for the fog closed upon
the object, whatever it may have been, and it vanished as a spectral
figure.

"My eyes were strained to catch a further glimpse of this object, but
nothing more was to be seen of it. From this my attention was soon
attracted by a dark mass which had drifted upon the edge of the broken
ice, not far to the right of the place where I had been standing when
the boat left me. I soon made this out to be some part of the wreck of
the ship. In a few moments I could clearly see that it was a piece of a
mast; then I could plainly distinguish the 'foretop.' Each succeeding
wave was forcing it higher and higher out of the water, and I
discovered, after a few moments, that other timbers were attached to it,
and that beside these were sails and ropes, making of the whole a
considerable mass.

"After observing this fragment of the wreck attentively for some time, I
thought I perceived a man moving among the tangled collection of timbers
and ropes and sails, endeavoring to extricate himself. Whatever it might
be, it was some distance above the sea,--so high, indeed, that the waves
no longer washed it fairly,--only the spray.

"It soon became clear to me that my suspicions that this was a man were
correct; and being more convinced that one of my shipmates at least was
yet alive, I rushed forward to rescue him if possible, without once
stopping to give a thought to the risks I would encounter. It was clear
that he could not liberate himself.

"You will remember that I was now standing on a fragment of ice which
had been broken off from the solid ice-field by the waves. It was one of
a number of similar fragments, all lying more or less close together,
and between me and the place where I had been standing when the waves
began to subside, and the ice ceased to break up. Before me the ice was
in the same broken condition as behind me, only, being nearer the open
water, the pieces were rolling more, so that there was much greater
danger in springing from piece to piece. Without, however, pausing to
reflect upon this circumstance, I rushed forward as fast as I could go,
jumping with ease over every obstacle in my way, until I was on the
piece of ice that held up the end of the tangled wreck. I had evidently
arrived in the very nick of time, for the wreck was, instead of coming
farther up, now beginning to sink back into the sea.

[Illustration: Rescued from the Wreck.]

"What I had taken for a man proved to be