initial commit of ebook 11997HEADmain

35 files changed, 8433 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/11997-0.txt b/11997-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..707758a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,1845 @@
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11997 ***
+
+[Illustration: THEY FOUND TOM AT THE LAKE-SIDE, STANDING OVER
+A HUGE DEAD BEAR.]
+
+
+
+
+The Crusoes Of
+The Frozen North
+
+
+
+From the Well-known Story by
+Dr. Gordon Stables
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+"I'm sure of one thing," said Aralia to her little sister Pansy, as they
+sat together one lovely summer afternoon on the garden seat, and gazed
+away and away far over the North Sea. "I'm quite sure of one thing.
+Nobody ever could have so good an uncle as our uncle. Now, could anybody,
+Pansy?"
+
+"Oh no!" answered Pansy, shaking her pretty head. Pansy was hardly eight
+years old, and always agreed with her older sister, who was nearly
+eleven.
+
+"How I wish he were home again from his old ship," sighed Aralia, "and
+Tom with him!"
+
+"Well, Ara, we can sit here hours and hours every day and watch the sea,
+can't we?"
+
+"Yes, and we shall easily know the ship. As she goes by, shell set all
+her flags a-flying, and, if Father isn't at home, Mother will send up our
+great red flag on the garden pole. Oh dear! I could nearly cry for joy to
+think of it!"
+
+"And me too!" said Pansy.
+
+"And me too!" Veevee seemed to say, as he gave a short bark, and, jumping
+down from the seat, ran round the garden, looking like a fluffy white
+ball.
+
+The sea was very blue, only patched with green wherever a cloud-shadow
+fell on it. Down beneath the cliff on which the cottage stood, the waves
+broke lazily in long white lines of foam. On the sea itself were vessels
+of almost every kind, from the little fishing craft with brown sails to
+great ships sailing away to distant lands.
+
+Aralia knew what class of vessel each was by its rig; her best of uncles
+had taught her. And well could she use the spy-glass too, which she now
+held to her right eye. It had been hard at first to keep the left closed,
+but she could manage it now quite easily without asking Pansy to clap a
+hand over it.
+
+Soon she began to talk in little gasps:
+
+"Oh, Pansy--I think--Oh, I'm nearly sure--yes--yes--it must be! it _is_
+Uncle's ship! I can see the flags all a-flying--Hurrah! Come and look!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Pansy sat on her sister's knee and peeped through the glass. Then both
+the children started up and waved their arms in the air at the far-off
+ship. They were just about to rush off to tell Mother, when their cousin
+Frank came up. He was a lad of about thirteen or fourteen, but he was so
+tall and manly that he looked older.
+
+Frank came into the garden with a rush and a run when he heard the girls
+call out. A fishing basket was slung over his back, from which the tails
+of fish stuck out, showing what good sport he had had.
+
+"Hillo, Ara! Hillo, Pansy! What are you dancing and 'hoo-laying' about?
+Been stung by a wasp, my little Pansy Blossom?"
+
+"Oh, Frank," cried the elder girl, "look through the glass! Uncle's
+coming! Look at the ship, and all the flags."
+
+The boy was almost as excited now as the girls themselves, and presently
+they were all running in a string through the pretty garden towards the
+cottage with the news, Veevee bringing up the rear and barking bravely.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Rat-tat-tat at the door next afternoon, and little Pansy ran to open it,
+expecting to see the postman, but the knocking was only a bit of Tom's
+fun. Frank had left for Hull the evening before to meet him, and here was
+Tom the sailor, tall and bonny and dark. Pansy jumped into his arms like
+a baby, Aralia rushed to meet him, and his mother came out, though a
+little more slowly. When the bustle was all over, and Tom had answered
+nearly a hundred questions, they all went in to tea.
+
+"Yes, Aralia, Uncle is coming up from Hull with Father and Cousin Frank,
+and we shall stop here three whole days before we go back to clear ship
+and pay off"
+
+"And," added Tom, "Uncle has something so strange and nice to tell you!"
+
+"What is it, Tom?" said his two sisters, both in a breath as it were.
+
+"I can't, won't, and sha'n't tell you, girls," cried Tom, laughing,
+"because that would spoil the fun when Uncle comes."
+
+So all, even Veevee, who would not get off Tom's knees for a minute, had
+to be as patient as they could. But the time passed so quickly, listening
+to all this hearty young sailor had to tell of his voyage to the far
+north, that before anyone was aware it was nearly seven o'clock.
+
+And now down jumps Veevee and runs towards the door, barking aloud as if
+he were a very big dog.
+
+"They're coming! They're coming! Veevee knows!" And coming they were
+indeed.
+
+Tom had had a hearty welcome when he arrived, but when this best of
+uncles at last managed to sit down on the sofa: "Shiver my timbers,
+sister," he said to Mrs. Dunlop, "if it isn't worth while going all the
+way to the back of the North Pole just to get such a welcome home as
+this."
+
+Jack Staysail was a sailor every inch of him. He had roughed it so much
+in the Greenland seas, and been out in so many storms, that his face was
+as red as a boiled beet; but his eyes were as full of fun and merriment
+as a boy's.
+
+"We're not all here yet," he said. "I have asked my friend, Professor
+Peterkin, the Swede, to come in to-night with his mastiff." When their
+uncle mentioned the mastiff, Aralia and Pansy began to tremble for
+Veevee, but Tom only laughed.
+
+"Why," he said, "although Briton--that's his name--is big enough to
+tackle a bear, he wouldn't injure a mouse."
+
+It was nearly nine o'clock when the professor arrived. Briton marched in
+first, and a bigger and more noble-looking fellow was never seen. Veevee
+said he couldn't stand another dog in the place. So he started up,
+barking loudly, and offering to fight the mastiff to the death on the
+spot. But Briton stepped gingerly over the little dog, and went and lay
+quietly down on the rug.
+
+Then in bustled the professor himself, very droll, very small,
+clean-shaven, merry-eyed, and with as much hair on his great head as
+would have stuffed a cushion. He bowed and smiled to all, patted the
+children, and at last sat down to supper.
+
+All made a very hearty supper, though it was long past the children's
+bed-time. Only Uncle didn't come home every night, you know.
+
+When they had finished, Briton had a huge dish of scraps; Veevee sat
+watching him eat, and the children were very much surprised to see
+Briton shove one of the biggest and best morsels towards him. The tiny
+dog picked up the titbit and wagged his tail. After he had eaten it,
+he went and lay down beside Briton on the hearth-rug.
+
+The "something nice" that Uncle had to tell was soon told now.
+Captain Staysail cleared his throat before he began: "Ahem! Oh,
+you're  all waiting, are you, to hear what I've got to say? Well,
+then--ahem!--Professor Peterkin--"
+
+"Pete--Pete--Pete--Pete!" cried the droll, wee man, stopping him, and
+one would have thought he was calling a dog. "I'm not going to be called
+Professor, and I won't Peterkin. Just Pete, as I was on board ship, as I
+am to everybody, and must be to you.
+
+"But just look here, Staysail, you're a sailor, and you can't make a
+speech. Let me speak." And speak he did without waiting for a reply.
+
+"It's all in a nutshell, dear Mr. and Mrs. Dunlop, and I'll tell you in
+two or three sentences what your worthy sailor-brother would have kept
+you up all night to hear. Now listen! Briton, you lie down! Good again!
+Now I, Dan Peterkin, am a man who has been used to study hard, and think
+hard. You follow me so far? Good again!
+
+"Well, there is one thing has taken me years to work out, and that is,
+where in this world gold and coal are to be found. And I've done it. I
+can go right to the spots. One of them lies on an island right away up in
+the Frozen North. And we're going there. Your brother, Mrs. Dunlop, is
+going to take me.
+
+"Well, we may have some hardships. Paff! What do we care? We shall win
+such wealth as has never been seen before. You follow still? Good again!
+Well, I go to a town in the north last spring, when the seal ships are
+all there, and I look for an honest face. I find Staysail. I say to him:
+'You give me a passage to Greenland, my friend.' He say: 'What for I give
+you passage?' I smile. I take him by one button, and pull him all the way
+into a private room of the hotel. Briton follows. We all dine well--we
+all come out smiling--Briton too. And now, my friends, all is arranged.
+We sail away and away and away next spring for the seas of ice and the
+islands of gold.
+
+"That is all. You have followed me? Good again!" And once more the
+professor sat down, and the big arm-chair seemed to swallow him up.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ara and Pansy lay awake a long time that night thinking of what Pete had
+said. But the next day they went about their duties as usual. They did
+not go to school, as they had a governess, of whom they were both very
+fond. Nearly half their day would be spent out-of-doors with her and
+Veevee. In spring and summer they would gather flowers inland, but what
+they liked best was to play about on the sands, to go out boating with an
+old seaman they knew, or climb the rocks and get into very steep and
+giddy places.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Poor Frank Dunlop was an orphan, and was now the adopted son of Ara's
+father. As for Tom, who was a year or two older, his father had wanted
+him to go into business at home in England, but nothing would satisfy the
+lad but going to sea, so he had been sent to rough it with his uncle in
+the stormy seas of the Frozen North. The cruise now ended was his second,
+and Tom wasn't tired of the sea yet.
+
+Frank went back to school, and appeared no more at the cottage until
+Christmas came round. Then not only Uncle, but Pete and Briton came to
+spend a whole fortnight with the Dunlop family, and to make their final
+plans for the spring. And I should say that no fortnight seemed to pass
+so quickly to the children as did the two weeks when their visitors
+stayed with them.
+
+At last, one day in early spring, there left Hull on a trial trip one of
+the handsomest little steamers, and, for her size, one of the strongest
+that ever put to sea from that port. She was Captain Staysail's new ship,
+the _Valhalla_. Everything on board, both on deck and between decks, and
+in the saloon, was as clean and beautiful as if she had been a royal
+yacht. The decks were as white as ivory, the polished wood shone in the
+sun, and the brass-work looked like gold. The saloon itself, with its
+curtains, its mirrors, tables pillars, and piano, was really fit for a
+fairy princess to live in. Everything had been prepared under the eye of
+Professor Peterkin himself, so everything was perfect in its way.
+
+Pansy, who was on board, and had been peeping in some of the rooms, said
+to Aralia at last: "Oh, Aralia, what a dear little doll's house of a
+cabin; I should like to live in it always!"
+
+Neither of the children was sea-sick when the _Valhalla_ went out under
+steam, and they had such fun with the sailors and the two dogs that they
+were quite sorry when the ship once more steamed into port.
+
+And didn't everybody sleep soundly that night in the hotel! I should say
+so!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+The merry month of May had hardly begun when the brave _Valhalla_ steamed
+away on her perilous cruise to the far and icy north.
+
+Frank, with his two little cousins, had begged leave to go to Hull in
+order to see the very, very last of the beautiful ship and that best of
+uncles, Captain Staysail. Leave had been given by their parents, because
+"Wherever Frank is," said Mr. Dunlop, "the children are sure to be safe."
+
+There had been a good deal of stir and bustle on the very last evening,
+and many visitors had been to the _Valhalla_, for somehow word had gone
+out that Professor Peterkin, the great Swedish traveller, was off to find
+the North Pole!
+
+And all believed that he would find it. Some of the sailors even went so
+far as to say that he would bring it back with him rigged up as a mast of
+his ship!
+
+But by the time eight bells had rung out all was quiet. The hands had
+turned in, and only Tom and two men were left on watch.
+
+"Go forward," said Tom, "and have a cup of coffee and a smoke, and I'll
+see to the safety of the ship here at the gangway."
+
+The men took the young officer at his word, and it was not very long ere
+their smoke was finished, and they, too, were fast asleep. Had any other
+eyes than Tom's been watching the shore, about half an hour afterwards,
+they must have noticed that something very strange was taking place.
+
+Dark figures could be seen drawing near with stealthy footsteps to the
+farther end of the gangway. Then they stopped as if in fear and dread.
+But Tom whistled a long, low whistle, and three figures, muffled in
+oil-skins, stole along the gangway and stepped silently on deck.
+
+Then Tom sprang a small bull's-eye lantern, and let its light shine right
+in front of him, so that no one meeting him could have told who or what
+was stealing up behind. In the same quiet way he led the little party
+down a ladder to the deck below, and then beneath hammocks filled with
+sleeping sailors, and along a passage, until he came to a door, which he
+carefully unlocked, and soon afterwards locked again.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+By midnight next night the _Valhalla_ was far out at sea, bearing to the
+north, for Captain Staysail did not mean to touch at any of the English
+or Scotch ports on this voyage.
+
+The weather at first was very beautiful, and so it remained, with a calm
+sea and hardly a breath of wind, until nearly sunset of the second day.
+Then clouds began to bank up, dark and threatening, and the glass--so
+Webb, the first mate, reported to the captain--was going tumbling down.
+
+"We are going to have a blow, sir," he said, "and it's coming up sharp
+behind us. I reckon, sir, we'll have a ten-knotter afore the middle watch
+is called!"
+
+"Well, then, have the fires banked, Mr. Webb, as soon as the wind is
+strong enough to get way on her. I wouldn't set too much sail, and if it
+does come a gale, I'd ease her right away. You know what she can do,
+Mate."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!"
+
+"Well, I think that's all."
+
+But the mate didn't move.
+
+"Anything else, Mr. Webb?"
+
+"There is something else, sir," said the mate rather sheepishly.
+
+"Well, out with it. Why, you look as if you'd seen a ghost!"
+
+"Well, sir, there is a ghost, or demon, or something aboard of this very
+ship, and some of the crew are in a state next door to mutiny about it."
+
+"What on earth do you mean, Mr. Webb?"
+
+The tall, handsome, fair-haired Webb leaned over the table and spoke to
+Staysail almost in a whisper.
+
+"It's the little professor they all blame, sir; and there are four of
+them who swear the ship is haunted--that he keeps evil spirits under lock
+and key for'ard--"
+
+"But--but--Mr. Webb--Evil spirits under lock and key! Do you mean bad
+rum? And who is he?"
+
+"Hush, sir! don't talk so loud. He's walking the deck now. It's the
+professor I mean, sir. As to the evil spirits, I've heard them
+myself--mutter, mutter, squeak, squeak, squeak! Ugh! it is awful,
+sir--awful!"
+
+And the mate shuddered as he spoke.
+
+Now, Staysail was always a good laugher, but at this tale he fairly
+yelled with laughter until everything jingled in the cabin, and the tears
+ran down his cheeks.
+
+The mate never moved a muscle.
+
+"That awful fore-cabin, sir!" he said. "It's in there, and Broomberg, the
+Finlander, declares that if you don't land him and his mates at Bergen
+they'll seize the ship and sail for Aberdeen."
+
+"But why on earth don't you open the fore-cabin?"
+
+"Oh, that's where it is, sir! The key is lost, or else the professor has
+it."
+
+"Hark!"
+
+A squall at that moment struck the ship and heeled her over. It blew with
+tremendous force for a time, and at last settled down to a steady gale.
