ard against the side of the berg.
We were therefore not uncomfortable, as far as our feelings went, could
we have divested ourselves of the recollection of the peril to which we
were momentarily exposed.

Oh how long that night seemed! I fancied, that it would never have an
end: each minute seemed prolonged to an hour--each hour to a winter's
night. Sometimes we talked, and listened to Andrew's description of the
events which had occurred to him when he before visited the Polar Sea.
At other times we were all silent together; but Andrew took care this
should not last long; and never did man so exert himself to keep up the
spirits of his companions. He was actuated by a true Christian spirit;
and nothing else would have enabled him, I am confident, to forget
himself and watch over us in the way he did.

There had been a spell of silence, when Terence exclaimed, "What say
you, Andrew, if we were to launch our raft, and try to reach the coast
of Newfoundland while the calm lasts? It might be done, might it not?"

"I think not," was Andrew's reply. "While we remain on the iceberg, we
have a chance of being seen; but, on a raft, a ship may pass close to us
and not heed us, while, if a gale should come on, the raft would not
live an instant. Even should we near the coast, which I do not think
likely, we should probably be knocked to pieces on the rocks; so I say
stay to the last extremity. If the iceberg won't hold us, then take to
the raft."

Of course we determined to follow Andrew's advice; indeed, we all looked
up to him as our guide and captain. With no little thankfulness did we
welcome the first streaks of dawn on the eastern horizon. Again we
knelt down and offered our prayers to Heaven. We had scarcely risen to
our feet when a shout of joy escaped from our lips; for there, in the
grey misty dawn, with her canvas hanging against her masts, lay
motionless on the calm water a ship--the same, doubtless, which we
fancied had passed far away from us in the night. Was that calm sent by
Providence to effect, our salvation? The result will prove it, or when
His now inscrutable ways are made manifest. How our hearts beat with
hope and fear! My first impulse was to scream out to her. I checked
myself, and asked Andrew what he would advise. He did not answer for
some time.

Eagerly we watched the stranger. She was a barque--a whaler, no doubt.
"Will she see us?" we asked one another. "Will she near the ice