 Part 2 Chapter 16 of the Fur Country. Two hours later all had returned to Fort Hope, and the next day the sun for the first time shone upon that part of the coast which was formerly on the west of the island. Kalumaha, to whom this phenomenon was familiar, had been right, and if the sun had not been the guilty party neither had the compass. The position of Victoria Island, with regard to the cardinal points, was again completely changed, since it had broken loose from the mainland, and not only the island, but the vast ice-field in which it was enclosed, had turned half a round. This displacement proved that the ice-field was not connected with the Continent, and that the Thaw would soon set in. "'Well, Lieutenant,' said Mrs. Barnett, "'this change of front is certainly in our favour. Cape Bathurst and Fort Hope are now turned towards the northeast, in other words, towards the point nearest to the Continent, and the ice-wall through which our boat could only have made its way by a difficult and dangerous passage, is no longer between us and America. And so all is for the best, is it not?' added Mrs. Barnett with a smile. "'Indeed it is,' replied Hobson, who fully realized all that was involved in this change of the position of Victoria Island. No incident occurred between the tenth and twenty-first March, but there were indications of the approaching change of the season. The temperature varied from forty-three to fifty degrees Fahrenheit, and it appeared likely that the breaking up of the ice would commence suddenly. Fresh crevices opened, and the unfrozen water flooded the surface of the ice. As the whalers poetically express it, the wounds of the ice-field bled copiously. And the opening of these wounds was accompanied by a sound like the roar of artillery. A warm rain fell for several hours, and accelerated the dissolution of the solid coating of the ocean. The birds, ptarmigans, puffins, ducks, etc., which had deserted the island in the beginning of winter, now returned in large numbers. Marbra and Sabine killed a few of them, and on some were found the tickets tied round their necks by the Lieutenant several months before. Sharks of white trumpeter swans also reappeared, and filled the air with their loud clarion tones. Whilst the quadrupeds, rodents, and carnivora alike continued to frequent the vicinity of the fort like tame, domestic animals. Whenever the state of the sky permitted, which was almost every day, Hobbeson took the altitude of the sun. Sometimes Mrs. Barnette, who had become quite expert in handling the sextant, assisted him, or took the observations in his stead. It was now most important to note the very slightest changes in the latitude and longitude of the island. It was still doubtful to which current it would be subject after the thaw, and the question whether it would be drifted north or south was the chief subject of the discussions between the Lieutenant and Mrs. Barnette. The brave lady had always given proof of an energy superior to that of most of her sex, and now she was to be seen every day braving fatigue and venturing on to the half decomposed or pancake ice in all weathers through snow or rain, and on her return to the factory ready to cheer and help everybody, and to superintend all that was going on. We must add that her efforts were ably seconded by the faithful mage. Mrs. Barnette had compelled herself to look the future firmly in the face, and also she could not fail to fear for the safety of all, and sad presentiments haunted her. She never allowed herself to betray any uneasiness. Her courage and confidence never seemed to waver. She was as ever the kind encouraging friend of each and all, and none could have dreamt of the conflict of spirit going on beneath her quiet exterior demeanor. Captain Thompson's admiration of her character was unbounded, and he had also entire confidence in Kalumaha, often trusting to her natural instinct as implicitly as a hunter to that of his dog. The young Eskimo was in fact very intelligent and familiar from babyhood with the phenomena of the polar regions. On board a whaler she might have advantageously replaced many an ice-master or pilot whose business it is to guide a boat amongst the ice. Every day Kalumaha went to examine the state of the ice-field. The nature of the noise produced by the breaking of the icebergs in the distance was enough to tell her how far the decomposition had advanced. No foot was surer than hers upon the ice. No one could spring more lightly forwards than she when her instinct told her that the smooth surface was rotten underneath, and she would scut across an ice-field riddled with fissures without a moment's hesitation. From the twentieth to the thirtieth march the thaw made rapid progress. Rain fell abundantly and accelerated the dissolution of the ice. It was to be hoped that the ice-field would soon open right across, and that in about fifteen days Hobson would be able to steer his boat into the open sea. He was determined to lose no time, as he did not know, but that the Kamchatka current might sweep the island to the north before it could come under the influence of the Bering Current. But Kalumaha repeated again and again, there is no fear of that, for the breaking up of the ice does not proceed upwards but downwards, the danger is there, she added, pointing to the south in the direction of the vast Pacific Ocean. The young girl's confidence on this point reassured Hobson, for he had no reason now to dread the falling two pieces of the island in the warm waters of the Pacific. He meant everybody to be on board the boat before that could happen, and they would not have far to go to get to one or the other continent, as the strait is in reality a kind of funnel through which the waters flow between Cape East on the Asiatic side and Cape Prince of Wales on the American. This will explain the eager attention with which the slightest change in the position of the island was noticed. The bearings were taken every day, and everything was prepared for an approaching and perhaps sudden and hurried embarkation. Of course all the ordinary avocations of the factory were now discontinued. There is no hunting or setting of traps. The magazines were already piled with furs, most of which would be lost. The hunters and trappers had literally nothing to do. But McNabb and his men, having finished their boat, employed their leisure time in strengthening the principal house of the fort, which would probably be subjected to considerable pressure from the accumulation of ice on the coast during the further progress of the thaw, unless indeed Cape Bathurst should prove a sufficient protection. Long struts were fixed against the outside walls. Vertical props were placed inside the rooms to afford additional support to the beams of the ceiling, and the roof was strengthened so that it could bear considerable weight. These various works were completed early in April, and their utility, or rather their vital importance, was very soon manifested. Each day brought fresh symptoms of returning spring, which seemed likely to set in early after this strangely mild polar winter. A few tender shoots appeared upon the trees, and the newly thawed sap swelled the bark of beaches, willows, and arbutus. Tiny mosses tinged with pale green the slopes under the direct influence of the sunbeams, but they were not likely to spread much, as the greedy rodents collected about the fort pounced upon them and devoured them almost before they were above the ground. Late were the sufferings of Corporal Jolif at this time. We know that he had undertaken to protect the plot of ground cultivated by his wife. Under ordinary circumstances he would merely have had to drive away feathered pilferers such as guillomants or puffins from his sorrel and scurvy grass. A scarecrow would have been enough to get rid of them. Still more the corporal in person. But now all the rodents and ruminants of the arctic fauna combined to lay siege to his territory. Reindeer, polar hares, muskrats, shrews, martins, etc., braved all the threatening gestures of the corporal, and the poor man was in despair. For whilst he was defending one end of his field, the enemy was praying upon the other. It would certainly have been wiser to let the poor creatures enjoy, unmolested the crops, which could be of no use to the colonists, as the fort was to be so soon abandoned. And Mrs. Barnette tried to persuade the angry corporal to do so, when he came to her twenty times a day with the same weary some tale. But he would not listen to her. To lose the fruit of all our trouble, he repeated, to leave an establishment which was prospering so well. To give up the plants Mrs. Jolif and I sowed so carefully. Oh, madam, sometimes I feel disposed to let you all go and stay here with my wife. I am sure the company would give up all claim on the island to us. Mrs. Barnette could not help laughing at this absurd speech, and sent the corporal to his little wife, who had long ago resigned herself to the loss of her sorrel, scurvy grass, and other medicinal herbs. We must here remark that the health of all the colonists remained good. They had at least escaped illness. The baby, too, was now quite well again, and throve admirably in the mild weather of the early spring. The thaw continued to proceed rapidly, from the second to the fifth April. The weather was warm, but cloudy, and rain fell frequently in large drops. The wind blew from the south-west, and was laden with the heated dust of the continent. Unfortunately the sky was so hazy, that it was quite impossible to take observations. Neither sun, moon, nor stars could be seen through the heavy mists, and this was the more provoking, as it was of the greatest importance to note the slightest movements of the island. It was on the night of the seventh April that the actual breaking up of the ice commenced. In the morning the lieutenant, Mrs. Barnette Columaha and Sergeant Long had climbed to the summit of Cape Bathurst, and saw that a great change had taken place in the chain of icebergs. The huge barrier had parted nearly in the middle. It now formed two separate masses, the larger of which seemed to moving northwards. In the chain of icebergs was at the Kamchatka current which produced this motion. Would the floating island take the same direction? The intense anxiety of the lieutenant and his companions can easily be imagined. Their fate might now be decided in a few hours, and if they should be drifted some hundred miles to the north it would be very difficult to reach the continent in a vessel so small as theirs. Unfortunately, it was impossible to ascertain the nature or extent of the displacement which was going on. One thing was, however, evident the island was not yet moving, at least not in the same direction as the ice wall. It therefore seemed probable that whilst part of the ice field was floating to the north, that portion immediately surrounding the island still remained stationary. This displacement of the icebergs did not in the least alter the opinion of the young Eskimo. Kalumaha still maintained that the thaw would proceed from north to south, and that the ice wall would shortly