ted
itself to their eyes. The vast plain, a compact mass the evening
before, was now separated in a thousand places, and the waves,
raised by some submarine commotion, had broken the thick layer
which sheltered them.

The thought of his ship occurred to Jean Cornbutte's mind.

"My poor brig!" he cried. "It must have perished!"

The deepest despair began to overcast the faces of his
companions. The loss of the ship inevitably preceded their own
deaths.

"Courage, friends," said Penellan. "Reflect that this night's
disaster has opened us a path across the ice, which will enable
us to bring our ship to the bay for wintering! And, stop! I am
not mistaken. There is the 'Jeune-Hardie,' a mile nearer to us!"

All hurried forward, and so imprudently, that Turquiette slipped
into a fissure, and would have certainly perished, had not Jean
Cornbutte seized him by his hood. He got off with a rather cold
bath.

The brig was indeed floating two miles away. After infinite
trouble, the little band reached her. She was in good condition;
but her rudder, which they had neglected to lift, had been broken
by the ice.

CHAPTER VII.

SETTLING FOR THE WINTER.

Penellan was once more right; all was for the best, and this ice-quake
had opened a practicable channel for the ship to the bay.
The sailors had only to make skilful use of the currents to
conduct her thither.

On the 19th of September the brig was at last moored in her bay
for wintering, two cables' lengths from the shore, securely
anchored on a good bottom. The ice began the next day to form
around her hull; it soon became strong enough to bear a man's
weight, and they could establish a communication with land.

The rigging, as is customary in arctic navigation, remained as it
was; the sails were carefully furled on the yards and covered
with their casings, and the "crow's-nest" remained in place, as
much to enable them to make distant observations as to attract
attention to the ship.

The sun now scarcely rose above the horizon. Since the June
solstice, the spirals which it had described descended lower and
lower; and it would soon disappear altogether.

The crew hastened to make the necessary preparations. Penellan
supervised the whole. The ice was soon thick around the ship, and
it was to be feared that its pressure might become dangerous; but
Penellan waited until, by reason of the going and coming of the
floating ice-masses and their adherence, it had