up, fully impressed
with the necessity of securing for the lad rest and warmth, and fully
realized, for the first time, my powerless situation (that I was even
apparently unable to save myself, still less the boy), my heart seemed
to give way entirely, and I sank down once more beside him. A prayer to
Heaven for succor, which I had no thought could ever come to me, rose to
my lips, and at that very moment a ray of hope dawned upon me. The great
fog was breaking away, the bright sun was scattering the mists, and land
was bursting through it near at hand. Light, fleecy clouds were rolling
up above the sea, and, as they floated off before a gentle wind, a blaze
of sunshine burst through an opening in them and fell upon myself and
the boy whose life I had, at least for the present, saved.

"I could now look out over the sea for a considerable distance. Although
there was still much confusion, yet the ice was steadily quieting down,
and the waves caused by it were subsiding rapidly. But a change not less
marked had taken place in the space between where I stood and the open
water. The wreck from which I had rescued the boy had settled back into
the sea, and the fragments of ice were separating and floating off. Had
I delayed a few minutes longer, I should never have reached the fast
ice, but should have drifted off upon the dark waters, as the man had
done whom I saw standing in the fog that I have told you of before.

"As the fog cleared up more and more, the land which first appeared
stood out boldly, and the sea was visible over a range of many miles. It
was dotted all over with fragments of ice and numerous icebergs, many of
which reached up into the disappearing mists, looking like white
mountains in miniature, with clouds drifting across their summits. The
land did not appear to be more than a mile distant from me, and it was
evident that I stood upon ice which was fast to it. Indeed, when I was
first cast upon this ice, I might have known, had I paused to reflect,
that land must be very near, as the name 'fast ice' indicates clearly of
itself that simple fact.

"With this lighting up of the air, various thoughts came into my mind.
First, could I get to the land and save the boy as well as myself;
secondly, could I aid anybody else; and thirdly, could I save anything
of the wreck out of the sea. These last two reflections were quickly
disposed of, for although I could see many fragments of the wreck, none
were within