feel the influence of the bearing current. To make herself more easily understood she traced the direction of the current on the sand with a little piece of wood, and made signs that in following it the island must approach the American continent. No argument could shake her conviction on this point, and it was almost impossible not to feel reassured when listening to the confident expressions of the intelligent native girl. The events of the eighth, ninth, and tenth April seemed, however, to prove Kalumaha to be in the wrong. The northern portion of the chain of icebergs drifted further and further north. The breaking up of the ice proceeded rapidly and with a great noise, and the ice field opened all round the island with a deafening crash. Out of doors it was impossible to hear one's self-speak. A ceaseless roar, like that of artillery, drowned every other sound. About half a mile from the coast, on that part of the island overlooked by Cape Bathurst, the blocks of ice were already beginning to crowd together, and to pile themselves upon each other. The ice-wall had broken up into numerous separate icebergs, which were drifting towards the north. At least it seemed as if they were moving in that direction. Hobson became more and more uneasy, and nothing that Kalumaha could say reassured him. He replied by counterarguments which could not shake her faith in her own belief. At last, on the morning of the eleventh April, Hobson showed Kalumaha the last icebergs disappearing in the north, and again endeavoured to prove to her that facts were against her. No, no," replied Kalumaha, with an air of greater conviction than ever. No, the icebergs are not going to the north, but our island is going to the south. She might perhaps be right after all, and Hobson was much struck by this last reply. It was really possible that the motion of the icebergs towards the north was only apparent, and that Victoria Island, dragged along with the ice-field, was drifting towards the strait, but it was impossible to ascertain whether this were really the case, as neither the latitude nor longitude could be taken. The situation was aggravated by a phenomenon peculiar to the polar regions which rendered it still darker and more impossible to take observations of any kind. At the very time of the breaking up of ice the temperature fell several degrees. A dense mist presently enveloped the arctic latitudes, but not an ordinary mist. The soil was covered with a white crust, totally distinct from whorefrost. It was, in fact, a watery vapor which congeals on its precipitation. The minute particles of which this mist was composed formed a thick layer on trees, shrubs, the walls of the fort, and any projecting surface which bristled with pyramidal or prismatic crystals, the apexes of which pointed to the wind. Hobbson at once understood the nature of this atmospheric phenomena which whalers and explorers have often noticed in the spring in the polar regions. It is not a mist or fog, he said to his companions, it is a frost-rime, a dense vapor which remains in a state of complete conglolation. But whether a fog or a frozen mist this phenomenon was none the less to be regretted, for it rose a hundred feet at least above the level of the sea, and it was so opaque that the colonists could not see each other when only two or three paces apart. Everyone's disappointment was very great. Nature really seemed determined to try them to the uttermost. When the break-up of the ice had come at last, when the wandering island was to leave the spot in which it had so long been imprisoned, and its movements ought to be watched with the greatest care, this fog prevented all observations. This state of things continued for four days. The frost-rime did not disappear until the fifteenth April, but on the morning of that date a strong wind from the south rented open and dispersed it. His son shone brightly once more, and Hobson eagerly seized his instruments. He took the altitude and found that the exact position of Victoria Island was then latitude sixty-nine degrees, fifty-seven minutes, longitude one hundred and seventy-nine degrees, thirty-three minutes. Kalumaha was right. Victoria Island, in the grasp of the bearing current, was drifting towards the south. CHAPTER XVI. The colonists were then at last approaching the more frequent latitudes of Bering Sea. There is no longer any danger that they would be drifted to the north, and all they had to do was to watch the displacement of the island, and to estimate the speed of its motion, which would probably be very unequal, on account of the obstacles in its path. Hobson most carefully noted every incident, taking alternately solar and stellar altitudes, and the next day, April 16, after ascertaining the bearings, he calculated that if its present speed were maintained, Victoria Island would reach the Arctic Circle, from which it was now separated at the most by four degrees of latitude, towards the beginning of May. It was probable that, when the island reached the narrowest portion of the strait, it would remain stationary until the thaw broke it up. The boat would then be launched, and the colonists would set sail for the American continent. Everything was ready for an immediate embarkation, and the inhabitants of the island waited with greater patience and confidence than ever. They felt, poor things, that the end of their trials was surely near at last, and that nothing could prevent their landing on one side or the other of the strait in a few days. This prospect cheered them up wonderfully, and the gaiety natural to them all, which they had lost in the terrible anxiety they had so long endured, was restored. The common meals were quite festal, as there was no need for economizing the stores under present circumstances. The influence of the spring became more and more sensibly felt, and everyone enjoyed the balmy air and breathed more freely than before. During the next few days several excursions were made to the interior of the island and along the coast, everywhere the furred animals, etc., still abounded, for even now they could not cross to the continent, the connection between it and the ice-field being broken, and their continued presence was a fresh proof that the island was no longer stationary. No change had taken place on the island at Cape Eskimo, Cape Michael, along the coast or on the wooded heights of the interior, and the banks of the lagoon. The large gulf which had opened near Cape Michael during the storm had closed in the winter, and there was no other fissure on the surface of the soil. During these excursions bands of wolves were seen scutting across parts of the island. Of all the animals these fierce carnivorous beasts were the only ones which the feeling of a common danger had not tamed. Kalumaha's preserver was seen several times. This worthy bear paced to and fro on the deserted plains in melancholy mood, pausing in his walks as the explorers passed, and sometimes following them to the fort, knowing well that he had nothing to fear from them. On the 20th April, Lieutenant Tobson ascertained that the wandering island was still drifting to the south. All that remained of the ice-wall, that is to say, the southern portion of the icebergs, followed it. But as there were no benchmarks, the changes of position could only be estimated by astronomical observations. Hobson took several soundings in different parts of the ground, especially at the foot of Kate Bathurst and on the shores of the lagoon. He was anxious to ascertain the thickness of the layer of ice supporting the earth and sand, and found that it had not increased during the winter, and that the general level of the island did not appear to have risen higher above that of the sea. The conclusion he drew from these facts was that no time should be lost in getting away from the fragile island which would rapidly break up and dissolve in the warmer waters of the Pacific. About the 25th April, the bearing of the island was again changed. The whole ice-field had moved round from east to west twelve points, so that Kate Bathurst pointed to the northwest, the remains of the ice-wall now shut in the northern horizon, so that there could be no doubt that the ice-field was moving freely in the strait, and that it nowhere touched any land. The fatal moment was approaching. Diurnal or nocturnal observations gave the exact position of the island, and consequently of the ice-field. On the 30th of April both were together drifting across Katsubi Sound, a large triangular gulf running some distance inland on the American coast, and bounded on the south by Kate Prince of Wales, which might perhaps arrest the course of the island if it should deviate in the very least from the middle of the narrow pass. The weather was now pretty fine, and the column of Mercury often marked fifty degrees Fahrenheit. The colonists had left off their winter garments some weeks before, and held themselves in constant readiness to leave the island. Mr. Black had already transported his instruments and books to the boat, which was waiting on the beach. A good many provisions had also been embarked, and some of the most valuable furs. On the 2nd of May a very carefully taken observation showed that Victoria Island had a tendency to drift towards east, and consequently to reach the American continent. This was fortunate, as they were now out of danger of being taken any further by the Kemchukta current, which, as is well known, runs along the coast of Asia. At last the tide was turning in favour of the colonists. I think our bad fortune is at last at an end. Observe, Sergeant Long, to Mrs. Barnett, and that our misfortunes are really over. I don't suppose there are any more dangers to be feared now. I quite agree with you, replied Mrs. Barnett, and it is very fortunate that we have to give up our journey. Across the ice-field a few months ago we ought to be very thankful that it was impassable. Mrs. Barnett was certainly justified in speaking as she did, for what fearful fatigues and sufferings they would all have had to undergo in crossing five hundred miles of ice in the darkness of the polar night. On the 5th May Hobbson announced that Victoria Island had just crossed the Arctic Circle. It had at last re-entered that zone of the terrestrial sphere in which at one period of the year the sun does not set. The poor people all felt that they were returning to the inhabited globe. The event of crossing the Arctic Circle was celebrated in much the same way as crossing the equator for the first time would be on board ship, and many glasses of spirits was drank in honour of the event. There is now nothing left to do but to wait till the broken and half-melted ice should allow of the passage of the boat which was to bear the whole colony to the land. During the 7th May the island turned round to the extent of another quarter of its circumference. Kate Bathurst now pointed due north, and those masses of the old chain of icebergs which still remain standing were now above it, so that it occupied much of the same position as that assigned to it in maps when it was united to the American continent. The island gradually turned