+But in less than an hour the captain's orders were carried out, and the
+good ship _Valhalla_ was speeding before the wind at a good rate with
+very little sail on her.
+
+The storm increased towards midnight, and at that dark hour the
+_Valhalla_ had to lie to under almost bare poles. So busy had all hands
+been kept that there was very little time to think of ghosts or evil
+spirits, and now that the crew had a chance of turning in, it is needless
+to say that sleep was the first thing to be considered.
+
+But fresh trouble came with the new day. The wind had gone down, and the
+sea as well, and the _Valhalla_ was now bowling along on a pretty even
+keel, for the breeze was well astern.
+
+Webb, the mate, and Tom both slept in bunks in the same cabin. Just as
+the steward was laying breakfast, Webb popped his head out from his cabin
+curtains.
+
+"Hillo, steward!"
+
+"Good-morning, sah!" said Jake Brown, who, strange as it may seem, was a
+tall and important-looking black man, with hair as white as snow.
+
+"Have you seen Master Tom? He hasn't been here all night. I slept too
+sound to take much notice."
+
+"Sakes alive, no!" cried burly Jake. "I run and search de ship plenty
+quick." And away he went.
+
+Webb was dressed and leaving his cabin when Jake returned. But neither
+high nor low, fore nor aft, could Tom be found, nor had he been seen
+since the main-topsail had carried away just before midnight.
+
+The captain was now roused and the terrible news reported.
+
+"Poor Tom! poor Tom! Washed overboard without a doubt!" he said.
+
+Tom had been a great favourite on board, and the news caused a general
+gloom all over the ship.
+
+But Broomberg and his mates received the news in another way.
+
+"It is von unlucky ship," cried the former, "and did not those below hear
+the shrieking of the ghosts when the waves and wind were highest? Come we
+to the captain at once, men. I will not sail in a haunted ship. No, no."
+
+Some minutes before eight bells rang out in the morning air, the captain
+on the quarter-deck, with Mr. Webb and the professor, were engaged in
+angry talk with Broomberg and his fellows.
+
+"Return to your duty, men," the captain said. "I will make enquiries
+into the matter. As for you, Broomberg, hand over that knife you are
+fingering, and consider yourself under arrest."
+
+"I will not," shouted the fellow. "See!"
+
+He made a wild rush aft, holding the glittering blade high in air, and
+seized the professor by the neck.
+
+But help from an unexpected quarter was at hand, and next moment
+Broomberg was sprawling on his back with Briton's great paws on his
+chest.
+
+Mutiny and ghosts and storm were at once forgotten. The men cheered
+wildly, Broomberg's knife was snatched from his hand, and he himself
+bound hand and foot, while everybody crowded round to shake hands with
+the little professor, or to pat the noble dog who had saved his life.
+
+But suddenly joy was changed to terror, for shriek after shriek could be
+heard forward, and in a few seconds' time the cook rushed helter-skelter
+up on deck, almost pale with fright, followed by the men of the watch
+below.
+
+"The ghosts!" somebody shouted.
+
+The captain stood as if stupefied, the little professor's eyes were as
+big as watch-glasses, and the mate had to catch hold of a back-stay to
+prevent himself from falling.
+
+The whole crew now took to the rigging, and the only marvel is that some
+of them did not slip overboard and make food for the sharks.
+
+"Look, look!--oh, look, sir!" shouted the mate with a cry like one in
+a nightmare; and the next moment he fainted and fell on the top of
+Broomberg the mutineer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+Two little girls, one little boy, and one little dog, all as black as
+chimney-sweeps, the girls with their arms in the air, now came wildly
+racing aft.
+
+Tom himself, come back to life, was standing on the capstan waving his
+cap in the air, and cheering and laughing like a mad thing.
+
+Aralia and Pansy reached the quarter-deck before anyone could say
+"knife", and, black as they were, sprang right into Captain Staysail's
+arms, hugging him and kissing him.
+
+"What!--what!--what!--" He tried to get out a sentence, but failed.
+
+"Oh, I was so frightened, Unky dear, but I is so happy now!" cried Pansy.
+
+"Bless my soul and body," cried Staysail at last, "how did all this
+happen?"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Then he went forward a few paces, the little ones clinging to him all the
+time, and Veevee racing round the deck like a live muff.
+
+"Tom, you young rascal, jump down here at once. This is all your work.
+Now, give a full account of it, sir."
+
+"Oh, I do hope, Uncle, you'll forgive me, but Frank and little Pansy and
+Aralia did want to come with us so much, that--that--!"
+
+"That you took them as stowaways, eh?"
+
+"I'm afraid that's it, sir."
+
+The captain pretended to be awfully angry, and said he would put about
+and land the lot at Aberdeen.
+
+"In the meantime, go below, children, and get yourselves washed; the
+steward will see to you. Steward!"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir, I'se heah, sah."
+
+"Let Miss Aralia and Pansy have that spare cabin near mine. I'll talk to
+you afterwards, Tom."
+
+Tom hung his head in sorrow--so it seemed,--but it really was to hide a
+smile.
+
+He got near enough to his sisters to say: "Keep up your pecker, Pansy,
+for there won't be any Aberdeen about it."
+
+In the spare cabin stood a big box that nobody had noticed before. Tom
+had smuggled it on board, and it contained his sisters' best things, and
+a full rig-out for them for the Arctic regions.
+
+Sly old Tom!
+
+He now stole into their cabin and gave them their clothes, and when
+Staysail came down to dinner at twelve, with his spy-glass under his arm,
+no wonder he cried: "Hillo! Hillo!"
+
+For here were the three children, all mirth and smiles, seated beside
+Pete, and Tom, with head bowed down, waiting to take his seat.
+
+"Hillo! Hillo! But what will your father and mother think, my dears?"
+
+"Oh," cried Tom, "we made that all right! Father gave his consent, and
+he'll easily manage Mother."
+
+"Steward!" shouted the captain, and Jake came running. "Put the other
+half-leaf in the table to-night, and lay covers for three more, for these
+young ragamuffins must mess with us in future."
+
+There was no more word about ghosts now, and the kind professor forgave
+the Finlander. He was set free and sent to duty, and now for weeks and
+weeks there wasn't a much happier vessel afloat than the brave ship
+_Valhalla_ bound for the Frozen North.
+
+The two dogs became great friends, but, strangely enough, both disliked
+Broomberg, and kept out of his way whenever they could. Once, indeed,
+when the man bent down to stroke Veevee, Briton stood guard over his
+little friend and growled.
+
+"Hands off!" the mastiff seemed to say, "hands off till we know more
+about you!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Of course Uncle was chief favourite with the children, but all the three
+of them came to like the little professor very much indeed. He was with
+them nearly all day long. Tom was usually very busy; so, too, was Uncle
+Staysail; and though it must not be thought that Pete was an idle man,
+for he had much to study, still he always found time to romp and play
+with Aralia, Pansy, and the two dogs.
+
+Though the weather grew colder for a time, it was all one long, long
+summer's day. For in the Arctic regions the sun never sets for at least
+three months, but just goes round and round, blazing high in the south at
+mid-day, and lower in the north at midnight. Indeed, in these seas, if
+you were not to look at the clock, you could not really tell whether it
+was night or day.
+
+Every evening now the little party gathered round the large stove, on
+which a copper urn of coffee was always gently simmering. Then the
+professor told his strangest stories, with perhaps Pansy on his knee, and
+Aralia lying on the hearth-rug with the dogs. Most of his yarns were
+about the Frozen North, its dangers and perils, its joys and pleasures.
+
+"And shall we see all these strange sights?" Pansy used to ask.
+
+"Yes, dear, and many more than these, because I mean to give you a treat
+if you are good and don't get your fingers frozen."
+
+One day great lumps of white snow-clad ice came floating by, and that
+same evening the crow's-nest was hoisted high, high up at the very top of
+the main-mast. The crow's-nest was like a big barrel with a lid at the
+bottom, Pansy said, and Tom, or the mate, used to climb and crawl through
+the bottom, and stand, spy-glass in hand, and look all about them.
+
+"Oh," cried Pansy one day, "shouldn't I like to get up just once!
+Wouldn't you, Ara?"
+
+"But we could never climb up," sighed her sister.
+
+The clever professor heard them, and lo and behold! the very next day he
+had a kind of easy-chair ready for them to go up in. He himself sat down
+in it with the children, and up they were hoisted, up and up. It was so
+fearsome that the girls shut their eyes and clung to Pete, but when they
+did open them what a sight they saw!
+
+They were not far off the main pack, and as far as the eye could see was
+one vast field of snow-covered ice. Their eyes were dazzled in looking at
+it.
+
+They were not in the crow's-nest, but close beside it, and Pete made them
+look through the spy-glass. This was wonderful, for away yonder to the
+north, and near to the edge of the pack, where the sea looked as black
+as ink, they could see four great ships, with their crews on the ice,
+shooting seals and dragging skins. But in two hours' time the _Valhalla_
+herself got north as far as these ships, and was stopped.
+
+Neither of the girls felt cold, for they wore great mits and hoods, and
+were altogether as snug as mice.
+
+Then a boat was lowered, and when they looked down they could see Tom
+himself get in with shooting-clothes on and a great rifle in his hand. He
+waved his cap to them, and Pansy cried: "Hoo-lay!" The boat pulled away
+and soon touched the ice; Tom sprang nimbly on shore, and before long he
+could be seen only as a little black dot on that dazzling plain of snow.
+Then he was observed to stop and kneel down while some huge monster,
+yellowish-white in colour, came rushing towards him.
+
+Aralia must have the glass now.
+
+"Oh, the bear! the bear!" she cried in grief. "It is going to kill Tom.
+Oh! oh! oh! my brother Tom!"
+
+"Let me see! let me see!" screamed Pansy.
+
+"Look now!" said Aralia with a smile. "Isn't Tom brave?"
+
+Tom was indeed. For Pansy could now see the monster lying dead, and Tom
+leaning on his gun, and once more waving his cap. Then men came up and
+skinned the bear, and dragged the head and hide and paws to the ship.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Tom was a splendid shot, and this was his first bear. When he came
+aboard, his sisters met him with pleasure, although with tears in their
+eyes, for he had run a great risk.
+
+A day or two after this, when still farther north, the children had had
+their first run upon the ice. It was all so strange, and the ice was so
+white, that they felt very giddy for a time. But the professor held
+Pansy, and Tom walked by Aralia.
+
+The whole ice-pack seemed one vast plain, like a bleak moorland in
+winter, only with little hillocks of ice here and there called hummocks,
+for the flat pieces of ice were all frozen hard together, and Ara
+wondered where "Greenland's icy mountains" had all got to.
+
+There were no bears about to-day, and no seals, only the sea-birds that
+went wheeling and screaming about them in thousands. When they got back
+to the ship it was dinner-time, and both were snow-blind. The black
+steward carried them down and seated them at table, but it was quite half
+an hour before they could see.
+
+Although the ship was now kept well away from the ice-pack, they could
+often see vessels far in through frozen ice, but busy, busy at their
+terrible work. Sometimes Tom and the mate would have a boat lowered, and
+would set off bear-hunting. One day Tom brought home a young seal. It was
+such a beauty, with soft eyes and long, warm, fluffy hair. It was so
+small that even Pansy could carry it a little way in her arms.
+
+"Oh, do let us have it for a pet!" cried Aralia, and her uncle consented.
+So they called the seal "Flossy", and warmed frozen milk for it--great
+stores of which had been taken on board,--and fed it with a spoon, and
+soon the wee thing knew Pansy, and used to crawl and waddle after her.
+
+The dogs didn't know what to make of Flossy at first, and Briton used to
+roll it all round the deck with his big nose; but Flossy rather liked
+this. But one day, when Briton tried to lift it up by the tail, it struck
+him a slap with its flipper that could be heard from stem to stern.
+
+"Take that," Flossy seemed to say, "and leave my tail alone!"
+
+The vessel was now kept farther to the east, and every day they passed
+between great patches of ice, big pieces of which kept striking the ship
+with such a noise that when anyone wanted to be heard he had to shout
+aloud.
+
+The professor was very busy now, taking soundings almost every day, and
+doing all kinds of clever work that even Tom, smart as he was, couldn't
+understand. But in the evenings he still played with the children, or
+amused them by showing them, through magnifying-glasses, some of the
+wonderful things he had brought up from the bottom of the ocean.
+
+It was all very strange and beautiful, and the children were enchanted.
+But their greatest treat was when he brought some little glass tanks
+containing forms of animal life they had never seen before, and were
+never tired of watching. Only Professor Pete didn't--because he said he
+couldn't--bring them out every night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+On and on sailed the beautiful _Valhalla_. East and west, but always
+north, went she.
+
+Peterkin was on a voyage of discovery, and one of his chief objects
+seemed to be to keep clear of the ice, which had grown very heavy indeed.
+
+It was a delightful holiday for the children as yet, but for the
+professor a time of harder work than many know anything about at all. It
+was really wonderful how this busy little man found time to play with the
+children, with Flossy and with the dogs, or even to play his fiddle. But
+this, he would have told you, was his way of taking exercise; and he told
+Pansy that if it were not for her he didn't think he should ever be able
+to find the island of gold he was in search of.
+
+Do not think, though, it was all and always plain sailing. There were
+dangers of many kinds. Sometimes storms would suddenly rise and blow for
+a day or two at a stretch. At such times the sun was hidden, and the
+cold became intense. The waves that broke on board were turned into ice,
+covering the decks and bows, and giving to the ship a wondrous
+appearance.
+
+One evening, after a gale like this had blown over, the stowaways, who
+had not dared to show face all day, were told to come up on deck.
+
+What a sight! Why, the _Valhalla_ was like a ghost-ship. The decks were
+white, and the bulwarks too. Every rope and stay seemed made of frosted
+silver, while great icicles hung everywhere around.
+
+It was very dark this evening, so that the children at first could hardly
+see anything. But Pete soon had them all hoisted up on to the bridge.
+
+And now he turned on the electric and coloured lights--crimson, blue, and
+orange. Then, what a sight was there! It was one that caused Pansy and
+Aralia quite to forget the beauty of a pantomime they had seen the winter
+before.
+
+They stood spell-bound, and would not have been a bit surprised if all
+the deck had suddenly been crowded with fairies, with silver wands,
+garlands of flowers, and wings of pearly gauze. But the only fairies were
+the sailors, and every one of these looked like a very old man, because
+heads and beards were white with frost and snow, and little icicles hung
+round their hats.
+
+The children dreamt of it all again that night; but lo! when they went on
+deck next morning, before breakfast, to have a romp and a run with the
+dogs and Flossy, everything was changed.
+
+And what a change!
+
+The sun was now shining brightly, with not a cloud in the blue sky.
+Icebergs lay far astern; all around was a calm blue sea, with one great
+whale half-asleep on its surface, wild birds more beautiful than any they
+had ever seen before sailing around, and, more wonderful than anything
+else, the _Valhalla_ was safe at anchor in front of a pretty island,
+patched with the greens, reds, and browns of lovely flowers.
