after, my good
fellow--have understood it from the first. Yonder high land is the spot
you seek; and along the north shore of that island are elephants, lions,
dogs, bears, and other animals, to fill up all the craft that ever came
out of the Vineyard!"

"This is hearty, Gar'ner," returned the other, giving his brother master a
most cordial shake of the hand, "and it's just what I like. Sealing is a
sociable business, and a craft should never come alone into these high
latitudes. Accidents will happen to the most prudent man living, as you
see by what has just befallen me; for, to own the truth, we've had a
narrow chance of it!"

The reader will remember that all which Daggett now said, was uttered by
a man who saw his vessel lying on the ice, with a list that rendered it
somewhat difficult to move about on her deck, and still in circumstances
that would have caused half the navigators of this world to despair. Such
was not the fact with Daggett, however. Seven thousand miles from home,
alone, in an unknown sea, and uncertain of ever finding the place he
sought, this man had picked his way among mountains and fields of ice,
with perhaps less hesitation and reluctance than a dandy would encounter
the perils of a crossing, when the streets were a little moistened by
rain. Even then, with his vessel literally shelfed on the ice, certain
that she had been violently nipped, he was congratulating himself on
reaching a sealing ground, from which he could never return without
encountering all the same dangers over again. As for Roswell, he laughed a
little at the other's opinion of the sealing business, for he was morally
certain the Vineyard-man would have kept the secret, had it been in his
possession alone.

"Well, well, we'll forget the past," he said, "all but what we've done to
help one another. You stood by me off Hatteras, and I've been of some
service to you here. You know how it is in our calling, Daggett; first
come, first served. I got here first, and have had the cream of the
business for this season; though I do not by any means wish to be
understood as saying that you are too late."

"I hope not, Gar'ner. 'Twould be vexatious to have all this risk and
trouble for nothing. How much ile have you stowed?"

"All my ground-tier, and a few riders. It is with the skins that we are
doing the best business."

Daggett's eyes fairly snapped at this announcement, which aroused all his
professional ambition, to say no