rs in his hand.
Is it a spyglass?

"No; he moves away.

"Is that a man mounting to the mizen cross-trees?

"Yes, it is a man.

"Is that a spyglass glittering in his hand? Yes, surely it must be.

"He waves his cap; he shouts to the people on deck; he descends; all is
bustle in the ship; a boat is lowered to the water; men spring into it;
the oars are dipped; the men give way; the boat heads for the spot where
we are standing; we are discovered! O, God be praised! at last, at last!

"The boat cuts through the water quickly; it nears us; again we see
white human faces; again we hear human speech in a familiar tongue.

"'In oars!'--the boat touches the rocks, and we are there to take the
painter, and to make her fast.

"Two of the men spring out; a man rises in the stern; he shades his eyes
with his hands, as if to protect them from the glaring sun, and stares
at us, and then at the savages, who--of both sexes, and of every age and
size--surround us. Then he calls out, 'Is there a white man in that
crowd?'

"'Yes, sir; two of them.'

"'I thought so from the motions,' says the man. Then he stared at me
again, and cried: 'Is that the lubber Hardy, of the _Blackbird_?'

"'Yes, sir; it is,' I answered.

"'Is that other chap the cabin-boy?--him they called the Dean?'

"'Yes, sir,' spoke up the Dean.

"In an instant the man was out upon the rocks, and he grasped us warmly
by the hands. He had recognized us, now we recognized _him_. He was the
master of a ship that lay alongside the _Blackbird_ when we first went
among the ice, catching seals. His ship was the _Rob Roy_, of Aberdeen.

"This much he said to quiet us, for he saw the state of agitation we
were in. Then he went on to tell us that the _Blackbird_, not having
been heard from in all this time, it was thought that she must have gone
down somewhere among the ice, with all on board; and he told us further,
that he was on a whaling voyage now, and then he said, 'The _Rob Roy_
will give you a bonny welcome, lads.'

"Afterward he told us that the vessels were, as we had supposed, a part
of the whaling fleet, and he said it was fortunate that he had
discovered us, as this was our only chance, for all the other vessels
that were following him would be very likely, on account of the state of
the ice, to hold to the westward, and not come near the land.

"All this time the savages were _yeh-yeh_-ing round us, greatly to the
amusement of the captain of the _Ro