+
+"Behold!" cried Peterkin, as he lifted Pansy up. "Behold, my child, the
+land of gold and coals!"
+
+Pansy's reply was to the point.
+
+"Very pretty, very pretty," she said; "but, 'Fessor Pete, I wants to see
+the gold--not the nasty coals."
+
+This very forenoon Peterkin started off in the biggest boat to "spy out
+the land", as he called it Tom and the three little stowaways were
+allowed to come too. To them it was going to be a kind of picnic, and the
+steward sent with them a huge basket, filled with enough good things to
+last the whole crew for a week. As there was no wind, the men had to row
+all the way.
+
+"Oh," cried Pansy, "I hope dear Flossy won't swim away!"
+
+Yes, they had taken Flossy with them as well as the dogs.
+
+The water was deep and dark quite close to the beautiful shore, and the
+girls could not help marvelling at the monsters of jelly-fish they saw
+far down in its depths. Their bodies were as great as sunshades, and of
+the same shape, and the legs they jerked out from under were spangled
+with stars of blue and red. Once a huge shark swam up to the boat, leered
+at them with his sly and evil eyes, then, turning on his back, showed a
+mouth that could have swallowed them all. Poor Pansy drew nearer to the
+professor with a cry of horror.
+
+They found a little bay at last, and landed for a meal.
+
+"I don't think there is anything that can hurt you here," said Peterkin,
+"and, if you like, you can run about and gather flowers while I cruise
+round the coast for an hour. There, I will leave you all the rugs, the
+bear-skin, and the basket too."
+
+They were delighted.
+
+So off they set, Veevee and Briton bounding and barking in front, and
+Flossy waddling behind. Tom had his rifle and plenty of cartridges, but
+there was really nothing to shoot but the lovely gulls, and the boy was
+not so cruel as to touch one of these.
+
+So they wandered on and on and upwards, until they came to a level spot
+all one lovely carpet of small wild flowers. Poppies of many colours grew
+here, mosses, yellow stone-crop, and grasses of every hue, but they
+agreed not to pick any until they should be returning. Still higher they
+went up the mountain-side, when suddenly little Pansy exclaimed: "Look,
+Tom! look, Ara! the sea is all flied away!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Tom stared behind him and stood aghast.
+
+A huge wall of fog or white mist had quite covered the ocean and even the
+shore, shutting them out from view, and was now slowly advancing towards
+them. But that was not the worst, for a low, moaning wind came on before
+it, and flakes of snow began to fall.
+
+It was easy for Tom to say: "Let us get back at once to the beach, the
+boat must be there already." They had come miles from the bay. Before
+they could walk half the distance back, the snow-fog had swallowed them,
+and it was no wonder that they lost their way, and became cold and faint
+and dizzy.
+
+Both Aralia and Pansy began to cry now, and at last sank down among the
+dry snow, unable to move another yard.
+
+Tom was a boy of great courage. He thought for a little, and then he
+said: "Frank, if you can carry Pansy I'm sure I can manage Ara; and we
+will try to find shelter somewhere till the storm is blown over."
+
+So on again in this way they struggled, till, more dead than alive, they
+found, by good luck, the welcome shelter of a cave. The cave was by no
+means large, but they were surprised to find it so warm. The first thing,
+however, that Tom did was to walk all round the inside, rifle in hand.
+Tom had not been two years at sea for nothing. Meanwhile, where was
+Flossy, and where was Briton?
+
+Tom whistled again and again, till he said he had nearly whistled the
+whites of his eyes out, but never a dog replied.
+
+Something else had begun to whistle also, and that was the wind, and
+although Tom made several attempts to leave the cave, to have a look at
+the weather as he called it, he found it impossible to stand. Hours and
+hours passed away like this, and the tempest seemed only to increase in
+force.
+
+They were all very hungry now, and so Tom shared out some biscuits he had
+brought with him, and after they had swallowed a little snow they all sat
+down to talk.
+
+"I fear," said Tom, "we'll have to stay here all night. It will be good
+fun, won't it, girls?"
+
+He knew it was anything but fun himself, but he spoke in that way to keep
+up the children's courage.
+
+When Aralia said, "Yes," so did Pansy, but both looked very quiet.
+
+Soon after this, to their great joy, in bounded Briton himself, and close
+behind him waddled Floss. It was clear to all that he had been helping
+Flossy along, for Flossy was still little more than a puppy; but, poor
+wee beauty, how glad she was to see them all again!
+
+She crawled up to Pansy, and lay down on her back to be scratched, which
+was always Flossy's way of showing she was pleased.
+
+Well, after they had all talked till they were tired, Tom said: "Now,
+girls, just you lie down to sleep. Frank, here is my ticker." He gave his
+cousin his watch as he spoke. "You have to do sentry for three hours.
+Then wake me up and I'll let you lie down. See, I'll put my rifle and
+belt, with fifty cartridges in it, beside you. Mind, that is only for
+show, because you're too little a boy to touch guns. Anybody want a
+little more snow? No? Very well."
+
+So the girls curled up with Veevee and Floss, and Tom lay near. But
+Briton seemed to say: "No, I won't sleep; I'll lie and watch with Frank."
+
+Frank was not sorry to have the dog beside him for it was terrible to
+feel all alone in such a dismal place.
+
+Well, the night wore slowly on--one, two, three, four hours--and Frank
+was just looking at the rifle, and pretending to aim at something in the
+falling snow, when, all at once, Briton uttered a low warning growl and
+sprang to his feet.
+
+Next moment a great shambling bear was right in the mouth of the cave. He
+gave a roar that seemed to shake the whole island.
+
+Whether the boy took aim or not, I never could tell, but he certainly
+fired the rifle, and down dropped Bruin dead, and lay in the snow with
+his great tongue hanging out, a marvellous sight to see.
+
+The noise in the cave was fearful, but as soon as the girls had stopped
+screaming, Frank told what had happened.
+
+"I tell you what it is, girls," he said more than once, "there wasn't the
+least bit of bravery about it. I just held out the gun, and off it went."
+
+"Oh, but you were brave!" said Aralia; "and if you hadn't killed the
+awful monster, we should all be dead now.
+
+"No, no," cried Tom, "it was only Flossy that the bear wanted! He just
+wanted a bit of seal for supper."
+
+"Wowff!" barked Briton.
+
+"Wiff!" barked Veevee, as much as to say: "No bear shall touch Flossy
+while we are alive."
+
+But nobody thought of sleeping any more, and as they were all very
+hungry, Tom served out more snow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+The tempest howled for many hours more. Then at last it grew almost calm,
+and the sun shone out on the pure white snow.
+
+"I know what to do now," said Tom. "Let us find our way to the beach. The
+boat may be there, you know."
+
+But long before they reached the shore they beheld a wondrous sight, for
+as far as the eye could reach there was no water to be seen, only huge
+icebergs covered with dazzling snow, all gently moving up and down with
+the swelling waves beneath. The noise made by these great bergs as they
+ground their sides together was deafening.
+
+But there were no signs of the boat, and no ship was to be seen. The
+_Valhalla_ had either been crushed to atoms or been driven out to sea.
+Tom clung to the last hope, and even told his sisters that she was sure
+to return for them soon. He would not get downhearted.
+
+"This is a queer business, Frank," he said with a light laugh, which had
+no sound of fun in it however; "but we must do the best we can till they
+come back. Eh, Frank?"
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+But Pansy was clinging to Aralia, quietly crying.
+
+"Well, Frank, we must live in the cave for a little, and so we had better
+get everything in, and be as jolly as we can."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+When they had got everything up to the cave, which took a long time,
+everybody had a good breakfast. There was really enough food to last a
+week, and it was lucky there were several boxes of sardines, for Floss
+would take nothing else.
+
+"It's going to be a big, big picnic," said Frank, and the girls began to
+laugh. "We're going to have lots of fun."
+
+Frank and Tom could climb like monkeys, and in about an hour's time they
+had put all the food high up in a hole in the rock out of the reach of
+bears or foxes.
+
+By twelve o'clock, when the sun was as high as it could get, the snow had
+disappeared, and once more there was a soft, warm breeze blowing, and
+beauty everywhere.
+
+Two days flew by and nothing happened, only at night they could hear
+foxes barking in the distance. They never attack people singly, as bears
+do, but they are dangerous in packs, as Tom one day found out to his
+cost.
+
+The food was getting low, and Tom thought it was time to do something.
+They had found strange fruits like strawberries growing, and also some
+sort of roots that tasted like nuts; but unless they could get some fish
+poor Flossy would die.
+
+So Tom started off all alone on a voyage of discovery. Frank stayed in
+the cave with the girls, and they promised to be very good.
+
+The morning was very calm, and so still that Tom could hear Pansy calling
+to him "not to be long" when he was quite a mile up the mountain-side.
+Why he took this course he could never tell, but, when he crossed the
+top, marvellous indeed was the view that lay before his eyes.
+
+Uncle Staysail used to tell him that the natives of the north say there
+is an open sea somewhere near the Pole, with many islands in it, and
+trees, and flowers, and birds.
+
+And now, behold! such a sea lay right down in the round valley yonder at
+his feet. It was not really a sea, but a lovely round lake, and right in
+the middle was a large green island.
+
+Tom rubbed his eyes and gazed and gazed, and then rubbed his eyes and
+gazed again.
+
+"Was it all a dream?" he wondered.
+
+No, there was no dream about it. It took Tom some hours to explore this
+lake. He walked round it and found that at the far side a ridge of rocks,
+very narrow, led right out to the island. He crossed this natural bridge
+and found himself in a perfect paradise. Flowers and fruit everywhere,
+and beautiful wild birds the like of which he had never seen before.
+There were rabbits, too, and very tame they were, for they followed him
+about, and seemed to wonder what he was and where on earth he came from.
+
+Tom knocked one on the head, though he was not cruel, and with this slung
+over his shoulder, and his pockets full of nuts, he started to walk back.
+
+But I suppose that walking round in a circle had confused him. Anyhow he
+walked miles out of his way, and lost himself. He sat down on a big stone
+at last, and wondered what he should do. He was tired and hungry, so he
+ate a handful of nuts. And then he began to nod.
+
+"I'll just have five minutes of a nap," he said, "and then get on again."
+
+So down he lay. But his five minutes lasted for an hour, and still the
+lad lay fast asleep.
+
+A large gray fox stole up and smelt the rabbit.
+
+"That'll just suit me," said he to himself. "I'll go and call my brothers
+and sisters, and we'll kill this two-legged creature and steal his
+rabbit."
+
+"Yap-yap-yap!" barked the fox, and soon he had a whole pack round him.
+But just as they were getting near to Tom, he awoke and sat up. Bang went
+his rifle at once, as he saw his danger. One fox fell dead, but the
+others came on with a rush, and there was soon a lively fight. Tom laid
+about him with the butt end of his rifle, and, being a strong young
+fellow, dead and dying foxes were soon lying all round him.
+
+The rest of the pack drew back a little way, only to come on again,
+yelping and yelling more than ever. Poor Tom's wrists were dripping with
+blood, for he had been bitten in many places. He thought it was all over
+now, yet he meant to fight to the last.
+
+But help was at hand, for the next moment Briton bounded into the centre
+of the spiteful pack, and the savage beasts fled in every direction.
+
+What a happy meeting that was! The mastiff led Tom back over the hills,
+and in an hour's time he was safe and sound at the cave.
+
+Pansy wept with delight, and Aralia bound up Tom's wrists. He made very
+light of the bites, however.
+
+There were many pieces of old black wood in the cave, so Frank collected
+them and lit a fire; and when it was quite clear, the rabbit was roasted,
+and everybody made a splendid dinner.
+
+Then Tom told them all he had seen; and, after a night's rest, they all
+started off the next morning for the lake and the island, taking the
+skins and rugs with them. They reached the long ridge of rocks and
+crossed over. Then, indeed, were the girls surprised and delighted. What
+a lot they would have to tell Father and Mother when they got home again!
+
+Tom sighed. He feared in his own mind that they would never, never see
+their home any more.
+
+When Flossie saw the lake she made a spring towards it and dived below
+the surface. They could see her darting about beneath, and soon up she
+came, looking as pleased as Punch, with a fine, great fish in her mouth.
+She laid it gently at Pansy's feet, and dived in again.
+
+"I'll be happy here," she seemed to say, as she brought another fish,
+"and we need never be hungry any more."
+
+After Tom had well explored the island, he told Frank they must build a
+fort. He had found the very spot for it, too, on a little hill. This was
+about a hundred feet high, and the top was hollow, like a cup, with only
+one opening into it. In fact, the top of the hill was part of the crater
+of an extinct volcano, and was shaped like the letter G, the doorway
+being only a gap in the rocks, through which no bear could squeeze.
+
+Inside, the walls were twenty feet high all round, all bare rock; but the
+floor was covered with grass, and moss, and wild flowers.
+
+Aralia and Pansy were wild with delight, and Pansy said she would now be
+able to sleep without ugly dreams.
+
+Veevee would be her bed-fellow, and Floss would curl up with Sissie, and
+big Briton could sleep at the entrance.
+
+So it was all arranged.
+
+But as there could be no telling how long they might have to remain here,
+and as rain would be sure to fall, even if snow did not, Tom and Frank
+began to build a hut inside Fort Fairyland, as they called their strange
+abode.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now each boy had--like all Greenland sailors--not only a large,
+many-bladed knife, with a saw in it, but a huge broad dagger in a
+leathern belt round his waist. So they did not want for tools.
+
+They found the best wood for what they wanted growing close by the lake,
+in the shape of straight and strong willows. There were plenty of leaves,
+and grasses, and heath also.
+
+It would be rather a long job, but they set to work with a will, and in
+three days' time they had dragged everything they wanted up to Fort
+Fairyland. The building of the hut was fine fun. At first it was only
+meant to be a kind of shelter on poles, but, as they had so much time
+upon their hands, they agreed to build real walls, and leave space for a
+door and a window. In little more than a week they had the framework all
+up, and the roof all made. It was thatched first with broad leaves, and
+then with grass. And, mind you a short ladder had to be made first to
+permit them to do the thatching. When this was finished, all the sides
+were filled in with willow branches, except door and window. Never a hole
+was left in it, for Aralia and Pansy collected heaps and heaps of dried
+moss, and the boys worked this in to fill up the gaps.
+
+And when all was finished, and wicker seats made, it did look a cosy
+little hut indeed.
+
+But all the cooking was done out-of-doors. There were no sauce-pans to
+clean, nor knives nor forks. The plates were broad leaves, and for knives
+and forks the castaways used pointed sticks.
+
+It really wasn't bad fun at all being Crusoes in such a place as this.
+
+But--dear me! there is always a "but" about everything--how was it all to
+end?
+
+And where was the _Valhalla_?
