grounded; the ice settled round her; the spring tide was lost, and they
were not delivered.

Those who know the bitterness of repeated disappointment and of hope
deferred, may judge of the feelings with which the crew of the _Dolphin_
now regarded their position. Little, indeed, was said, but the grave
looks of most of the men, and the absence of the usual laugh, and jest,
and disposition to skylark, which, on almost all other occasions
characterized them, showed too plainly how heavily the prospect of a
winter in the Arctic Regions weighed upon their spirits. They continued
their exertions to free the ship, however, for several days after the
high tide, and did not finally give in until all reasonable hope of
moving her was utterly annihilated. Before this, however, a reaction
began to take place; the prospects of the coming winter were discussed;
and some of the more sanguine looked even beyond the winter, and began
to consider how they would contrive to get the ship out of her position
into deep water again.

Fred Ellice, too, thought of his father, and this abrupt check to the
search, and his spirits sank again as his hopes decayed. But poor Fred,
like the others, at last discovered that it was of no use to repine, and
that it was best to face his sorrows and difficulties "like a man!"

Alas! poor human nature; how difficult do we find it to face sorrows and
difficulties _cheerfully_, even when we do conscientiously try! Well
would it be for all of us could we submit to such, not only because
they are inevitable, but because they are the will of God--of him who
has asserted in his own Word that "he afflicteth not the children of men
willingly."