Part 17 (1/2)

”You cannot imagine how grand this storm scene was,--the wind howling around us, the snowdrifts whirling about and spinning over the icy plain, the moon gleaming brightly upon the snow and the icebergs and the island, and every now and then a great blaze of many colors that were reflected on everything about us, would start up from the auroral arch, until the light became almost as great for a few moments as if it were broad day. It was very fearful, and you may be sure that we hastened on to the hut as fast as we could, though we were not in such a great hurry as to be wholly insensible to the magnificence of the scene.

”After we had reached the hut, the Dean repeated some verses which he had picked up somewhere; and when I recite them for you, you will see how appropriate they were to what I have been describing, and how strange seemed to us our situation when we found ourselves in the very place where the poet had imagined the Northwest wind to have a beginning.

”The Nor'west wind is a spirit brave, And he cometh from afar; He is cradled far down in the depths that yawn Beneath the polar star.

”Where no mortal foot hath been, he maketh His track o'er the snowy plain; And listens the tread of phantoms dread, With banner and spear and flame.

”Where the billows are booming on frozen sh.o.r.e, O there right kingly is he!

His pinnacled throne the iceberg lone, His empire the boundless sea.

”He rideth aloft on the mountain-tops,-- Rare sport doth he meet with there; He spinneth the snow in lightning flow, Till it gleams like a witch's hair.”

”O the Nor'west wind is a spirit brave, A conquering hero is he; And his fierce battle song, as he marcheth along, Is the shout of victory.”

”O, how beautiful and appropriate!” exclaimed the children.

”But,” said William, ”how did you get to the island?”

”Without any other accident,” replied the Captain, ”than with two frozen noses, which were sore for a long time afterwards. But, after it was all over, we would not have missed the sight for anything, it was so grand; yet, had we been caught out on the sea a little farther from the hut, we should never have got back, but both of us must have perished.

”Thus you see how Providence continued to watch over the two poor castaways.”

CHAPTER XVI.

Covers a Long Period of Time, and shows, among other Things, how a Race may be lost at Both Ends.

”I must now tell you,” continued the Captain, ”that, while all these adventures were happening, the winter was pa.s.sing steadily away; and, from what I have before told you about the Arctic seasons, you will know that when the winter came finally to an end the darkness came to an end too,--that is, to be more particular, first there was a little flush of light at noon, to see which made us very glad, you may be sure; after this, from day to day, the light grew brighter and brighter, until it was almost broad daylight, as it is here just before the sun has risen in the morning; then the sun came up a few days afterward only a little way above the horizon (of course right in the south); and then, next day, it was a little higher, and the next day a little higher still; and then, by and by, it was (as it had been in the summer-time before) circling round and round us, s.h.i.+ning all the while; and now our hut was at midnight in the shadow of the cliff; at noon the sun was blazing down upon us, softening the snow, and making our hearts, O, how happy and thankful!--more so than I can tell you.

”I thought that never in all my life had I seen anything so splendid as the sun's bright face when he appeared for the first time after this long dark winter. For you must know we were about one hundred and twenty days without once setting eyes upon the sun at all; and now, when he did rise, after this long interval, what could we do but take off our caps and whirl them round and round our heads, in very joy and gladness? and this I can a.s.sure you we did with many a good round cheer.

”The summer now came on steadily, and the temperature became warmer every day. The spring glided into summer, and early in the month of June the snow began to melt in good earnest, and by July great streams were das.h.i.+ng and roaring over the cliffs, and through the gorges, to the sea.

Then the sea soon began to show the influence of the summer heat. The ice grew rotten, and, from being white, it got to be quite dark; and we could no longer go out upon it with any safety, except in one particular direction, towards the east, where it was much thicker than in any other place. Then strong winds came, and the rotten ice was broken up, and after that it went drifting here and there to right and left, up and down upon the sea, whichever way the winds were blowing.

”And now once more we kept a sharp lookout for s.h.i.+ps, hoping all the time that 'this day will be the day of our deliverance.' But we lived on as we had done before,--every day adding one more disappointment to the list,--for no s.h.i.+p came. Thus watching, waiting, hoping on, we grew restless with anxiety, and were more unhappy than we had ever been in the gloomy winter that had pa.s.sed away.

”But the summer brought some pleasure to us. As soon as the snow had gone, the gra.s.s grew green upon the hillside, and the tiny little plants put out their leaves, and then the tiny little flowers were blooming brightly, and turning up their pleasant faces to the ever-smiling sun.

”And then the birds came back,--the eider-ducks, and the little auks, that I have told you of, and great flocks of geese and gulls, all looking out for places in which to make their nests; and they fairly kept the air alive with the flutter of their wings, and their 'quack, quack, quack,' and their gladsome screams, as they hurried to and fro.

”And then bright yellow b.u.t.terflies and little bees came fluttering and buzzing about the little flowers, and all was life and happiness and brightness in the air about us; but there was no one there to look at us and see how heavy were our hearts at times,--no one but G.o.d.

”But not on our desert island alone was nature full of life and gayety.

The seals, as if glad that summer had once more returned, crawled out upon the ice, and lay there on it, where it floated in the water, basking in the sun. There were hundreds and hundreds of them to be seen almost every day; and, besides the seals, the walruses, with their great long hideous-looking tusks and ugly and ungraceful bodies, came up too; and the narwhals, also, with their long ivory horns, and the white whales, were to be seen at almost any time, 'spouting' round about us in the sea. And besides all this life in the sea, and in the air, and on the land, we now and then saw a great white bear prowling about upon the floating ice-fields, seeking seals to feed upon; and, when tired of one ice-field, he would jump into the water, and swim away and crawl up on another.

”Thus you observe that, if we were upon a desert island in the Arctic Sea, it was not so barren as one would think who had never seen anything of such a place.