, a walk to
a high berg at the distance of a quarter of a mile was proposed, as it
was thought that the course of the ice should bring them in sight at
least, of the North Cape of St. Jean. This was generally acceded to by
all but Waring, who preferred to remain and keep up the fire.

Taking their weapons, an ice-axe, and a light coil of rope, the three
soon arrived, without misadventure, at the foot of an irregular mound of
ice, at least fifty feet in height.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XIII.

THE CHAPEL BELL.--THE FIRST SEAL.--THE NORTH CAPE.--A SNOW-SQUALL.

The way was rough, and not without its dangers, for more than once
Peter, who led the file, sprang just in time to save himself, as the
treacherous crust above some yawning chasm between two heavy "Pans"
crumbled under his feet; and once he fell headlong, clutching at a
friendly spur, just in time to escape tumbling among a lot of jagged and
flinty shards of young "crushed ice."

The wind was light at times, coming in puffs and squalls; and although
the day was bright, a mist here, snowy white, there crimson with
sunbeams, again darkening into purplish blue, and elsewhere of a heavy
and leaden obscurity, hung over the greater part of the sky, and made it
a doubtful task to prognosticate, with any degree of certainty, the
state of the weather for even an hour in advance.

As they proceeded, a strangely solemn, though faint and distant, sound
broke the oppressive silence. The three halted and listened intently.
Again, low as the moan of the dying surges on a distant bar, the sound
came thrilling over the icy sea to the southward, and each face flushed
with a new hope of speedy release from their wild prison-house.

"Hark!" said Orloff, raising his hand. "I hear the sound of a church
bell. We must be near the land."

"It must be from the tower of the Tignish Chapel, then," said La Salle,
"for no other land save the North Cape lies in our course."

Again a blast came whistling among the defiles, and again a calm
succeeded. All listened in breathless silence, and again the wished-for
sound which spoke of the proximity of human society and Christian
worship, came pealing across the desolate wastes, deserted of everything
having life, and impressing the fancy of the beholder as does the
desolation of long-forgotten cities, or the shattered marbles of the
unremembered dead.

"I know that place. That bell Tignish Chapel. Two year ago I camp on
Tignish L