+
+Except for these two questions, which would keep on running through Tom's
+and Frank's minds, they could have been quite contented--well, for a time
+at all events.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+In their rambles through this little Arctic fairy land, Tom noticed that
+the squirrels were now busy every day running away to their holes with
+nuts and leaves. Of course they might have young ones to feed, he
+thought; but surely it was something more than this which made them act
+thus.
+
+Creeping all alone one morning through the bushes, as quietly as a mouse,
+Tom came upon a sight which taught him a useful lesson. For high up in
+the trunk of an old tree was a big round hole with a squirrel's tail
+hanging out. Presently up ran another squirrel, carrying a great mouthful
+of leaves and clay.
+
+The new-comer made a slight noise, when out came No. 1 and took the
+bundle from No. 2, which then darted off for more.
+
+"Ho! ho!" said Tom to himself, "they seem to be storing up food for
+winter. Heigho! I thought it would always be summer in this fairyland.
+But thank you, Master Squirrel, I shall go and do the same." So off went
+Tom to tell Frank and the girls what he had seen the squirrels doing.
+
+"As there is no sign of the ship coming back for us, children," he said
+somewhat seriously, "and we may have to spend the winter here, I think,
+you know, we ought to be making ready for it."
+
+"So do I," said Pansy, looking very wise. "We want food, and we want wood
+and all, doesn't we, Tom?"
+
+"It won't be very, very cold in this island," said her brother, "because
+we have the warm-water lake all round us. But perhaps the squirrels know
+best."
+
+So now began a very busy season indeed, for everybody went nut-gathering.
+
+Tom opened up a squirrel's store, and a pretty noise the little creature
+made about it. But he did not rob it; he only wanted to learn a lesson.
+
+He noticed that the nuts it had collected were a little green on one
+side, so these must be the best. Then he looked at the leaves and clay
+that were packed over them, and thought he would get some just the same.
+
+This going a-nutting in fairyland was real fine fun, and to have heard
+their merry voices, talking and laughing and singing, with every now and
+then Briton's great bass "Wowff!" and Veevee's shrill "Wiff!" no one
+would have taken them for castaways and Crusoes.
+
+Nutting made everyone so hungry too!
+
+Rabbits were very plentiful on the island. The boys caught them by means
+of snares made of a kind of tough creeper. And bonny Flossy caught as
+many fish as would have kept a large family alive.
+
+Tom seldom used his rifle, though he always carried it. The cartridges
+were too precious to waste.
+
+Another thing which these Crusoes had to be very careful to do was never
+to let the fire go out. It was easily kept in by placing a kind of mossy
+peat among the hot ashes and covering it quite over.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So they collected an immense quantity of nuts, and these were placed in
+holes found in the rocks, and covered right up with the same sort of
+cement as the squirrels used. The roots that served them instead of bread
+every day, and which were cooked by placing them for a short time in the
+hot ashes, they also collected and stored. So when the harvest was all
+over, Tom told Frank and his sisters that they needn't be afraid to spend
+their Christmas in this beautiful island.
+
+"Oh, but, Tom," said Pansy, "we'll all be home long, long before
+Christmas, won't we?"
+
+Poor child! She was beginning to long for her mother's cosy cottage on
+the cliff, and for the fires that in the long winter evenings always
+burned so brightly in the parlour grate.
+
+"Now, about light for the long Arctic winter night, which will soon be
+here?"
+
+This was the question that Tom put to Frank just after sunset one
+beautiful evening as the snow on the tops of the highest mountains was
+changed to a rose tint in the sun's parting rays.
+
+"It is a very serious question, you know," he added.
+
+"Very serious," said Pansy, who heard him, shaking her wise, wee head.
+
+Sitting by the camp fire there, with its lights and shadows chasing each
+other over her face and through her sunny hair, Pansy looked a very
+beautiful child indeed.
+
+For some time they had all been sitting round the fire, watching the
+curling smoke and the dancing flames, everyone intent on his or her own
+thoughts. Aralia had been wondering what they were all doing at home, and
+if her father and mother were anxious about her and Pansy. It was such a
+long, long time--hundreds of years it seemed--since they had sailed away;
+so many strange things had happened since that day. Pansy was a little
+maiden who took the world very easily, and enjoyed each day and hour as
+it passed. Her thoughts were hardly worth a penny. Frank was not unlike
+Pansy, and took things as they came, and if they were not nice, just let
+them slide. The mastiff was asleep, so was Veevee, and both seemed to be
+dreaming, and talking in their dreams. But Flossy's eyes were very wide
+open now. She was really wondering if she could catch another fish
+to-night. Flossy had lately taken to waddling away towards evening for a
+swim in the warm lake, and never came back without something in her
+mouth.
+
+So nobody was surprised when they missed her from the fire, only, as she
+stayed rather longer to-night than usual, and as the long twilight would
+soon end, Tom took up his rifle and went off all by himself to look for
+her.
+
+"Oh, dear!" cried Pansy, as the sound of a shot startled everyone in the
+fort. "Tom's gone and killed something!"
+
+"Let's run and see," said Frank. Veevee and Briton had already rushed
+off.
+
+They found Tom at the lake-side, standing over a huge dead bear, with
+Flossy near him.
+
+"That bear," said Tom, laughing, "was keeping poor Floss in the lake; but
+he won't do so again. Isn't he a fine one?"
+
+"Yes," cried Frank; "he is indeed."
+
+"And now, children," said Tom, when he was once more seated in front of
+the camp fire, "the question of lights is settled for good. Frank and I
+are going to make candles out of that bear's tallow."
+
+"Yes, Pansy, we are. Oh, we shouldn't be half Crusoes if we couldn't make
+candles!"
+
+So the boys arranged to start work the very next morning at sunrise.
+
+"But first let us have a look through this beautiful isle of the sea,
+while the girls are asleep. There may be more bears. Briton, you must
+stay and watch. Veevee, you may come."
+
+Though Veevee searched every bush and grove, no bear was found. The one
+Tom had so cleverly killed must have crossed to the island alone by the
+bridge of rocks.
+
+So, after breakfast, the boys built their fire. With big blocks of lava
+they made a sort of stove, and on top of this was placed a large cup-like
+stone, which they had chanced to find. Into this they put the tallow to
+melt. In the meantime Tom pulled a quantity of thick rushes, and set
+Frank and the girls to peel them, while the dogs looked on as if
+wondering what it was all about.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"It's something to eat, I suppose," said Briton, looking very wise.
+
+"A sort of soup of some kind from the smell of it, I should think," was
+Veevee's remark.
+
+The long threads of white pith were about as thick as a penholder, and
+these were to form the wicks. When dried they were tied two and two by
+one end.
+
+Then between two uprights Tom placed a long willow rod, with three dozen
+strong thorns stuck in it about two inches apart, to serve as hooks.
+
+By this time the tallow was melted and all was ready.
+
+"Now, ladies and gentlemen," said Tom, "you shall see how candles were
+built in the Royal Navy when Uncle was a boy." He rolled up his sleeves,
+and, picking up a double wick, dipped it in the pan, and then hung it on
+the first peg for the tallow to set. He did the same with all the rest,
+and by the time he had the thirty-sixth wick hung up, No. 1 was ready to
+be taken down and dipped again. So on he went all along the row, till he
+had dipped them a dozen times at least, when, lo! and behold! they were
+thick and beautiful candles, each one strong enough to give the light of
+half a dozen ordinary ship's candles.
+
+He worked for two days, and made about a hundred in all, so there was no
+fear of their having to sit in the dark.
+
+Next night, while the moon was shining low over the snow-clad hills, the
+whole camp was alarmed by the fierce barking of Briton. The mastiff was
+"wowffing", Veevee was "wiffing", and Flossy was moaning and wagging her
+tail in the air. Though it was long past midnight, Briton wanted to be
+off out and kill something or somebody he had heard, and Veevee would
+also go on the war-path for fear Briton might get hurt.
+
+Almost immediately after came the most tremendous yelling the Crusoes had
+ever heard, and it was clear that a whole pack of foxes had invaded the
+island, and if Briton and Veevee had been allowed to go out, they would
+both have been torn to pieces. The awful din lasted for hours, with a
+sound now and then of fighting.
+
+Then it stopped, and all was still.
+
+Everybody went quietly off to sleep again, but next day, when they went
+to the lake-side, behold not a trace of the bear was to be seen. The
+beasts had eaten all the flesh, and carried away the bones and skin.
+
+"Now, what if these wild dogs return some night," said Tom to Frank, "and
+attack the camp. Although no bear could squeeze in here, these half-bred
+wolves might, and tear us all in pieces.
+
+"Don't frighten a fellow, Tom," said Frank. "But I say, old man, we must
+puzzle our heads once again and make a gate."
+
+"Well, that's good!" cried Tom, laughing; "why, there is only one head
+between the two of us, and that belongs to me, Master Frank; and don't
+you forget it."
+
+"Well, well, you may have it, only for goodness' sake make good use of
+it!"
+
+The cup-like top of the hill in which our Crusoes were living had but one
+entrance, as I have before told you, and the path leading to it was very
+steep, and made up of large stones and lumps of lava.
+
+"It would be a good thing," Tom said, "to get a lot of these inside. They
+would come in very handy to throw at an enemy, eh?"
+
+"That they would," said Frank.
+
+Well, it took them three whole days to make and fix up a gate, which they
+could raise or lower before the entrance by means of ropes made out of
+long trailing weeds, or creepers.
+
+Then, after they had carried about a hundred big stones inside, they
+began to feel happier and safer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+One morning, a month or two after this, the Crusoes awoke to find that
+the sun rose that day for the last time, and, until spring should return,
+they would see his golden beams no more.
+
+But there was a bright and beautiful twilight every mid-day for two weeks
+longer. Then they knew that the long, dreary Arctic night had come in
+earnest. For about a month the Crusoes had been eating very heartily
+every day and were getting quite fat. It was the same with the animals.
+
+Flossy had long ago lost her puppy coat, and was now a bonny
+whitish-yellow seal, not very large, and with a black saddle on her back.
+But Flossy got drowsy too, and if the boys had not stirred her up every
+day, and sent her off to catch fish, I believe she would have slept
+nearly all the time.
+
+Even the boys felt sleepy, though they could not tell why. Said Tom one
+day to Frank as they sat playing draughts on a rough board, with nuts for
+men: "Frank, old man, by this time all the bears will have gone into
+winter quarters. They won't come out much until the sun returns."
+
+"Fancy," cried Aralia, clapping her hands, "Fancy all of us sleeping all
+night long--three months, didn't you say, Tom? Wouldn't it be nice? And
+if Uncle Staysail should come in to wake us in the morning! 'Get up,' he
+would say, 'are you going to sleep all day?'"
+
+They all laughed at the idea, but it was not carried out. Besides the
+candles, which they only burned at supper and after, they had torches
+made of wood which they could burn at any time. Moreover, there was the
+light of the camp fire, which they kept always burning, for they had laid
+in a vast store of peat and wood.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Tom was time-keeper. He had a little log-book in which he had been
+careful to note down day and date every morning, and, like a good lad, he
+never forgot to wind his watch. He made a really first-class Crusoe.
+
+But they were all good. And what a grand guard Briton was! If ever he
+heard the slightest sound of bird or rabbit down amongst the trees or
+bushes beneath them, he gave a low growl. One night he sprang to his feet
+and barked very loudly and angrily.
+
+The Crusoes were awake at once.
+
+And no wonder, for terrible noises, like distant thunder, were heard just
+beneath their feet. They were startled still more when explosion after
+explosion took place, both in the air and in the earth, while the ground
+was shaken under them.
+
+It was a curious, giddy movement, and made them all feel rather sick.
+
+Then the thunder-storm burst in earnest, with rain and hail in torrents,
+and the whole island seemed to be on fire with the lightning.
+
+Tom had to take Pansy in his arms to soothe her, for she shook and
+trembled like a little bird. But in two hours it was all over, and the
+stars were shining as bright and large and near as before.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Sometimes the moon shone with a stronger light than it ever does in this
+country. It seemed so close to them, too, that Pansy used to say it was
+only just resting on the snowy hill-top.
+
+On moonlit days the children were always abroad in the forest or by the
+lake-side watching Flossy catching fish. She dived and swam far more
+quickly than an eel.
+
+It is terribly dreary to want the sun, but after a month one gets used to
+it. Besides, one knows that bright and beautiful days are on ahead. Older
+people might have felt very weary, but none of our Crusoes lost heart.
+
+I have not told you yet of the Aurora Borealis, which was best seen on
+dark, starry nights. It was not in the north only, but all around them,
+great bright fringes of coloured lights--chiefly green, crimson, or pink.
+How they danced and flickered, to be sure! Such dazzling beauty no pen
+could describe, and I will not attempt it.
+
+Well, Christmas-day came at last, and how glad they all were to be still
+spared alive and in comfort!
+
+Tom meant to make the most of it. But, of course, there was no turkey or
+goose to roast. Instead, they had a splendid great rabbit stuffed with
+nuts, and roasted roots to eat with it.
+
+They had no crackers either, but Tom and Frank got an immense pile of dry
+wood, and heaped it in the middle of the rocky bridge that led to the
+mainland, and early in the day or night--whichever you like to call
+it--they set it alight.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now, probably this pile saved some of their lives. It had been placed
+there about five days before Christmas, and a huge bear, who had the
+nightmare I suppose, came yawning out of his cave and down the
+mountain-side.
+
+He had shambled along to about the centre of the bridge, then lain down
+among the wood and gone off to sleep.
+
+He slept so soundly that he did not hear the boys crossing over to set
+the bonfire ablaze.
+
+But when the smoke and crackling flames got towards him he started up and
+began to trot off, coughing and roaring till all the hills sent back the
+sound.
+
+So awful was the echo that the boys were for a time almost
+terror-stricken. They thought that about a score of bears had left their
+snow-caves and were swarming down the hill.
+
+Tom fired his rifle, but missed. Veevee wanted to follow up.
+
+"Only just let me get at him," cried the little rascal, "and I'll tear
+him limb from limb!"
+
+Anyhow that was a fine fire, and it lit up the lake and the woods all
+about, while the numerous sparks that rose and fell in the air were like
+golden rain.
+
+After the fire began to fade and to die they all returned to their
+Christmas dinner in the hut.
+
+No fewer than four candles were lighted to-night, one in each corner of
+the room. Oh, Tom meant to do everything in first-class form, I can tell
+you!
+
+And I feel pretty certain that even at home in Merrie England no one that
+evening ate more heartily or made a better dinner than our Crusoes, all
+alone though they were in the far-off Frozen North.
+
+After supper they all came round the fire, and the dogs went off to
+sleep, perchance to dream; but the children kept very wide awake indeed.
+And Tom told lots of droll, funny stories, and everybody sang songs.
+After this, all the talk was about home and the delightful time they were
+sure to have in one year's time, when Christmas came round again once
+more.
+
+Then came sleep, and when Tom looked at his watch--next morning let me
+call it--it was very nearly twelve o'clock!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Although it now wanted but a fortnight, according to Tom's reckoning, of
+the first sunrise, it was still as dark as ever, and but for the moon and
+stars and glorious Aurora, life about this time would have been very tame
+and dreary indeed.
