open water had diminished now from ten miles to
five miles of width. The ice on one side was low, but on the opposite
side it arose to the height of one hundred feet. We saw here, as we
watched the shore, that the current which had already borne us thus
far was now stronger than ever, and was carrying us along at a rate
which made all efforts of ours against it utterly useless. And now a
debate arose between us as to the direction of this current. Agnew
suddenly declared his belief that it was running north, while I was
firm in the conviction that it ran south.

"There's no use rowing any more," said Agnew. "If it runs south we
can't resist it. It's too strong. But I always like to look on the
bright side, and so I believe it runs north. In that case there is no
use rowing, for it will carry us along fast enough."

Then I proposed that we should go ashore on the ice. To this Agnew
objected, but afterward consented, at my earnest request. So we tried
to get ashore, but this time found it impossible; for the ice
consisted of a vast sheet of floating lumps, which looked like the
ruin of bergs that had been broken up in some storm. After this I had
nothing to say, nor was there anything left for us but to drift
wherever the current might carry us.

So we drifted for some days, Agnew all the time maintaining that we
were going north, while I was sure that we were going south. The sky
remained as cloudy as ever, the wind varied incessantly, and there was
nothing by which we could conjecture the points of the compass. We
lived on our seal, and for drink we chewed ice and snow. One thing was
certain--the climate was no colder. Agnew laid great stress on this.

"You see," said he, "we must be going north. If we were going south we
should be frozen stiff by this time."

"Yes; but if we were going north," said I, "we ought to find it
growing warmer."

"No," said he, "not with all this ice around us. It's the ice that
keeps the temperature in this cold state."

Argument could do no good, and so we each remained true to our
belief--his leading him to hope, and mine dragging me down to despair.
At length we finished the last fragment of the seal that we had
cooked, and, finding ourselves near some firm ice, we went ashore and
cooked all that was left, using the remainder of our wood for fuel,
and all that we dared to remove from the boat. Re-embarking with this,
we drifted on as before.

Several more days passed. At last on