ocean, and the ship seemed to float within a cloud. Nothing was visible beyond her dark sides; no sound was heard but the low and melancholy roll of the ocean current against her bows, for even the sea-birds could not take their accustomed flight through that dense vapour, and in that high latitude the blowing of the whale is unheard. During three days and nights this thick fog covered the ocean, and then a breeze blew from the west, and, as the grey vapour slowly rose and dispersed, the explorers pursued their voyage on the larboard tack. To the joy of every one on board the vessel, the highest of the blue knobs on the southern horizon sank below the waves with the red sun; and when the luminary of day again gilded the crests of the billows no land was in sight—no iceberg broke the uniformity of the greyblue waters around them. "The great problem will soon be solved now, Mr. Morton," said Charlie, as he encountered the chief officer in the exercise of his duty. "We are not running a straight course, it is true; but we are nearing the Pole, and there is nothing in sight." "Plenty of time, Charlie," returned Morton. "Who knows what wind, or what weather, we may have to-morrow?" "Well, if the ship doesn't reach the Pole, we may," said Charlie, with the sanguine disposition of youth. "If we should be ice-bound, or separated from the Pole by land, we shall have the dogs and sledges; and, if they can do what Hans and Christian say they can, we can push on to the Pole in winter or summer. I long to emulate the sledging feats of Wrangell, the Russian explorer, who made such wonderful journeys on the ice." "The provisioning makes those ice expeditions so difficult and so hazardous," observed Morton. "You have got to provide food for the dogs as well as for yourselves, and there is the chance of your deposits being plundered by the bears." "Then the chances of success are greater in proportion to the smallness of the party?" said Charlie, with ready apprehension; and, as Morton walked away, hesitating to commit himself to an affirmative reply, the lad thought what a famous exploit it would be, if he and Willie Webb were to start with a sledge, career over the frozen sea or snowcovered land, and discover the Pole by themselves. t D CHAPTER XII. STOPPED BY ICE. ISMAL was the prospect next day from the whaler's deck. A grey vapour again covered the sea, and through it large flakes of snow fell, whitening the deck and the rigging. If there was land ahead, it could not be seen through the fog and the thickly falling snow, which obliged the explorers to proceed with cautious slowness. Towards night the temperature fell several degrees, and the moisture on the rigging became converted into hoar-frost, giving the ship a very remarkable appearance, every spar and rope standing out distinctly in its spectral whiteness against the sombre sky. Ice formed at midnight about the ship, and this indication of the early approach of winter forced upon the mind of Captain Webb |