+
+Yet, owing to the clearness of the air and the purity of everything
+around them, the children never once lost heart. In fact they were as
+merry as sky-larks, and often made the island resound with song and mirth
+and laughter.
+
+And the dogs, as well as Flossy, were merrier still. They barked and
+laughed as only dogs can, and chased each other round and round in great
+circles, often disappearing for ten minutes at a time, and springing out
+and rolling Flossy over and over when she least expected them.
+
+Flossy was gay enough, although she couldn't run, and often leapt fully
+six feet high, turning over and over in the air before she came down
+again.
+
+And when she did manage to entice the dogs into the water, it was her
+turn to show them her skill; and indeed her feats in the water were
+marvellous. Anyhow, she used quite to astonish the dogs. They were all
+very well in the woods, but couldn't match Flossy in the water, and there
+was no use trying it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+The long mid-day twilights came first, uncertain and gray to begin with,
+but getting brighter and more lovely as time went on. It was as if Nature
+were trying her hand in painting the sky to give the great king of day a
+glorious welcome.
+
+But one day the snow on the mountain peaks changed to a bright red, while
+above floated just one streak of crimson cloud; higher up, the stars
+shone in a strange, green light, and all the horizon was of the richest
+orange colour.
+
+"Oh, surely," cried Pansy, "the sun will rise to-day!"
+
+But the red faded from the mountain-top, the little cloud turned brown,
+then gray, then black, and it was night once more.
+
+"No, little sister," said Tom kindly; "but the sun will rise to-morrow."
+
+All went to bed early that night, and were up very early in the morning.
+In fact, breakfast was finished before the stars had begun to pale in the
+west. Then came twilight itself, and, long though it was, its intense
+beauty was the best reward for the waiting, watching little Crusoes.
+
+Every heart was beating quickly, and Pansy was standing on brave Tom's
+shoulder, just to be "nearer the sky", she said.
+
+All were silent.
+
+The sun came at last, and with such a silvery sheen, too, that the
+children were dazzled.
+
+This was best, for they could not thus see the tears that slowly trickled
+down each other's faces.
+
+"Look! look! look!" was all Pansy could say.
+
+"Oh, isn't it splendid!" said Tom, as soon as he could speak.
+
+"Uncle is sure to come now," said Aralia firmly.
+
+"I'll go and fish," Flossy seemed to say as she sprang three times her
+length in the air, and turned head over heels like the clown in a circus.
+
+"Come on, Veevee," cried the mastiff, "come for a run in the sunshine."
+And off they set.
+
+But the day soon ended, for the sun quickly disappeared. Yet the Crusoes
+had seen it, and that was joy enough for once.
+
+And now the days began to lengthen out, but at the same time earthquakes
+and thunder-storms became more and more frequent. The lake felt hot
+again, and the water tossed about so much at times, that even Flossy was
+afraid to venture in to catch the fish she could not live without.
+
+There was a most terrible earthquake-storm about two weeks after the
+first sunrise.
+
+Even Tom himself was frightened this time, for the thunderings and
+lightnings and explosions were awful, and lasted for three long days.
+It was pitch dark all the time, and the rain came down in sheets.
+
+To make matters worse, smoke of a strange red colour was seen on the
+hills. It looked as if it came from rents in the mountain-sides, and
+there was a smell like burning sulphur in the air.
+
+But this season of terror ended at last; the stars shone out, there was a
+fine display of northern lights, and, soon after, the sun rose. A stiff
+breeze sprang up, and all the clouds and vapours were blown away, the
+last thing seen being a rainbow in the east.
+
+The joy of the Crusoes now knew no bounds. The dogs dashed about, Veevee
+barked "Wiff!" Briton barked "Wowff!" and Flossy frisked her tail and
+went off to fish.
+
+The children now set out for a stroll, and saw many curious sights. Close
+to the lake, in several places, the earth seemed to have been ripped
+open, and, looking down as they stood hand in hand on the edge, they
+seemed to be gazing right into the world's dark depths.
+
+Next day Tom took a long walk alone. He went to the top of one of the
+highest hills, having left his sisters in charge of Frank and Briton, but
+taking Veevee and his rifle with him.
+
+Pansy watched him go up and up the mountain, until he was lost to sight.
+
+"Oh," she cried, as she clapped her hands, "I know where Tom has gone! He
+has just gone away to bring Uncle and 'Fessor Pete back again."
+
+Well, anyhow, Tom had a look at the sea. It spread out as far as the eye
+could reach, and was covered everywhere with great snow-clad bergs of
+ice, except just close to the island, where it was clear, but black as
+ink.
+
+It was nothing more than he expected, but somehow he wished it had been
+otherwise.
+
+He marched down the other side of the hill for quite a mile, keeping a
+good look-out, however, lest some huge ice-bear should catch him
+unawares.
+
+By and by he missed his little four-footed friend, and traced him by his
+footprints into a cave.
+
+He called aloud, but received no answer. The cave seemed to be a vast
+one, and he had to feel his way in the dark with his rifle, for fear of
+falling down some hole.
+
+As he could hear nothing, he thought poor Veevee must be dead, and slowly
+and sadly turned back.
+
+His foot kicked against something hard when he was near to the entrance,
+and, stooping down, he picked up what seemed to be a piece of white
+stone, and put it into the pocket of his jacket.
+
+When he got back home at last, poor Pansy cried very much indeed at the
+loss of her pet. But when, next morning, she found him curled up at her
+feet, she thought it must have been all a dream.
+
+How the dog got back was never known, but it is possible he had been
+wandering all night in that cavern, deep down in the earth, and come out
+at the lake side of the range of hills.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was quite a month before Tom crossed the hills again. By this time
+spring had already come back to Fairy Island. The buds were all out on
+the trees, and the green leaves on a thousand bushes. Wild flowers were
+everywhere. The birds, too, had returned, and the sea-gulls had taken up
+their abode on a great patch of level ground just on the other side of
+the lake. When anyone went near to their nests, which were in thousands,
+and so close together that it was difficult to thread one's way through
+them, the noise and screaming they made was deafening.
+
+Now I don't think that Tom and Frank were cruel, but they had to live,
+and those great green-speckled eggs made a splendid addition to the
+larder, so that, what with sunshine and better food, the girls soon got
+back all the colour they had lost during the long, long night of winter.
+
+But where was the _Valhalla_ and her crew all this time? Would they
+never, never come?
+
+The Crusoes lived in hope.
+
+Now in spring-time the foxes and bears of the north, that have slept or
+starved for months, become bold and dangerous through hunger. Bears are
+always to be feared, but more so at this time of the year than any other.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+One day the prisoners of Fairy Island had been gayer than usual, but at
+last, tired and happy, they had lain down to rest. It might have been
+about midnight when they were awakened by a warning growl from Briton.
+Then, with Veevee, he sprang up and rushed to the gate barking furiously.
+
+Tom sprang to his feet, and snatched up his rifle. He was not left long
+in doubt as to who the enemy was. The wild wolf-foxes were in force, and
+the yelping and howling outside was terrible to listen to.
+
+He fired his rifle several times right into the centre of the pack,
+killing many and wounding more. This only made matters worse. The fierce
+and hungry beasts dashed themselves at the gate and tried to tear it in
+pieces.
+
+Stones were hurled at them, but all in vain. Poor Briton was as anxious
+to get out as they were to get in, and had to be kept back by force.
+
+"Go, quick, Frank," shouted Tom, "and stir up the fire; heap more peats
+and wood on, and bring lighted torches as soon as you can. I will guard
+the gate till you come."
+
+So there Tom stood opposed to the whole awful crowd, with their glaring
+eyes, red tongues, and white-flashing teeth, with only a slight gateway
+between him and death. When he thrust his rifle between the willow bars
+to take a shot, the beasts bit and tore at it, as if they would have
+dragged it from his grasp.
+
+Aralia was busy helping Frank, and presently both came running up with
+lighted fir-torches, which Tom at once flung over the gate, together with
+pieces of burning peat and wood. These did splendid work, and after a
+time the terrible pack drew off.
+
+There was no more sleep that night, however, and towards morning the
+attack began again. The foxes had dragged off their dead and wounded and
+devoured them. In the gray light of morning they rushed to the gate once
+more, and the battle raged again in all its fury.
+
+Poor little Pansy was trembling and shaking with fear as she looked up
+and saw that high up on the walls of the fort those savage, wild animals
+had taken their stand.
+
+It was a terrible morning, and hope seemed at last to fade, for even
+brave Tom had grown faint and weary, and could fight but little longer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+"Come along, Professor! Come along, Mate! The children are there
+somewhere, over in that strange island. Ha! here is a bridge of rocks!
+Thank goodness for that! And look! here, too, are tracks!"
+
+It was Uncle Staysail who spoke, and behind him was 'Fessor Pete himself,
+and at least a dozen well-armed sailors.
+
+"Listen!" cried the captain. "What is that?"
+
+"Wolves, I think," said the professor. "And hark! surely that was a
+rifle-shot. Pray Heaven we may be in time, Staysail!"
+
+"Hurry up, men! Hurry up!" cried the captain; and the men dashed onwards.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Tom had revived a little, and he and Frank were fighting harder than ever
+to hold the gate, as bold
+
+          "Horatius kept the bridge
+  In the brave days of old".
+
+But it was already giving way, and the beasts without seemed to know it.
+
+Briton was on his legs ready, and all seemed to be lost, when suddenly a
+rattling volley of rifle fire was heard from beneath, with shouts of men.
+
+Volley followed volley, and in less time than it takes me to tell it, the
+wild wolf-foxes were seeking safety in flight.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Tell us all your story again," said Tom to his uncle, as the children
+sat round the stove that same evening in the cosy cabin of the
+_Valhalla_.
+
+They were all washed and clean by this time, and the girls were
+beautifully dressed.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Ah! well, you see," said Uncle as he relit his pipe, "the professor here
+made a dart for the vessel when the storm came on. He wanted a stronger
+crew.
+
+"He caught us just in time, for though the gale was a furious one we
+could steam up to it, and were doing so, when suddenly there was a loud
+explosion; one of the boilers had burst, and the engines were smashed and
+useless.
+
+"We were now at the mercy of the sea, the waves, and the icebergs too,
+and before another day we were blown far away to sea.
+
+"Even then we had hope. But in a week's time we were frozen into the main
+pack, and there we have had to winter, and it is hardly a week since we
+got clear by cutting a canal with our great ice-saws. Oh! it has been a
+dreary time for us, but must have been more so to you, poor darlings! and
+well and bravely you have borne it all!
+
+"I am sure," he added, "that even Pansy has grown, and her mother will
+hardly know her again when we all get home."
+
+"We are going now, aren't we, 'Fessor Pete?" said Pansy, who was sitting
+on his knee.
+
+"Yes, my dear, yes. It is no use staying here when we have no steam, so
+the ship is now making for England's sunny shores. And we'll get there in
+the rosy month of June. Won't it be nice?"
+
+Pansy was jumping with joy.
+
+Aralia clapped her hands and cried: "Just too jolly for anything!"
+
+By and by Aralia sat down to the piano, and Pete brought out his fiddle,
+and a very happy evening indeed was spent in the _Valhalla_.
+
+The men were keeping it up forward too, around the galley fire, singing
+songs and spinning yarns, for the ship was "homeward bound".
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Oh, by the by," said Tom one day to the professor, "I forgot to tell you
+that in the cave where poor Veevee got lost I picked up this curious
+stone!"
+
+The professor put his spectacles on his nose and gazed at it for a
+moment.
+
+"Why, my dear Tom, this is solid gold, in the centre of a coating of
+quartz! You're in luck, lad; and it is just as I said; that is the Island
+of Gold. We shall return another year, and you will be one of the richest
+men in the kingdom."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My story is finished, or almost.
+
+'Fessor Pete and Tom, with Uncle Staysail, to say nothing of the mastiff
+Briton, are out there in the Frozen North this very summer, and I do hope
+they will have luck.
+
+But Aralia and Pansy, with sometimes Frank and always Veevee, may be seen
+any day playing on the sands not far from their mother's home, and Flossy
+too.
+
+Flossy is wondrously tame, and spends an hour or two almost every day in
+the sea, or on the beach, to the great delight of all who see her. But
+Aralia has a whistle, and no matter how far away in the water this
+strange pet may be, whenever the call is sounded she comes ploughing back
+to the beach, and after she has shaken her bonny coat in the sunshine,
+goes waddling home with her little friend Veevee and the Crusoes of the
+Frozen North.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Crusoes of the Frozen North, by Gordon Stables
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11997 ***
diff --git a/11997-h/11997-h.htm b/11997-h/11997-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ded8d98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/11997-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,1928 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Crusoes of the Frozen North,
+       by Dr. Gordon Stables.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
+<!--
+    P {margin-top: .75em;  margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    H1,H2,H3,h5{text-align: center; background-color: white;}
+    HR {width: 33%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;}
+    BODY{margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .ctr {text-align: center;}
+
+    a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
+       link {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
+    a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
+    a:hover {color:red}
+
+    img.right { margin-left: 10px; float:right;}
+    img.left  { margin-right: 10px; float: left;}
+
+    .poem          {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;}
+    .poem .stanza  {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
+    .poem p        {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem p.i4        {margin-left: 4em;}
+    // -->
+    /* XML end  ]]>*/
+    </style>
+   </head>
+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11997 ***</div>
+
+<p class="ctr">
+<img  src="images/frontis.jpg" width="313" height="482"
+alt="THEY FOUND TOM AT THE LAKE-SIDE,
+STANDING OVER A HUGE DEAD BEAR."></p>
+<h5>THEY FOUND TOM AT THE LAKE-SIDE, STANDING OVER A HUGE DEAD BEAR.</h5>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h1>The Crusoes Of<br>
+The Frozen North</h1>
+
+<h2>From the Well-known Story by<br>
+Dr. Gordon Stables</h2>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+ <h2>CONTENTS</h2><br>
+<p class="ctr">
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX</b></a>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm sure of one thing,&quot; said Aralia to her little sister Pansy, as they
+sat together one lovely summer afternoon on the garden seat, and gazed
+away and away far over the North Sea. &quot;I'm quite sure of one thing.
