Land. There was snow on the summits, but all below was dark, and the profusion of animal life around them kept pace in its increase with the wealth of plants arpesides the whales, th esides the whales, there were seals, rting in all directions, and a quantity of sea fone, pelaeie that are never found in the vicinity of ice, while the walruses had disappeared, and there were no signs of ae Loogielt 8 for the birds, they could see ducks and geese, auks and divers, gulls of all kinds, finches ret pines lows, nestling in the cliffs at the foot of Monte Ka- trina and circling in vast flocks. The great white falcon of Iceland, the osprey and the bald eagle soared lazily overhead, as if too well fed to care about hunting much; and the omnipresent crows were cawing everywhere. On sailed the Sarah Jane toward the cliffs of Macy Land, that had looked so sterile from the south, and behold! their looks also had changed. Either they had gone further up the sheltered bay, or the aspect of the cliffs was more favorable to life, for when they came close they perceived a grove of birch trees, fringed with willows, rising a her than a man’s head, while the mosses were ving way ta the purple heaths of the sub-arctie zones. Still they kept on up this bay of wonders, stem- ming a current that was running about three miles an hour, and once more the shoaling water warned them to tack. On they went up the bay, which had now nar- rowed to less than five miles, while the mountains on either side towered up as if they would shut out the sky, and the water became smooth and g ;. The wind had sunk to a mere cat’s-paw ire came more and more under the lee of the moun- manele at a4 it pecan e = that they could no onger stem the current, w was carrying th astern allthe time. ’ a. Under these circumstances Uncle Jabez dro bis anchor close to Monte Katrina and orde out the boats. CHAPTER XIX, THE GIANTS’ PABS, Tue order to man the boats was ted with hearty cheer, and it seemed very liked that the ship would be left tenantless, had not Uncle Jabez desig- nated an anchor-watch, and announced that only three boats would be allowed to leave the ship. There was a good deal of grumbling, for sailors are like children, and the sight of the green shores and groves of trees that were near them, albeit go small, sent them nearly frantic to get to land. How- ever, the discipline of the Sarah Jane had returned be its norma; paves ee nee ones had recover. somewhat o ea and the grumblers Soest peace oo a ed eve board t _— ut long before the boats could be put out, Reuben med ong ime Re mri sav ~g was skimming pes up the silen y, followec 0) toonah a bad third in the ~ Fev —, It must be said in excuse for the laziness of the Esquimaux, that since he had been on board the Sarah Jane he had enjoyed something that had never before come to his experience. This was an unvaried succession of square meals. The rule of his life up to that time had been a feast and a famine; a gorge of seal meat for three days anda fast of three weeks, alternating with rations of burnt seal hide in the winter, while the summer Sying, though more plentiful, was almost equally varie The unusual experience of getting plenty to eat for the asking had been too much fon Kalevocumm who had acquired the demoralizing habit of eating whatever he could get. His life on board the Sarah Jane had therefore been a succession of gorges on seal meat and walrus, which no oneelse woukd touch,
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and the happy Hosky had only desisted from eating to go to sleep, and had only wakened to gorge : erefore, when Kalatoonah found himself kicked out of the lee-scuppers and ordered by Dolores to t into his kayack and follow her, he did so witha Cedicrment arising from excessive sleep and over- much eating, and probably would have declined alto- gether, had not some one thrown the last remnantof geal overboard while the Hosky was sleeping peace- fully beside it, dreaming of more gorges. en there was no more seal, the natursé] work- ings of Kalatoonah’s mind impelled him to his kay- ack after fresh victims, andit was not until he was fairly in his boat and paddling sleepily away that he began to realize that he was no longer in Disco Bay, but in an unknown country. The stolid nature of the man, and his dazed condi- tion owing to overmuch seal meat, prevented him from saying anything; but he paddled away after uben and Dolores with many wise reflections in is mind, among which the uppermost was that in such a country the seals must be tame, as indeed they were. Reuben and Dolores skimmed on under the rocks of Monte Katrina, about half a mfle ahead of the whale-boats. The further they advanced the narrower grew the bay, but they could see that a spur of Monte Katrina was outlined against the cliffs of Macy Land in a way that showed a passage between the two, curving round to the left. As they approached this passage the birches and willows grew taller, and they began to notice the dark foliage of stunted fir-trees, sure marks of a more temperate climate, such as exists in the lati- tudes of Norway and Labrador. **Ts not this a river we are entering, Don Ruben?” asked Dolores, with some curiosity, ad they came nearer’and nearer. “T hardly think so,” was the answer. ‘A river always brings mud with it and here the water is so pon tle ee one can see the bottom at almost any e gf? ay Then what makes this swift current?” “I fancy it must be the tide,’ was the reply. “Tf you look at theshore you will see that there is a high-water mark just above where the stream runs most fiercely round tne rocks.” a theo no more remarks, but paddled on till they had turned the shoulder of the spur and then fe acm aa of surprise and wonder broke from er lips. ee Oh, Don Ruben, see how grand!” Both by one instinct stopped paddling and gazed, while even stupid Kalatoonah, as he glided up be- side them, stared in blank amazement at a scene such as had never greeted his eyes before. The passage which they had expected was there, curving round till it was lost in the land, and nar- rowed to an expanse of about five hundred yards while perpendicular cliffs of black basalt, arranged in columns as regular as if chiseled by the hand of man, lined the passage on either side. The water was as smooth as glass, gliding by the foot of these grim walls with an oily flow, but never- theless there were proofs of its fiercer action at other times, in the presence of a number of black caverns, with which the foot of the cliffs was honey- combed, Clouds of blue rock-pigeons were fluttering from cliff to cliff from these caverns and the crevices be- tween the columns above, showing that they were rising still another scale in the Jadder of ated nature; for the rock-dove is not found north of the Arctic Circle, and seldom ventures in that vicinity save in a very warm summer. ; There was something in the sheer sweep of these id ote of black rock, towering up six or seven =e erage feet in the air, that was inexpressibly sublime. The broad strait beneath them sunk by compari- son to a tiny rivulet and the human beings in their boats felt as if they had diminished to the propor- tions of musketoes. While they were gazing came the dash of oars and the three whale-boats swept into the silent bay, when asif by one consent the men stopped ro and turned in their seats to gaze with awe-stricken faces at this sublime gateway into the unknown scenes of the north. Uncle Jabez was the first to recover himself, and oe was unusually low and quiet in tone as he “*Give way, boys, give way. There’s more to see, yet. We've got there at last.” His words broke the spell of awe and renewed the excitement as the mnen sprung to their oars with a will and dashed on; but it was noticeable that there was no cheering and loud conversation. There was something in the sublime loneliness and ndeur of this Pass of Giants that hushed the idest among thera, and the thunder of the oars in the rowlocks magnified by the echoes into a deafen- ing din rendered conversation impossible. e birds, frightened by the intrusion, came whirling out of the caves and crevices in dense clouds, and circled overhead in such numbers as to darken the air. Within that pass the sun never shone, and yet the air was as mild and temperate as on an early spring day in Pennsylvania, so that the rowers were al- ready sweating heavily. : On went the boats and canoes in a little fleet close torether following this singular passage for over thee miles as it wound to and fro between the never-ceasing walls of basalt, till Reuben, looking ahead, saw a broad blue shaft of light, coming down into the gloom of the chasm some distance ahead, gad realized sarge — must be a gap in the moun- tains above that place. He plied his paddle faster, and the tight eanoes The Lost Captain. once more drew ahead of the heavier whale-boats till they saw that the blue shaft of light struck the cliff on the east side of the chasm near the foot, making a bright yellow patch on the rocks. A little further on he could see the perpendicular cliffs ending in a gradual slope as the mountain-side came down to meet them covered with dark verdure and a heavy growth of pine trees, This spot was still a mile off, but the glitter of sun- light on moving water told that the passage was opening, and the first breaths of a warm and plea- sant breeze began to fan his cheek. Pretty soon, as he glided on, he heard a loud cheering behind him which showed that the men in the boats had caught the same sight and that their spirits were rising from the reaction after the solemn gloom of the Giants’ Pass, as Reuben had mentally named it by an unconquerable instinct. On swept boats and canoes, every turn of this strange avenue revealing fresh beauties, all the more admired from their contrast to the wilder- ness of snow and ice from which they had lately emerged. Now the passage widened to nearly a mile, while the pine forests came down to the edge of a sandy beach on which a gentle surf was breaking, while the sun overhead shone down on them with a power that fairly amazed them, Reuben threw off first his hood, then his bird-skin ‘*jumper,”’ till he found himself b pctory along in his undershirt, with bare arms and chest, the sweat pouring off his whole body. Kalatoonah and Dolores were equally inconve- nienced by the heat while the crews of the boats were rowing away in the scant costume of a sailor in the tropics, The pace was growing too hot for the weather, and with one accord the canoeists meg ey to stow away their heavy garments and give the boats time to come up, Wen all rested on their oars to admire the prospect and compare notes, ““Seems to me,” observed Folger, from the stern sheets of his boat, ‘‘that we're a-coming nigh the sea again, Cap. This strait’s gittin’ wider all the time. Whar on ’arth kin we be, and whar hev the Pride’s people got to, ef they ever got this far?” “Tf they came as far as this, I should say they must have gone on further, or they would have been greater fools than we are,” observed Kitty Macy, who had recovered her spirits and some of her pert- ness under the compliment of being chosen god- mother to the tallest mountain in the world. “If uncle Jonathan ever came here, we shall find him further on, for who would have stopped when they could have gone on forever?” ““Sensibly said, monkey,” observed Uncle Jabez, patting her head as she sat beside him in his boat. “Tf the Pride ever reached here she went on to the sea beyond. I guess we kin do the same when the tide turns.” While they were thus chatting idly, Dolores, who had said but little since they eutered the strait, was gazing ahead toward the bright waters that sparkled inthe sun, Now, on a sudden, she uttered an eager cry. Mira! Mira! Unnavio! Mira los velas !” ‘Took! Look! A ship! See the satls !” Instantly every one was turning round to look, and most had acess up in their haste. Over the tops of the fir trees, behind a point about a mile ahead, they could see the outline of a white sail with a long, fluttering streamer above, gliding out to the end of the point. While they were still wondering what it could be, and exchanging hurried exclamations on the sub- ject, the strange sail cleared the point and swept out into the open water, in full view. CHAPTER XX. THE SEA ROVERS, “GEEREWSALEM! what's that?’’ was the startled ejaculation of Uncle Jabez, the moment he saw the vessel, falsir. “*Tain’t no Christian craft, boys, They’re savages! Git down to your oars,” In fact, the strange ship bore no resemblance to any craft that the sailors of the Sarah Jane had ~>~anWDooOoaaaossssssssc os 0 IsS59595959)9).I0Ow Sse 13 the open water, and no notice seemed yet to be taken of their presence. Reuben had brought his glass with him and was narrowly watching the vessel, He could see the forms of the men on board, and counted some seventy or eighty, crowded together in that little craft, before he gave up the attempt and computed that she must hold at least a hundred. The glittering appearance he could distinguish to be the gleam of helmets, shields, spears and other weapons, but he could not tell at that distance the features of the men. Presently there was a commotion on the decks, and he saw a figure start up and climb up on the pent of the dragon at the prow, pointing at the oats, There was a bustle that showed they had been seen at Jast, and then down the wind floated the hoarse bray of some sort of trumpet, The strange ship turned round and headed di- rectly toward them before the wind, her great square sail bellying out Jike a bag, and ‘Reuben no- ticed that she had no rudder, but was steered with two huge oars, like a Roman galley. “Give way, boys,” said Uncle Jabez at this mo- ment. ‘Them fellers is savages, and we've got to git back to the ship; or mebbe we'll all be eaten up alive.” : The sailors needed no second word, for there was something in the outlandish appearance of the strange vessel that had already frightened them pretty badly, and now the Sa ones were braying and they could distinctly hear hoarse shouts that boded no good to the intruders on this wonderful Polar kingdom. , Reuben and Dolores did not seem to be so much frightened, though Kalatoonah turned as white as a sheet when he heard the cries and saw the strange ship bearing down on them. The girl was so absorbed in her anxiety to find her father in this Northern Land that she seemed to be hardly accessible to fear, and Reuben felt that so long as the strangers remained in their bluff tub of a vessel he could play round them ia his kayack with comparative safety. They could never catch Thus it happened that within five minutes after ee the first discovery of the strangers, the three whale- boats, accompanied by Kalatoonah, were making their or back to the Sarah Jane, the men ere, | their best and all well frightened; while Dolores an Reuben were skimming in toward the land, crossing — the track of this singular-looking craft and awaiting its nearer approach. It came on with more rapidity than Reuben could have deemed possible, and he could see that the powerful crew had thrust out long oars from the side and were pulling lustily away, piling the foam up under the swelling bows in a w hill. The trumpet kept on blowing at intervals, and ke could hear hoarse, deep-toned voices shouting out all sorts of confused cries. The boy began to realize that the approaching strangers were wild and fe- rocious men of a very different race from the bar- barous uimaux; for the voices of the latter, when they indulge in war-cries, always tend to shrill yells, like the Indians of whom they are an offshoot, while the shouts of these men were deep and strong, like those of Europeans. Still, with the natural tremor that these savage cries caused him, there was mingled an overmaster- ing sense of wonder and curiosity, a fascination not — devoid of admiration, that seemed to compel him te go nearer to these terrible warriors, to find what manner of men they were. Besides all this there was coming into his mind a vague sense that he had seen them before in some unknown past—where he could not tell—and he longed to solve the mystery. As for Dolores, she skimmed along by his side watching the strange vessel with a that be- tokened more wonder and pleasure than fear, and her great dark eyes never left the figure on the prow. In about ten minutes from the time when the strange vessel hove in sight, the boats of the Sarah Jane had vanished in the direction of the Giant's Pass and Reuben and Dolores were in the dark re- flection of the pine woods close to the shore, while the black craft was close to them, passing abeam The men on board did not seem to be bestowing much attention on the tiny kayacks, though a few heads were turned their way; but they continued to row on in pursuit of the boats that had just disap- Thus the two occupants of the canoes had a ful) and undisturbed view of the strange craft and its still stranger crew. Reuben could hardly cmp from a cry of admira- tion as they passed and Dolores exclaimed: “ Oh, x Ruben, mira los rudbios! ue andes hombres |" (“‘Ob, look, Reuben, look at the air-hairs! What grand men!’