THE JOURNEY SOUTHWARD 



535 



the same open water over which we had seen the dark 

 atniosphere all the winter. Only when we came up 

 nearly to the houses did he inquire more particularly 

 about the Fraiii and our drifting, and I briefly told him 

 our story. He told me afterwards that from the time we 

 met he had believed that the ship had been destroyed, 

 and that we two were the only survivors of the expedi- 

 tion. He thought he had seen a sad expression in my 



MR. JACKSON S STATION AT CAPE FLORA 



face when he first asked about the ship, and was afraid 

 of touching on the subject again. Indeed, he had even 

 quietly warned his men not to ask. It was only through 

 a chance remark of mine that he found out lu's mistake, 



