to their hunting-expeditions for a supply of fresh food, without which
there would be little hope of their continuing in a condition of good
health. Coffee was served out at breakfast and cocoa at supper, besides
being occasionally supplied at other times to men who had been engaged
in exhausting work in extremely cold weather. Afterwards, when the dark
season set in, and the crew were confined by the intense cold more than
formerly within the ship, various schemes were set afoot for passing the
time profitably and agreeably. Among others, a school was started by the
captain for instructing such of the crew as chose to attend in reading,
writing, and arithmetic, and in this hyperborean academy Fred Ellice
acted as the writing master, and Tom Singleton as the accountant. The
men were much amused at first at the idea of "goin' to school," and some
of them looked rather shy at it; but O'Riley, after some consideration,
came boldly forward and said, "Well, boys, bad luck to me if I don't
think I'll be a scholard afther all. My old gran'mother used to tell me,
whin I refused to go to the school that was kip be an owld man as tuck
his fees out in murphies and potheen,--says she, 'Ah! ye spalpeen, ye'll
niver be cliverer nor the pig, ye won't.' 'Ah, then, I hope not,' says
I, 'for sure she's far the cliverest in the house, an' ye wouldn't have
me to be cliverer than me own gran'mother, would ye?' says I. So I niver
wint to school, and more be token, I can't sign me name, and if it was
only to larn how to do that, I'll go and jine; indeed I will." So
O'Riley joined, and before long every man in the ship was glad to join,
in order to have something to do.

The doctor also, twice a-week, gave readings from Shakespeare, a copy of
which he had fortunately brought with him. He also read extracts from
the few other books they happened to have on board; and after a time,
finding unexpectedly that he had a talent that way, he began to draw
upon his memory and his imagination, and told long stories (which were