78 A CABIN SCENE. 



" I falls down once, but de Commander see I keeps 

 de coffee. It 's good an' hot, and very strong, and go 

 right down into de boots." 



" Bad night on deck, cook." 



" Oh, it 's awful, sar ! I never see it blow so hard 

 in all my Hfe, an' I 's followed de sea morn 'n forty 

 year. And den it 's so cold. My galley is full of ice, 

 and de water it freeze on my stove." 



" Here, cook, is a guernsey for you ; that will keep 

 you warm." 



" Tank you, sar ! " — and he starts off with his prize ; 

 but, encouraged by his reception, he stops to ask, 

 " Would de Commander be so good as to tell me where 

 we is ? De gentlemens fool me." 



" Certainly, cook. The land over there is Green- 

 land. That big cape is Cape Alexander ; beyond that 

 is Smith's Sound, and we are only about eight hun- 

 dred miles from the North Pole." 



" De Nort' Pole, vere 's dat ? " 



I explained the best I could. 



" Tank you, sar. Yat for we come — to fish ? " 



" No, not to fish, cook ; for science." 



"Oh, dat it? Dey tell me we come to fish. Tank 

 you, sar." And he pulls his greasy cap over his bald 

 head, and does not appear to be much wiser as he 

 tumbles up the companion-ladder into the storm. 

 Somebody has hoaxed the old man into the belief that 

 we have come out to catch seals. 



August 30th, 1 o'clock, A. M. 



The wind is hauling to the eastward, and the 

 squalls come thicker and faster. We are drifting both 

 up and from the coast, and I fear that if we recede 

 much further we shall be sent howling to sea under 



