he crew thought the cod would remain two days
more. Their advance guard had passed, but a great deal of the shoal was
going northward; and there were miles of cod still to pass over the bank
upon which we fished.

The wind had been gradually rising. We had had two days of good weather,
and now the sea was covered with white caps. The daughters of AEgir and
Ran were all white-hooded. But as we sailed for home the wind suddenly
increased; squall after squall followed each other. We had to reef the
sail; the sea at times washed over us, and the poor fishermen began to
think seriously of throwing our cargo of fish overboard, for we were
pretty deeply loaded, but it would have been like throwing away money,
and they had worked so hard to get it.

A big black cloud overspread our heads and hail fell thickly upon us,
and it hurt us badly for the hailstones were hard and very big. I tried
to protect my face, for my sou'wester only protected well the back of my
head. The hail was succeeded by sleet, the rigging and mast were covered
with ice; our garments and sou'westers were stiff, and we looked like
big icy things. The captain, looking at me with a smile,--for he saw I
did not like this sort of weather, said: "This weather is the
forerunner of spring in these high latitudes; the sun is getting higher
at its meridian every day."

It was dark long before we reached port, but the men knew every rock on
the coast, and yonder was the lighthouse guiding us on our way. Boat
after boat entered the harbor, and not one of them was lost.

The next day the gale was such that no boat was permitted to put out to
sea. In the evening there was very little talking, and for a while no
one said a word; then Captain Johansen broke the silence and said:
"Paul, this Arctic Ocean is the home of gales; these often bring sadness
to many homes; some of us here have lost friends and relatives at sea.
Some years ago a fishing fleet of eight hundred boats was caught in one
of these sudden gales. After the boats had come safely into port the
roll-call showed that twenty boats with their crews were missing."

"How sad!" I exclaimed; and as Captain Johansen was speaking I wondered
how many people thought, when they ate fish, of the hard life of the
poor and brave fishermen and of the gales they encounter.

The fishermen wanted to entertain me before we retired for the night,
and Captain Larsen said, "I will tell you, Paul, about one of the great
sea ba