completely round, and the sun had risen successively on every point of its shores. The observations of the 8th May showed that the island had become stationary near the middle of the passage, at least forty miles from Cape Prince of Wales, so that land was now at a comparatively short distance from it, and the safety of all seemed to be secured. In the evening a good supper was served in the large room, and the health of Mrs. Barnett and of Lieutenant Hobson were proposed. The same night the Lieutenant determined to go and see if any changes had taken place in the ice-field on the south, hoping that a practicable passage might have been opened. Mrs. Barnett was anxious to accompany him, but he persuaded her to rest a little instead, and started off accompanied only by Sergeant Long. Mrs. Barnett, Maj, and Columaha returned to the principal house after seeing them off, and the soldiers and women had already gone to bed in the different apartments assigned to them. It was a fine night, there was no moon, but the stars shone very brightly, and as the ice-field vividly reflected their light it was possible to see for a considerable distance. It was nine o'clock when the two explorers left the fort and turned towards that part of the coast between Port Barnett and Cape Michael. They followed the beach for about two miles and found the ice-field in a state of positive chaos. The sea was one vast aggregation of crystals of every size. It looked as if it had been petrified suddenly when tossing in a tempest, and alas, there was even now no free passage between the ice-masses. It would be impossible for a boat to pass yet. Hobbson and Long remained on the ice-field, talking and looking about them until midnight, and then seeing that there was still nothing to do but wait, they decided to go back to Fort Hope and rest for a few hours. They had gone some hundred paces, and had reached the dried up bed of Paulina River when an unexpected noise arrested them. It was a distant rumbling from the northern part of the ice-field, and it became louder and louder until it was almost deafening. Something dreadful was going on in the quarter from which it came, and Hobbson fancied he felt the ice beneath his feet trembling, which was certainly far from reassuring. The noise comes from the chain of icebergs, exclaimed Long. What can be going on there? Hobbson did not answer, but feeling dreadfully anxious, he rushed towards the fort, dragging his companion after him. To the fort, to the fort, he cried at last, the ice may have opened, we may be able to launch our boat on the sea. And the two ran as fast as ever they could, towards Fort Hope, by the shortest way. A thousand conjectures crowded upon them. From what new phenomenon did the unexpected noise proceed? Did the sleeping inhabitants of the fort know what was going on? They must certainly have heard the noise. For in vulgar language it was loud enough to wake the dead. Hobbson and Long crossed the two miles between them and Fort Hope in twenty minutes, but before they reached the encant they saw the men and women they had left asleep, hurrying away in terrified disorder, uttering cries of despair. The carpenter McNabb, seeing the lieutenant, ran towards him with his little boy in his arms. "'Look, sir, look!" he cried, drawing his master towards a little hill, which rose a few yards behind the fort. Hobbson obeyed, and saw that part of the ice-wall, which when he had left was two or three miles off in the offing, had fallen upon the coast of the island. Kate Bathurst no longer existed. The mass of earth and sand of which it was composed had been swept away by the icebergs and scattered over the palisades. The principal house and all the buildings connected with it on the north were buried beneath the avalanche. Masses of ice were crowding upon each other, tumbling over with an awful crash, crushing everything beneath them. It was like an army of icebergs taking possession of the island. The boat which had been built at the foot of the cape was completely destroyed. The last hope of the unfortunate colonists was gone. As they stood, watching the awful scene, the buildings formerly occupied by the soldiers and women, and from which they had escaped in time, gave way beneath an immense block of ice which fell upon them. A cry of despair burst from the lips of the homeless outcasts. And the others, where are they? cried the lieutenant, in heart-rending tones. There, replied McNabb, pointing to the heap of sand, earth and ice, beneath which the principal house had entirely disappeared. Yes, the illustrious lady-traveller, Maj, Kalumaha, and Thomas Black, were buried beneath the avalanche, which had surprised them in their sleep. CHAPTER XVIII. Fearful catastrophe had occurred. The ice-wall had been flung upon the wandering island. The volume below the water, being five times that of the projecting part, it had come under the influence of the submarine currents, and opening away for itself, between the broken ice-masses, it had fallen bodily upon Victoria Island, which, driven along by this mighty propelling force, was drifting rapidly to the south. McNabb and his companions, aroused by the noise of the avalanche dashing down upon the dog-house, stable in principal-house, had been able to escape in time. But now the destruction was complete, not a trace remained of the buildings in which they had slept, and the island was bearing all its inhabitants with it to the unfathomable depths of the ocean. Perhaps, however, Mrs. Barnett, Maj, Kalumaha, and the astronomer were still living, dead or alive, they must be dug out. At this thought, Hobbson recovered his composure and shouted, Get shovels and pickaxes, the house is strong, it may have held together, let us set to work. There were plenty of tools and pickaxes, but it was really impossible to approach the incant. The masses of ice were rolling down from the summits of the ice-pergs, and some parts of the ice-wall, still towered amongst the ruins, two hundred feet above, the island. The force with which the tossing masses, which seemed to be surging all along the northern horizon, were overthrown can be imagined. The whole coast between the former Cape Bathurst and Cape Eskimo was not only hemmed in, but literally invaded by these moving mountains, which impelled by a force they could not resist, had already advanced more than a quarter of a mile inland. Every moment the trembling of the ground and a loud report gave notice that another of these masses had rolled over, and there was a danger that the island would sink beneath the weight thrown upon it. A very apparent lowering of the level had taken place all along that part of the coast near Cape Bathurst. It was evidently gradually sinking down, and the sea had already encroached nearly as far as the lagoon. The situation of the colonists was truly terrible, unable as they were to attempt to save their companions, and driven from the incant by the crashing avalanches over which they had no power or whatever. They could only wait, a prey to the most awful forebodings. Day dawned at last, and how fearful a scene was presented by the districts around Cape Bathurst. The horizon was shut in on every side by ice masses, but their advance seemed to be checked for the moment at least. The ruins of the ice wall were at rest, and it was only now and then that a few blocks rolled down from the still-tottering crests of the remaining icebergs. But the whole mass, a great part of its volume, being sunk beneath the surface of the sea, was in the grasp of a powerful current, and was driving the island along with it to the south. That is to say, to the ocean, in the depth of which they would alike be engulfed. Those who were thus borne along upon the island were not fully conscious of the peril in which they stood. They had their comrades to save, and amongst them the brave woman who had so won all their hearts. And for whom they would gladly have laid down their lives. The time for action had come. They could again approach the palisades, and there was not a moment to lose, as the poor creatures had already been buried beneath the avalanche for six hours. We have already said that Cape Bathurst no longer existed. Struck by a huge iceberg, it had fallen bodily upon the factory, breaking the boat and crushing the dog-house, and stable with the poor creatures in them. The principal-house next disappeared beneath the masses of earth and sand, upon which rolled blocks of ice, to a height of fifty or sixty feet. The court of the fort was filled up. Of the palisade not a post was to be seen, and it was from beneath this accumulation of earth, sand, and ice that the victims were to be dug out. Before beginning to work, Hobbson called the head carpenter to him, and asked if he thought the house could bear the weight of the avalanche. I think so, sir, replied McNabb. In fact, I may almost say I am sure of it. You remember how we strengthened it. It has been casemented, and the vertical beams between the ceilings and floors must have offered great resistance. Moreover the layer of earth and sand, with which the roof was first covered, must have broken the shock of the fall of the blocks of ice from the icebergs. God grant you may be right, McNabb, replied Hobbson, and that we may be spared the great grief of losing our friends. The lieutenant then sent for Mrs. Jolief, and asked her if plenty of provisions had been left in the house. Oh, yes, replied Mrs. Jolief, there is plenty to eat in the pantry and kitchen. And any water? Yes, water, and rum, too. All right, then, said Hobbson, they will not be starved, but how about air? To this question McNabb could make no reply. And if, as he hoped, the house had not given way, the want of air would be the chief danger of the four victims. By prompt measures, however, they might yet be saved. And the first thing to be done was to open a communication with the outer air. All set to work zealously, men and women alike seizing shovels and pickaxes. The masses of ice, sand and earth, were vigorously attacked at the risk of provoking fresh downfalls. But the proceedings were ably directed by McNabb. It appeared to him best to begin at the top of the accumulated masses so as to roll down loose blocks on the side of the lagoon. The smaller pieces were easily dealt with, with pick and crowbar, but the large blocks had to be broken up. Some of the great size were melted with the aid of a large fire of resinous wood, and every means was tried to destroy or get rid of the ice in the shortest possible time. But so great was the accumulation that, although all worked without pause, except when they snatched a little food, there was no sensible diminution in its amount when the sun disappeared below the horizon. It was not, however, really of quite so great a height as before, and it was determined to go on working from above through the night. Even when there was no longer any danger of fresh falls, McNabb hoped to be able to sink a vertical shaft in the compact mass so as to admit the outer air to the house as soon as possible. All night long the party worked at the excavation, attacking the masses with iron and heat, as the one or the