ung upon the result,
for the boat was almost settling down beneath them. They shot out from
the shadow into the full moonlight and looked upon a sight which none of
them would forget until their dying day.

The cliff which faced them was as precipitous as any of the others, and
it glimmered and sparkled all over where the silver light fell upon the
thousand facets of ice. Right in the centre, however, on a level with
the water's edge, there was what appeared to be a huge hollowed-out cave
which marked the spot where the Golden Rod had, in shattering herself,
dislodged a huge boulder, and so amid her own ruin prepared a refuge for
those who had trusted themselves to her. This cavern was of the richest
emerald green, light and clear at the edges, but toning away into the
deepest purples and blues at the back. But it was not the beauty of
this grotto, nor was it the assurance of rescue which brought a cry of
joy and of wonder from every lip, but it was that, seated upon an ice
boulder and placidly smoking a long corn-cob pipe, there was perched in
front of them no less a person than Captain Ephraim Savage of Boston.
For a moment the castaways could almost have believed that it was his
wraith, were wraiths ever seen in so homely an attitude, but the tones
of his voice very soon showed that it was indeed he, and in no very
Christian temper either.

"Friend Tomlinson," said he, "when I tell you to row for an iceberg I
mean you to row right away there, d'ye see, and not to go philandering
about over the ocean. It's not your fault that I'm not froze, and so I
would have been if I hadn't some dry tobacco and my tinder-box to keep
myself warm."

Without stopping to answer his commander's reproaches, the mate headed
for the ledge, which had been cut into a slope by the bows of the
brigantine, so that the boat was run up easily on to the ice. Captain
Savage seized his dry clothes and vanished into the back of the cave, to
return presently warmer in body, and more contented in mind. The
long-boat had been turned upside down for a seat, the gratings and
thwarts taken out and covered with wraps to make a couch for the lady,
and the head knocked out of the keg of biscuits.

"We were frightened for you, Ephraim," said Amos Green. "I had a heavy
heart this night when I thought that I should never see you more."

"Tut, Amos, you should have known me better."

"But how came you here, captain?" asked Tomlinson. "I thought t