+Nobody ever could have so good an uncle as our uncle. Now, could
+anybody, Pansy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh no!&quot; answered Pansy, shaking her pretty head. Pansy was hardly eight
+years old, and always agreed with her older sister, who was nearly
+eleven.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How I wish he were home again from his old ship,&quot; sighed Aralia, &quot;and
+Tom with him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, Ara, we can sit here hours and hours every day and watch the sea,
+can't we?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, and we shall easily know the ship. As she goes by, shell set all
+her flags a-flying, and, if Father isn't at home, Mother will send up
+our great red flag on the garden pole. Oh dear! I could nearly cry for
+joy to think of it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And me too!&quot; said Pansy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And me too!&quot; Veevee seemed to say, as he gave a short bark, and,
+jumping down from the seat, ran round the garden, looking like a fluffy
+white ball.</p>
+
+<p>The sea was very blue, only patched with green wherever a cloud-shadow
+fell on it. Down beneath the cliff on which the cottage stood, the waves
+broke lazily in long white lines of foam. On the sea itself were vessels
+of almost every kind, from the little fishing craft with brown sails to
+great ships sailing away to distant lands.</p>
+
+<p>Aralia knew what class of vessel each was by its rig; her best of uncles
+had taught her. And well could she use the spy-glass too, which she now
+held to her right eye. It had been hard at first to keep the left
+closed, but she could manage it now quite easily without asking Pansy to
+clap a hand over it.</p>
+
+<p>Soon she began to talk in little gasps:</p>
+
+<img class="right" src="images/spyglass.jpg" width="255" height="310"
+alt="girl looking through a spyglass">
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Pansy&mdash;I think&mdash;Oh, I'm nearly sure&mdash;yes&mdash;yes&mdash;it must be! it <i>is</i>
+Uncle's ship! I can see the flags all a-flying&mdash;Hurrah! Come and look!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Pansy sat on her sister's knee and peeped through the glass. Then both
+the children started up and waved their arms in the air at the far-off
+ship. They were just about to rush off to tell Mother, when their cousin
+Frank came up. He was a lad of about thirteen or fourteen, but he was
+so tall and manly that he looked older.</p>
+
+<p>Frank came into the garden with a rush and a run when he heard the girls
+call out. A fishing basket was slung over his back, from which the tails
+of fish stuck out, showing what good sport he had had.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hillo, Ara! Hillo, Pansy! What are you dancing and 'hoo-laying' about?
+Been stung by a wasp, my little Pansy Blossom?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Frank,&quot; cried the elder girl, &quot;look through the glass! Uncle's
+coming! Look at the ship, and all the flags.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy was almost as excited now as the girls themselves, and presently
+they were all running in a string through the pretty garden towards the
+cottage with the news, Veevee bringing up the rear and barking bravely.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Rat-tat-tat at the door next afternoon, and little Pansy ran to open it,
+expecting to see the postman, but the knocking was only a bit of Tom's
+fun. Frank had left for Hull the evening before to meet him, and here
+was Tom the sailor, tall and bonny and dark. Pansy jumped into his arms
+like a baby, Aralia rushed to meet him, and his mother came out, though
+a little more slowly. When the bustle was all over, and Tom had answered
+nearly a hundred questions, they all went in to tea.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, Aralia, Uncle is coming up from Hull with Father and Cousin Frank,
+and we shall stop here three whole days before we go back to clear ship
+and pay off&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And,&quot; added Tom, &quot;Uncle has something so strange and nice to tell you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it, Tom?&quot; said his two sisters, both in a breath as it were.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't, won't, and sha'n't tell you, girls,&quot; cried Tom, laughing,
+&quot;because that would spoil the fun when Uncle comes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So all, even Veevee, who would not get off Tom's knees for a minute, had
+to be as patient as they could. But the time passed so quickly,
+listening to all this hearty young sailor had to tell of his voyage to
+the far north, that before anyone was aware it was nearly seven o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>And now down jumps Veevee and runs towards the door, barking aloud as if
+he were a very big dog.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're coming! They're coming! Veevee knows!&quot; And coming they were
+indeed.</p>
+
+<p>Tom had had a hearty welcome when he arrived, but when this best of
+uncles at last managed to sit down on the sofa: &quot;Shiver my timbers,
+sister,&quot; he said to Mrs. Dunlop, &quot;if it isn't worth while going all the
+way to the back of the North Pole just to get such a welcome home as
+this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Jack Staysail was a sailor every inch of him. He had roughed it so much
+in the Greenland seas, and been out in so many storms, that his face was
+as red as a boiled beet; but his eyes were as full of fun and merriment
+as a boy's.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We're not all here yet,&quot; he said. &quot;I have asked my friend, Professor
+Peterkin, the Swede, to come in to-night with his mastiff.&quot; When their
+uncle mentioned the mastiff, Aralia and Pansy began to tremble for
+Veevee, but Tom only laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why,&quot; he said, &quot;although Briton&mdash;that's his name&mdash;is big enough to
+tackle a bear, he wouldn't injure a mouse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly nine o'clock when the professor arrived. Briton marched in
+first, and a bigger and more noble-looking fellow was never seen. Veevee
+said he couldn't stand another dog in the place. So he started up,
+barking loudly, and offering to fight the mastiff to the death on the
+spot. But Briton stepped gingerly over the little dog, and went and lay
+quietly down on the rug.</p>
+
+<p>Then in bustled the professor himself, very droll, very small,
+clean-shaven, merry-eyed, and with as much hair on his great head as
+would have stuffed a cushion. He bowed and smiled to all, patted the
+children, and at last sat down to supper.</p>
+
+<p>All made a very hearty supper, though it was long past the children's
+bed-time. Only Uncle didn't come home every night, you know.</p>
+
+<p>When they had finished, Briton had a huge dish of scraps; Veevee sat
+watching him eat, and the children were very much surprised to see
+Briton shove one of the biggest and best morsels towards him. The tiny
+dog picked up the titbit and wagged his tail. After he had eaten it, he
+went and lay down beside Briton on the hearth-rug.</p>
+
+<p>The &quot;something nice&quot; that Uncle had to tell was soon told now. Captain
+Staysail cleared his throat before he began: &quot;Ahem! Oh, you're all
+waiting, are you, to hear what I've got to say? Well,
+then&mdash;ahem!&mdash;Professor Peterkin&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pete&mdash;Pete&mdash;Pete&mdash;Pete!&quot; cried the droll, wee man, stopping him, and
+one would have thought he was calling a dog. &quot;I'm not going to be called
+Professor, and I won't Peterkin. Just Pete, as I was on board ship, as I
+am to everybody, and must be to you.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But just look here, Staysail, you're a sailor, and you can't make a
+speech. Let me speak.&quot; And speak he did without waiting for a reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's all in a nutshell, dear Mr. and Mrs. Dunlop, and I'll tell you in
+two or three sentences what your worthy sailor-brother would have kept
+you up all night to hear. Now listen! Briton, you lie down! Good again!
+Now I, Dan Peterkin, am a man who has been used to study hard, and think
+hard. You follow me so far? Good again!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, there is one thing has taken me years to work out, and that is,
+where in this world gold and coal are to be found. And I've done it. I
+can go right to the spots. One of them lies on an island right away up
+in the Frozen North. And we're going there. Your brother, Mrs. Dunlop,
+is going to take me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we may have some hardships. Paff! What do we care? We shall win
+such wealth as has never been seen before. You follow still? Good again!
+Well, I go to a town in the north last spring, when the seal ships are
+all there, and I look for an honest face. I find Staysail. I say to him:
+'You give me a passage to Greenland, my friend.' He say: 'What for I
+give you passage?' I smile. I take him by one button, and pull him all
+the way into a private room of the hotel. Briton follows. We all dine
+well&mdash;we all come out smiling&mdash;Briton too. And now, my friends, all is
+arranged. We sail away and away and away next spring for the seas of ice
+and the islands of gold.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is all. You have followed me? Good again!&quot; And once more the
+professor sat down, and the big arm-chair seemed to swallow him up.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<img class="left" src="images/hats.jpg" width="255" height="307"
+alt="girls wearing hats, playing outdoors">
+
+<p>Ara and Pansy lay awake a long time that night thinking of what Pete had
+said. But the next day they went about their duties as usual. They did
+not go to school, as they had a governess, of whom they were both very
+fond. Nearly half their day would be spent out-of-doors with her and
+Veevee. In spring and summer they would gather flowers inland, but what
+they liked best was to play about on the sands, to go out boating with
+an old seaman they knew, or climb the rocks and get into very steep and
+giddy places.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Frank Dunlop was an orphan, and was now the adopted son of Ara's
+father. As for Tom, who was a year or two older, his father had wanted
+him to go into business at home in England, but nothing would satisfy
+the lad but going to sea, so he had been sent to rough it with his uncle
+in the stormy seas of the Frozen North. The cruise now ended was his
+second, and Tom wasn't tired of the sea yet.</p>
+
+<p>Frank went back to school, and appeared no more at the cottage until
+Christmas came round. Then not only Uncle, but Pete and Briton came to
+spend a whole fortnight with the Dunlop family, and to make their final
+plans for the spring. And I should say that no fortnight seemed to pass
+so quickly to the children as did the two weeks when their visitors
+stayed with them.</p>
+
+<p>At last, one day in early spring, there left Hull on a trial trip one of
+the handsomest little steamers, and, for her size, one of the strongest
+that ever put to sea from that port. She was Captain Staysail's new
+ship, the <i>Valhalla</i>. Everything on board, both on deck and between
+decks, and in the saloon, was as clean and beautiful as if she had been
+a royal yacht. The decks were as white as ivory, the polished wood shone
+in the sun, and the brass-work looked like gold. The saloon itself, with
+its curtains, its mirrors, tables pillars, and piano, was really fit for
+a fairy princess to live in. Everything had been prepared under the eye
+of Professor Peterkin himself, so everything was perfect in its way.</p>
+
+<p>Pansy, who was on board, and had been peeping in some of the rooms,
+said to Aralia at last: &quot;Oh, Aralia, what a dear little doll's house of
+a cabin; I should like to live in it always!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Neither of the children was sea-sick when the <i>Valhalla</i> went out under
+steam, and they had such fun with the sailors and the two dogs that they
+were quite sorry when the ship once more steamed into port.</p>
+
+<p>And didn't everybody sleep soundly that night in the hotel! I should say
+so!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>The merry month of May had hardly begun when the brave <i>Valhalla</i>
+steamed away on her perilous cruise to the far and icy north.</p>
+
+<p>Frank, with his two little cousins, had begged leave to go to Hull in
+order to see the very, very last of the beautiful ship and that best of
+uncles, Captain Staysail. Leave had been given by their parents, because
+&quot;Wherever Frank is,&quot; said Mr. Dunlop, &quot;the children are sure to be
+safe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There had been a good deal of stir and bustle on the very last evening,
+and many visitors had been to the <i>Valhalla</i>, for somehow word had gone
+out that Professor Peterkin, the great Swedish traveller, was off to
+find the North Pole!</p>
+
+<p>And all believed that he would find it. Some of the sailors even went so
+far as to say that he would bring it back with him rigged up as a mast
+of his ship!</p>
+
+<p>But by the time eight bells had rung out all was quiet. The hands had
+turned in, and only Tom and two men were left on watch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go forward,&quot; said Tom, &quot;and have a cup of coffee and a smoke, and I'll
+see to the safety of the ship here at the gangway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The men took the young officer at his word, and it was not very long ere
+their smoke was finished, and they, too, were fast asleep. Had any other
+eyes than Tom's been watching the shore, about half an hour afterwards,
+they must have noticed that something very strange was taking place.</p>
+
+<p>Dark figures could be seen drawing near with stealthy footsteps to the
+farther end of the gangway. Then they stopped as if in fear and dread.
+But Tom whistled a long, low whistle, and three figures, muffled in
+oil-skins, stole along the gangway and stepped silently on deck.</p>
+
+<p>Then Tom sprang a small bull's-eye lantern, and let its light shine
+right in front of him, so that no one meeting him could have told who or
+what was stealing up behind. In the same quiet way he led the little
+party down a ladder to the deck below, and then beneath hammocks filled
+with sleeping sailors, and along a passage, until he came to a door,
+which he carefully unlocked, and soon afterwards locked again.</p>
+
+<p class="ctr"><img src="images/lantern.jpg" width="254" height="304"
+alt="Tom shining the lantern"></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>By midnight next night the <i>Valhalla</i> was far out at sea, bearing to
+the north, for Captain Staysail did not mean to touch at any of the
+English or Scotch ports on this voyage.</p>
+
+<p>The weather at first was very beautiful, and so it remained, with a calm
+sea and hardly a breath of wind, until nearly sunset of the second day.
+Then clouds began to bank up, dark and threatening, and the glass&mdash;so
+Webb, the first mate, reported to the captain&mdash;was going tumbling down.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We are going to have a blow, sir,&quot; he said, &quot;and it's coming up sharp
+behind us. I reckon, sir, we'll have a ten-knotter afore the middle
+watch is called!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then, have the fires banked, Mr. Webb, as soon as the wind is
+strong enough to get way on her. I wouldn't set too much sail, and if it
+does come a gale, I'd ease her right away. You know what she can do,
+Mate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ay, ay, sir!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I think that's all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the mate didn't move.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Anything else, Mr. Webb?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is something else, sir,&quot; said the mate rather sheepishly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, out with it. Why, you look as if you'd seen a ghost!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, sir, there is a ghost, or demon, or something aboard of this very
+ship, and some of the crew are in a state next door to mutiny about
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What on earth do you mean, Mr. Webb?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The tall, handsome, fair-haired Webb leaned over the table and spoke to
+Staysail almost in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's the little professor they all blame, sir; and there are four of
+them who swear the ship is haunted&mdash;that he keeps evil spirits under
+lock and key for'ard&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But&mdash;but&mdash;Mr. Webb&mdash;Evil spirits under lock and key! Do you mean bad
+rum? And who is he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hush, sir! don't talk so loud. He's walking the deck now. It's the
+professor I mean, sir. As to the evil spirits, I've heard them
+myself&mdash;mutter, mutter, squeak, squeak, squeak! Ugh! it is awful,
+sir&mdash;awful!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And the mate shuddered as he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Staysail was always a good laugher, but at this tale he fairly
+yelled with laughter until everything jingled in the cabin, and the
+tears ran down his cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>The mate never moved a muscle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That awful fore-cabin, sir!&quot; he said. &quot;It's in there, and Broomberg,
+the Finlander, declares that if you don't land him and his mates at
+Bergen they'll seize the ship and sail for Aberdeen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But why on earth don't you open the fore-cabin?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, that's where it is, sir! The key is lost, or else the professor has
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hark!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A squall at that moment struck the ship and heeled her over. It blew
+with tremendous force for a time, and at last settled down to a steady
+gale. But in less than an hour the captain's orders were carried out,
+and the good ship <i>Valhalla</i> was speeding before the wind at a good rate
+with very little sail on her.</p>
+
+<p>The storm increased towards midnight, and at that dark hour the
+<i>Valhalla</i> had to lie to under almost bare poles. So busy had all hands
+been kept that there was very little time to think of ghosts or evil
+spirits, and now that the crew had a chance of turning in, it is
+needless to say that sleep was the first thing to be considered.</p>
+
+<p>But fresh trouble came with the new day. The wind had gone down, and the
+sea as well, and the <i>Valhalla</i> was now bowling along on a pretty even
+keel, for the breeze was well astern.</p>
+
+<p>Webb, the mate, and Tom both slept in bunks in the same cabin. Just as
+the steward was laying breakfast, Webb popped his head out from his
+cabin curtains.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hillo, steward!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good-morning, sah!&quot; said Jake Brown, who, strange as it may seem, was
+a tall and important-looking black man, with hair as white as snow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you seen Master Tom? He hasn't been here all night. I slept too
+sound to take much notice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sakes alive, no!&quot; cried burly Jake. &quot;I run and search de ship plenty
+quick.&quot; And away he went.</p>
+
+<p>Webb was dressed and leaving his cabin when Jake returned. But neither
+high nor low, fore nor aft, could Tom be found, nor had he been seen
+since the main-topsail had carried away just before midnight.</p>
+
+<p>The captain was now roused and the terrible news reported.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Poor Tom! poor Tom! Washed overboard without a doubt!&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>Tom had been a great favourite on board, and the news caused a general
+gloom all over the ship.</p>
+
+<p>But Broomberg and his mates received the news in another way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is von unlucky ship,&quot; cried the former, &quot;and did not those below
+hear the shrieking of the ghosts when the waves and wind were highest?