other seemed more likely to be effective. The men wielded the pickaxe while the women kept up the fires. But all were animated by one purpose, the saving of the lives of Mrs. Barnette, Maj, Kalumaha, and the astronomer. When the morning taunt the poor creatures had been buried for thirty hours in air necessarily very impure under so thick a cover. The progress made in the night had been so great that McNabb prepared to sink his shaft, which he meant to go straight down to the top of the house, and which, according to his calculation, would not have to be more than fifty feet deep. It would be easy enough to sink this shaft through the twenty feet of ice. But great difficulty would be experienced when the earth and sand were reached. As being very brittle they would of course constantly fill in the shaft, and its sides would therefore have to be lined. Long pieces of wood were prepared for this purpose, and the boring proceeded. Only three men could work at it together, and the soldiers relieved each other constantly, so that the excavation seemed likely to proceed rapidly. As might be supposed the poor fellows alternated between hope and fear when some obstacle delayed them. When a sudden fall undid their work they felt discouraged, and nothing but McNabb's steady voice could have rallied them. As the men toiled in turn at their weary task the women stood watching them from the foot of the hill, saying little but often praying silently. They had now nothing to do but to prepare the food which the men devoured in their short intervals of repose. The boring proceeded without any very great difficulty, but the ice was so hard that the progress was but slow. At the end of the second day McNabb had nearly reached the layer of earth and sand, and could not hope to get to the top of the house before the end of the next day. Night fell but the work was continued by the light of torches. A snow-house was hastily dug out in one of the humoks on the shore as a temporary shelter for the women and little boy. The wind had veered to the south-west, and a cold rain began to fall, accompanied with occasional squalls, but neither the lieutenant nor his men dreamt of leaving off work. Now began the worst part of the task. It was really impossible to bore in the shifting masses of sand and earth, and it became necessary to prop up the sides of the shaft with wood, the loose earth being drawn to the surface in a bucket hung on a rope. Of course under the circumstances the work could not proceed rapidly. Falls might occur at any moment, and the miners were in danger of being buried in their turn. McNabb was generally the one to remain at the bottom of the narrow shaft, directing the excavation and frequently sounding with a long pick, but as it met with no resistance it was evident that it did not reach the roof of the house. When the morning once more dawned only ten feet had been excavated in the mass of earth and sand, so that twenty remained to be bored through before the roof of the house could be reached, that is to say, if it had not given way, and still occupied the position it did before the fall of the avalanche. It was now fifty-four hours since Mrs. Barnett and her companions were buried. McNabb and the lieutenant often wondered if they on their side had made any effort to open a communication with the outer air. They felt sure that with her usual courage Mrs. Barnett would have tried to find some way out if her movements were free. Some tools had been left in the house, and Calais, one of the carpenter's men, remembered leaving his pickaxe in the kitchen. The prisoners might have broken open one of the doors and begun to pierce a gallery across the layer of earth. But such a gallery could only be driven in a horizontal direction, and would be a much longer business than the sinking of a shaft from above. For the masses flung down by the avalanche, although only sixty feet deep, covered a space more than five hundred feet in diameter. Of course the prisoners could not be aware of this fact, and if they should succeed in boring their horizontal gallery it would be eight days at least before they could cut through the last layer of ice, and by that time they would be totally deprived of air, if not of food. Nevertheless the lieutenant carefully went over every portion of the accumulation himself, and listened intently for any sounds of subterranean digging, but he heard nothing. On the return of the day the men toiled with fresh energy. Bucket after bucket was drawn to the surface of the shaft loaded with earth. The clumsy wooden props answered admirably in keeping the earth from filling in the pit. A few falls occurred, but they were rapidly checked, and no fresh misfortunes occurred throughout the day, except that the soldier Gary received a blow in the head from a falling block of ice. The wound was not however severe, and he would not leave his work. At four o'clock the shaft was fifty feet deep altogether, having been sunk through twenty feet of ice and thirty of sand and earth. It was at this depth that McNabb had expected to reach the roof of the house, if it had resisted the pressure of the avalanche. He was then at the bottom of the shaft, and his disappointment and dismay can be imagined when, on driving his pickaxe into the ground as far as it would go, it met with no resistance whatever. McNean was with him, and for a few moments he remained with his arms crossed, silently looking at his companion. "'No roof, then?' inquired the hunter. "'Nothing would ever,' replied the carpenter, but let us work on. The roof has bent out of course, but the floor of the loft cannot have given way. Another ten feet and we shall come to that floor or else.' McNabb did not finish his sentence, and the two resumed their work with the strength of despair. At six o'clock in the evening another ten or twelve feet had been dug out. McNabb sounded again, nothing yet. His pick still sunk in the shifting earth, and flinging it from him he buried his face in his hands and muttered, "'Poor things, poor things!' He then climbed to the opening of the shaft by means of the woodwork. The lieutenant and the sergeant were together in greater anxiety than ever, and taking them aside the carpenter told them of his dreadful disappointment. Then observed Hobbson, the house must have been crushed by the avalanche, and the poor people in it. "'No,' cried the head carpenter, with earnest conviction, "'No, it cannot have been crushed. It must have resisted, strengthened as it was. It cannot, it cannot have been crushed.' "'Well, then, what has happened?' said the lieutenant, in a broken voice, his eyes filling with tears. "'Simply this,' replied McNabb, the house itself has remained intact, but the ground on which it was built must have sunk. The house has gone through the cross of ice, which formed the foundation of the island. It has not been crushed, but engulfed, and the poor creatures in it.' "'Are drowned,' cried Long. "'Yes, Sergeant, drowned without a moment's notice, drowned like the passengers on a foundered vessel. For some minutes the three men remained silent. McNabb's idea was probably correct. Nothing was more likely than that the ice-forming the foundation of the island had given way under such enormous pressure. The vertical props which supported the beams of the ceiling, and rested on those of the floor, had evidently aided the catastrophe by their weight, and the whole house had been engulfed. "'Well, McNabb,' said Hobson at last, if we cannot find them alive. We must recover their bodies,' added the head carpenter. And with these words McNabb, accompanied by the lieutenant, went back to his work at the bottom of the shaft, without a word to any of his comrades of the terrible form his anxiety had now assumed. The excavation continued throughout the night, the men relieving each other every hour, and Hobson and McNabb watched them at work without a moment's rest. At three o'clock in the morning Kalei's pickaxe struck against something hard, which gave out a ringing sound. The head carpenter felt it almost before he heard it. "'We have reached them,' cried the soldier, "'they are saved.'" Hold your tongue and go on working, replied the lieutenant in a choked voice. It was now seventy-six hours since the avalanche fell upon the house. Kalei and his companion Pond resumed their work. The shaft must have nearly reached the level of the sea, and McNabb therefore felt that all hope was gone. In less than twenty minutes the hard body which Kalei had struck was uncovered, and proved to be one of the rafters of the roof. The carpenter flung himself to the bottom of the shaft, and seizing the pickaxe sent the lays of the roof flying on every side. In a few moments a large aperture was made, and a figure appeared at it which was difficult to recognize in the darkness. It was Kalumaha. "'Help! Help!' she murmured feebly. Hobson let himself down through the opening, and found himself up to the waist in ice-cold water. Strange to say the roof had not given way. But as McNabb had supposed, the house had sunk, and was full of water. The water did not, however, yet fill the loft, and was not more than a foot above the floor. There was still a faint hope. The lieutenant, feeling his way in the darkness, came across a motionless body, and dragging it to the opening he consigned it to Pond and Kalei. It was Thomas Black. Madge, also senseless, was next found, and she and the astronomer were drawn up to the surface of the ground with ropes, where the open air gradually restored them to consciousness. Mrs. Barnett was still missing, but Kalumaha led Hobson to the very end of the loft, and there he found the unhappy lady, motionless and insensible, with her head scarcely out of the water. The lieutenant lifted her in his arms and carried her to the opening, and a few moments later he had reached the outer air with his burden, followed by McNabb, with Kalumaha. Everyone gathered round Mrs. Barnett in silent anxiety, and poor Kalumaha, exhausted as she was, flung herself across her friend's body. Mrs. Barnett still breathed, her heart still beat feebly, and revived by the pure fresh air she at last opened her eyes. A cry of joy burst from every lip, a cry of gratitude to heaven for the great mercy vowshaved, which was doubtless heard above. Day was now breaking in the east, the sun was rising above the horizon, lighting up the ocean with its brilliant beams. Mrs. Barnett painfully staggered to her feet, looking round her from the summit of the new mountain formed by the avalanche, which overlooked the whole island. She murmured in a changed and hollow voice, The sea, the sea. Yes, the ocean now encircled the wandering island, the sea was open at last, and a true sea horizon shut in the view from east to west. End of CHAPTER XVIII. Part II CHAPTER XIX of the fur country. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. The Fur Country by Jules Verne CHAPTER XIX. BEARING SEA. The island, driven by the ice-wall, had then drifted at a great speed into Bearing Sea, after crossing the strait without running a ground on its shores. It was still hurrying on before the icy barrier, which was in the grasp of a powerful submarine current, hastening onwards on to its inevitable dissolution in the warmer waters of the Pacific, and the boat on which all had depended was useless. As soon as Mrs. Barnette had entirely recovered consciousness she related in a few words the history of the seventy-four hours spent in the house now in the water. Thomas Black, Maj. and Columaha had been aroused by the crash of the avalanche, and had rushed to the doors or windows. There is no longer any possibility of getting out. The mass of earth and sand, which was but a moment before Kate Bathurst, completely covered the house, and almost immediately afterwards the prisoners heard the crash of the huge ice masses which were flung upon the factory. In another quarter of an hour all felt that the house, whilst resisting the enormous pressure, was sinking through the soil of the island. They knew that the crust of ice must have given way, and that the house would fill with water. To seize a few provisions remaining in the pantry, and to take refuge in the loft, was the work of a moment. This the poor creatures did, from a dim instinct of self-preservation. But what hope could they really have of being saved? However, the loft seemed likely to resist, and two blocks of ice abutting from the roof saved it from being immediately crushed. Once thus imprisoned the poor creatures could hear the constant falls from the icebergs, while the sea was gradually rising through the lower rooms. They must either be crushed or drowned. But by little short of a miracle the roof of the house, with its strong framework, resisted the pressure, and after sinking a certain depth the house remained stationary, with the water rather above the floor of the loft. The prisoners were obliged to take refuge amongst the rafters of the roof, and there they remained for many hours. Kalumaha devoted herself to the service of the others, and carried food to them through the water. They could make no attempt to save themselves. Sucker could only come from without. It was a terrible situation, for breathing was difficult in the vitiated air, deficient as it was in oxygen, and charged with a great excess of carbonic acid. A few hours later Hobson would only have found the corpses of his friends. The horror of the position was increased by the gushing of the water through the lower rooms, which convinced Mrs. Barnett that the island was drifting to the south. She had, in fact, guessed the whole truth. She knew that the ice wall had healed over and fallen upon the island, and concluded that the boat was destroyed. It was this fact which gave such terrible significance to her first words when she looked around her, after her swoon, the sea, the sea. Those about her, however, could think of nothing yet but the fact that they had saved her for whom they would have died, and with her Maj. Kalumaha and Thomas Black. Thus far not one of those who had joined the lieutenant in his disastrous expedition had succumbed to any of the fearful dangers through which they had passed. But matters were not yet at their worst, and fresh troubles were soon to hasten the final catastrophe. Hobson's first care after Mrs. Barnett's recovery was to take the bearings of the island. It was listless now to think of quitting it. As the sea was open and their boat destroyed, a few ruins alone remained of the mighty ice wall, the upper portion of which had crushed Cape Bathurst, whilst the submerged base was driving the island to the south. The instruments and maps belonging to the astronomer were found in the ruins of the house, and were fortunately uninjured. The weather was cloudy, but Hobson succeeded in taking the altitude of the sun with sufficient accuracy for his purpose. We give the result obtained at noon on the 12th May. The island was then situated in longitude 168 degrees, twelve minutes west of Greenwich, and in latitude 63 degrees, 37 minutes north. The exact spot was looked out on the chart, and proved to be in Norton Sound between Cape Chaplin on the Asiatic and Cape Stevens on the American coast, but a hundred miles from either. We must give up all hope of making the land of the Continent then," said Mrs. Burnett. Yes, madam," replied Hobson, all hope of that is at an end. The current is carrying us with great rapidity out into the offing, and our only chance is that we may pass within sight of a whaler. Well, but," added Mrs. Burnett, if we cannot make the land of either Continent, might not the current drive us to one of the islands of Bering Sea? There was in fact a slight possibility that such a thing might happen, and all eagerly clutched at the hope, like a drowning man at a plank. There are plenty of islands in the Bering Sea, St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Nunavak, St. Paul, George Island, etc. The wandering island was in fact, at that moment, not far from St. Lawrence, which is of considerable size, and surrounded with islets, and should it pass it without stopping, there was yet a hope that the cluster of the Aleutian Islands, bounding Bering Sea on the south, might arrest its course. Yes, St. Lawrence might be a harbour of refuge for the colonists, and if it failed them, St. Matthew and the group of islets of which it is the centre, would still be left. It would not do, however, to count upon the Aleutian Islands, which were more than eight hundred miles away, and which they might never reach. Long, long before they got so far, Victoria Island, worn away by the warm sea waves, and melted by the rays of the sun, which was already in the sign of Gemini, would most likely have sunk to the bottom of the ocean. There is, however, no fixed point beyond which floating ice does not advance. It approaches nearer to the equator in the southern than in the northern hemisphere. Icebergs have been seen off the Cape of Good Hope, at about thirty-six degrees south latitude, but those which come down from the Arctic Ocean have never passed forty degrees north latitude. The weather conditions, which are, of course, variable, determine the exact locality where ice will melt. In severe and prolonged winters, it remains solid in comparatively low latitudes, and vice versa, in early springs. Now the warm season of 1861 had set in very early, and this would hasten the dissolution of Victoria Island. The waters of Bering Sea had already changed from blue to green, as the great navigator Hudson observed they always do on the approach of icebergs, so that a catastrophe might be expected at any moment. Hobson determined to do his best to avert the coming misfortune, and ordered a raft to be constructed which could carry the whole colony, and might be guided to the continent somehow or other. There was every chance of meeting vessels now that the wailing season had commenced, and McNabb was commissioned to make a large solid raft which would float when Victoria Island was engulfed. But first of all it was necessary to construct some shelter for the homeless inhabitants of the island. The simple plan appeared to be to dig out the old barracks which had been built on to the principal house, and the walls of which were still standing. Everyone set to work with a hearty goodwill, and in a few days a shelter was provided from the inclemancies of the fickle weather. Search was also made in the ruins of the large house, and a good many articles of more or less value were saved from the submerged rooms, tools, arms, furniture, the air pumps, and the air vessel, etc. On the thirteenth May all hope of drifting to the island of St. Lawrence had to be abandoned. When the bearings were taken it was found that they were passing at a considerable distance to the east of that island. And as Hobson was well aware, currents do not run against natural obstacles, but turn them so that little hope could be entertained of thus making the land. It is true the network of islands in the Catherine Archipelago scattered over several degrees of latitude might stop the island if it ever got so far. But as we have stated before, that was not probable. Although it was advancing at great speed, for this speed must decrease considerably when the ice-wall, which was driving it along, should be broken away or dissolved, unprotected as it was from the heat of the sun by any covering of earth or sand. Lieutenant Hobson, Mrs. Barnette, Sergeant Long, and the head carpenter often discussed these matters, and came to the conclusion that the island could certainly never reach the Aleutian group with so many chances against it. On the fourteenth May McNabb and his men commenced the construction of a huge raft. It had to be as high as possible above the water, to prevent the waves from breaking over it, so that it was really a formidable undertaking. The blacksmith Ray had fortunately found a large number of the iron bolts which had been brought from Fort Reliance, and they were invaluable for firmly fastening together the different portions of the framework of the raft. We must describe the novel site for the building of the raft suggested by Lieutenant Hobson. Instead of joining the timbers and planks together on the ground, they were joined on the surface of the lake. The different pieces of wood were prepared on the banks and launched separately. They were then easily fitted together on the water. This mode of proceeding had two advantages. One, the carpenter would be able at once to judge of the point of flotation, and the stability which would be given to the raft. Two, when Victoria Island melted, the raft would already be floating, and would not be liable to the shocks it would receive if on land when the inevitable break-up came. Whilst these works were going on, Hobson would wander about on the beach, either alone or with Mrs. Barnett, examining the state of the sea, and the ever-changing windings of the coastline worn by the constant action of the waves. He would gaze upon the vast, deserted ocean from which the very icebergs had now disappeared, watching, ever-watching, like a shipwreck mariner for the vessel which never came. The ocean solitudes were only frequented by Cetacea, which came to feed upon the microscopic anima cule, which formed their principal food, and abound in the green waters. Now and then floating trees of different kinds which had been brought by the great ocean currents, from warm latitudes, past the island on their way to the north. On the 16th May Mrs. Barnett and Maj were walking together on that part of the island between the former Cape Bathurst and Port Barnett. It was a fine warm day, and there had been no traces of snow on the ground for some time. All that recalled the bitter cold of the polar regions were the relics left by the ice-wall on the northern part of the island. But even these were rapidly melting, and every day fresh waterfalls poured from their summits and bathed their sides. Very soon the sun would have completely dissolved every atom of ice. Strange indeed was the aspect of Victoria Island, but for their terrible anxiety the colonists must have gazed at it with eager interest. The ground was more prolific than it could have been in any former spring, transferred as it was to milder latitudes. The little mosses and tender