isurely to three hundred
yards of the foot of the island, where we found thirty-three fathoms,
and hove to within a hundred yards of the ledges of the island on the
east side. The anchor was now let go, and the sails furled.

"We're snug enough here from anything from the north-east or north,"
remarked Capt. Mazard; "and even a sou'-wester would hardly affect us
much a mile up this narrow inlet."

It seemed a tolerably secure berth. The schooner lay as still as if
at her wharf at far-distant Portland. There was no perceptible swell
in the channel. Despite the vast mass of ice "packed" into the arm
above us, it was not disagreeably chilly. The thermometer stood at
fifty-nine degrees in our cabin. Indeed, were it not for the great
bodies of ice, these extreme northern summers, where the sun hardly
sets for months, would get insufferably hot,--too hot to be endured by
man.

The mist steamed silently up, up. Gradually the islands, the crags,
and even objects at the schooner's length, grew indistinct, and dimmed
out entirely by half-past ten. We heard the "_honk, honk_," of
numerous wild-geese from the islands; and, high overhead, the
melancholy screams of "boatswains." Otherwise all was quiet. The watch
was arranged among the sailors, and we went to bed. For the last sixty
hours we had had not over seven hours of sleep. Now was a good time to
make up. Profound breathing soon resounded along the whole line of
mattresses.

We had been asleep two or three hours, when a shake aroused me. A
strange, reddish glare filled the cabin. Donovan was standing at my
head.

"What's up?" I asked. "Fire? It isn't fire, is it?" jumping up.

"No, it's not fire," replied Donovan.

"Oh! morning, then," I said, greatly relieved.

"No; can't be. It's only one o'clock."

"Then what is it, for pity sake?" I demanded in fresh wonder.

"Don't know, sir. Thought I'd just speak to you. Perhaps you'll know
what it is. Won't you go up. It's a queer sight on deck."

"Of course I will. Go ahead. No matter about waking the others just
yet, though."

The cold mist struck in my face on emerging from the companion-way. It
was still very foggy and damp. Such a scene! The sky was of a deep
rose-color. The thick fog seemed like a sea of magenta. The deck, the
bulwarks, the masts, and even Donovan, standing beside me, looked as
if baptized in blood. It was as light as, even lighter than, when we
had gone below. The cliffs on the island, drear and b