nd, and thought of
my friend Dr. Kane. The mercury had fallen to 16 deg., a foot of snow
covered the house-roofs, the low, undulating hills all wore the same
monotonous no-color, and the yellow-haired people on the pier were
buttoned up close, mittened and fur-capped. The captain telegraphed to
Calmar, our next port, and received an answer that the sound was full of
ice and the harbor frozen up. A custom-house officer, who took supper
with us on board, informed us of the loss of the steam-ship Umea, which
was cut through by the ice near Sundsvall, and sunk, drowning fifteen
persons--a pleasant prospect for our further voyage--and the Pole would
have willingly landed at Ystad if he could have found a conveyance to
get beyond it. We had twelve tons of coal to take on board, and the work
proceeded so slowly that we caught another snow-storm so thick and
blinding that we dared not venture out of the harbor.

On the third morning, nevertheless, we were again at sea, having passed
Bornholm, and were heading for the southern end of the Island of Oland.
About noon, as we were sitting huddled around the cabin stove, the
steamer suddenly stopped. There was a hurried movement of feet overhead--a
cry--and we rushed on deck. One of the sailors was in the act of throwing
overboard a life buoy. "It is the Pole!" was our first exclamation. "No,
no," said Hildebrand, with a distressed face, "it is the cabin-boy"--a
sprightly, handsome fellow of fourteen. There he was struggling in the
icy water, looking toward the steamer, which was every moment more
distant. Two men were in the little boat, which had just been run down
from the davits, but it seemed an eternity until their oars were shipped,
and they pulled away on their errand of life or death. We urged the mate
to put the steamer about, but he passively refused. The boy still swam,
but the boat was not yet half-way, and headed too much to the left. There
was no tiller, and the men could only guess at their course. We guided
them by signs, watching the boy's head, now a mere speck, seen at
intervals under the lowering sky. He struggled gallantly; the boat drew
nearer, and one of the men stood up and looked around. We watched with
breathless suspense for the reappearance of the brave young swimmer, but
we watched in vain. Poor boy! who can know what was the agony of those
ten minutes, while the icy waves gradually benumbed and dragged down the
young life that struggled with such despera