“And, in fact, we could. The awful chill of the ice world was gone. Hope revived in our breasts. We kept on, and the farther we went the more evidences we found of the existence of a land clear from ice.
“At length we came to clear, open places in the river. Water was visible. There were bare patches of shore and hillside.
“The soil was auriferous, and we found slight evidences of minerals. Now a warm breeze relaxed our stiffened muscles and removed the tension from our lungs. We pressed on.
“A few days later we left the ice region behind us entirely, and came upon the wonderful Polar country. I couldn’t begin to describe it all to ye mates, but it was unlike any other part of the earth.
“Well, we wandered around for six months. It was easy to live there, for there was plenty of game. In the valleys were cities and towns, and at a distance we saw the Polar people. These are not to be classed with the Esquimaux, and seemed quite equal to the Europeans of the lower class.
“But we were not sure of a warm reception, so we did not venture to make their acquaintance. We kept out of sight in the hills.
“Well, we lived a year in the Polar country. We liked the life, but after awhile we tired of it as sailors will. Jim Welch wanted to go back to his wife in Salem: Rod Smith had a sweetheart in Buzzards’ Bay, and Jack Olson had promised his mother to stay at home with her after this voyage.
“So we figured out our position. We knew that in April the ice-fields would move north. Many of the big bergs would drift nearly to the Equator. We decided to make our way to one and take our chances on being picked up by a ship.
“So we made us suits of fur. Then we traveled down the river to the coast again.
“Here we found a big berg in a good position and made us a camp on it. We dug a deep cache and filled it with frozen meat and fowls. We dipped fresh water from small wooden troughs set in the top of the berg, which filled with water the first rain.
“When the proper time came the berg began to drift out to sea. Then we got into the Equatorial drift. It was a rough and strange experience.
“For months we lived on the berg, watching every day for a sail. Day by day the warm waters licked the ice away until all that was left of the big ice structure was about an acre in area. Then we knew that a great danger threatened us.