flowers grew rapidly, and Mrs. Jolie's garden was wonderfully successful. The vegetation of every kind, hitherto checked by the rigor of the Arctic winter, was not only more abundant, but more brilliantly colored. The hues of leaves and flowers were no longer pale and watery, but warm and glowing, like the sunbeams which called them forth. The air-Buddhas, willow, birch, fir, and pine-trees were clothed with dark verger. The sap, sometimes heated in a temperature of sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit, burst open the young buds, and a word, the Arctic landscape, was completely transformed. For the island was now beneath the same parallel of latitude as Christianity, or Stockholm, that is to say, in one of the finest districts of the temperate zones. But Mrs. Barnett had now no eyes for these wonderful phenomena of nature. The shadow of the coming doom clouded her spirit. She shared the feeling of desperation manifested by the hundreds of animals now collected round the factory. The foxes, martins, earmines, lynxes, beavers, muskrats, muttons, and even the wolves, rendered less savage by their instinctive knowledge of a common danger, approached nearer and nearer to their old enemy, as if man could save them. It was a tacit, a touching acknowledgement of human superiority. Under circumstances in which that superiority could be of absolutely no avail. No, Mrs. Barnett cared no longer for the beauties of nature, and gazed without ceasing, upon the boundless, pitiless, infinite ocean with its unbroken horizon. "'Poor Maj,' she said at last, to her faithful companion, it was I who brought you to this terrible path. You who have followed me everywhere, and whose fidelity deserved a far different recompense. Can you forgive me?' "'There is but one thing I could never have forgiven you,' replied Maj. Yes, I did not share.' "'Ah, Maj,' cried Mrs. Barnett, if my death could have saved the lives of all these poor people, how gladly would I die?' "'My dear girl,' replied Maj, have you lost all hope at last?' "'I have indeed,' murmured Mrs. Barnett, hiding her face on Maj's shoulder. The strong, masculine nature had given way at last, and Mrs. Barnett was for a moment a feeble woman, was not her emotion excusable in so awful a situation. Mrs. Barnett sobbed aloud, and large tears rolled down her cheeks. Maj kissed and caressed her, and tried all she could to reassure her, and presently raising her head, her poor mistress said, "'Do not tell them, Maj, how I have given way. Do not betray that I have wept.' "'Of course not,' said Maj, and they would not believe me if I did. It was but a moment's weakness. Be yourself, dear girl, cheer up and take fresh courage. "'Do you mean to say you still hope yourself?' exclaimed Mrs. Barnett, looking anxiously into her companion's face. "'I still hope,' said Maj, simply. But a few days afterwards every chance of safety seemed to indeed be gone. In the wandering island, passed outside the St. Matthew group, and drifted away from the last land in Bering Sea. Part II. XX. In the offing. Victoria Island was now floating in the widest part of Bering Sea, six hundred miles from the nearest of the Aleutian Islands, and two hundred miles from the nearest land, which was on the east. Supposing no accident happened, it would be three weeks at least before this southern boundary of Bering Sea could be reached. Could the island last so long? Might it not burst open at any moment, subject as it was, to even now the constant action of tepid water, the mean temperature of which was more than fifty degrees Fahrenheit? Captain Thompson pressed on the construction of the raft as rapidly as possible, and the lower framework was already floating on the lagoon. McNabb wished to make it as strong as possible, for it would have a considerable distance to go to reach the Aleutian Islands, unless they were fortunate enough to meet with a whaler. No important alteration had lately taken place in the general configuration of the island. Tickets were taken every day, but great caution was necessary, as a fracture of the ground might at any moment cut off the explorers from the rest of the party. The wide gulf near Cape Michael, which the winter had closed, had reopened gradually, and now ran a mile inland as far as the dried up bed of the Little River. It was probable that it was soon to extend to the bed itself, which was, of course, of little thickness, having been hollowed out by the stream. Should it do so, the whole district between Cape Michael and Port Barnett, bounded on the west by the river bed, would disappear. That is to say, the colonists would lose a good many square miles of their dominion. On this account, Hobbson warned everyone not to wander far, as a rough sea, would be enough to bring about the dreaded catastrophe. Soundings were, however, taken in several places, with a view to ascertaining where the ice was thickest, and it was found that, near Cape Bathurst, not only was the layer of earthen sand of greater extent, which was of little importance, but the crust of ice was thicker than anywhere else. This was the most fortunate circumstance, and the holes made in sounding were kept open, so that the amount of diminution in the base of the island could be estimated every day. This diminution was slow but sure, and making allowances for the unfortunate fact that the island was drifting into warmer waters, it was decided that it was impossible for it to last another three weeks. The next week, from the nineteenth to the twenty-fifth May, the weather was very bad. A fearful storm broke over the island, accompanied by flash after flash of lightning, and peals of thunder. The sea rose high, lashed by a powerful northwest wind, and its waves broke over the doomed island, making it tremble ominously. The little colony were on the watch, ready on an emergency to embark in the raft, the scaffolding of which was nearly finished, and some provisions and fresh water were taken on board. Rain heavy enough to penetrate the ice-crust fell in large quantities during this storm, and melted it in many places. On the slopes of some of the hills the earth was washed away, leaving the white foundations bare. These ravines were hastily filled up with soil to protect the ice from the action of the warm air and rain, and, but for this precaution, the soil would have been everywhere perforated. Great Havok was caused amongst the woods by this storm. The earth and sand were washed away from the roots of the trees, which fell in large numbers. In a single night the aspect of the country between the lake and the former Port Barnett was completely changed. A few groups of birch trees and thickets of furs alone remained. A fact significant of approaching decomposition, which no human skill could prevent. Everyone knew and felt that the ephemeral island was gradually succumbing. Every one, except Thomas Black, who was still gloomily indifferent to all that was going on. On the twenty-third of May, during this storm, the hunter Sabine left the house in the thick fog, and was nearly drowned in a large hole, which had opened during the night on the site formerly occupied by the principal house of the factory. Hitherto, as we are aware, the house three-quarters submerged, and buried beneath a mass of earth and sand, had remained fixed in the ice-crust beneath the island. But now the sea had evidently enlarged the crevice, and the house with all it contained had sunk to rise no more. Earth and sand were pouring through this fissure at the bottom of which surged the tempest-tossed waves. Sabine's comrades, hearing his cries, rushed to his assistance, and were just in time to save him, as he was still clinging to the slippery walls of the abyss. He escaped with a ducking which might have had tragic consequences. A little later the beams and planks of the house, which had slid under the island, were seen floating about in the offing, like the spars of a wrecked vessel. This was the worst the evil storm had wrought, and would compromise the solidity of the island yet more, as the waves would now eat away the ice all around the crevice. In the course of the twenty-fifth May the wind veered to the northeast, and although it blew strongly, it was no longer a hurricane. The rain ceased, and the sea became calmer. After a quiet night the sun rose upon the desolate scene. The lieutenant was able to take the bearings accurately, and obtained the following result. At noon on the twenty-fifth of May Victoria Island was in latitude fifty-six degrees, thirteen minutes, and longitude one hundred and seventy degrees, twenty-three minutes. It had therefore advanced at great speed, having drifted nearly eight hundred miles since the breaking up of the ice set it free and bearing straight two months before. The great speed made the lieutenant once more entertain a slight hope. He pointed out the Aleutian Islands on the map to his comrades, and said, �Look at these islands! They are not now two hundred miles from us, and we may reach them in eight days.� �Eight days?� repeated long, shaking his head. �Eight days is a long time!� �I must add,� continued Hobson, that if our island had followed the hundred and sixty-eighth meridian it would already have reached the parallel of these islands, but in consequence of a deviation of the bearing current it is bearing in a south-westerly direction. The lieutenant was right. The current seemed likely to drag the islands away from all land, even out of the sight of the Aleutian Islands, which only extend as far as the hundred and seventyth meridian. Mrs. Barnett examined the map in silence. She saw the pencil-mark which denoted the exact spot, then occupied by the island. The map was on a large scale, and the point representing the island looked but a speck upon the vast expanse of the Bering Sea. She traced back the route by which the island had come to its present position, marvelling at the fatality, or rather the immutable law by which the currents had borne it along, had avoided all land, shearing clear of islands and ever touching either continent, and she saw the boundless Pacific Ocean towards which she and all with her were hurrying. She mused long upon this melancholy subject, and at last exclaimed Could not the course of the island be controlled? Eight days at this pace would bring us to the last island of the Aleutian group. Those eight days are in the hands of God, replied Lieutenant Hobbson gravely. We can exercise no control upon them. Help can only come to us from above. There is nothing left for us to try. I know, I know, said Mrs. Barnett, but Heaven helps those who help themselves. Is it really nothing we can do? The old man Hobbson shook his head doubtfully. His only hope was in the raft, and he was undecided whether to embark every one on it at once, contrive some sort of sail with claws, etc., and try to reach the nearest land, or to wait yet a little longer. He consulted Sergeant Long, McNabb, Ray, Marber, and Sabine, in whom he had great confidence, and all agreed it would be unwise to abandon the island before they were obliged. The raft, constantly swept as it would be by the waves, could only be a last resort, and would