looking over the sloop's side into the clear
waters, my father shouted: "Breakers ahead!" Looking up, I saw through
a lifting mist a white object that towered several hundred feet high,
completely shutting off our advance. We lowered sail immediately,
and none too soon. In a moment we found ourselves wedged between two
monstrous icebergs. Each was crowding and grinding against its
fellow mountain of ice. They were like two gods of war contending for
supremacy. We were greatly alarmed. Indeed, we were between the lines
of a battle royal; the sonorous thunder of the grinding ice was like the
continued volleys of artillery. Blocks of ice larger than a house were
frequently lifted up a hundred feet by the mighty force of lateral
pressure; they would shudder and rock to and fro for a few seconds, then
come crashing down with a deafening roar, and disappear in the foaming
waters. Thus, for more than two hours, the contest of the icy giants
continued.

It seemed as if the end had come. The ice pressure was terrific, and
while we were not caught in the dangerous part of the jam, and were safe
for the time being, yet the heaving and rending of tons of ice as it
fell splashing here and there into the watery depths filled us with
shaking fear.

Finally, to our great joy, the grinding of the ice ceased, and within a
few hours the great mass slowly divided, and, as if an act of Providence
had been performed, right before us lay an open channel. Should we
venture with our little craft into this opening? If the pressure came
on again, our little sloop as well as ourselves would be crushed into
nothingness. We decided to take the chance, and, accordingly, hoisted
our sail to a favoring breeze, and soon started out like a race-horse,
running the gauntlet of this unknown narrow channel of open water.

PART FIVE. AMONG THE ICE PACKS

FOR the next forty-five days our time was employed in dodging icebergs
and hunting channels; indeed, had we not been favored with a strong
south wind and a small boat, I doubt if this story could have ever been
given to the world.

At last, there came a morning when my father said: "My son, I think we
are to see home. We are almost through the ice. See! the open water lies
before us."

However, there were a few icebergs that had floated far northward into
the open water still ahead of us on either side, stretching away for
many miles. Directly in front of us, and by the compass, which had now
r