+Come we to the captain at once, men. I will not sail in a haunted ship.
+No, no.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Some minutes before eight bells rang out in the morning air, the
+captain on the quarter-deck, with Mr. Webb and the professor, were
+engaged in angry talk with Broomberg and his fellows.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Return to your duty, men,&quot; the captain said. &quot;I will make enquiries
+into the matter. As for you, Broomberg, hand over that knife you are
+fingering, and consider yourself under arrest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will not,&quot; shouted the fellow. &quot;See!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He made a wild rush aft, holding the glittering blade high in air, and
+seized the professor by the neck.</p>
+
+<p>But help from an unexpected quarter was at hand, and next moment
+Broomberg was sprawling on his back with Briton's great paws on his
+chest.</p>
+
+<p>Mutiny and ghosts and storm were at once forgotten. The men cheered
+wildly, Broomberg's knife was snatched from his hand, and he himself
+bound hand and foot, while everybody crowded round to shake hands with
+the little professor, or to pat the noble dog who had saved his life.</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly joy was changed to terror, for shriek after shriek could be
+heard forward, and in a few seconds' time the cook rushed helter-skelter
+up on deck, almost pale with fright, followed by the men of the watch
+below.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The ghosts!&quot; somebody shouted.</p>
+
+<p>The captain stood as if stupefied, the little professor's eyes were as
+big as watch-glasses, and the mate had to catch hold of a back-stay to
+prevent himself from falling.</p>
+
+<p>The whole crew now took to the rigging, and the only marvel is that some
+of them did not slip overboard and make food for the sharks.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look, look!&mdash;oh, look, sir!&quot; shouted the mate with a cry like one in a
+nightmare; and the next moment he fainted and fell on the top of
+Broomberg the mutineer.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>Two little girls, one little boy, and one little dog, all as black as
+chimney-sweeps, the girls with their arms in the air, now came wildly
+racing aft.</p>
+
+<p>Tom himself, come back to life, was standing on the capstan waving his
+cap in the air, and cheering and laughing like a mad thing.</p>
+
+<img class="right" src="images/sailor.jpg" width="253" height="305"
+ alt="Pansy and the Captain">
+
+<p>Aralia and Pansy reached the quarter-deck before anyone could say
+&quot;knife&quot;, and, black as they were, sprang right into Captain Staysail's
+arms, hugging him and kissing him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&mdash;what!&mdash;what!&mdash;&quot; He tried to get out a sentence, but failed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I was so frightened, Unky dear, but I is so happy now!&quot; cried
+Pansy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bless my soul and body,&quot; cried Staysail at last, &quot;how did all this
+happen?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then he went forward a few paces, the little ones clinging to him all
+the time, and Veevee racing round the deck like a live muff.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tom, you young rascal, jump down here at once. This is all your work.
+Now, give a full account of it, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I do hope, Uncle, you'll forgive me, but Frank and little Pansy
+and Aralia did want to come with us so much, that&mdash;that&mdash;!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That you took them as stowaways, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm afraid that's it, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain pretended to be awfully angry, and said he would put about
+and land the lot at Aberdeen.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the meantime, go below, children, and get yourselves washed; the
+steward will see to you. Steward!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ay, ay, sir, I'se heah, sah.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let Miss Aralia and Pansy have that spare cabin near mine. I'll talk to
+you afterwards, Tom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Tom hung his head in sorrow&mdash;so it seemed,&mdash;but it really was to hide a
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>He got near enough to his sisters to say: &quot;Keep up your pecker, Pansy,
+for there won't be any Aberdeen about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the spare cabin stood a big box that nobody had noticed before. Tom
+had smuggled it on board, and it contained his sisters' best things, and
+a full rig-out for them for the Arctic regions.</p>
+
+<p>Sly old Tom!</p>
+
+<p>He now stole into their cabin and gave them their clothes, and when
+Staysail came down to dinner at twelve, with his spy-glass under his
+arm, no wonder he cried: &quot;Hillo! Hillo!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For here were the three children, all mirth and smiles, seated beside
+Pete, and Tom, with head bowed down, waiting to take his seat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hillo! Hillo! But what will your father and mother think, my dears?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; cried Tom, &quot;we made that all right! Father gave his consent, and
+he'll easily manage Mother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Steward!&quot; shouted the captain, and Jake came running. &quot;Put the other
+half-leaf in the table to-night, and lay covers for three more, for
+these young ragamuffins must mess with us in future.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was no more word about ghosts now, and the kind professor forgave
+the Finlander. He was set free and sent to duty, and now for weeks and
+weeks there wasn't a much happier vessel afloat than the brave ship
+<i>Valhalla</i> bound for the Frozen North.</p>
+
+<p>The two dogs became great friends, but, strangely enough, both disliked
+Broomberg, and kept out of his way whenever they could. Once, indeed,
+when the man bent down to stroke Veevee, Briton stood guard over his
+little friend and growled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hands off!&quot; the mastiff seemed to say, &quot;hands off till we know more
+about you!&quot;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Of course Uncle was chief favourite with the children, but all the three
+of them came to like the little professor very much indeed. He was with
+them nearly all day long. Tom was usually very busy; so, too, was Uncle
+Staysail; and though it must not be thought that Pete was an idle man,
+for he had much to study, still he always found time to romp and play
+with Aralia, Pansy, and the two dogs.</p>
+
+<p>Though the weather grew colder for a time, it was all one long, long
+summer's day. For in the Arctic regions the sun never sets for at least
+three months, but just goes round and round, blazing high in the south
+at mid-day, and lower in the north at midnight. Indeed, in these seas,
+if you were not to look at the clock, you could not really tell whether
+it was night or day.</p>
+
+<p>Every evening now the little party gathered round the large stove, on
+which a copper urn of coffee was always gently simmering. Then the
+professor told his strangest stories, with perhaps Pansy on his knee,
+and Aralia lying on the hearth-rug with the dogs. Most of his yarns were
+about the Frozen North, its dangers and perils, its joys and pleasures.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And shall we see all these strange sights?&quot; Pansy used to ask.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, dear, and many more than these, because I mean to give you a treat
+if you are good and don't get your fingers frozen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>One day great lumps of white snow-clad ice came floating by, and that
+same evening the crow's-nest was hoisted high, high up at the very top
+of the main-mast. The crow's-nest was like a big barrel with a lid at
+the bottom, Pansy said, and Tom, or the mate, used to climb and crawl
+through the bottom, and stand, spy-glass in hand, and look all about
+them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; cried Pansy one day, &quot;shouldn't I like to get up just once!
+Wouldn't you, Ara?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But we could never climb up,&quot; sighed her sister.</p>
+
+<p>The clever professor heard them, and lo and behold! the very next day he
+had a kind of easy-chair ready for them to go up in. He himself sat down
+in it with the children, and up they were hoisted, up and up. It was so
+fearsome that the girls shut their eyes and clung to Pete, but when they
+did open them what a sight they saw!</p>
+
+<p>They were not far off the main pack, and as far as the eye could see was
+one vast field of snow-covered ice. Their eyes were dazzled in looking
+at it.</p>
+
+<p>They were not in the crow's-nest, but close beside it, and Pete made
+them look through the spy-glass. This was wonderful, for away yonder to
+the north, and near to the edge of the pack, where the sea looked as
+black as ink, they could see four great ships, with their crews on the
+ice, shooting seals and dragging skins. But in two hours' time the
+<i>Valhalla</i> herself got north as far as these ships, and was stopped.</p>
+
+<p>Neither of the girls felt cold, for they wore great mits and hoods, and
+were altogether as snug as mice.</p>
+
+<p>Then a boat was lowered, and when they looked down they could see Tom
+himself get in with shooting-clothes on and a great rifle in his hand.
+He waved his cap to them, and Pansy cried: &quot;Hoo-lay!&quot; The boat pulled
+away and soon touched the ice; Tom sprang nimbly on shore, and before
+long he could be seen only as a little black dot on that dazzling plain
+of snow. Then he was observed to stop and kneel down while some huge
+monster, yellowish-white in colour, came rushing towards him.</p>
+
+<p>Aralia must have the glass now.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, the bear! the bear!&quot; she cried in grief. &quot;It is going to kill Tom.
+Oh! oh! oh! my brother Tom!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me see! let me see!&quot; screamed Pansy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look now!&quot; said Aralia with a smile. &quot;Isn't Tom brave?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Tom was indeed. For Pansy could now see the monster lying dead, and Tom
+leaning on his gun, and once more waving his cap. Then men came up and
+skinned the bear, and dragged the head and hide and paws to the ship.</p>
+
+<p>Tom was a splendid shot, and this was his first bear. When he came
+aboard, his sisters met him with pleasure, although with tears in their
+eyes, for he had run a great risk.</p>
+
+<p>A day or two after this, when still farther north, the children had had
+their first run upon the ice. It was all so strange, and the ice was so
+white, that they felt very giddy for a time. But the professor held
+Pansy, and Tom walked by Aralia.</p>
+
+<p class="ctr">
+<img src="images/coats.jpg" width="258" height="302"
+alt="walking together">
+</p>
+
+<p>The whole ice-pack seemed one vast plain, like a bleak moorland in
+winter, only with little hillocks of ice here and there called hummocks,
+for the flat pieces of ice were all frozen hard together, and Ara
+wondered where &quot;Greenland's icy mountains&quot; had all got to.</p>
+
+<p>There were no bears about to-day, and no seals, only the sea-birds that
+went wheeling and screaming about them in thousands. When they got back
+to the ship it was dinner-time, and both were snow-blind. The black
+steward carried them down and seated them at table, but it was quite
+half an hour before they could see.</p>
+
+<p>Although the ship was now kept well away from the ice-pack, they could
+often see vessels far in through frozen ice, but busy, busy at their
+terrible work. Sometimes Tom and the mate would have a boat lowered, and
+would set off bear-hunting. One day Tom brought home a young seal. It
+was such a beauty, with soft eyes and long, warm, fluffy hair. It was so
+small that even Pansy could carry it a little way in her arms.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, do let us have it for a pet!&quot; cried Aralia, and her uncle
+consented. So they called the seal &quot;Flossy&quot;, and warmed frozen milk for
+it&mdash;great stores of which had been taken on board,&mdash;and fed it with a
+spoon, and soon the wee thing knew Pansy, and used to crawl and waddle
+after her.</p>
+
+<p>The dogs didn't know what to make of Flossy at first, and Briton used to
+roll it all round the deck with his big nose; but Flossy rather liked
+this. But one day, when Briton tried to lift it up by the tail, it
+struck him a slap with its flipper that could be heard from stem to
+stern.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take that,&quot; Flossy seemed to say, &quot;and leave my tail alone!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The vessel was now kept farther to the east, and every day they passed
+between great patches of ice, big pieces of which kept striking the ship
+with such a noise that when anyone wanted to be heard he had to shout
+aloud.</p>
+
+<p>The professor was very busy now, taking soundings almost every day, and
+doing all kinds of clever work that even Tom, smart as he was, couldn't
+understand. But in the evenings he still played with the children, or
+amused them by showing them, through magnifying-glasses, some of the
+wonderful things he had brought up from the bottom of the ocean.</p>
+
+<p>It was all very strange and beautiful, and the children were enchanted.
+But their greatest treat was when he brought some little glass tanks
+containing forms of animal life they had never seen before, and were
+never tired of watching. Only Professor Pete didn't&mdash;because he said he
+couldn't&mdash;bring them out every night.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>On and on sailed the beautiful <i>Valhalla</i>. East and west, but always
+north, went she.</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin was on a voyage of discovery, and one of his chief objects
+seemed to be to keep clear of the ice, which had grown very heavy
+indeed.</p>
+
+<p>It was a delightful holiday for the children as yet, but for the
+professor a time of harder work than many know anything about at all. It
+was really wonderful how this busy little man found time to play with
+the children, with Flossy and with the dogs, or even to play his fiddle.
+But this, he would have told you, was his way of taking exercise; and he
+told Pansy that if it were not for her he didn't think he should ever be
+able to find the island of gold he was in search of.</p>
+
+<p>Do not think, though, it was all and always plain sailing. There were
+dangers of many kinds. Sometimes storms would suddenly rise and blow for
+a day or two at a stretch. At such times the sun was hidden, and the
+cold became intense. The waves that broke on board were turned into ice,
+covering the decks and bows, and giving to the ship a wondrous
+appearance.</p>
+
+<p>One evening, after a gale like this had blown over, the stowaways, who
+had not dared to show face all day, were told to come up on deck.</p>
+
+<p>What a sight! Why, the <i>Valhalla</i> was like a ghost-ship. The decks were
+white, and the bulwarks too. Every rope and stay seemed made of frosted
+silver, while great icicles hung everywhere around.</p>
+
+<p>It was very dark this evening, so that the children at first could
+hardly see anything. But Pete soon had them all hoisted up on to the
+bridge.</p>
+
+<p>And now he turned on the electric and coloured lights&mdash;crimson, blue,
+and orange. Then, what a sight was there! It was one that caused Pansy
+and Aralia quite to forget the beauty of a pantomime they had seen the
+winter before.</p>
+
+<p>They stood spell-bound, and would not have been a bit surprised if all
+the deck had suddenly been crowded with fairies, with silver wands,
+garlands of flowers, and wings of pearly gauze. But the only fairies
+were the sailors, and every one of these looked like a very old man,
+because heads and beards were white with frost and snow, and little
+icicles hung round their hats.</p>
+
+<p>The children dreamt of it all again that night; but lo! when they went
+on deck next morning, before breakfast, to have a romp and a run with
+the dogs and Flossy, everything was changed.</p>
+
+<p>And what a change!</p>
+
+<p>The sun was now shining brightly, with not a cloud in the blue sky.
