d over the ice? Does that mean wind?"

"I wish it did, Steve, so as to save our coal. No, boy; it means
another of those dense mists. I hope only a passing one; but you have
had a taste of what an arctic fog can be like. We must make haste;
these mists creep on so swiftly. Make a signal, Johannes. The
_Hvalross_ must come on and pick us up, or we shall have to cast off our
fish."

The next minute a little flag was hoisted in the bows to the end of one
of the lance-poles, with the result that there was soon after a cloud of
black smoke rolling out of the steamer's funnel and an increase in the
white water at her stern; but the boat went no faster, for the white
whale was heavy, although the men pulled with a will.

"They ought to see the fog coming on in the other boat," said the
captain impatiently. "Of course if we are shut in we shall be able to
reach the _Hvalross_. We could do that by listening for their signals,
which they would be sure to make; but I hate unnecessary anxiety, Steve,
and it is very awkward to be caught by one of these dense mists--
everything is so puzzling."

He ceased speaking, and sat watching the other boat making, like
themselves, slowly for the same point. And now, seeing the urgency,
Johannes and his brother Norsemen seated themselves and put out spare
oars to help on the speed. But the whale they were towing seemed to
anchor them in one place; and at last, just as the steamer was still
quite half a mile away, a peculiar change came over the sea. The sun
was still shining brightly, but the other boat grew dim and
enlarged-looking, as if it were magnified and set in a bluish opal.
There was the long range of ice cliff, but it was curiously blue and
undefined.

"I say," cried Steve suddenly, "what's the matter with the _Hvalross_?"

He started from his seat as he spoke, for the steamer was no longer upon
the blue water,--there was no blue water,--but apparently twenty feet up
in the air, and gradually rising higher till it was double the height,
while the funnel, masts, and hull looked soft and swollen out of all
proportion.

"An optical illusion, my boy," said the captain quietly. "Sit down.
You have heard of refraction. It is a peculiar state of the air. I
daresay we look the same to them. Pull, my lads. I'm afraid the mist
will be down upon us before we can reach the ship. Look at that."

Steve was already looking at the peculiar way in which their companion
boat