not move at half the pace of the island, still driven towards the south by the remains of the ice-wall. The wind generally blew from the east, and would be likely to drift the raft out into the offing, away from all land. They must still wait then, always wait, for the island was drifting rapidly towards the Aleutians. When they really approached the group, they would be able to see what it would be best to do. This was certainly the wisest course to take. In eight days, if the present speed were maintained, the island would either stop at the southern boundary of Bering Sea, or be dragged to the south-west, to the waters of the Pacific Ocean, where certain destruction awaited it. But the adverse fate, which seemed all along to have followed the hapless colonists, had yet another blow in store for them. The speed on which they counted was, now to fail them, as everything else had done. During the night of the 26th May, the orientation of the island changed once more, and this time the results of the displacement were extremely serious. The island turned half-round, and the icebergs still remaining of the huge ice-wall, which had shut in the northern horizons, were now on the south. In the morning the shipwrecked travellers, what name could be more appropriate, saw the sun rise above Cape Eskimo, instead of above Port Burnett. Hardly a hundred yards off rose the icebergs rapidly melting, but still of considerable size, which till then had driven the island before them. The southern horizon was now partly shut in by them. What would be the consequences of this fresh change of position? Would not the icebergs now float away from the island, with which they were no longer connected? All were oppressed with a presentment of some new misfortune, and understood only too well what Kallé meant when he exclaimed, �This evening we shall have lost our screw�. By this Kallé meant that the icebergs, being before, instead of behind the island, would soon leave it, and as it was they which imparted to its rapid motion, in consequence of their very great draft of water, their volume being six or seven feet below the sea level for every one above. They would now go on without it, impelled by the submarine current, whilst Victoria Island, not deep enough in the water to come under the influence of the current, would be left floating helplessly on the waves. Yes, Kallé was right, the island would then be like a vessel, with disabled mass and a broken screw. No one answered the soldier's remark, and a quarter of an hour had not elapsed before a loud cracking sound was heard. The summits of the icebergs trembled, large masses broke away, and the icebergs irresistibly drawn along by the submarine current, extended rapidly to the south. End of CHAPTER XXI The island becomes an islet. Three hours later the last relics of the ice wall had disappeared, proving that the island now remained stationary, and that all the force of the current was deep down below the waves, not on the surface of the sea. The bearings were taken at noon, with the greatest care, and twenty-four hours later it was found that Victoria Island had not advanced one mile. The only remaining hope was that some vessel should cite the poor shipwrecked creatures, either while still on the island, or after they had taken to their raft. The island was now in fifty-four degrees, thirty-three minutes latitude, and one hundred and seventy-seven degrees, nineteen minutes longitude, several hundred miles from the nearest land, namely the Aleutian Islands. Hobbs and once more called his comrades together, and asked them what they thought it would be best to do. All agreed that they should remain on the island until it broke up, as it was too large to be affected by the state of the sea, and only to take to the raft when the dissolution actually commenced. Once on the frail vessel they must wait. Still wait. The raft was now finished. McNabb had made one large shed or cabin, big enough to hold every one, and to afford some little shelter from the weather. A mast had been prepared, which could be put up if necessary, and the sails intended for the boat had long been ready. The whole structure was strong, although clumsy, and if the wind were favourable, and the sea not too rough, this rude assortment of planks and timbers might save the lives of the whole party. Nothing, observed Mrs. Barnett, nothing is impossible to him who rules the winds and the waves. Animals and carefully looked over the stores of provisions. The reserves had been much damaged by the avalanche, but there were plenty of animals still on the island, and the abundant shrubs and mosses supplied them with food. A few reindeer and hares were slaughtered by the hunters, and their flesh salted for future needs. The health of the colonists was on the whole good. They had suffered little in the preceding mild winter, and all the mental trials they had gone through had not affected their physical well-being. They were, however, looking forward with something of a shrinking horror, to the moment when they should have to abandon their island home, or to speak more correctly, when it abandoned them. It was no wonder that they did not like the thought of floating on the ocean in a rude structure of wood, subject to all the caprices of winds and waves. In intolerably fine weather seas would be shipped, and everyone constantly drenched with salt water. Moreover it must be remembered that the men were none of them sailors accustomed to navigation and ready to risk their lives on a few planks, but soldiers trained for service on land. Their island was fragile, it is true, and rested on a thin crust of ice, but then it was covered with a productive soil. These and shrubs flourished upon it. Its huge bulk rendered it insensible to the motion of the waves, and it might have been supposed to be stationary. They had, in fact, become attached to Victoria Island, on which they had lived nearly two years. Every inch of the ground had become familiar to them. They had tilled the soil, and had come safely through so many perils in their wandering home that in leaving it they felt as if they were parting from an old and sorely tried friend. Hobson fully sympathized with the feeling of his men, and understood their repugnance to embarking on the raft. But then he also knew that the catastrophe could not now be deferred much longer, and ominous symptoms already gave warning of its rapid approach. We will now describe this raft. It was thirty feet square, and its deck rose two feet above the water. Its ball-works would therefore be kept out of the small, but not the large waves. In the centre the carpenter had billed a regular deck-house, which would hold some twenty people. Round it were large lockers for the provisions and water casks, all firmly fixed to the deck with iron bolts. The mast, thirty feet high, was fastened to the deck-house, and strengthened with stays attached to the corners of the raft. The mast was to have a square sail, which would only be useful when the wind was aft. A sort of rudder was fixed to this rough structure, the fittings of which were necessarily incomplete. Such was the raft constructed by the head carpenter, on which twenty one persons were to embark. It was floating peacefully on the little lake, strongly moored to the shore. It was certainly constructed with more care than if it had been put together in haste on a vessel at sea, doomed to immediate destruction. It was stronger, and better fitted up. But after all, it was but a raft. On the first June a new incident occurred. Hope, one of the soldiers, went to fetch some water from the lake for culinary purposes, and when Mrs. Jolieve tasted it, she found that it was salt. She called hope, and said she wanted fresh, not salt water. The man replied that he had brought it from the lake as usual, and as he and Mrs. Jolieve were disputing about it, the lieutenant happened to come in. Hearing Hope's repeated assertions that he had fetched the water from the lake, he turned pale, and hurried to the lagoon. The waters were quite salt, the bottom of the lake had evidently given way, and the sea had flowed in. The fact quickly became known, and everyone was seized with a terrible dread. No more fresh water exclaimed all the poor creatures together. Lake Barnette had in fact disappeared, as Paulina River had done before. Lieutenant Hobbson hastened to reassure his comrades about drinkable water. There will be plenty of ice, my friends, he said, we can always melt a piece of our island, and he added with ghastly attempt at a smile, I don't suppose we shall drink at all. It is, in fact, well known, that salt separates from seawater in freezing and evaporation. A few blocks of ice were therefore disinterred, if we may so express it, and melted for daily use, and to fill the casks on board the raft. It would not do, however, to neglect this fresh warning given by nature. The invasion of the lake by the sea proved that the base of the island was rapidly melting. At any moment the ground might give way, and Hobbson forbade his men to leave the factory, as they might be drifted away before they were aware of it. The animals seemed more keenly alive than ever to approaching danger. They gathered yet more closely round the firmer part, and after the disappearance of the freshwater lake they came to lick the blocks of ice. They were all uneasy, and some seemed to be seized with madness, especially the wolves who rushed wildly towards the factory, and dashed away again howling piteously. The furred animals remained huddled together round the large well where the principal house had formally stood. There were several hundreds of them of different species, and the solitary bear roamed backwards and forwards, showing no more hostility to the caudrapeds than to men. The number of birds which had hitherto been considerable now decreased. In the last few days all those capable of long-sustained flight, such as swans, etc., migrated towards the Aleutian islands in the south, where they would find a sure refuge. This significant and ominous fact was noted by Mrs. Barnett and Madge, who were walking together on the beach. There is plenty of food for these birds on the island, observed Mrs. Barnett, and yet they leave it. They have good reason, no doubt. Yes, replied Madge, their instinct of self-preservation makes them take flight, and they give us a warning by which we ought to profit. The animals also appear more uneasy than usual. Hobbson now decided to take the greater part of the provisions and all the camping apparatus on board the raft, and when that was done to embark with the whole party. The sea was, however, very rough, and the waters of the former lake, now a kind of Mediterranean in miniature, were greatly agitated. The waves, confined in the narrow space, dashed mountains high and broke violently upon the steep banks. The raft tossed up and down, and shipped sea after sea. The embarkation of provisions, etc., had to be put off. Everyone wished to pass one more quiet night on land, and Hobbson yielded against his better judgment, determined, if it were calmer the next day, to proceed with the embarkation. The night was more