*) Reuben could not help admitting that he had never seen such glorious figures Dhysleaily in his antic stature, with huge life. anetimie that told muscu a of a vigorous outdoor life seen to the better advantage thal aren and laws were alike bare, save for rings of metal. They were all white men, the whitest Reuben had ever seen, with bright golden hair and fierce blue open, There was not a dark face or figure among s pore, aut not a man but had the muscles of an The only variety was in the shade of the hair, which they wore very long and curling. Tn some cases it was a faint flaxen hue, nearly white, while in others it became a strong golden red. In ail it was accompanied with the same marvelously fair one and skin, the same appearance of vigor: ride, - Thése men wore helmets of various shapes, of 4 'e : f . me <i \ wa j
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piece. Their bodies were covered with short leathern tunics, ornamented with scales of yellow metal or white sea-shells sown in patterns, and they seemed ' to be well-armed with spears, battle-axes and a sort To mace, carrying a spiked ball at the end of a n / ker had stopped their confused shouts as they passed the kayacks; the warriors had laid their shields beside them in order as they rowed, and they struck up a wild chant as they bent to the oars, shree or four men to each. Thus the strange pageant passed by, and Reuben and Dolores sat gazing at each other in mute won- der till the boy ejaculated: “Heavens, Dolores! fore? It seems to me as if I knew every face in that boat, especially the giant in the bow with the eagle wings in his helmet. Where have Iseen them?” ‘** You saw them in the vision at Mother Igloolik’s,”’ ‘wasthe reply. ‘I recognized them the moment the ‘sail came round the point, from what you said when you were in the trance.”’ Reuben stared. “*What trance?” He had forgotten all about it, ** Never mind, muchacho,”’ she said, kindly. ‘‘They | are gone now and we cannot help our friends by staying here. Let us goon and try to find my fa- ther and yours, They are somewhere here.” Reuben looked thoughtfully after the retreating sea-rovers and presently burst out: “T know now. I remember all about it. I have seen therm in pictures of the old Vikings. Dolores they are the same old Norsemen that once held all Greenland. "Iwas said that the Esquimaux sur- rised and murdered them allin the depth of win- er, but some must have got away up here and lived alone ever since. Yes, they are the same all over, ur ancestors; what we should have been had we lived the same wild lives.” The boy was full of enthusiasm as he rattled on, but his companion did not-seem to share it. s nothing of your Norsemen,” she answer- * ‘but I know that if my father be still alive he must be among them in tl his land, and I care for nothing till I have found him. Will you come with me, muchacho, or shall I go on alone?” “IT will follow you anywhere and as long as there in my body,” answered Reuben, enthusias- ally. Oh, Dolores, how the world will honor us when we go back to America to tell them all about this country, where no man has ever yet been who seame back to tell the tale! Who knows? We ma > even find the Ropied expedition of Franklin, whic ‘went up to the North and was never heard of after.” ‘Thus Reuben rattled on, wild with delight, as he ‘paddled on with Dolores down the fast-widening pas- x73 ta the north. He and ste seemed to have forzotten entirely the fact that the dragonship, with a hundred wild Norse | ‘sea-robbers aboard, was sweeping down the chan- melin all probability to attack their friends in the ‘Sarah Jane, while their own retreat was cut off toa ‘dead certainty. But both had that happy faculty of youth which ‘throws all fear of consequences to the winds, and sees everyt through the rosy light of hope. Dolores was oblivious to all danger in the hope of _ ¥inding the father whom she had lost for eight years; and Reuben, in his eagerness to see new worlds an new people, had forgotten all about even his own father, Tn about half an hour's swift bedding they had ‘turned the point which the Norse galley had passed with favoring wind and tide, and found themselves cat the entrance of a bay that widened rapidly before ‘them into the open sea of their hopes which spread ‘out in a sheet of little waves, spar! ‘But this alone would not have been sufficient to rivet “their attention, for they had expected it. Somet: more wonderful still was before them, in the fact they could see the whole surface of the fea pately for hundreds of miles, as if the usual ro- | ‘sundity o the earth had entirely disappeared, and further that this sea was surrounded by a circle of il6fty mountainous islands, from the peaks of at least nine of which streamed columns of smoke high in the blue heavens, while their bases, be seen, were covered with luxuriant vegetation. **Oh, Dolores,” cried Reuben, the instant this sight ‘urst on them, ‘it is true. We have reached the ‘Pole at last!” Dolores looked at him in a puzzled way as she ed: “The Pole! What pole, amigo? TI know nothing of Poles. Iam looking for my father.” “Do you not know that the earth is what the as- tronomers call an oblate agg flattened at the oles?’ cried Reuben, testily. as far as could thinks. It’s almost a valley that lies before _us, and for six months the sun never leaves it, Dolores. What with the direct sunlight and the reflection from these mountains, the heat must sometimes approach hat of the tropics. See how luxuriantly the trees grow. We must go near and find out what they are, ‘or they must be capable of standing the long gloom and cold of the polar night of six months.” Dolores did not heed him much. She was search- ing the prospect for sometokens of the object of her | search, and Reuben continued his raptures to a care- | dess listener. “See what a variety of life,” he exelaimed. “Whales and seals sporting beside dolphins and porpoises, those fishes of a temperate clime; and ihe sea-lions basking on those rocks like they do at *San Franciseo, There are birds of all latitudes, ars : rn pee Where have I seen them be- | ing in the sun. | “Here is the proof | ‘ore our eyes that it is even flatter than any one | The Lost Captain. f ie swallow of our own Ivnds, and song-birds of every | variety in the woods all roundus. Do they live here all the year, or are they migratory, | wonder? But where are the people?” “Yonder,” answered Dolores, in a quiet tone. | “See, muchacho, wc have found the island of your I arent at last and my father and yours are both rere.’ She pointed out tosea, where became visible afar off two orthree islands with volcanic peaks, all smok- ing together, and one of them had, scattered round the foot of the mountains, a number of little white specks that resembled houses. Reuben drew forth his glass and inspected these supposed evidences of human habitation very close- ly. At last he said: “Take the glass, Dolores. Your eyes are better than mine. I can only see thespecks a little plainer, like white stones.” The girl took the glass and looked long and earnest- ly. When she laid it down she said, frankly: ie I can see no more than you. It must be very far re) fd Reuben suddenly smote his knee with an air of vexation. “How stupid of me not to have thought of it, when the evidence is before our eyes. If we were on any other part of the earth’s surface probably we could not see those islands, for our horizon would | be but a matter of nine or ten miles, but here the water seems to be absolutely flat, and there is no telling whether those islands are ten, twenty, or even eres miles off, for we see them in a straight ne.’ Then he turned the glass to sweep the shores of this singular sea, which was as round, to all seem- ing, a8 an artificial pond, and pretty soon became convinced that there must be a population of some ‘density inhabiting the vicinity. e counted twenty or thirty white sails moving about on the waters in different directions, though at such distances as ut- terly bewildered his eye, accustomed to see the top- sails of a ship come into sight before the hull, over the curved surface of the earth, Here there was absolutely no curve, and it even seemed to him, such was the deceptive appearance of everything, as if the middle of the sea was lower than the sides, giving it the appearance of a valley of waters, held in equilibrium by magic arts. All this time he heard nothing of his friends in the Sarah Jane and had almost forgotten all about them, when his attention was arrested by the dull booming of a piece of ordnance, far away up the Giants’ Pass, where the echoes repeated it again and again. Both the young kayackers started, for the stillness had been so deep before, that the report sounded doubly loud. “They are fighting!’ exclaimed Reuben, excited- ly. ‘The Norsemen hava attacked them! Whar will become of my poor mother? They have but one little brass s gun, and thatis worthless. They | will all be killed, unless the Norsemen heve changed much from what they were jo old days. Ou, Dolores, let us go back and help them.” “What could we do, muchacho ?”’ she asked, im- patiently. “If they have fought your friends it is all over, one way or the other, by this time. Let us go on, say I.” “But my mother,” cried Reuben, in a tone of in- tense fear. ‘‘ They will kill her. I must go back." And so saying, he turned his back resolutely on all the splendors of the scene that he had been view- ing with so much delight, and an ‘to ply his pad- dle m on his return to the Sarah Jane. Dolores looked after him with a little sigh, and then muttered to herself: “{ cannot helpit. They are nothing to me now. Ihave a father I love better than he can love his mother. Farewell, Don Ruben,” Then the girl turned her kayack resolutely out to- ward the volcanic island which Reuben had so | srengey described in his dream, and paddled away over the short dancing waves that glittered so res htly in the sunshine. She was going to find her | father. Meanwhile Reuben worked with all his might to effect a swift return to his uncle’s ship. Swift and ee as was his kayack, it seemed to him to crawl along at a snail’s pace as he swept through the dark chasm of Giants’ Pass, The tide was run- ning out as rapidly as ever, so that | picetee was rea ¥, at a rate of nearly ten miles our, and he was through the and back in the bay where he had left the Jane in less than twenty minutes. He heard at intervals the gun fired four or five times, and the sound gave him fresh courage, inas- much as it proved to him that his friends were still | fighting. But he was tormented with fear as he re- flected that there were only about a dozen firearms of all kinds in the ship, and that the supply of am- munition was limited to one barrel of blasting-pow- | der for use on ice-floes, a hox of cartridges for a Remington rifle and another for the Colt’s revol- vers that constituted the bulk of their little armory. | As he reached the bay he looked anxiously for the | / | ' | ship. She was gone! CHAPTER XXII. THE NORSEMEN. Yrs, the Sarah Jane was gone, but for all that, she was not very far off. Reuben could see the black outline of a buoy bobbing about over the spot where | she had last been anchored, showing hat she had | been compelled to slip her cable in a qwrry, and a | glance out into the bay disclosed the shi,» herself un- | dera cloud of canvas, standing out to sea, followed | by the Norse galley, which hung on at her quarter ' like a bulldog following a bull. The breeze was light and the ship not making a . f : ~~ ¥. Ee. ‘ing | from the little auk that loves.the icebergs to the eee — much way, but the lines of her model were so mueh superior to those of the bluff-bowed Norse vessel, that it oo: as if the latter must be distanced in the end. The sea-robbers had their oars out, dashing up the water in clouds of white foam, and getting out of their clumsy bark all she could bear But they seem- ed to be unable to catch the Sarah Jane, which was clipper-built. ust as the boy came in sight he saw a flash from the stern of the ship, and realized that they had got | the little signal-gun on the stern rail and were fi into the enemy’s ship. Whether it had any effect, he eould not see, but he heard a savage roar from. the rovers, and they dashed their oars more madly than ever, tillit seemed that they gained on the ves- sel at every stroke. There was something so pitilessly ferocious in these shouts that Reuben shuddered and turned sick at heart ashe listened. He reflected on the terrible tales he had read of the old Norse warriors, when they were in that state of frenzy called “ Berserker,” and be- gan to re*lize that these dwellers by the open Polar sea were the same old Norsemen who were once the terror of all Europe for their daring and cruelty. They were the same men, without the advantages of civilization, as their ancestors. They had simply stood still for six centuries, since the day when they had found a secure haven within the ice-girdle that hid the open Polar sea from the world at large, Here they had staid, maintaining, perforce, an ab- solute purity of race, and wares ogy o all the fierce traits which had once made them