d for some moments he could think of nothing but the cold, stamping
the deck, and beating his hands.

"Ha!" cried he, grinning to the smart of his cheeks, "this is not the
cook-room, eh? Great thunder, you will not have it that this ice has
been drifting north? Why, man, 'tis icier by twenty degrees than when we
were first locked up."

"I hope not," said I; "and I think not. Your blood doesn't course strong
yet, and you are fresh from the furnace. Besides, it is blowing a bitter
cold gale. Look at that sky and listen to the thunder of the sea!"

The commotion was indeed terribly uproarious. The spume as before was
blowing in clouds of snow over the ice, and fled in very startling
flashes of whiteness under the livid drapery of the sky. The wind itself
sounded like the prolonged echo of a discharge of monster ordnance, and
it screeched and whistled hideously where it struck the peaks and edges
of the cliffs and swept through the schooner's masts. The rending noises
of the ice in all directions were distinct and fearful. The Frenchman
looked about him with consternation, and to my surprise crossed
himself.

"May the blessed Virgin preserve us!" he said. "Do you say we have
drifted north? If this is not the very heart of the south pole you shall
persuade me we are on the equator."

"It cannot storm too terribly for us, as you just now said," I replied.
"I want this island to go to pieces."

As I said this a solid pillar of ice just beyond the brow of the hill on
the starboard side was dislodged or blown down; it fell with a mighty
crash, and filled the air with crystal splinters. Tassard started back
with a faint cry of "Bon Dieu!"

"Judge for yourself how the ship lies," said I; "this is freezing work."

He went aft and looked over the stern, then walked to the larboard rail
and peered over the side.

"Is there ice beyond that opening?" he asked, pointing over the
taffrail.

"No," I answered; "that goes to the sea. There is a low cliff beyond.
Mark that cloud of white; it is the spray hurled athwart the mouth of
this hollow."

"Good," he mumbled with his teeth chattering. "The change is marvellous.
There was ice for a quarter of a mile where that slope ends. 'Tis too
cold to converse here."

"_There_ are your companions," said I, pointing to the two bodies lying
a little distance before the mainmast.

He marched up to them, and exclaimed, "Yes, this is Trentanove and that
is Barros. Both were blind, but t