On investigation we found less than one-third of our provisions
remaining, while to our utter dismay, we discovered that our
water-casks had been swept overboard during the violent
plungings of our boat.

Two of our water-casks were in the main hold, but both were
empty. We had a fair supply of food, but no fresh water. I
realized at once the awfulness of our position. Presently I was
seized with a consuming thirst. "It is indeed bad," remarked my
father. "However, let us dry our bedraggled clothing, for we are
soaked to the skin. Trust to the god Odin, my son. Do not give up
hope."

The sun was beating down slantingly, as if we were in a southern
latitude, instead of in the far Northland. It was swinging
around, its orbit ever visible and rising higher and higher each
day, frequently mist-covered, yet always peering through the
lacework of clouds like some fretful eye of fate, guarding the
mysterious Northland and jealously watching the pranks of man.
Far to our right the rays decking the prisms of icebergs were
gorgeous. Their reflections emitted flashes of garnet, of
diamond, of sapphire. A pyrotechnic panorama of countless colors
and shapes, while below could be seen the green-tinted sea, and
above, the purple sky.


PART THREE

BEYOND THE NORTH WIND