lords of every country where the name of the Vikings was used to frighten the children to sleep, All these thoughts swept through Reuben’s mind with wonderful rapidity, as he paddled along at his utmost speed, overhauling the combatants, The wind was so light that the Sarah Jane could not make much way, and the rovers’ galley was too bhuf-bowed to go fast, so that he soon found himself under the gangway of the ship, on the side opposite to that on which the rovers were pressing forward. Then he shouted aloud for a rope, but the people on board the Sarah Jane were too eagerly engaged in watching their enemies to give heed to the tiny boat on their beam, and he refuctantly found him- sel — te give up the race and sheer off away from the ship, which was beginning to gather way as it left the lee of the land, When he gota little further out he renewed his shouts, and presently had the satisfaction of seein his cousin, Kate Macy, lock over the quarter-rail an wildly wave her arms to him, as a signal, before she turned inboard again. Almost at the same moment however, he heard a loud shout behind him, an looking round, saw that the Norse vessel was coming up on the same side of the ship as himself, and ob- oan in pursuit of his kayack. With a rapid dash of his paddle he whirled away, and no doubt would have made his escape without much difficulty, had he not been so near ere he be gan his exerticrs. As it was, beicre he eculé get fairly out of range, the gigantic warrior on the bow, whom, he hae no tic fore, sud: enly poised a heavy javelin and cast it straight at the kayack, with such true aim and anes that the weapon went through the frail vessel, opening two great holes, throngh which the water began to pour in a moment, and Reuben found himself sinking. What next happened he could hardly teli in the hurry and contusion. He heard a loud shriek in Kate’s voice; felt himself going down; his head was already under water, when a rope came ne and flapping in his face: he clutched it wildly, and felt himself drawn up; then he had a vision of the side. of the Norse galley full of flerce faces, and saw two or three men stretch out their hands to gresp him. Instinctively he retained his hold on the rope, for the weight of the kayack was areanin him down, and then he felt himself seized an Then up on deck as if he had been but afeather’s weight. en he was orga out of the hole of the kayack, and saw his little canoe tossed overboard before his eyes, so that inside of a minute from the time that he first heard the shout be was a prisoner in the midst of a crowd of fierce bar while his friends were looking hopelessly on, But in the burry consequent on his capture thing had ha ed favorable to the safety of the Sarah Jane. e Norse cy on ceased rowing and the ship had already gained nearly a cable- length on her, while the wind was freshening every moment. It was clearly useless for the rovers to ge any longer, and so they seemed to think, for hey ceased their work from that moment and turned their attention to Reuben. Contrary to the lad’s expectation, he was handled not ungently by these wild men, seeming to be to them an og ng of some curiosity and more amuse ment. He felt like a habyin the midst of a crew where every man seemed to be at least six feet b and where there was more than one who m fairly be called a giant However, he found himseh picked up and passed along by these huge fellow who seemed to be much amused at something, an who kept talking to each other and laughing in their ms powerful voices. The only word he could distinguish was one fre- quently repeated as the warriors commented on him. ‘This was the word “Skraeling.”’ They seemed to have settled on it that he was a “Skraeling,” whatever that might be. At last he was set down in the stern before the hollow of the curving fish-tail, in which sat an oli! man with very long white hair and a beard that reached his waist. This old man had evidently been a warrior in his day, for his frame was still vast and mnseniar, but if so, be had long abandoned the profession of arms, for he had no weapons, aad
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on~-- ee pee ey a aan y-3.3 clothed in a lon robo of some woven stuff, blue in «ctor, while aru‘ts harp stood by his side. {vo of tos rowrl warriors set Reuben down in front of tis singular old man, and observed, with ons of their loud laughs: ““ Ho, Yarl Hakon, a Skraeling.”’ The old. man bent his bushy brows on the boy and razed on him out of as flerce a pair of blue eyes as Reuben had ever seen. Thon he shook his head and caid, gravely: “ee a “Yo, yo,” repeated one of his captors, eagerly, hursting into a flood of words that Reuben could not understand and pointing to the boy in such a way as to show that he was insisting on his view of the e2se, But old Yarl Hakon, if that were his name, still re- plied “* Nay,’’and Reuben had found the meaning of t vo Norse words, very much the same as English; | “Yo” and * Nay. z The grave and authoritative manner of the old raan, who appeared to be the chief in command, si- Ienced the dispute; and Reuben perceived that it 1.25 a settled matter that he was not a“ Skraeling.”’ The boy’s memory also recorded the fact that “Skraeling ”’ was the name which the Norse settlers cf Greenland had given to the Esquimaux when 1y first saw them, eight hundred years before, be- ..,fa term of contempt at their dwarfish stature. ils reasoned therefore that these men must have ‘t first taken him for an Esquimaux on account of i.13 kayack; but thatthe old chief, more keen-sight- «1, had detected in hfm the marksof a different race. Ils realized also that this was lucky for him, inps- rivich as any remnants of the old Norse colonjtts ihat had escaped the treacherous massacre of fhe fourteenth century by these same Skraelings, njust naturally retain the most vindictive feelings toward them. Whatever the matter of the discussion between the Norsemen concerning him—and he could not un- «apstand save by watching their gestures—it result- ‘ | favorably for him to all appearance; for his ‘iptors released him and signed to him to sit cown at the feet of Yarl Hakon, which he did ivadily, thankful to secure a whole skin for “ie tine, He began to feel, in spite of his perilous position, . sense of pleasure in watching these magnificent rien, among whom he had been cast so strangely, ‘nd in trying to trace in their deep-toned words the keness of the English tongue which he knew had ascended therefrom, In the meantime the Norsemen sailed ont to the entrance of the bay at a distance from the Sarah Jane, which had cleared the mountains and was standing to the east along the icy outer shore of Macy Land. They evidently realized their incapacity to over- take the ship, for after a little they turned their course backfto the Giant’s Pass, and stood on ¢ill the wind failed them, which it did very soon, when they took to their oars, Reuben sat quietly at tho feet of the old chief, Yarl Hakon, and watched the vessel entering once more the solemn avenue of the Giants’ Pass. He noticed as they came in that the tide was turning, for the vessel did not seem to have any difficulty in ma her way along, and the water at the foot of the rocks was quite smooth and still. ey on till the shores of the inner bay opened on their sight, when Reuben began to be sen- sible of a Jow murmur among the mountains in their rear, fast increasing to the sound of a rushin; wind. What it could be he knew not, but it seem to be well understood by the Norsemen, who “o to call to each other about something in which the boy could only catch one word which he recog- n at word was “Agur,” and it explained a good dealto him. He knew that the t tide wave as it rushes up narrow passages and into small rivers is called in the eastern counties of England, where the Danes and other Norsemen settled, the ‘* eager ”’ or “heyger,”’ and he thought that this might be the same word. Pretty soon he found he was right, for looking back over the stern he saw a long curling wave come r along the foot of the black rocks of Giants’ Pass, ing the foam high in air and sp wider and lower as it entered the bay. Along with the tide the boy was sensible of a change in the wind, pests in faint puffs from the Giants” Pass, till a regular fresh gale came from thence, ruffling the bay into waves and filling the great sail of the galley till she drove rapidly out of the bay into the open sea. ere he looked se ly round for some signs of Dolores in her kayack, but the girl seemed to have disappeared like an insect in the vast expanse of sea that stretched round them, and which Reuben had now a good opportunity to inspect. The further they advanced into this curious in- Jand sea the more was Reuben impressed with its want of similarity to anything he had ever seen be- fore. The absence of that curved surface, so fami- liar on the ocean, was of itself a puzzle, forit seem- ed to deprive him of every standard of comparison in distance. ges ae smaller as they receded, but there seemed to none of that blueness which is s0 com- | mon a feature of all the Jandscapes, and which is one of the effects of the curving lines of the atmo- SDaRere In this Polar Valley of waters the distant moun- tains were eet d as plain as those close by, and he | ) felt puzzled to distance, But one thing was plain enough, that the shores rm any judgment as to their: real ; | a4 islands of this sea were inbabited by a popula- | Uecapable of building stone houses; for as they The Lost Captain. advanced they saw more than one mansion on the shores, and the white structures on the island grew ‘plainer as they sailed on. One ominous feature, however, the uu noticed as they passed out of the bay. On each side of the en- trance was raised astone castle with round towers, exactly in the style which prevailed in Europe in the twelfth century, and every building which was near enough to be distinguished revealed the same grim and warlike features. It seemed as if these people, cut off as they were from the rest of che world by impassable barriers, and apparently secure from molestation by others, were yet engaged .n warfare among themselves, and lived practically much as they had done in the middle ages, when the sword was the only arbiter of right. ut all these reflections were soon banished from his mind by the spectacle of another vessel, a little larger than their own, which came sailing and row- ing toward them from one of the castles at the right of the bay. The stranger carried a white flag with a black sal- tier—a cross placed diagonally from corner to cor- ner—and seemed to be recognized at once as an en- emy, for the Norsemen began to talk excitedly. while the old chief delivered some orders in a loud tone. Reuben glanced up at the device on their own flag and saw that the rod. field contained a great black raven in full flight, and then he devoted his attention to the maneuvers of the two vessels, conscious that a battle was imminent, Old Yarl Hakon seemed to be quite cool and col- lected, in spite of the disparity of force between him and the stranger, and the warriors were laughing and shouting in their wild way, with flashing eyes, as if they enjoyed the prospect. The giant whom Reuben had noticed on the prow was particularly wild in his demonstrations, and be- gan to shout at the top of his voice, leaping up and down on his perch and shaking his long hair till it stood out like an aureole round his head. The strange galley came-sweeping on with trum- pets sounding and men singing seme sort of wild war-song; and lo! on the prow stood another wild Norseman, point for point like their own. Now they were within a few hundred yards, when the champion of the red flag began to foam at the mouth shoulitie louder than ever, and presently dashed his helnet into the sea, tore off his mail- coat, and stood out nearly naked on the dragon’s head, his voice changing to a series of wild maniacal shrieks. Then the Norsemen of the red flag uttered a tre- mendous roarof triumph, in which Reuben heard the | hope, for we could not help a the increase the words, ** Berserker ! Berserker”? repeated in thunder tones. Ce } | 15 arms, while the Norsemes dropped their weapons with a shout of wonder and stood staring at the pair, and Yarl Hakon waved his hand forbiddingly to- ward them, saying, in his deep tones of dignity: ** Nay, nay.” CHAPTER XXII. THE CAPTAIN’S STORY. QuIETLy over the sunlit sea toward the distant islands sailed the Norse galley under a breeze blow- ing momentarily fainter and fainter, he vessel that had lately borne the white flag with the black cross was slowly sailing behind them carrying its mournful load of dead bodies, for the Norsemen had lost nearly half their number, Hardly a man of those left alive had escaped un- wounded, though not one of them seemed to mind ° their hurts even to the extent of binding them up, but allowed the blood to dry on them, as if they had been but scratches of small importance. Reuben Macy and his father sat at the feet of Yari Hakon iu earnest conversation, prisoners to be sure, but unguarded and talking wpe The burly Norse men seemed to regard them with a kindly sort of in difference, secure that they could not escape; and Captain Macy was telling his son all the adventures which had brought him into such a strange pre- dicament. “Tam a slave, Reuben, my boy, as you are, and our only consolation is that we are together in our prison. Twas a Slave in the Golden Serpent, as they called tha’ ship which I left; and we are both slaves now in the Black Dragon of Yarl Hakon. The only difference is that Yarl Hakon has the repute of be- ing a kind masier, while Yarl Harold was a devil of cruelty.” “But where are the rest of the crew of the Pride, and where is the ship, father?’ “The poor ship lies in three hundred fathom of water outside the entrance to the Giants’ Pass, and | the men—such as were nct killed in the fight—are slaves to the different Yarls that divide this king- dom with their petty quarrels.” “The fight! What fight, father? I only know that you sunk the ship and took te the boats.” “Yes; the poor Pritt been squeezed so badly in the ice Hog and she sunk out the toats up with earry. You kno terribly inhospitat enough as we ccasted along proaching and we had but a week’s ‘provis j no fuel. But when we reached that bay, which v named Paradise Pay on the spot, we were full of north, We , as of vegetation as we advanced to tt pulled alung merrily through vic Giants’ The stranger was now almost aboard, but at the | ever M one calls it, eyen the Norsemen; and came sound of that shout her crew stopped rowing, and in bold another moment the red galley crashed into their | Yarl Eric’s castle, bows, raked the whole ban then grappled. Impelled by an irresistible fascination, Reuben started up by Yarl Hakon and watched the sight. He saw two great grapnels, at the end of chains, cast on board the stranger, and then the giant in their own bows took a flying leap into the midst of his en- emies, wielding a F ge ax, and began to hew down right and left, all naked as he was, regardjess of spear and mace. At the same time the Norsemen boarded with a sudden ferocity and utter recklessness that amazed Reuben, who had never seen such a thing before. Their antagonists metthem with equal ardor, and for some minutes the crash of blows on mail, the savage shouts of the combatants and the dull thud that marked the thrust of the deadly lance or stabbing- et a pandemonium of sound that was in- dese Rye emi But suc m slaughter could not last long. There seemed to be no sort of caution observed by either side; it was all stab, cut, kill, and no flinch- The most remarkable figure of all was the giant Berserker, smiting right and left with his ax, while the blows came raining down on him from all quar- ters, and yet no drop of blood stained the whiteness of his skin, Man after man went down under that fearful ax, and still the men of the red galley press- ed on, driving their foes further and further, till a loud shout of triumph burst from every throat, as the men of the white galley suddenly lost heart; and all leaped overboard, armed as they were, to sink and drown. Then the wild Berserker uttered a tremendous yell and flung his bloody ax straight up in the air, where it mounted to an astonishing hight, coming down on the deck with a force that sent the spike = the two blades several inches into the solid timbers. ‘*Eric Rydd! Eric Rydd!' was the shout of the Norsemen over their champion, whose hair was a bright golden red, and then down fell the great Ber- porker on the deck, foaming at the mouth and shak- in all over in a violent fit. Reuben had seen the famous Berserker frenzy and it seemed plain that Red Eric was a maniac an an epileptic. Hardly had he made this observation when there arose a shout among the Norsemen, and a moment later a tall figure leaped through the midst of them with wonderful rapidity, bounded on board the red galley and came running to Yarl Hakon, kneeling at 8 feet. In a moment more a dozen wild Norsemen were leaping after him, but ere that moment arrived Reuben uttared a glad ery of joy: “ PaTHER!!!"’ ** RevBen!!!??! Then father and sor were locked in each other's \ - | all his bitterest foes. | star. The old Yarl was a out into the sea, coasting along the shores, by He is a great friend of Yar! Ha- of oars on thatside and | kon here, and it is a wonder to me how Yarl Harold could have dared to come into these waters so near We were not molested by any of Yarl Eric’s men, who were away at the time, and we d on, wondering much at the size of the castles and the apparent absence of any fixed agri- cultural population, though the soil seemed so luxu- riant. But ere we had gone far we saw our mis- take, when two of these accursed galleys, full of men, came bearing down on us, sounding their trumpets and clashing their weapons. Of course we knew that meant fight, and as we had some twenty rifles and a lot of ammunition, we opened on them as if they had been common savages. We never made a worse mistake, as we soon found,” These people have been cooped up here for six hun- dred years, in a lake about the size of France, with a strip of land all round it and three little islands. The land is fit to support about sixty thousand le, but these have increased to nearly three tines t amount, living on fish and ee too haughty and to cultivate the land, and holding the one virtue of courage above all others. They do not seem to value life a straw, and kill or enslave all the survivors after a fight. “We fired volley after volley into them as they came on, sending our last shots into the mass at twenty paces, and the only result was to the survivors to a frenzy like that. Berserker’s. They came leaping down into our boats with their ax knocking our biggest men about like children in five minutes it was all over, and we—that ts, all those left alive—thrown into the holds of their gai- leys tied up like chickens for market. ‘Ever since that we have been slaves, used to till rigs rat omy on the ueand Fat nee Pole, e t began between and Yar op,” ** And who is Snorr Erlson, father?” “He was only one of the petty Yaris a few years ago, but he has beaten one after the other of the rest, till now he is og ager as king by Yarl Har- old, and about ten of the others. His only rival is Yarl Hakon, here.” is a where a3 te live?” “In the largest of the islands, the one we are a proach now. It is about ‘tye hours’ sail pt norr ‘Erison s island, which lies right under the pole : at warrior in his Ray, aud a scald besides. - A scald is what they call a bard, who plays the harp and sings. Now, Yarl Hakon never fights nor carries weapons, but commands his Black Dragon as fearlessly as ever, with Red Eric to lead the fighters.” “This Red Eric is a madman, is he not, father?” I can hardly say. They tell me that this ber- serker frenzy was more common once in the old days of Harold Fairhair, King of Norway, the man that Snorr Erlson is anxious to imitate, but there are very few berserkers now. The strange thing about the whoie business is that ene of these berserkers, : ~¥ /
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7 Sa erp pp Aide ae ~~ SiiaSt eae f i if + 4 fy VA = re is The Lost Captain. when the fit is on him, seems to be quite inaccessible | bordered with a long row of stone houses, built in to wounds. Icould understand their strength and courage, but ] have seen them dash naked through | a fire and come out unharmed, while they rarely get so much as a scratch in their fights. It’s a wonder- ful thing, altogether.” *“ And what made you come on board this boat, | father?” “To save my life, Reuben. I had heard that Yarl Hakon was one of the few kind and merciful men in this terrible place. I wasaslave in Yarl Harold’s boat, chained to an oar, but Imanaged to get loose during the fight, and hid under the half-declc, in the bow. Assoon as Red Eric went off in his fit, Isaw that my chance was come, sol ran for it, and got through, safely. Ithinuk that my meeting with you | was a lucky chance for me, for it surprised them all, | and gave them time to think.” * And are these people Christians, fatber?”’ Captain acy smiled. “They call themselves so, still, but Ifear no one would know it, for they have relapsed into many of their old heathenish practices since they have been shut out from the world. They worship the old Norse Gods, Odin, Thor, Balder, and Friga; only they call them saints. They drink beer out of the skulls of their enemies, just as they did in the old times, and the only remnant of Christianity that I | can see in them is areverence for the cross as an énibiem of something or other; they hardly know at,” ** And tell me, father, how do these people live, and have you learned their language, yet?”’, ** Yes, I can speak their tongue now. At first I could not understand a word, but one day it struck me that whatI heard was very much like English such as the country folks talk, and after that I pick- edit up very quickly. They live almost entirely by fishing and hunting, but they make the slaves culti- vate fields of barley, and brew beer from it on which they get drunk. Then thereis plenty of wild honey in the woods, and they make mead out of that. As for bread, I never saw any here. Itis all meat and beer froin one year to the other. They have fine times in the long summer, for when once the sun seve Mountain-tops he stays rou B circle, getting rows like magic. in the winter, he twilight, then four hen another month fre ne comes back. Those are the int) es, for it gets too dark to fight, and the men have to stay in their castles and pass their time as they can. That is the women’s time for feasts and dances, while the men wrestle and play at fighting to amuse them,” _ “Tg it cold, then?” "No, and that is the strange part of it all, We never have snow, and the ground feels warm, even when the air is coll. The ice blocks up the outer bay and comes up to the entrance ‘of Giants’ Pass, but it never gets any further. It must be the influ- ence of these voleanoes around us, Every now and then one of them ceases te Smoke, and we have rigs earthquakes, while the ground gets very warm, the fire breaks out aguin. It is ‘only when the island in the middle of the sea stops that wé nave realtrouble. That happened a few weeks ‘ago, an we had a veer, heavy earthquake, thé ‘ground trem- constanilf till the fire broke out again.” ‘Yes, Father that is what enabled us to come here; and Reuben told in‘as few words as possible the histo ry of their finding the bottle in the fish and Fe a oh ‘subsequent voyage to the shores of Macy 1 4 ‘Captain Macy listened attentively till Reuben came to the finding of the flag-staff under Humboldt ‘Glacier and the deserted hut, when he observed: _ “Yes, we came the same way and found a man living there, a Spaniard called Zuniga, who came here with us. He bad been wrecked on an icebe and had drifted into the Middle Pack, which he fol- lowed till he arrived at Smith Sound, where he had been living like a hermit for a period of seven ears. ve Yes, father, and we found his only daughter, liviag among the Hoskies at Disco, and she entered this sea with me this morning ina kayack. Poor girl, I fear these robbers must have snapped her “No. A woman ifs in no danger here. On the eontrary, the women are the rulers in all Laprg and the men never refuse them anything. That is their best trait. If the girl understands their language ’ she can go anywhere and ask for anything.” “ And where is her father?” “He is high in favor with Snorr Erlson, who has made him a sort of prime minister, though he is, under their laws, stilla slave. This Zuniga is a man of great size and strength, and has been trained to the use of arms. He threw their best wrestlers, one after the other, and showed them how to use their wm so that they treated him with great respect. I his black hair and huge black beard, so differ- ent from their lizht complexions, had a good deal to do with it. I am fair, and although pretty strong, no match for these giants; but this Zuniga is as bi asany of them. Moreover, he seems to be a man 0 great intelligence and has taught them all sorts of things that I know nothing about, so he is a prince and I only a siave.”’ The poor man sighed as he made this remark, and Reuben echoed the sigh. They seemed to be in- _ deed in a helpless Meet Oa While they sat absorbed in their gloomay reflections ‘a shadow stole across the galley deck, and POORER up, Reubensaw that they were approaching the vol- canic island in the midst of the sea, the shadow be- caused by the smoke crossing the sun, few minutes later they entered a spacious bay, the same fortress-like style that characterized all the edifices in tliat strange land, and Yarl Hakon signed tothem torise. They did so, and Reuben saw that the shore was covered with girls and women in white, waving their hands in welcome, CHAPTER XXIII. THE TURNING OF THE TIDE. WHEN Uncle Jabez saw that the Sarah Jane was safely out in the open sea, with the advantage of the Norse rovers in point of speed, he drew a deep sigh of relief, and remarked to the honest mate: “*That was a close call, Folger.” “It were that,” was the candid reply; ‘‘and if we hadu’t got in, jest in time to slip the cable and go to sea, I'm _ doubtful if we could have fought those devils off J never seen sich men. Injuns ain’t a circumstance to ‘em, ‘cause Injuns wil/ run if they find themselves gittin’ killed, but them fel- ler’ seemed to git the more savage the more we lugged it to’em. I guess we must have put half a yushel of old iron into the thick of ’em, and they didn’t seem to mind it no more nor so much snow- balls. I wonder what kind of men they kin be, Cap? They was white enough to be Christians. Well, well, they’ve got r little Rube, and I guess — gone for good, if they don’t cook him and eat im.’ Uncle Jabez was about to answer when he was dis- turbed by a tug at his elbow and saw Kitty Macy, bi Se and tear-stained face, regarding him piteously. ‘*Oh, uncle,” she burst out, “‘are you going to let those wretches murder poor Reuben without an ef- fort to help him? We have a ship big enough to kill them all, if we only try. Let us run in and rescue Reuben.” Uncle Jabez shook his head sorrowfully. ‘*’Tain’t no use jest now, Kitty, till the wind starts = We wouldn't havea ghost of a chance in a light wind, for those devils would board us in_no time, and then we woud be sore up, indeed. Why, they kin put in ten men to our one, and we hain’t got am- munition vo fight °em if we had the arms. No, no, I’m afeard we're in a bad box, my gal.” He was interrupted by the loud flapping of the sails as the wind died away, and looked anxiously astern to see if his enemies were still there. To his great gratification they were no longer in sight. They had Lm tg into the recesses of the bay which the Sarah Jane had entered that day under such auspicious circumstances, and the bay itself was hidden by the white shoulder of the glaciers of Macy Land, ‘* Waal,” observed Folger at this moment, ‘‘ this looks bad, Cap, hevin’ to stay out here among these cussed glaciers, all along of them white devils—for they’re worse than any savages I ever seen.” The honest mate seemed to be much disgusted at the prospect before him, and his depression was re- flected in the face of every one on board. Mrs. Macy, whohad held up under the excitements and ‘strains ‘of the last few days, was now quite broken down, and sat sobbing by Kate for the loss of Reuben, ‘Jonathan, who had been the busiest on board while the fighting lasted, now sat by the taffrail, brooding; for it seemed a settled thing that the cee of the Sarah Jane had given up the fight for good. Thus they lay for some time, the sails flapping in the calm as the ship ‘rolled uneasily in the swell while the ‘cold air which hung round the base o Macy Land be to deposit icicles on the rigging, showing that the temperature was rapidly falling. While thus ‘they lay there, it seemed to every one as if they were shut out from paradise, as they re- membered the lovely scenes which they had lately witnessed, all the more striking from their contrast to the snow and ice round them. Atlast came a sudden lurch of the vessel, the flap- ping of the sails ceased, and Uncle Jabez started up with the instinct of a sailor. “Hard down with the helm!” he cried. ‘* Hands by the braces! Here comes the wind!” Sure enough it camesighing and groaning eps the rigging, increasing every moment, while the Sarah Jane, taken flat-aback, was moving rapidly astern. But Uncle Jabez was not one to be caught nap- ping, and he trimmed his yards to meet the sudden shift, till the vessel — round on her heel and went bowling out to the mouth of the bay, in ad- vance of the great tide swell that they could see sweeping along the shores of Macy Land, under a stiff breeze that madethe masts groan. In less than ten minutes from the time that they were mourning over the calm they were going at ten knots an hour, and their spirits rose at once with the rapid motion. But when it came to entering the bay, Uncle re, cautious on account of his old age, hesitated, and i was not till a deputation of sailorscame aft to vol- unteer to go through any dangers, that he consented. “For ye see, boys,” said the old man, “this here is my s’arch