breeze, and soon started out like a race-horse, running the
gauntlet of this unknown narrow channel of open water.



PART FIVE

AMONG THE ICE PACKS

FOR the next forty-five days our time was employed in dodging
icebergs and hunting channels; indeed, had we not been favored
with a strong south wind and a small boat, I doubt if this story
could have ever been given to the world.

At last, there came a morning when my father said: "My son, I
think we are to see home. We are almost through the ice. See! the
open water lies before us."

However, there were a few icebergs that had floated far northward
into the open water still ahead of us on either side, stretching
away for many miles. Directly in front of us, and by the compass,
which had now righted itself, due north, there was an open sea.

"What a wonderful story we have to tell to the people of
Stockholm," continued my father, while a look of pardonable
elation lighted up his honest face. "And think of the gold
nuggets stowed away in the hold!"

I spoke kind words of praise to my father, not alone for his
fortitude and endurance, but also for his courageous daring as a