n-mast, and, as luck would have it, down it
came slap on the head of Grim, drenchin' him from head to foot, and
makin' him as red as a lobster."

"'Ow did you lose the fish, sir?" inquired Mivins, as our hero sprang up
the side, followed by Singleton.

"Lost him as men lose money in railway speculations now-a-days. We
_sank_ him, and that was the last of it. After he had towed us I don't
know how far--out of sight of the ship at any rate--he suddenly stopped,
and we pulled up and gave him some tremendous digs with the lances,
until he spouted jets of blood, and we made sure of him, when all at
once down he went head-foremost like a cannon ball, and took all the
line out of both boats, so we had to cut, and he never came up again. At
least, if he did it became so dark that we never saw him. Then we pulled
to where we thought the ship was, and, after rowing nearly all night,
caught sight of your lights; and here we are, dead tired, wet to the
skin, and minus about two miles of whale-line and three harpoons."

CHAPTER V.

_Miscellaneous reflections--The coast of Greenland--Upernavik--News of
the "Pole Star"--Midnight-day--Scientific facts and fairy-like
scenes--Tom Singleton's opinion of poor old women--In danger of a
squeeze--Escape._

In pursuance of his original intention, Captain Guy now proceeded
through Davis' Straits into Baffin's Bay, at the head of which he
intended to search for the vessel of his friend Captain Ellice, and
afterwards prosecute the whale-fishery. Off the coast of Greenland many
whalers were seen actively engaged in warfare with the giants of the
Polar Seas, and to several of these Captain Guy spoke, in the faint hope
of gleaning some information as to the fate of the _Pole Star_, but
without success. It was now apparent to the crew of the _Dolphin_ that
they were engaged as much on a searching as a whaling expedition; and
the fact that the commander of the lost vessel was the father of "young
Mr. Fred," as they styled our hero, induced them to take a deep interest
in the success of their undertaking.

This interest was further increased by the graphic account that honest
John Buzzby gave of the death of poor Mrs. Ellice, and the enthusiastic
way in which he spoke of his old captain. Fred, too, had, by his frank,
affable manner and somewhat reckless disposition, rendered himself a
general favourite with the men, and had particularly recommended himself
to Mivins the steward (who was po