DANIEL AS COOK 



one part of the boat to another, always seeming 

 to be in the very thick of the work ; and once he 

 seized a rope and ran over the ice to haul us through 

 a narrow passage, while the others lolled and filled 

 their pipes again, and made remarks about Daniel 

 being a " Pujolik, ai " (steamer again). Daniel came 

 to a sudden stop, and shouted, "Jump out, all of 

 you," and in a moment we were on the ice dragging 

 the boat across, high and dry, to plump it into the 

 water again on the other side of the floe. At midday 

 we anchored against a small iceberg, and Daniel 

 clambered upon it to fill his kettle at a pool that 

 the sun was making in a hollow ; then we poled 

 on again while the tea was warming over the fireplace 

 of stones. There was a short rest for the men during 

 the afternoon, when the sails were up and we beat 

 to and fro along a sheltered run ; but soon the 

 captain said something that brought forth a chorus 

 of " Aha's," and caused a general turning of heads. 

 There was a peculiar turbulence about the water in 

 front of us, and there was something familiar about 

 the hills around ; there on the right was the begin- 

 ning of the sledge-pass over Kiglapeit, and we were 

 entering on the piece of water that never freezes. 

 Soon we were tumbling and twisting among the 

 currents of a sort of miniature whirlpool, and the 

 oarsmen were straining and shouting in time while 

 the captain steadied the boat as well as he could 

 with the long sculling-oar at the stern. I had seen 

 the black spot of water on the white sheet of ice 

 only a month or two before, and many a time as 

 we passed the place on our winter journeys I had 

 wondered why Julius led the dogs close under the 

 rock. All the explanation he had given me was 



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