omrade or
share her fortunes, would have been the instinct of other circumstances;
but it was out of the question now. Happily, before we had time to
ponder our loss a flat cake of ice eddied round near the floe we were
upon; McGary and myself sprang to it at the moment, and succeeded in
floating it across the chasm in time to secure her. The rest of the crew
rejoined her only by scrambling over the crushed ice as we brought her
in at the hummock-lines.

Things grew worse and worse with us; the old difficulty of breathing
came back again, and our feet swelled to such an extent that we were
obliged to cut open our canvas boots. But the symptom which gave me most
uneasiness was our inability to sleep. A form of low fever which hung by
us when at work had been kept down by the thoroughness of our daily
rest; all my hopes of escape were in the refreshing influences of the
halt.

It must be remembered that we were now in the open bay, in the full line
of the great ice-drift to the Atlantic, and in boats so frail and
unseaworthy as to require constant baling to keep them afloat.

It was at this crisis of our fortunes that we saw a large seal
floating--as is the custom of these animals--on a small patch of ice,
and seemingly asleep. It was an ussuk, and so large that I at first
mistook it for a walrus. Signal was made for the "Hope" to follow
astern, and, trembling with anxiety, we prepared to crawl down upon him.

Petersen, with the large English rifle, was stationed in the bow, and
stockings were drawn over the oars as mufflers. As we neared the animal
our excitement became so intense that the men could hardly keep stroke.
I had a set of signals for such occasions which spared us the noise of
the voice; and when about three hundred yards off the oars were taken
in, and we moved in deep silence with a single scull astern.

He was not asleep, for he reared his head when we were almost within
rifle-shot; and to this day I can remember the hard, careworn, almost
despairing expression of the men's thin faces as they saw him move;
their lives depended on his capture.

I depressed my hand nervously, as a signal for Petersen to fire. McGary
hung upon his oar, and the boat, slowly but noiselessly sagging ahead,
seemed to me within certain range. Looking at Petersen, I saw that the
poor fellow was paralyzed by his anxiety, trying vainly to obtain a
rest for his gun against the cut-water of the boat. The seal rose on
his fore-fl