peaceful than had been expected. The wind went down, and the sea became calmer. It had but been swept by one of those sudden and brief hurricanes peculiar to these latitudes. At eight o'clock in the evening the tumult ceased, and a slight surface agitation of the waters of the lake and sea alone remained. It was some slight comfort that the island would not now be broken up suddenly, as it must have done had the storm continued. Its dissolution was, of course, still close at hand, but would not, it was hoped, be sudden and abrupt. The storm was succeeded by a slight fog, which seemed likely to thicken during the night. It came from the north, and owing to the changed position of the island, would probably cover the greater part of it. Before going to bed, Hobbson went down and examined the moorings of the raft, which were fastened to some strong birch trees, to make security doubly sure he tightened them, and the worst that could now happen would be that the raft would drift out onto the lagoon, which was not large enough to be lost upon it. CHAPTER XXII The night was calm, and in the morning the lieutenant resolved to order the embarkation of everything and everybody that very day. He therefore went down to the lake to look at the raft. The fog was still thick, but the sunbeams were beginning to struggle through it. The clouds had been swept away by the hurricane of the preceding day, and it seemed likely to be hot. When Hobbson reached the banks of the lake, the fog was still too dense for him to make out anything on its surface, and he was waiting for it to clear away, when he was joined by Mrs. Barnett, Maj, and several others. The fog gradually cleared off, drawing back to the end of the lake, but the raft was nowhere to be seen. Presently a gust of wind completely swept away the fog. The raft was gone, there was no longer a lake, the boundless ocean stretched away before the astonished colonists. Hobbson could not check a cry of despair, and when he and his companions turned round and saw the sea on every side, they realized with a shock of horror that their island was now nothing more than an islet. During the night, six-sevenths of the district, once belonging to Cape Bathurst, had silently floated away, without producing a shock of any kind. So completely had the ice-bin worn away by the constant action of the waves. The raft had drifted out into the offing, and those whose last hope it had been, could not see a sign of it on the desolate sea. The unfortunate colonists were now overwhelmed with despair. Their last hope, gone, they were hanging above an awful abyss, ready to swallow them up, and some of the soldiers in a fit of madness were about to throw themselves into the sea, when Mrs. Annette flung herself before them, and treating them to desist. They yielded, some of them weeping like children. The awful situation of the colonists was indeed manifest enough, and we may well pity the lieutenant, surrounded by the miserable, despairing creatures, twenty-one persons on an islet of ice, which must quickly melt beneath their feet. The wooded hills had disappeared, with the mass of the island now engulfed. Not a tree was left. There is no wood remaining but the planks of the rough lodging, which would not be nearly enough to hold a raft to hold so many. A few days of life were all the colonists could now hope for. June had set in. The mean temperature exceeded sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit, and the island must rapidly melt. As a forlorn hope, Hobbson thought he would make a reconnaissance of his limited domain, and see if any part of it was thicker than where they were all now encamped. In this excursion he was accompanied by Mrs. Barnette and Maj. "'Do you still hope,' inquired the lady of her faithful companion. "'I hope ever,' replied Maj. Mrs. Barnette did not answer, but walked rapidly along the coast, at the lieutenant's side. No alteration had taken place between Cape Bathurst and Cape Eskimo—that is to say, for a distance of eight miles. It was at Cape Eskimo that the fracture had taken place, and running inland it followed a curved line as far as the beginning of the lagoon, from which point the shores of the lake, now bathed by the waves of the sea, formed the new coastline. Towards the upper part of the lagoon there was another fracture, running as far as the coast, between Cape Bathurst and what was once Port Barnette, so that the islet was merely an oblong strip, not more than a mile wide, anywhere. Of the hundred and forty square miles which once formed the total superficial area of the island, only twenty remained. Hobbson most carefully examined the new conformation of the islet, and found that its thickest part was still at the site of the former factory. He decided therefore to retain the encampment where it was, and strange to say, the instinct of the quadrupeds still led them to congregate about it. A great many of the animals had, however, disappeared with the rest of the island, amongst them many of the dogs which had escaped the former catastrophe. Most of the quadrupeds remaining were rodents, and the bear which seemed terribly puzzled, paced round and round the islet like a caged animal. About five o'clock in the evening the three explorers returned to the camp. The men and women were gathered together in gloomy silence in the rough shelter still remaining to them, and Mrs. Jolief was preparing some food. Sabine, who was less overcome than his comrades, was wandering about in the hope of getting some fresh venison, and the astronomer was sitting apart from every one, gazing at the sea in an absent, indifferent manner, as if nothing could ever rouse or astonish him again. The lieutenant imparted the results of his excursion to the whole party. He told them that they were safer where they were, than they would be on any other spot, and he urged them not to wander about, as there were signs of another approaching fracture halfway between the camp and Cape Eskimo. The superficial area of the islet would soon be yet further reduced, and they could do nothing, absolutely nothing. The day was really quite hot. The ice which had been disinterred for drinkable water melted before it was brought near the fire. Thin pieces of the ice-crest of the steep beach fell off into the sea, and it was evident that the general level of the islet was being lowered by the constant wearing away of its base in the tepid waters. No one slept the next night. Who could have closed his eyes with the knowledge that the abyss might open at any moment? Who but the little unconscious child who still smiled in his mother's arms, and was never for one instant out of them? The next morning, June 4th, the sun rose in a cloudless sky. No change had taken place in the conformation of the islet during the night. In the course of this day a terrified blue fox rushed into the shed, and could not be induced to leave it. The martins, earmines, polar hairs, muskrats and beavers literally swarmed upon the site of the former factory. The wolves alone were unrepresented, and had probably all been swallowed up with the rest of the island. The bear no longer wandered from Cape Bathurst, and the furred animals seemed quite unconscious of its presence. Nor did the colonists notice it much, absorbed as they were in the contemplation of the approaching doom, which had broken down all the ordinary distinctions of race. A little before noon a sudden hope, too soon to end in disappointment, revived the drooping spirits of the colonists. Sabine, who had been standing for some time on the highest part of the islet, looking at the sea, suddenly cried, A boat, a boat! It was as if an electric shock had suddenly ran through the group, where all started up and rushed towards the hunter. The lieutenant looked at him inquiringly, and the man pointed to a white vapor on the horizon. Not a word was spoken, but all watched in breathless silence as the form of a vessel gradually rose against the sky. It was indeed a ship, and most likely a whaler. There was no doubt about it, and at the end of an hour even the keel was visible. Unfortunately, this vessel appeared on the east of the islet, that is to say, on the opposite side to that from which the raft had drifted, so that there could be no hope that it was coming to their rescue after meeting with the raft, which would have suggested the fact of fellow creatures being in danger. The question was now, would those in the vessel perceive the islet? Would they be able to make out signals on it? Alas, in broad daylight, with a bright sun shining, it was not likely they would. Had it been night, some of the planks of the remaining shed might have made a fire large enough to be seen at a considerable distance. But the boat would probably have disappeared before the darkness set in, and although it seemed of little use, signals were made and guns fired on the islet. The vessel was certainly approaching, and seemed to be a large three-master, evidently a whaler, from New Archangel, which was on its way to Bering Strait, after having doubled the peninsula of Alaska. It was to the windward of the islet, and tacking to starboard with its lower sails, top sails, and top gallant sails, all set. It was steadily advancing to the north. A sailor would have seen at a glance that it was not baring towards the islet, but it might even yet perceive it, and alter its course. If it does see us, whispered Hobbson, in Long's ear, it is more likely to avoid us, than to come nearer. The lieutenant was right, for there is nothing vessel's dread more in these latitudes than the approach of icebergs and ice-flows. They look upon them as floating rocks, against which there is a danger of striking, especially in the night, and they therefore hasten to change their course when ice is sighted. And this vessel would most likely do the same, if it noticed the islet at all. The alternations of hope and despair, through which the anxious watchers passed, may be imagined, but cannot be described. Until two o'clock in the afternoon they were able to believe that Heaven had at last taken pity on them, that help was coming, that their safety was assured. The vessel continued to approach in an oblique direction, and was presently not more than six miles from the islet. Signal after signal was tried, gun after gun fired, and some of the planks of the shed were burnt. All in vain, either they were not seen, or the vessel was anxious to avoid the islet. At half-past, too, it left slightly, and bore away to the northeast. In another hour a white vapor was all that was visible, and that soon disappeared. On this the soldier calais burst into a roar of hysterical laughter, and flinging himself on the ground, rolled over and over, like a madman. Mrs. Barnett turned, and looked mad full in the face, as if to ask her if she still hoped, and mad turned away her head. On this same ill-fated day a crackling noise was heard, and the greater part of the islet broke off, and plunged into the sea. The cries of the drowning animals rent the air, and the islet was reduced to the narrow strip between the site of the engulfed house, and Kate Bathurst. It was now merely a piece of ice.