arter myfamily; and I ain’t no business to risk any other folks’ lives for that; but if so be you're all willin’ to go in and take the chances of fightin’ these white devils, up with the helm and let her walk.” The response was three hearty cheers, and then the men dispersed to their posts, while Jonathan started up, @ new man, and even Mrs. Macy and Kate look- ed more cheerful. There was something so different in the aspect of things now, as they dashed into the bay. The winds of this peculiar country seemed to resemble those of the tropics, in changing periodically from land to sea breeze with the tides or changing light, The tide-wave which they aad observed at first im: their rear had by this time swept far ahead up the: bay, the clouds were coming up from the south in heavy masses, indicating a colder wind, and the- breeze was fast freshening into a gale as they ran. up the bay and in between the black walls me f the Giants’ Pass. Once there the curves and shelter of the basaltte walls diminished the force of the following wind to a gentler pitch; but, thanks to its steady continu- ance, they swept along in safety, though in ht ful proximity to the rocks, till they emerged in the inner bay, safe and sound, to revel in the view of the mysterious Polar Land just thrown open to them. They could detect the white houses, the voleances and the sails, just as Jonathan had, but they no longer felt the alarm that bad seized them when they first saw the Norsemen. They felt that as long as the wind lasted and they could hold the open sea they were more than a match for any of the rovi craft, the owners of which seemed to be igntsant ot the use of gunpowder. As they passed out of the bay, close under the walls of one of the low castles, they could see 4 great crowd of men thereon, evidently much excited at their coming, but the nearest vessels were at least Cwenit y miles off, and the Sarah Jane swept on unmo- ested. The wind held on for a while and then began to die away, as they advanced toward the islands in the midst of the sea. They had already noticed the strange flatness of the water that had so forcibly impressed Reuben, and found that they could see ust as far from the deck as from the cross-trees. ey came in full view, also, of their late enemy, as Yarl Hakon’s galley swept on, followed by the captured Golden Serpent; but of all that had trans- pired, they were, of course, ignorant. Fearing that they might again be overtaken by a calm, Uncle Jabez put his helm down and stood off” again toward the fringing shore of this inland sea. Ahead of them, toward the islands, seemed to be a dead calm, while the water was ruffled all round the lake and the winds seemed to be blowing toward a common center, the tall voleanic peak in the midst of the sea. The Sarah Jane had started on her voyage round the Pole, CHAPTER XXIV. THE WHITE DEVILS. A BRILLIANT, but singular scene was transpiring at the island which owned the sway of Yarl Hakon, while the Sarah Jane oer on her way rejoicing. A great throne, closed by an arbor of flowers, was erected in the midst of a smooth, green lawn, and around this throne were getheces several hun- dred women of the most brilliant blonde beauty, who seemed fit mates for the grand Norse warriors that mingled freely with them. On the throne sat Yarl Hakon himself, tall and venerable, and at his right hand, alittle before, stood Captain Macy and Reuben, stripped naked, save for a waist-cloth, their arms pinioned behind them and their heads bare, while Eric, bearing his enor- mous ax, stood beside them. In =“ of the peril in which he stood—for it seemed that the debate was on the question of his and his father’s immediate execution—Reuben could not help a feeling of delighted admiration as he looked round him. Such women and girls he had never seen in his life, and the purity of their race seemed to have pre- vented the survival of even one plain one. As far as he could see, al/ were beautiful. The majority were tall and finely molded, far above the aver: stature of American women, and orators U boy himself by an inch or two. All had the same proud, features, high bs power straight nD faces rather round than oval, with firm, reso- lute chins and short upper lips. ere Was an air of haught; h-bred serenity about them that told of their mba ton and privileged sex; their blue eyes were frank and fearless in expression, and they eurved their white necks as if they were used to looking down at others. All wore their bright yellow hair freely hanging down, and most had it_in curls; while the younger ones wore on the forehead a plain gold band and the matrons replaced this by a species of coronet with a white plume therein. The dress seemed to be uniform net beg rons and virgins, the girls be- ing distinguished by bare arms and necks, while the matrons had theirs covered. Otherwise the dress wasasimple robe of white, fastened at the shoul- ders with gold buckles and sweeping to the ground, while confined at the waist with a girdle of gold chainwork. Nothing surprised Reuben more than the profu- sion of gold ornaments among these people, though the workmanship was rude, but the beauty of the wearers fairly amazed him. If he had ever been in- clined to fallin love with Dolores, that feeling van- ished entir+ly now, and he felt as if he could cheer- fully live and die in the midst of these angelic be- ings. But Yarl Hakon now began to speak, and as his people understood him it is time we did. ‘*My children,” said the old chief, “the holy Odin has been good to us to-day. We have slain Yarl Harold and have driven away a ship full of the cow- ards of the Southland who profaned our domain, We have taken one of Harold’s slaves alive, one of those same cowards, and here he is with his son. Do you want them killed or shall we put them to work in the mines?” Red Eric poised his ax in both hands like a base ballist with his club, and looked round him with a laugh, asking:
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ore “Who says kill? Is it Githa or Brunhilda? I will wager my ax against a lock of Githa’s hair I can take both heads off at one blow. ShallI try? This ferocious sally was greeted by a silvery laugh from the beautiful creatures round, who seemed to- tally indifferent to scenes of blood, and. a omy Macy shuddered as he looked at his son beside him. Reuben, who understood nothing, heard the laugh and smiled brightly at a group of girls who were re at him as they might at some curious ani- mm 2 : : Strange as it mig¢ht appear, that smile settled his fate favorably. Reuben was a handsome, delicate boy, with a dark Italian-looking face, which he took from his mother; and when he smiled he looked par- ticularly handsome. Moreover, his slender frame | was a contrast to the brawny giants round him, and the contrast pleased the caprice of the girls. Instantly the group at which he was looking broke | up, and three of these grand blondes came running toward him, crying: “Nay, pay, give him to us. He is pretty. He shall wait on us.” Yarl Hakon smiled. These three were sisters, ~ mb gi of his only son who had been killed in battle, and they were the spoiled favorites of the old man, ““You hear, men," he said. ‘‘Githa and Bertha and Brunhilda want the little one for a slave to play with. Shall they have him?” “Yo, yo, Yarl, I don’t want them. Let the girls have him. I shall kill the other, girls? It’s the fa- ther of the little one. We found him hidi in Yarl Harold’s boat, and he begged his life. he worth saving?” Thus spoke Red Eric, with the same good-natured laugh as before, as devoid of compunction as if he had been killing a sheep The girls only laughed, and Captain Macy saw that his time was come as Githa pulled Reuben away from him, while Bertha began to twist her hand in the dark curis of the boy’s hair, and Brum- hilda untied his bonds. The sailor was not without some shame at the | comments he heard on his saving his own life in | place of committing suicide with his savage com- | panions. He saw that something desperate was | necessary, if he wished any chance; so he suddenly started out in front of the old Yarl and cried out: “The man that calls mea coward lies, and I can | prove it on his body.” / Fora moment there was a dead silence, and then out burst a loud roar of laughter from the men, | echoed by the girls with equal heartiness. * Sau un, poik, sl > cried one of the girls, | } au un gayly, and Reaben started; it sounded so much like the Lancashire miner's “S’u7 un, boys, slug un!” equivalent to ‘* Hit him, boys."’ n fact that was just what this haughty Norse girl said, and Red Eric was about to obey the injunction, when Y.rl Hakon cried: ** Nay, nay. “Turn him loose,” said the old Yarl, gravely. “Give him an ax and let Red Eric finish him, fight- ing.” f Yo, yo!”’ cried the girls, clapping their hands as if wonderfully enjoying the whole thing, and then they formed a great ring, while Reuben's fair cap- tors dragged him away with them to the edge of the circle, to witness the spectacle of his own father de- fending his life against the giant. Ms gee Macy was a brave man, but he felt his heart sink as he surveyed his h antagonist, and reflected on what he had known him to the Berserker condition. But he remembered that his only chance of ever seeing his wife and children again lay in the coming fight, and he hardened his heart to struggle through. o when in He had been a good deal in South American ports and had seen much of the dexteney of Spaniards in the use of the knife, besides which he had taken a oyment as @ weapon. few lessons himself in its em herefore, he asked for When his bonds were cut a knife only, refusing the huge ax, which he knew he was unable to handle; and, thus armed, he in- stantly started toward Red Eric on a run. The burly Norseman anges aloud as he lifted his ax and aimed at the sailor one of those down- right blows that would have annihilated him had he been there to receive it. But the Yankee was not there. Knowing that his life depended on his quickness, he dodged the blow, rushed in ere the other could renew it, and there he wee, hanging at Red Eric’s throat, ‘this left hand ed in the giant’s huge beard, while his right was stabbing away at the other’s breast, Red Eric uttered a roar of dropped his ax and tried to grapple his opponent, when the active sailor suddenly sprung away, eluding his enemy’s Pp. The Norseman made a few staggering teps for- ward and fell ene with the blood pouring i his wounds, while the girls begun to clap their hands and shout forthe victor as bli hely as if he had been one of their own kind, The pure delight of seeing a battle seemed to be the ruling passion of this singu- lar people, for they crowded round Captain Macy with cries of admiration, the men clapping him on the shoulder, while the girls favored th their brightest smiles. As for Red Eric, he lay on_ the und perfectly unheeded, and might very likely have died there, had not his conqueror appealed to the crowd to take him up and attend to his hurts, which they did at once in dexterous fashion, carrying him off to his use. “Will he die, father?” asked Reuben, wistfully, as | the giant was borne off. / “T think not,” was the answer. “These men are | as healthy as wild animals, and nothing seems te ' ili them save a wound inthe brain or heart. That A j The Lost Captain. man will be out and about his business before the winter sets in, or I mistake very greatly.” While he was still s ng came a murmuring buzz from the edge of the crowd, running to the center, and a man was seen making his way to Yarl — throne, where he announced with a loud voice: “Snorr Erlson’s men are coming to fight, and the Southland ship has entered the sea. Rouse up, Yarl Hakon, for we have got to fight.” Instantly arose a great commotion. The women started a wild wailing song that seemed to excite the men to a perfect frenzy, while Yarl Hakon md left his throne and stalked down to the harbor, fol- lowed by the crowd, to the row of galleys which lay moored by the bank. Reuben and his father followed, almost unnoticed in the crowd, and looked over the level expanse of water with the rest. There was the Sarah Jane in plain sight from truck to water-line, though at least twenty miles off, standing across the sea under a cloud of sail toward a fleet of seven galleys that werecoming out from the island of Snorr Erlson to meet her as they at first thought. A second glance revealed the fact that the galleys were coming to Yarl Hakon’s island, while the ship was a long distance outside them, and then the men of the island an to crowd into their own galleys to put off, leaving Captain Macy and Reuben quite unnoticed among the girls. The captain saw t and being a man used to emergencies, at once conceived the idea that he might escape. The three princesses who had been so quick to rescue Reuben as a pet and plaything seemed to have forgotten him nowin the excitement of watching the new contest that impended, and the captain was able to draw the boy away from the rest to a little distance, when he said: “Rube, my boy, are you ready to try for freedom at the risk of instant death if we are caught?” The boy paled a little, but answered, resolutely: ** Yes, father, I think I am—with you to lead me.” “Then listen. All the men in this island will soon be gone out after Snorr Erlson, and there will be none left but the girls and children. They generally have some small fishing-boats that they call ‘yagts’ round these ports, and these little things are sharp- built and fast. I propose that we take one of these when the tide turns and try to reach the Sarah Jane. You may have noticed that it is very nearly calm round these islands, except when the tide turns, Then the wind changes and there is always plenty of it about half-way to the outer shore, in that belt where Jabez seems to be holding his ship.” “ Very well, father. I’m ready whenever you say the word.” “But remember this: if the women catch us at it they will tear us to pieces; for they are worse than the men when they get their blood u Ps beautiful as they are. I have seen them do such things as would turn your blood to ice, when they work themselves up to a frenzy and tear their hair to the music of the war-song.”’ I'm ready if there’s any e Never mind, father. ice.” There will be, in about five hours, when the tide turns again.”’ This said, the captain turned away with his son to le with the crowd that was now watching the exit of the galleys from en te Snorr Erlson’s fleet was still a long wer off, for the figures of his rowers were not to be distinguished, = the devices on his flags were lost in blotches of color. He had however seven galleys, and they could see three distinct squadrons, numbering fifteen sail in all, Lape out to join him from the encircling shores of the Polar Sea. Yarl Hakon's fleet on the other hand counted eleven sail from the island alone, though there were no symptoms of any assistance coming wo them from the shore. ¢ “Yarl Eric’s ey was sunk a few weeks ago,” observed Ca Macy, thoughtfully, “so that ac- counts for staying in his castle, but where are the others? They must be asleep or drunk. Yarl pry en will be beaten if he cannot cut them up, one a time.” Indeed the latter seemed to be the plan adopted by the veteran Norse leader, for his fleet held weil together and rowed rapidly out, without hoisting a to meet Snorr Erlson’s men before they could be joined by their allies. e view was perfectly clear and unobstructed, and the gazers from the shore could see the two fleets approaching each other, apparently crawling over the surface of the water for several hours. The women remained at their beh emerge and sing- ing their wild songs, as if fancied the warriors could hear them; and the two slaves—for such were the captain and Reuben—kept at the edge of the crowd and waited ently for their o nity. They saw the Jane, after making ng stretch to the left, turn round and come , ap- parently afraid of the advancing galleys, till she was ts) te Yarl Hakon’s island once m and a: ‘ fe ng he more than a mile off, so deceptive wen te distance, Then, of a sudden, Reuben felt his father touch him, and he followed without a word down to the port, just ” a _ breath of air, hot, like that from ‘ann a furnace his cheek. “The tide is turning,” said the ca: as they drew out of hot. ‘We shall have the first — and come out to them when they are in a m.”’ They sauntered, with an air of affected unconcern, down to the where lay a of smal), narrow boats, very different from the galleys. ck- atch- ly and dexterously, while the women were ly | Ri a ra ing the impending battle, the captain cast off the ropes that confined the whole fleet, and sent them afloat, tied in astring. Then, stepping into the lead- ing boat, he hoisted the square sail just as a hea’ gust came down from the mouth of the volcano, pod ee boldly out of the harbor, towing his string ef ats. Reuben took the oar, which served for a helm, while his father picwed up an ax and stalked aft. Arrived at the last boat he dealt it a vigorous blow in the bottom, starting a plank and letting the waterin » with a rush. The sound of that blow first attracted the atten- tion of the throng of women who stood gazing ous to sea, and a wild scream of anger succeeded the measure of the jae | they had been singing. Reuben turned his head at the sound of that scream and saw the whole of the white-robed throng come flying down to the port like a flock of sea birds, their arms waving like wings, their hair streaming wildly in the wind. He looked back at the tail of boats be- hind him, and noticed that the last of them was nos fifty feet from the shore, and that their rate of pro- gress was very slow. Then he heard thecrash of the ax as Captain drove a second boat into a wreck, and the women began to shriek out threats and imprecations as they came. Again and again the captain sprung from boat to boat, wrecking each as he left it, and then into the —_— dashed the women, and came swimming after em. Reuben saw that if something were not done they would be caught, for these Norse beroines swam with wonderful rapidity, and were fast overhauling them, owing to their long tow. But Captain Macy persisted in his undertaking till the foremost woman had actually seized the boat, when he cut loose all the scuttled boats, and the remainder swept out to sea with enough rapidity to baffle pursuit. Once clear of the port, the rest of the boats were destroyed in short order, the wind increasing every moment, till Reuben and his father found them- selves scudding over the wide expanse at the rate of nine knots an hour, the island getting further and further astern as they headed for the Sarah Jane. That they were seen from the ship soon became evident, for she altered her course toward them just before the calm that preceded the change of wind struck her; but near as she seemed, it cost them 4 three long hours’ sailirg ere “4 at last hauled up at the gangway, while Captain Macy shouted: “Sarah Jane ahoy! throw us a rope.” Then a line of eager faces looked over side, and such a cheering and shouting as arose had. never been heard before on the Sarah Jane, as the two escaped prisoners, all weary and worn, climbed the sides to be received on deck. : Mrs. Macy, contrary to expectatiows, did not faint; but wild Kitty, the hoyden of Nantucket, ss em 3 contrary to all expectations, did; attracting uni- versal attention. She was a long time recovering, and ere that, Reuben and his father had been taken down-stairs to the cabin and hastily clothed. When Kitty opened her eyes she started up and stared round, c gz: “ Reuben, Reuben, where is he?’’ Then, as he came toward her with a smile, she sprung into his arms, bursting into a storm of sobs and straining him tightly as she murmured: : ts Oh, Reuben, my darling, I thought you were Poor Kitty! Her secret was out, forced from her by the shock. She was but a young thing and every one had thought Jonathan her hero, but the loss of. Reuben revealed the truth. : me Then every thought of love or lovemaking vanish- ed from the company on board the Sarah Jane as they looked round them and realized that the battle begun between the two factions of the Norse- men. “ Jabez,”’ said Captain Coffin, ‘I want to tell yc one thing. Either we’ve got to take sides in fight and gain the gratitude of one faction of these w devils, or we shall never leave this place alive.”’ CHAPTER XXV. THE B ATTLE. When Captain Macy had delivered ae ope & pedo followed by a tank silence, till Uncle J: “Wh Jon'than? We've ig ed pie br te out wit! hy not pull foot at once while the tide is running, and git to sea? We've got you back, and that’s all we want.” “T'll tell you why,” was the answer. ‘“Theincom- wind, with the flood tide, comes quite tee id but the outgoing wind is generally weak, while ebb tide runs like a miil-race. To get the ship through, we should have to wait till the last of the ebb, then we sbould be liable to be overtaken by ese er with their oars, You know best if you fight them off, after ag’ had once led us fairly. How many rifles have youu aboard? ty Ithought as much. Jabez, it can’t be unless they choose to let us out.” “And how kin we get ‘em to let us out?” asked Captain Coffin, ruefully. 6 BY, bipping them into it,” was the resolute re- ply. ‘Remember that so long as we keep w we are, about midway from shore to the n . we shall have plenty of wind and have the heels of — everything that sails this sea. Another th , we can run down any of their evs if we fairly, 2 our uae gon’t get stove in.” —~ “No fear of that, father,” ohserved young Jo than. “She's a solid mass Of timber th z hes stood plenty of nipping already by theice,” : : thie zy dene f the ship's Ae N
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= = a em a “So much the better, boys. ne a = = oe 2 eS i The Lost Captain. We can smash their | the bottom with every man of her heavily-armed whole ficct ail to pieces, and I propose.to do that | crew, while the other two galleys turned and came game thing to the strongest party here—that is Yarl Hakon. You see these people have been shut up here for six hundred years or so, and when they first came they remembered that th ir friends had been murdered in their sleep by the Skraelings, so that they believed their only safety lay in_ kill ing every Skraeling they caught intradi here. Now that their numbers have increased the still keep the old traditions, and kili or enslave all strangers, under the idea that they are foes. They are safe enough, but they don’t believe it. We must show them we are tkvir friends and allies, and that can only be done by fighting for them.” “That’s sound sense, Cap,” said Folger, soberly. “ff Cap Coffin will give the word, I guess the boys will handle the ship to suit him.” The old man shook his head sadly, ‘No, no boys, my head ain’t what it used to be, and I wouldn’t dare to sail this ship into a fight when there’s a better man aboard. Jon’than Macy, Se- nior, you’re my sister Sa:ly’s husband, and you’re as good a sailor as ever I were in my best days. You take the ship, and I'll be a cabin passenger hereafter. bless ye, boy, and do your dooty.” He handed the speaking trumpet to Captain as he closed, and then turned to his crew. “Boys,” cried the old sailor, ‘this is your new captain, I'm gettin’ old and . Arter me, he owns this ship. The men, sailor-like, gave three cheers, for Cap- tain Macy was well known to all of them as an in- trepid sailor, and they had begun to catch the spirit of adventure which their surroundings were so well calculated to inspire. Captain Macy assumed his new station at once with the confidence of an old sea captain, and order- ed the ship’s head laid straight for the nearest m of galleys, three in number, which were along to énter the conflict in which Yarl Hakon’s fleet was engaged. The odds so far had been in favor of the old Yarl, whose squadron out- numbered that of Snorr Erlson by four vessels, but it was obvious that if the latter could hold on long enough, Hakon would in turn be overmatched, for there were fifteen epalieys putting out to help Snorr Erlson’s seven, while sail, all told. The t Norse chief who aspired to be king was now fighting warily in retreat, unlike the usual reck Jess tactics of his race, and he was gaining time for his allies by so doing. Under these circumstances it was that the Sarah Jane hauled her tacks and stood off to intercept the coming squadron, which only lacked about a mile of joining Soorr Erlson’s fleet. The sailors had noticed before this that the Norse- men seemed to be unable to beat up against any sort of wind, on account of their ogee d bagging sails, devoid of braces, and owing to the bluff round- ed model of the vessels. Their usual course was dead before the wind, and if they took it on either quarter they could rarely hold a course steadily rT : H Snorr Erlson’s crowd—and so gain the gratitude of i 4 when it got nearly abeam. Now that the wind had | shifted and blew outward from the polar islands like the spokes of a wheel, it became contrary to the course of the galleys, which at once hauled down their sails and took to their oars. Their progress then became very slow, and the handy ship came bowling down toward them under a stiff breeze, going about two feet to their one. In half an hour's such sailing they were close ~ aboard, and Captain Macy recognized the squadron as belon to Yarl Sweyn, surnamed Airnskeag, anglice a eeashag, on account of his very suiff wiry hair and beard. ; Old Ironshag stood on the tall prow of his ship, the Red Wolf, and brandished a bunch of javelins in either hand. turning gray, and he had the reputation, like Olaf the Great, of being able tocast a spear equally well with either hand. Ironshag was ang oy te wee old warrior as well as a bold one; for he ke s three vessels well apart from each other, and ranging on either side of the Sarah Jane, bows on, so as to present the east surface against ramming. At the same time he was willing to pass by without a fight if he could, for he shouted out in Norse: “Go they way and let us alone. We're meat for as Serornigt ptain Macy stood up on the heel of the bow- sprit eonning his ship as the old pirate roared out his warning, and his only reply was to wave his hand shouting: * Port alittle! Steady! So!” The ship yawed suddenly from her course and met the Red Wolf nearly bow to bow, ra her forward oars and finally staving in the sides of the vessel just forward of the mast. All of the crew of the Sarah Jane but the helms- man were gathered on the rail of the ship, with axes, handspikes, iron crowbars and any heavy weapon they could improvise for the fray. Down went the Red Wolf, her side crashing as the waves poured in; and then with a wild shout of fury the Norsemen began to climb up on board. But the assault was too sudden and the ship too high out of the water for the boarders to succeed. Those of them that managed to seize hold of the stays under the bowsprit swung themselves up with amazing strength, but the ater proportion fell into the sea, and, once there, had no chance to swim, o to the weight of their armor. Of those that climbed up the bowsprit og f Tron- shag himself reached the heel, and there he was knocked overboard by the arene blow of a hand- spike in the hands of Ezekiel Folger. Tn less than two minutes the Red Wolf had gone to ' arl Hakon had but eleven | He had been a red blonde and now was | driving after the Sarah Jane. The sight of the disaster to Yarl Sweyn, instead of dismaying his followers, seemed to spur them on to vengeance; for the shouts of the crews became pe- culiarly wild and savage. Old nshag had planned his attack well with re- gard to the distance of his friends and the relative rate of speed, for before the Sarah Jane could clear the vicinity, both galleys came bumping against her counter, and a pair of grapnels flew over the rail on the port-quarter, with chains attached. “Back, boys, aud beat them off,” cried Captain Macy; and away went a posse of men at full speed to the quarter-rail just as half a dozem heads came over the top. Then for a few moments there was a_ terrible struggle, as the sailors battered away at the heads of the Norsemen, and drove them back till the Sarah Jane had run about a mile under the fresh breeze. The galley on the other quarter had missed her rapnel, for she fell astern; but the grappled galley eldon like grim death, while the vengeful berser- kers came tearing up the sides like wild ligers, reck- less of wounds and not to be deterred by blows. Three men crossed the rail, only to be shot dead as they leaped down, for Captain Macy had given out the pistols to a small squad of the best shots, with orders not to waste a bullet till the enemy reached the deck. How the fight might have ended it is difficult to say, for the sailors were getting tired, the Norsemen more savage than ever; when Reuben noticed that one of the grapnels was loose, while the ship was held by the other. Calling some men to help him he succeeded in heaving this hook overboard, an became aware from the crash that it had fallen on the galley’s bottom and stove her planks out. A moment later there came a snap and twang as the other grapnel-chain parted, and they saw the Norse galley d: op astern, sinking before their eyes, her warriors dancing madly about, fi defiance at their foes, and showing no symptom of fear, even while they were sinking. Not a man tried to save his life by throwing off his armor and swimming. They knew that among their own people one who accepted life from a foe was disgraced forever, and if he were spared the pains of slavery and perueeed to return home would meet nothing but the sneers of the women for cowardice, so they preferred to die e men. But the people of the Sarah Jane had no time nor _ part inclination to waste pity on these wild men, even while they could not help a reluctant admiration for their courage. They had seen too much of tne piti- less ferocity of the Norsemen, not to feel sure that their very existence hung on beating down every vestige of an armed foe, if they could. Therefore Captain Macy hauled his wind as soon as the second eater sunk, and went bowling back on the trail of the third ralley, which was now mak- ing its way, as hard as the men : ould row it, toward Snorr Erlson’s fleet, now hotly engaged with the ships of Yar] Hakon. ne ship, under a cloud of sail, rapidly overhauled the galley, which pressed on till it became evident that it could not join its allies in time. Then, with SS rn , CHAPTER XXVI. CONCLUSION. CapraIn Macy hesitated a moment, “What would Ad have me do?”’ “Steer out of this fight into open water,” replied the Spaniard. ‘You were wrong to help Yarl Hakon; for Snorr Erlson is the man who can alone restore order among these barbarians,” “But Snorr Erlson is drowned,”’ said the captain. “I ran his ship down, a moment since.” ‘He was not on board. He isin the Black Eagle, onder. He is in bad straits now, and will treat for own safety. Trust me, capitan. Remember, I have ruled these men while you were a slave, pre i? know them well, Let them fight alone aw e.”” All the time they were talking, the Sarah Jane had been running along with the wind abeam, and was already clear of the battle, which progressed as savagely as if nothing had happened to disturb the equilibrium, though Snorr Erlson’s fleet was now reduced to five, fighting Yar] Hakon two to one. Zuniga inted to a fresh fleet of eight sail, hitherto almost unnoticed, now close to the battle, and evidently come to help the weaker party. “You see,” he observed, “that if we went ir there, we should stand a good chance of being boarded, Let them fight it out and we will have our talk io the victors.” There was so much sense in this advice that Cap- tain Macy held on his course a little while, and then ran off past the combatants into the open water, where he hove-to and remained a quiet spectator ot the sanguinary struggle. For three long hours did the battle rage, increased after the second hour by the arrival of Snorr Erl- son’s last reénforcement of four ships; and at the end of that time two galleys rowed slowly out of the press, leaving behind them a confused mass of wrecks piled with dead men. It was sueh a grim, re- lentless battle as their ancestors had been wont to fight in the days of Olaf the Great, and the slaugh- ter had been continued by the victors till the last man of their foes had been disposed of; for the Norse motto was ever the same, ‘ Quarter ” ack- ed or given. But who were the victors? That was a question which was a matter of smal) concern to the people of the Sarah Jane, for they realized that the the advantage of the tw> crippled galleys that were left, no matter to whici: y they belonged. Therefore, when Captain Macy squared his main- topsail and stood off after the galleys, it was eed that they were in a good position to treat with the | enemy; and that Zuniga, as having held some in- the same desperate daring which had marked the | action of the other twe crews, the Norsemen turned round and rowed straight to close with the ship. But Captain Macy had no fancy to try another conflict where it was ible for his enemies to board him, and just as the galley attempted to close he yawed widely, ran off before the wind to a safe distance, eluding the shock, and then steered straight for the mass of ships that lay on the water, locked together in mortal conflict. ere he had every advantage, for the warriors were so closely engaged in fighting that they did not heed his a <a they were close aboard, when it was too late. In less than five minutes the sharp bows of the Sarah Jane had crashed through the sides of Snorr Erlson’s own ship, the White Bear, the largest galley on those waters, and was bearing down on a secon when Reuben, who stood on the heel of the bowsprit, suddenly shouted: “It is Sefior Zuniga and Dolores, father. Throw them a. rope.” Then the sailors saw, high on the stern of the gal ley they were running down, the tall figure of a man th huge black beard and flowing raven locks standing with his arm round a slender girl in the white robes of a Norse maiden, whose dark hair showed that she was of a different race. The man seemed to have abandoned all thoughts of resistance, se gp he was armed like a Norse chief, for he sto assively eying the ship, as if expecting his fate, while his men were brandishing their weapous and shouting to each other in con- fused cries. Crash, went the Sarah Jane into the beam of the galley, ¢ her over into the deep, and just as she sunk, a rope fell from the ship’s side to the man and the girl. The ship d over the wreck almost without sensible resistance, and the Norsemen seemed too much surprised and dismayed to attempt to board, but the Spaniard and his daughter were pulled in as the rest went down to a watery grave, and Reuben rushed up to Zuniga and Dolores, while the sailors raised a hearty cheer of joy. The Norse-Spaniard, Zuniga, seemed to understand all about the vessel, for he ereeted Reuben as if he had been an old friend, and then turned to Captain wy f saying; “ Sefior capitan, you have saved all our lives for the present, and ou will be guided by me, we shall be safe out of this sea in twelve hours, with every captive held by these pirates returned to you.” i\ fluence among them, was the proper person to ar- range the business, The ship ran rapidly down past the disabled fleet, which lay idly drifting on the waters, presenting a ghastly nght with its piles of oa and very soon overhauled the two galleys, which were rowing away. ‘ a As of —_ ae eee ne gp ena egy 4 as pan , pointing to a brillian re on the lofty stern of one of the galleys. “ There stands the Gentes man in Norseland, and worth ten of old arl Hakon, for he has brains as well as courage, and knows when to run and when to fight.” As they came near they could see the figure of 4 warrior of striking beauty, clothed in armor that seemed to flash with gold all over it. He was a young man, whose heavy clustering curls of bright olden hue flowed down over his shoulders, matched y along blonde mustache that touched his breast on each side of a round, resolute chin. He was not tall, but his breadth of shoulder was unusual, while his great white arms, all bulging with muscles, were so long that he could touch bis knee without stoop- ing. o8 he stood. is blue eyes were frank and cheerful, dewoid of the fierce stare that characterized most of the Norsemen, and he Jooked a right royal personage ab he stood there, steering his galley, which was but feebly manned as compared with its usual comple- ment. He turned his head as the ship came on and gave some orders, when his galleys changed their course to meet her, and he waved his hand in token of pew Alt hail, king of the Northland,” cried Zuniga, os the ship im. ‘I am safe, and these are ou friends from the great world outside of the ice. Will the king give us our friends and let us go in peace, or must we fight?” Snorr Erlson smiled with an air of some vexation as he answered: “Thou knowest I can fight no more now, and there are the men of Eric's Hold and Yarl Olaf of the Giants’ Pass still to beat, though they have no ships. What wouldst thou with me, now thou hast left him who fed thee for so long?” “You cannot blame me for going back to my own,” was the reply. ‘“‘ Your men took us for slave. when we had never harmed you, and now we car kill you if we wish.” The Norse chief looked up with a careless ax 3 or you would have done it before. nat Northland?” sawp Erlson crossed himself devoutly and an- swered: “We are all Christians. Beso. I will give back your men and you shall go to your geome of whom you have told me, if you will. But ou will siay with us, I swear by all the holy satnts that | will
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——-- —— * The Lost Captain. 19 make your daughter my queen, and your race shall rule the Northland; for you are a man and can make fire-weapons. Will you stay?” ; ; “Tf I promise, will you let these people go in zace?”’ asked the Spaniard gravely, while Captain acy stared in surprise at the offer. *? will. I care nothing for them, since I know what the rest of the world is doing, as you have told me, Iam willing to take them for friends and in- vite them to trade. My people have been shut up in aholelong enough. If you wiil help me, I will try to lead them out into the light.” “But if I stay Icannot answer for my daughter,” said the Spaniard, still more gravely. ‘‘She must consult her own heart, for we force not our maids to marry against their will.” “Nor we ours,” was the proud retort. “Our maids are queens, and our matrons rule over princes. Let the maiden say for herself if she will be the bride of Olaf the Strong, King of the Norsemen, once named Snorr Erlson.” While this conference was going on, understood only by Zuniga, Captain Macy and Dolores, the face of the girl remained singularly devoid of confusion, The Norse tongue so closely resembled the Danish, which she had learned at Disco Bay, that she com- prehended the offer entirely. Her father turned to her’now, and asked her: hae is it, Dolores: are youready to wed King Raising her head with a proud look, she spoke her answer boldly: “Yo, for he isa man among men. He found me alone and he bowed before me as if I were a queen. I will stay here forever, if he will.” King laf—as we must now call him—smiled proudly back in answer to the girl as he said: “Thou didst not know, friend, that I was out alone im my yagt when I met this fair maid, dressed like a Skraeling woman. It is true, and T was nearly killing her for a man, when she threw out her long black hair and showed who she was. She told me that she was searching for her father, and I found it was my right hand man, my Blackbeard. She made me promise to leave her when I told her where you were, and I obeyed; for a Norse warrior worships woman. Thou owest how she found thee, and how our maidens made her welcome.” “Ay, king, I know it,’’ answered the Spaniard; “and right glad am I she has made a worthy choice. But I have friends here, whom I am bound to pro- lect. If I stay, will you keep faith with them?” “T have sworn by the saints and I go not back | trom my word,” was the proud reply. “I willcome on board your ship alone, and you shall see if Olaf Snorr Erlson is a liar.”’ *Be it so,’’ said the Spaniard, and Captain Macy bowed in assent. The stalwart young king, triumphant over all his foes, soon after ascended the side of the ship, and the Americans saw themselves at last in alliance with the fierce rovers who had so hardly treated hem of late. Within a few hours after, the whole details of the aliiance, offensive and defensive, were arranged, und the Sarah Jane, much to the amazemerit of the sailors, received on board a crew of two hundred Norse giants, led by the young king in person. Olaf the Strong was quick to oo the ad- vantage given him we the swiftness of new 2 and oceupied himself in sailing round the sea, su duing the last of his foes just as Harold Fair Hair had done in Norway, a thousand years before. The Norsemen, in their secluded home, had retained all the old Icelandic legends preserved in the as, and had cherished the memory of Harold Fair Hair, Olaf the Great, Hakon the Good and the other Norse worthies who illustrate those ancient annals. It was reserved for Olaf Snorr Erison to renew, in the nineteenth century, the deeds which had made his first ancestor illustrioas in the ninth, and he was quick to see the advantages of civilization to aid him in his task. There is but little more .o tell ere this history closes, Of course the Sarah Jane did not remain locked up in the sheltered hart,or of the Polar Basin, Had she done so, it is not possible that her chroni- cler should have been able to zather his notes for the preceding pages, which were communicated to him by Captain Jonathan Macy vf Nantucket, this very summer. es; the Sarah Jane escaped, bi.t not that year. They found the ice so far advanced when they emerged from Giants’ Pass in September, that it was elearly impossible to penetrate to the south that year. They were compelled to return to Northland and make up their minds to stay for the winter, en- eouraged by the fact that the Norsemen now not enly received them as friends but were anxious to retain them as instructors in the arts: of peace. They had the wonderful sight presented to them there of the sudden change from day to nigl.t, which wok place a few days after the autumnal equinox, when the sn sunk behind Monte Katrina, to return no more till March. For another month ag could trace his coursy be the mountains by the glow of twilight, which moved in a grand circle round their tops; but after that, all was darkness and starlight, only relieved by the brilliant displays of the Northern Lights. But the winter was by no means an idle one, Though the air at times was cold, the sea never yoze, and the lurid fires of that circle of voleanoes which fringed the Polar Sea both lighted and warm- edthem. The castles were full of feasters for the wedding of King Olaf, which took place with great sylendor; and the wild Norsemen seemed to vie Which should be foremost to drown the me:nories of war and death in feasting and rejoicing. only mourners were the womea of Hakon's Island, and even they proved swift te be consoled by their conquerors, who were, after all, brother Norse- | men. _ The winter went on, and long before the sun made its new appearance to stay, the keels of several ves- sels, modeled after the Sarah Jane, had been laid, while tne islanders were learning how to cast guns | and make gunpowder from the stores around them. | The Norsemen were always skillful miners and workers in iron, and the volcanic neighborhood sup- plied them with ample stores of mineral riches, which they were quick to profit by. When the sun returned at last after a month of | gradually increasing twilight, it shone on a busy and contented people, who seemed to have abandoned war and to have turned their restless evergies to work, stimulated by the example of the Americans, Then, at last, when the perpendicular rays of the sun gave warning that midsummer was near at all sorts of Norse merchandise, suiled cut of the Giants’ Pass and left the Polar Sea forever. To tell of their journey to the South would be but a repetition of their previous experience. They were assisted as before, by one of those subterra- nean convulsions which seemed to be periodic in the Northland, and under which the crust of the earth by Humboldt’s Glacier sunk to its former level, while the sudden rush of the sea wave opened the ice in Smith’s Sound to such an extent that it became a practicable channel. They then saw that what Hayes had imagined to be the permanent open entrance to a Polar Sea was only a temporary disturbance, due to volcanic con- vulsions, which recur at irregular intervals in the Polar Region. They had the luck to be therein time to take advantage of the opening, and they were swift to avail themselves of it; passing the North Water and Melville Bay in safety and reaching Omenak’s Fiord in September. From thence home their voyage was uneventful, ' and they arrived at Nantucket in October of last year, where the writer lad the pleasure of meeting the whole family. Reuben has gone back to Harvard, and it is ar- ranged that when he graduates he is to go into busi- | ness in Boston and to marry pretty Kitty Macy, | who has goers all her hoydenish ways and is quite | quiet and sedate. Captain Macy goes to the North no more, being now in command of a Liverpool “liner” of twelve bundred tons, with young Jonathan for first mate. Mrs. Macy goes with him, for she says that she will never leave him again to go to sea and he admits she is right. As for Uncle Jabez, he cultivates his cabbages at Nantucket till he moves to Boston with Reuben, and ory tells long yarns about his last voyage to é Pole, THE END. The Saturday Journal. “The Model Family Paper —AND— Most Charming of the Weeklies.” A pure r; good in every thing; bright, brilliant atid attractive, eg Sain Serials, Tales, Romances, Sketches, Adventures, Biographies, Pungent Essays Poetry, Notes and Answers to Correspondents, Wit and Fun— All are features in every number, from such celebrated writers as no paper in America can boast of. What is best in POPULAR READING, that the paper always has; hence for Homn, Sxop, Li- BRARY and GENERAL READER it is without a rival; and hence its great and steadily increasing circulation. The SatukDAY JOURNAL is sold everywhere by newsdealers; price sia cents per number ; or to subscribers, post-paid, at the following cheap rates, viz.: Four months, one dollar; one year, three dollars ; or, two copies, jive dollars. Address BEADLE & ADAMS, Publishers, 98 William Street, New York. The Sunnyside Library. + ae Byes Sree ets BE 8 Parapise Lost. By John Milton ........... 