ighted itself, due north, there was an open sea.

"What a wonderful story we have to tell to the people of Stockholm,"
continued my father, while a look of pardonable elation lighted up his
honest face. "And think of the gold nuggets stowed away in the hold!"

I spoke kind words of praise to my father, not alone for his fortitude
and endurance, but also for his courageous daring as a discoverer, and
for having made the voyage that now promised a successful end. I was
grateful, too, that he had gathered the wealth of gold we were carrying
home.

While congratulating ourselves on the goodly supply of provisions and
water we still had on hand, and on the dangers we had escaped, we were
startled by hearing a most terrific explosion, caused by the tearing
apart of a huge mountain of ice. It was a deafening roar like the firing
of a thousand cannon. We were sailing at the time with great speed, and
happened to be near a monstrous iceberg which to all appearances was as
immovable as a rockbound island. It seemed, however, that the iceberg
had split and was breaking apart, whereupon the balance of the monster
along which we were sailing was destroyed, and it began dipping from
us. My father quickly anticipated the danger before I realized its awful
possibilities. The iceberg extended down into the water many hundreds
of feet, and, as it tipped over, the portion coming up out of the water
caught our fishing-craft like a lever on a fulcrum, and threw it into
the air as if it had been a foot-ball.

Our boat fell back on the iceberg, that by this time had changed the
side next to us for the top. My father was still in the boat, having
become entangled in the rigging, while I was thrown some twenty feet
away.

I quickly scrambled to my feet and shouted to my father, who answered:
"All is well." Just then a realization dawned upon me. Horror upon
horror! The blood froze in my veins. The iceberg was still in motion,
and its great weight and force in toppling over would cause it to
submerge temporarily. I fully realized what a sucking maelstrom it would
produce amid the worlds of water on every side. They would rush into the
depression in all their fury, like white-fanged wolves eager for human
prey.

In this supreme moment of mental anguish, I remember glancing at our
boat, which was lying on its side, and wondering if it could possibly
right itself, and if my father could escape. Was this the end of our
struggles and adventure