the opening
with his cutlass, and at last was able to breathe the free air.
He fell on his knees to thank God, and was soon joined by Marie
and his comrades.

A magnificent moon lit up the sky, but the cold was so extreme
that they could not bear it. They re-entered their retreat; but
Penellan first looked about him. The promontory was no longer
there, and the hut was now in the midst of a vast plain of ice.
Penellan thought he would go to the sledge, where the provisions
were. The sledge had disappeared!

The cold forced him to return. He said nothing to his companions.
It was necessary, before all, to dry their clothing, which was
done with the chafing-dish. The thermometer, held for an instant
in the air, descended to thirty degrees below zero.

An hour after, Vasling and Penellan resolved to venture outside.
They wrapped themselves up in their still wet garments, and went
out by the opening, the sides of which had become as hard as a
rock.

"We have been driven towards the north-east," said Vasling,
reckoning by the stars, which shone with wonderful brilliancy.

"That would not be bad," said Penellan, "if our sledge had come
with us."

"Is not the sledge there?" cried Vasling. "Then we are lost!"

"Let us look for it," replied Penellan.

They went around the hut, which formed a block more than fifteen
feet high. An immense quantity of snow had fallen during the
whole of the storm, and the wind had massed it against the only
elevation which the plain presented. The entire block had been
driven by the wind, in the midst of the broken icebergs, more
than twenty-five miles to the north-east, and the prisoners had
suffered the same fate as their floating prison. The sledge,
supported by another iceberg, had been turned another way, for no
trace of it was to be seen, and the dogs must have perished amid
the frightful tempest.

Andre Vasling and Penellan felt despair taking possession of
them. They did not dare to return to their companions. They did
not dare to announce this fatal news to their comrades in
misfortune. They climbed upon the block of ice in which the hut
was hollowed, and could perceive nothing but the white immensity
which encompassed them on all sides. Already the cold was
beginning to stiffen their limbs, and the damp of their garments
was being transformed into icicles which hung about them.

Just as Penellan was about to descend, he looked towards Andre.
He saw him suddenly gaze in one