10c. 4 Tue Lapy or THE LAKE. Sir Walter Scott . 10c. 5 Lucttz, By Owen Meredith . ._. ,, 10c, 6 Unpine, on THE WATER-Sprrir, From the German of Friederich De La Motte Fouque... 10c. For sale by all newsdealers, or sent, postage paid, «1! receipt of twelve cents for single aumbers, d, able numbers twenty-four cents, ADAMS, VIGTOR & CO., Publishers, ws William street, N. Y. hand, the Sarah Jane, loaded with precious furs and | ) | ’ ; | volume contains 1( | open type, comprising the best collection of Dia- | ters suited to scholars of every grade, BEADLE & ADAKS’ STANDARD DIE PUBLIGATIORS. Speakers. 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— SSL a Ste Se Ti eS PSS FSS HS ee e3 e Red Brotherhoo tel si Khe Two Detectives; or, Toe Forrunes or A Bowery Grru. By Albert W. Aiken. 12 Gulliver’s Travels. A Yoram to Lilliput, and a Voyage to Brobdingnag. wit 13 The Dumb Spy. By Oll Coomes. 14 Aladdiny or, WonverrvcL Lamp. 15 The Sea-Cat; or, THe WircH or DARIEN. By Captain Frederick Whittaker. 16 Robinson Crusoe. His Life and Surpris- ing Adventures, (27 Illustrations.) By Defoe. 17 Ralph Roy, THe Boy Buccaneer; or, THE Fueitive YAcuT. of Col. Prentiss Ingraham. 18 Sindbad the Sailor, His Seven Voyages. From the Arabian Nights. 19 The Phantom SPY or, THe PILOT OF THE Prarie. By Buffalo Bill. 20 The Double Daggers; or, DEApwoop DIcxk’s Deriance. By Edward L. eeler. 21 The Frontier Angel. A Romance or Ken- TucKY RANGER’s Lire. By Edward 8. Rilis. 22 The Sea Serpent; or, Tae Boy Rosinson Crusor. By Juan Lewis. 23 Nick o° the Night; or, Taz Boy Spy or "76. Ms C. Harbaugh. 24 Diamond Dir é or, THE MYSTERY OF THE Ye.iowstone. By Col. Prentiss Ingraham. 25 The Boy Captain; or, THe Prrats’s Daveurer. By Roger Starbuck. 26 Cloven Hoof, THe Burrato Demon; of, THE Borprer Vouutures. By Edward L. Wheeler. 27 Antelope Abe, THe Boy Gore. Oll Coomes. 28 Buffalo Ben, THe Prince or THE PISTOL; or, DEApwoop Dick rin Diseuise. FE. L. Wheeler. 29 The Dumb Poses or, THE Docr’s DauGH- men. | By Capt. Frederick Whittaker. $0 Roaring Ralph Rockwood, Tut REcK- Less RANGER. By Harry St. George. 41 Keen-Knife, Prince or THE Prarres, By Olt Coomes. $2 Bob Woolf, THe Borpver RvrFiAn; or, THE Girt Leap-Snor. By Edward L. Wheeler. 83 The Ocean Bloodhound; or, THE RED | PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEES. By 8. W. Pierce. 34 Oregon Sol; or, Nick Wuirries’ Boy Spy. ay t. J. F: C. Adams. 35 Wild Ivan, THe Boy CiavpE Douvat; or, THE BroTrHERHOOD or Deatu. By Ed. L. Wheeler, 36 The Boy Clown; or, THE QUEEN OF THE Arena. By Frank S. Finn. 37 The Hidden Lodge; or, Tae Lirrrz Hvn- TER OF THE ADIRONDACKS. By T. C. Harbaugh. 38 Ned Wylde, THe Boy Scour. By Texas Jack. 39 Death-Face, THe Derective; or, Lire AND Love In New York. By Edward L. Wheeler. 40 Roving Bem. A Storyor A Youna Amerr- CAN Wao WANTED TO Sex THE WoRLD. Marshall. 41 Lasso Jack, tHe Younc MustTaneer. By Ol Coomes. 42 The Phantom Miner; or, Drapwoop Dick’s Bonanza. By Edward L. Wheeler. 43 Dick Darling, THe Pony Express RIDER. _ By Capt. Frederick Whittaker. 44 Rattling Rube; or, Tax Niaur Hawks or Kentucky. By Harry St. George. 45 Old Avalanche, THE GREAT ANNIHILATOR; or, WILD Epna, THE Girt Bricanp. E. L. Wheeler. 46 Glass Eye, THe Great Snot or THE WEST. a, Capt. J. F.C. Adams. 47 — ale Nat; or, THe Forest Caprarns. By T. C. Harbaugh. 48 Black John, rue Roav-Acent; or, THE Ovut- LAws’ RETREAT. By Jos. E. Badger, Jr. 49 Omaha Oll, THE MAskep TerRROoR: or, Dmap- ‘woop Dick IN DANGER. By Edward L. Wheeler. 50 Burt Bunker, tHe Trapper. A Tale of the Northwest. A E. Lasalle. 61 The Boy ifles; or, THe UNDERGROUND Camp. By Archie C. Irons. 52 The ite Buffalo. A Tale of Strange Adventure in the Northwest. , Ms E. L e 53 Jim Bludsoe, Jr., THe Boy PHENrX; or, Turoven To Deata. By Edward L. Wheeler. 54 Ned Hazel, THe Boy Trapper; or, THE PHAN- rom Princess. By Capt. J. F. C. Adams. 55 Deadly - Eye, THe Unknown Scour; or, THE BRANDED BroTHEeRHOOD. By Buffalo Bill. 56 Nick Whiffles’ Pet; or, In THE VALLEY oF DeatH. By Capt. J. F. . Adams. 57 Deadwood Dick’s Eagles; or, Taz Parps or FLoop Bar. Mien L. eeler. 68 The Border King; or, THz Secret For. Ey Coomes. 69 Old Hickory; or, Panpy Ex.is’s Scare. By Harry St. e. 60 The White Indian; or, THe Scouts or THE YetLowstTonte, By Capt. J. F, C. Adams. 61 Buckhorn Bill; or, Taz Rep Rive Team. 1 emt L. Wheeler. 62 e Shadow Ship; or, Tae Rrvau Lirv- ants. By Col. Prentiss Ingraham. 3 or, Tae TWELVE Avencers. By W. J. Hamilton. 64 Dandy Jack; or, THe OUTLAW OF THE OREGON Tram. By T. C. Harbaugh. 65 Hurricane Bill; or, MustanG Sam anp His **Parp.” mz, Jos. E. Badger, Jr. 66 inate and; or, A Lire ror A Lire. By W. J. Hamilton. 67 Patent-leather Joe; or, OLD RATTLESNAKE, THE CHARMER. By Philip 8. Warne. 68 'The Border Robin Hood; or, Tae Prarie Rover. 2, Buffalo Bill. 69 Gold Rifle, _ .« SHarpsnoorer; ©-, Tae Boy Derective oF THE BLAcK Rancn. By Wheeler. 70 Old Zip’s Cabin; or, Tae GREENHORN IN Tar Woops. By J. F. C. Adams. 7) Delaware Dick, THE Youna Rancer Spy; or, BROTHER AGAINST BroToer. By Oll Coomes. 42 Mad Tom Western, Tue Texan Rancer; "ox, Tak Queen or THR PRatnig. By Hamilton. | 102 Diek 73 Deadwood Dick on Deck; or, CaLamrry JANE, THE Herorwe oF WHOoP-Up. By Wheeler. 74 Hawk-eye Harry, THE Youna TRAPPER Ranger. By Oll Coomes. 75 Whe Boy Duelist; or, THe Cruise or THE Sea-Wotr. By Col. Prentiss Ingraham. 76 Abe Colt, THe Crow-Kitier; or, THE GREAT FIGHTING MAN oF tHE West. By A. W, Aiken, 77 apace | Charlie, Taz Boy Bravo; or, Drapwoop Dick’s Last Act. By E. L. Wheeler. 78 Blue Dick; or, Tae YELLOW CHrer’s VEN- GEANCE. By Captain Mayne Reid 79 Sol Ginger, tHe GiANT Tf PER; or, THE FLOWER OF THE BLACKFEET. by A. W. Aiken. 80 Rosebud Rob; or, Nuceer Nep, Tae Kniext oF THE GuLcH. By Edward L. Wheeler. 81 ay nh om Jv, THE TERROR OF THE PRAIRIE, By Captain J. I’. C. Adams. 82 Kit Haretoot, THE Woop-Hawk; or, OLD PowpER-FAcE AND "His DEMons. 83 Rollo, the Boy Ranger; or, THe Herress OF THE GoLpEN Horn. By Ol Coomes. 84 Idyl, the Girl Miner; or, Roszsup Ros on Hanp. By Edward L. Wheeler. 85 Buck Buckramy or, Bess, THE FEMALE Trapper, By Captain J. F. C. Adams. 86 Daudy Hock, THe Man rrom Texas. By G. Waldo Browne. 87 The Land Pirates; or, THE LEAGUE or Devin’s ISLAND. AR ye Mayne Reid. 88 Photograph Phil, THe Boy SLEevTH; or, Rosxsup Ros's REAPPEARANCE. By E. L. Wheeler. 89 Island che or, THE Petr oF THE FAMILY. By the author of “ Jack Harkaway.” 90 The Dread Rider}; or, THe By George Waldo Browne. 91 The Captain of the Club; or, Tar Youne Rrvau Aruueres. By Bracebridge Hemyng, 92 Canada Chet, THE COUNTERFEITER CHIEF; or, OLD ANACONDA IN SrrTine BuLy’s Camp. By Edward L, Wheeler. 93 The Boy Miners; or, Tae EncHantep Isuanp. By Edward 8. Ellis. 94 Midnight Jack, THE Roap-AGENT; or, GopHer Grp, TE Boy TRAPPER OF THE CHEYENNE. By T. C, Harbaugh, 95 The Rival Rovers; or, THe FRezBooTERS oF THE MississipriI. By Lieut. Col. Hazeltine. 96 Watch-Eye, THE SHADOW; or, ARABS AND ANGELS oF A GREAT Criy. By E. L. Wheeler. 97 The Outlaw Brothers; or, THE Captive or THe Harpss. By J. J. Marshall. EXAN DUELIST, 98 Robin Hood, tae OvrLAwep Eart; or, THE | Merry MEN or Greenwoop. Prof. Gildersleeve. 99 The Viger of Taos; or, WiLp Kater, Danpy Rock’s ANGEL. By George Waldo Browne. 100 Deadwood Dick in Leadville; or, A STRANGE STROKE FoR LiseRty. By Wheeler. 101 Jack Harkaway in New York; or, THe ADVENTURES OF THE TRAVELERS’ CLUB. By Bracebridge Hemyng. Dead-Eye, THE Boy SMUGGLER; or, Tne CRUISE OF. THE VIXEN. By Col. Ingraham. 103 The Lion of the Sea; or, THe VAmLep Lapy or San Tropez. By Col. Delle Sara. 104 Deadwood Dick’s Device; or, THE Sian or THE Dovusie Cross. By E. L. Wheeler 105 Old Rube, tHe Hunter; or, THE Crow Cap- tive. By Capt. H. Holmes. 106 Old Frosty, THe GuivE; or, NIOKANA, THE WHITE QUEEN OF THE BLACKFEET. Harbaugh. 107 One-Eyed Sim3 or, THE ABANDONED For- est Home. By J. L. Bowen. 108 Daring Davy, THe Youna Bear-KI1eR; or, Tne TRAIL OF THE BORDER Wo LF. H. St. a, 109 Deadwood Dick as Detective. By Edward L. Wheeler. 110 The Black Steed of the Prairies. A Thrilling Story of Texan Adventure. By Bowen. 111 The Sea-Devil; or, Tae Mipssipman’s Leaacy. By Col. P. Ingraham, 112 The Ma Hunter; or, THe Cave or DeatH. By Burton Saxe. 113 Jack Hoyle, THe Youne SPecuLaTor; or, HE Roap To Fortune By Ed. L. Wheeler. 114 The Black Schooner; or, Jip Junk, THE OLpd Tar. By Roger Starbuck. 115 The Mad inmer 3; or, Danpy Rocg’s Doom. BY George Waldo Browne. 116 The Hussar Captain; or, Tae Herr or Heti-Gate. By Col. Prentiss Ingraham. 117 Gilt-Edged Dick, THE Sport DETECTIVE; or, THE AD-AGENT’s DAvGHTER. Wheeler. 118 Will Somers, rue Boy Derective. Morris. 119 Mustang Samy; or, THe KING oF THE Puains. By Jos. B. Badger, Jr. 120 The Branded Hand; or, Taz Man oF Mystery. By Frank Dumont. 121 Cinnamon Chip, THE GrrL Sport; or, Tue GOLDEN Ipot or Mr. Rosa, Kd. L. Wheeler. 122 Phil Hardy, tre Boss Boy; or, Taz Mys- TERY OF THE StRONGROW. By Charles Morris. 123 Kiowa Charley, Tae Ware MustanGer. a T. C. Harbaugh. 124 Wippy, Tue Texan; or, THE YOUNG CHAMPION. By George Gleason. 125 Bonanza Bill, Mrver; or, Mapame Mys- TERY, THE P'EMALE ForGEr. By fed. L. Wheeler. 126 Picayune Pete; or, NIcopEMUS, THE Doe Detective. By Charles Morris. 127 Wild-Vire, rar Boss or THE Roan; or, THE Wotves or Savran’s Gap. By Frank ‘Dumont. 128 The Young Privateer; or, Tae Pirates’ Srrona@noup. By H. Cavendish. 129 Deadwood Dick’s Double; or, Tae Guost or Gorcon’s Gutcw. Ed. L. eeler. 130 Detective Dick; or, THe Hero mw Rags, By Charles Morris. 131 The Golden Hand} or, Danny Rock To THE Ruscux. By George W. Browne, By Harbaugh. , 132 The Hunted Hunter; or, Toe Srrancy HORSEMAN OF THE Pratrig. By Ed, 8, Ellis 133 Boss Bob, THE Kine or THE BooTBLACKS? or, THE PAWNBROKER’s Prot. Ed. L. Wheeler. 134 Sure Shot Seth, rue Boy RirLeman; or THs Youne PATRIOTS OF THE NortTH. By Oll Coomes, 135 Captain Paul, THe Kentucky MoonsHiner; or, THe Boy Spy OF THE Mountarns. By Clark. 136 Night-Hawk Kit; or, Tae DavGHTER OF THe RancH. By Jose h E. Badger, Jr. 137 The Helpiess and; or, Backwoops RETRIBUTION. By Capt. Mayne Reid. 138 Blonde Bili; or, Deapwoop Dick’s Hour Basse. By Edward L. Wheeler. 139 Judge aw sig. Jr.; or, THe Boy. Viar- LANTE. By T. C. Harbaugh. 140 Blue Blazes; or, THE Break 0’ Day Boys or Rocky Bar. By Frank Dumont. 141 Solid Sam, THE Boy Roap-AGEnT; or, TRE Branpep Brows. By Edward L. Wheeler. 142 Handsome MHarry, THE Boorzuack Dr- TECTIVE. By Charles Morris. 143 Scar-Face Saul, THE SILent HenTeER; or, THe Mystery or Fort Rang. By Oli Coomes. 144 Dainty Lance, THe Boy Sport; or, THe Bank-BREAKERS’ Decoy Duck. J. E. Badger. 145 Captain Ferret, tae New Yor Dersc- TIVE; or, Boss Bos's Boss Jos. By Wheeler. 146 Silver Star, THe Boy Kyicur. A Prairie Romance. By Oll Coomes. 147 Will Wildfire, tHe THoxovuGsprenD; or, THe WryninG Hanp. By Charles Morris. 148 Sharp Samy; or, THE ADVENTURES OF A Frrenpuess Boy. By J. Alexander Patten. 149 A Game of Goldj or, DEApwoop Dicx’s Bia STRIKE. wg Biman a L. Wheeler. 150 Lance and Lasso}; or, THe CHITDREN or THE CHAco. By Capt. Frederick Whittaker. 151 Panther Paul, THe Prarie Prrare; or, Dainty LANCE To THE Rescug. J. E. Badger. 152 Black Bess, Wi. Witprime’s Racer; or, Winnine AGarnst Opps. By Charles Morris, 153 Eagle Kit, THe Boy Demon; or, Tue Ovrt- LAWS OF THE GoLp His, By Oll Coomes. 154 The Swerd Hunters; or, Tae Land op THE ELEPHANT Rivers. By Fred. Whittaker, 155 Gold Trigger, THE Sport; or, THE Giri AVENGER. By T. é. Harbaugh. 156 Deadwood Dick of Deadwood; or, Tue Pickep Party. By Edward L. Wheeler. 157 Mike Merry, rue Hannor Porice Boy;or, THE NicHt-HAWKS OF PaILADELPHIA. Morris. 158 Fancy Frank of Colorado; or, THz TRAPPER’s Trust. By Buffalo bill. 159 The Lost Captain; or, Skreprr Janez Corriy’s Cruise TO THE OPEN Potar Sea, By Captain Frederick Whittaker. 160 The Black Giant; or, Damry Lance iw Jroparpy. By Joseph E. Badger, Jr. 161 New York Nel), THe Boy-Gir Derectrys; or, OLD BLAKESLY’S Money. By E. L. Wheeler, 162 Will Wildfire in the Woods; or, Cave Lire IN THE ALLEGHANIES. By Charles Morris. 163 Little Texas, THE Youna MustTaNcer. A Tale of Texan Prairies. By Oll Coomes. 164 Dandy Rock’s Pledge; or, HunTED To Deatu. By G. Waldo Browne. 165 Billy Baggage, THe Ratroap Boy; or, Row to EartH. By Charles Morris. 166 Hickory Harry; or, Toe Tram or Fire. By Harry St. George. 167 Asa Scott, THe SreampoatT Boy; or,''HE Lanp PIRATES OF THE Mississippi. By ied. ‘Willett, 168 Deadly Dash; or, Fientiva Frre wire Frre. By Jos. E. Badger. 169 Tornado Tom; or, Inson Jack From Rep Core. T. C. Harbaugh. 170 A Trump Card}; or, Wr Witprme Wins anv Loses, By Charles Morris. 171 Ebony Dany; or, Tee Rrvat Lescves or SILVER LE. By F. Dumont. 172 Thunderbolt Tom; or, Taz Woir-Herper oF THE Rocxres. By St. George. 173 Dandy Rock’s Rival; or, Tax Hunrep Mar or Taos. By George aldo Browne. 174 Bob Rockett, THe Boy Doperr; or, Mys- vERIES OF New YorK. By Charles Morris. 175 Captain Arizona, THE Kine Pin or Roap AGENTS; or, Patent Leather Joe’s Big Game. By Philip §. Warne. 176 The Boy Runaway; or, THe Buccanrer or THE Bay. Lieut. H. D. Perry, U.S.N. 177 Nobby Nick of Nevada, By Edward L, Wheeler. 178 Old Solitary, THe Hermir Trapper; or Tue DRAGON oF River Lakz. By Oll Coomea, 179 Bob Rockett, THe Bank Runyer; or, TH Roap To Rury. By Charles Morris. Dec. 28th 180 The Sea Trailer; or, A Vow Wet. Kept By Lieut. H. D. Perry, U.8.N. January 4th, 181 Wild Frank of Montanas or, Tw Kine or Buckskins. By Edward L. Wheelee Ready January 11th. 182 Little Hurricane, THe Boy (APrary; or Tue OaTH OF THE YouNe AveNceRs. By Of Coomes. Ready January 18th. A new issue every week, The Half-Dime Library is for sale by al Newsdealers, five cents per copy or sent by mail on receipt of six cents each. BEADLE & ADAMS, Publishers, 98 W‘lliam Street, New York,