+Icebergs lay far astern; all around was a calm blue sea, with one great
+whale half-asleep on its surface, wild birds more beautiful than any
+they had ever seen before sailing around, and, more wonderful than
+anything else, the <i>Valhalla</i> was safe at anchor in front of a pretty
+island, patched with the greens, reds, and browns of lovely flowers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Behold!&quot; cried Peterkin, as he lifted Pansy up. &quot;Behold, my child, the
+land of gold and coals!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Pansy's reply was to the point.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very pretty, very pretty,&quot; she said; &quot;but, 'Fessor Pete, I wants to see
+the gold&mdash;not the nasty coals.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This very forenoon Peterkin started off in the biggest boat to &quot;spy out
+the land&quot;, as he called it Tom and the three little stowaways were
+allowed to come too. To them it was going to be a kind of picnic, and
+the steward sent with them a huge basket, filled with enough good things
+to last the whole crew for a week. As there was no wind, the men had to
+row all the way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; cried Pansy, &quot;I hope dear Flossy won't swim away!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Yes, they had taken Flossy with them as well as the dogs.</p>
+
+<p>The water was deep and dark quite close to the beautiful shore, and the
+girls could not help marvelling at the monsters of jelly-fish they saw
+far down in its depths. Their bodies were as great as sunshades, and of
+the same shape, and the legs they jerked out from under were spangled
+with stars of blue and red. Once a huge shark swam up to the boat,
+leered at them with his sly and evil eyes, then, turning on his back,
+showed a mouth that could have swallowed them all. Poor Pansy drew
+nearer to the professor with a cry of horror.</p>
+
+<p>They found a little bay at last, and landed for a meal.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think there is anything that can hurt you here,&quot; said Peterkin,
+&quot;and, if you like, you can run about and gather flowers while I cruise
+round the coast for an hour. There, I will leave you all the rugs, the
+bear-skin, and the basket too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They were delighted.</p>
+
+<img class="right" src="images/basket.jpg" width="253" height="305"
+alt="basket of flowers">
+
+<p>So off they set, Veevee and Briton bounding and barking in front, and
+Flossy waddling behind. Tom had his rifle and plenty of cartridges, but
+there was really nothing to shoot but the lovely gulls, and the boy was
+not so cruel as to touch one of these.</p>
+
+<p>So they wandered on and on and upwards, until they came to a level spot
+all one lovely carpet of small wild flowers. Poppies of many colours
+grew here, mosses, yellow stone-crop, and grasses of every hue, but they
+agreed not to pick any until they should be returning. Still higher
+they went up the mountain-side, when suddenly little Pansy exclaimed:
+&quot;Look, Tom! look, Ara! the sea is all flied away!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Tom stared behind him and stood aghast.</p>
+
+<p>A huge wall of fog or white mist had quite covered the ocean and even
+the shore, shutting them out from view, and was now slowly advancing
+towards them. But that was not the worst, for a low, moaning wind came
+on before it, and flakes of snow began to fall.</p>
+
+<p>It was easy for Tom to say: &quot;Let us get back at once to the beach, the
+boat must be there already.&quot; They had come miles from the bay. Before
+they could walk half the distance back, the snow-fog had swallowed them,
+and it was no wonder that they lost their way, and became cold and faint
+and dizzy.</p>
+
+<p>Both Aralia and Pansy began to cry now, and at last sank down among the
+dry snow, unable to move another yard.</p>
+
+<p>Tom was a boy of great courage. He thought for a little, and then he
+said: &quot;Frank, if you can carry Pansy I'm sure I can manage Ara; and we
+will try to find shelter somewhere till the storm is blown over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So on again in this way they struggled, till, more dead than alive, they
+found, by good luck, the welcome shelter of a cave. The cave was by no
+means large, but they were surprised to find it so warm. The first
+thing, however, that Tom did was to walk all round the inside, rifle in
+hand. Tom had not been two years at sea for nothing. Meanwhile, where
+was Flossy, and where was Briton?</p>
+
+<p>Tom whistled again and again, till he said he had nearly whistled the
+whites of his eyes out, but never a dog replied.</p>
+
+<p>Something else had begun to whistle also, and that was the wind, and
+although Tom made several attempts to leave the cave, to have a look at
+the weather as he called it, he found it impossible to stand. Hours and
+hours passed away like this, and the tempest seemed only to increase in
+force.</p>
+
+<p>They were all very hungry now, and so Tom shared out some biscuits he
+had brought with him, and after they had swallowed a little snow they
+all sat down to talk.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I fear,&quot; said Tom, &quot;we'll have to stay here all night. It will be good
+fun, won't it, girls?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He knew it was anything but fun himself, but he spoke in that way to
+keep up the children's courage.</p>
+
+<p>When Aralia said, &quot;Yes,&quot; so did Pansy, but both looked very quiet.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this, to their great joy, in bounded Briton himself, and
+close behind him waddled Floss. It was clear to all that he had been
+helping Flossy along, for Flossy was still little more than a puppy;
+but, poor wee beauty, how glad she was to see them all again!</p>
+
+<p>She crawled up to Pansy, and lay down on her back to be scratched, which
+was always Flossy's way of showing she was pleased.</p>
+
+<p>Well, after they had all talked till they were tired, Tom said: &quot;Now,
+girls, just you lie down to sleep. Frank, here is my ticker.&quot; He gave
+his cousin his watch as he spoke. &quot;You have to do sentry for three
+hours. Then wake me up and I'll let you lie down. See, I'll put my rifle
+and belt, with fifty cartridges in it, beside you. Mind, that is only
+for show, because you're too little a boy to touch guns. Anybody want a
+little more snow? No? Very well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So the girls curled up with Veevee and Floss, and Tom lay near. But
+Briton seemed to say: &quot;No, I won't sleep; I'll lie and watch with
+Frank.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Frank was not sorry to have the dog beside him for it was terrible to
+feel all alone in such a dismal place.</p>
+
+<p>Well, the night wore slowly on&mdash;one, two, three, four hours&mdash;and Frank
+was just looking at the rifle, and pretending to aim at something in the
+falling snow, when, all at once, Briton uttered a low warning growl and
+sprang to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>Next moment a great shambling bear was right in the mouth of the cave.
+He gave a roar that seemed to shake the whole island.</p>
+
+<p>Whether the boy took aim or not, I never could tell, but he certainly
+fired the rifle, and down dropped Bruin dead, and lay in the snow with
+his great tongue hanging out, a marvellous sight to see.</p>
+
+<p>The noise in the cave was fearful, but as soon as the girls had stopped
+screaming, Frank told what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you what it is, girls,&quot; he said more than once, &quot;there wasn't
+the least bit of bravery about it. I just held out the gun, and off it
+went.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, but you were brave!&quot; said Aralia; &quot;and if you hadn't killed the
+awful monster, we should all be dead now.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, no,&quot; cried Tom, &quot;it was only Flossy that the bear wanted! He just
+wanted a bit of seal for supper.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wowff!&quot; barked Briton.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wiff!&quot; barked Veevee, as much as to say: &quot;No bear shall touch Flossy
+while we are alive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But nobody thought of sleeping any more, and as they were all very
+hungry, Tom served out more snow.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>The tempest howled for many hours more. Then at last it grew almost
+calm, and the sun shone out on the pure white snow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know what to do now,&quot; said Tom. &quot;Let us find our way to the beach.
+The boat may be there, you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But long before they reached the shore they beheld a wondrous sight, for
+as far as the eye could reach there was no water to be seen, only huge
+icebergs covered with dazzling snow, all gently moving up and down with
+the swelling waves beneath. The noise made by these great bergs as they
+ground their sides together was deafening.</p>
+
+<p>But there were no signs of the boat, and no ship was to be seen. The
+<i>Valhalla</i> had either been crushed to atoms or been driven out to sea.
+Tom clung to the last hope, and even told his sisters that she was sure
+to return for them soon. He would not get downhearted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is a queer business, Frank,&quot; he said with a light laugh, which had
+no sound of fun in it however; &quot;but we must do the best we can till they
+come back. Eh, Frank?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, of course.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Pansy was clinging to Aralia, quietly crying.</p>
+
+<img class="right"  src="images/jolly.jpg" width="251" height="302"
+alt="the cave">
+
+<p>&quot;Well, Frank, we must live in the cave for a little, and so we had
+better get everything in, and be as jolly as we can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When they had got everything up to the cave, which took a long time,
+everybody had a good breakfast. There was really enough food to last a
+week, and it was lucky there were several boxes of sardines, for Floss
+would take nothing else.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's going to be a big, big picnic,&quot; said Frank, and the girls began
+to laugh. &quot;We're going to have lots of fun.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Frank and Tom could climb like monkeys, and in about an hour's time they
+had put all the food high up in a hole in the rock out of the reach of
+bears or foxes.</p>
+
+<p>By twelve o'clock, when the sun was as high as it could get, the snow
+had disappeared, and once more there was a soft, warm breeze blowing,
+and beauty everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>Two days flew by and nothing happened, only at night they could hear
+foxes barking in the distance. They never attack people singly, as bears
+do, but they are dangerous in packs, as Tom one day found out to his
+cost.</p>
+
+<p>The food was getting low, and Tom thought it was time to do something.
+They had found strange fruits like strawberries growing, and also some
+sort of roots that tasted like nuts; but unless they could get some fish
+poor Flossy would die.</p>
+
+<p>So Tom started off all alone on a voyage of discovery. Frank stayed in
+the cave with the girls, and they promised to be very good.</p>
+
+<p>The morning was very calm, and so still that Tom could hear Pansy
+calling to him &quot;not to be long&quot; when he was quite a mile up the
+mountain-side. Why he took this course he could never tell, but, when
+he crossed the top, marvellous indeed was the view that lay before his
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Staysail used to tell him that the natives of the north say there
+is an open sea somewhere near the Pole, with many islands in it, and
+trees, and flowers, and birds.</p>
+
+<p>And now, behold! such a sea lay right down in the round valley yonder at
+his feet. It was not really a sea, but a lovely round lake, and right in
+the middle was a large green island.</p>
+
+<p>Tom rubbed his eyes and gazed and gazed, and then rubbed his eyes and
+gazed again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Was it all a dream?&quot; he wondered.</p>
+
+<p>No, there was no dream about it. It took Tom some hours to explore this
+lake. He walked round it and found that at the far side a ridge of
+rocks, very narrow, led right out to the island. He crossed this natural
+bridge and found himself in a perfect paradise. Flowers and fruit
+everywhere, and beautiful wild birds the like of which he had never seen
+before. There were rabbits, too, and very tame they were, for they
+followed him about, and seemed to wonder what he was and where on earth
+he came from.</p>
+
+<p>Tom knocked one on the head, though he was not cruel, and with this
+slung over his shoulder, and his pockets full of nuts, he started to
+walk back.</p>
+
+<p>But I suppose that walking round in a circle had confused him. Anyhow
+he walked miles out of his way, and lost himself. He sat down on a big
+stone at last, and wondered what he should do. He was tired and hungry,
+so he ate a handful of nuts. And then he began to nod.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll just have five minutes of a nap,&quot; he said, &quot;and then get on
+again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So down he lay. But his five minutes lasted for an hour, and still the
+lad lay fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>A large gray fox stole up and smelt the rabbit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That'll just suit me,&quot; said he to himself. &quot;I'll go and call my
+brothers and sisters, and we'll kill this two-legged creature and steal
+his rabbit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yap-yap-yap!&quot; barked the fox, and soon he had a whole pack round him.
+But just as they were getting near to Tom, he awoke and sat up. Bang
+went his rifle at once, as he saw his danger. One fox fell dead, but the
+others came on with a rush, and there was soon a lively fight. Tom laid
+about him with the butt end of his rifle, and, being a strong young
+fellow, dead and dying foxes were soon lying all round him.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the pack drew back a little way, only to come on again,
+yelping and yelling more than ever. Poor Tom's wrists were dripping with
+blood, for he had been bitten in many places. He thought it was all
+over now, yet he meant to fight to the last.</p>
+
+<p>But help was at hand, for the next moment Briton bounded into the centre
+of the spiteful pack, and the savage beasts fled in every direction.</p>
+
+<p>What a happy meeting that was! The mastiff led Tom back over the hills,
+and in an hour's time he was safe and sound at the cave.</p>
+
+<p>Pansy wept with delight, and Aralia bound up Tom's wrists. He made very
+light of the bites, however.</p>
+
+<p>There were many pieces of old black wood in the cave, so Frank collected
+them and lit a fire; and when it was quite clear, the rabbit was
+roasted, and everybody made a splendid dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Then Tom told them all he had seen; and, after a night's rest, they all
+started off the next morning for the lake and the island, taking the
+skins and rugs with them. They reached the long ridge of rocks and
+crossed over. Then, indeed, were the girls surprised and delighted. What
+a lot they would have to tell Father and Mother when they got home
+again!</p>
+
+<p>Tom sighed. He feared in his own mind that they would never, never see
+their home any more.</p>
+
+<p>When Flossie saw the lake she made a spring towards it and dived below
+the surface. They could see her darting about beneath, and soon up she
+came, looking as pleased as Punch, with a fine, great fish in her mouth.
+She laid it gently at Pansy's feet, and dived in again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll be happy here,&quot; she seemed to say, as she brought another fish,
+&quot;and we need never be hungry any more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After Tom had well explored the island, he told Frank they must build a
+fort. He had found the very spot for it, too, on a little hill. This was
+about a hundred feet high, and the top was hollow, like a cup, with only
+one opening into it. In fact, the top of the hill was part of the crater
+of an extinct volcano, and was shaped like the letter G, the doorway
+being only a gap in the rocks, through which no bear could squeeze.</p>
+
+<p>Inside, the walls were twenty feet high all round, all bare rock; but
+the floor was covered with grass, and moss, and wild flowers.</p>
+
+<p>Aralia and Pansy were wild with delight, and Pansy said she would now be
+able to sleep without ugly dreams.</p>
+
+<p>Veevee would be her bed-fellow, and Floss would curl up with Sissie, and
+big Briton could sleep at the entrance.</p>
+
+<p>So it was all arranged.</p>
+
+<p>But as there could be no telling how long they might have to remain
+here, and as rain would be sure to fall, even if snow did not, Tom and
+Frank began to build a hut inside Fort Fairyland, as they called their
+strange abode.</p>
+
+<p class="ctr"><img src="images/hut.jpg" width="254" height="306"
+alt="building a hut">
+</p>
+
+<p>Now each boy had&mdash;like all Greenland sailors&mdash;not only a large,
+many-bladed knife, with a saw in it, but a huge broad dagger in a
+leathern belt round his waist. So they did not want for tools.</p>
+
+<p>They found the best wood for what they wanted growing close by the
+lake, in the shape of straight and strong willows. There were plenty of
+leaves, and grasses, and heath also.</p>
+
+<p>It would be rather a long job, but they set to work with a will, and in
+three days' time they had dragged everything they wanted up to Fort
+Fairyland. The building of the hut was fine fun. At first it was only
+meant to be a kind of shelter on poles, but, as they had so much time
+upon their hands, they agreed to build real walls, and leave space for a
+door and a window. In little more than a week they had the framework all
+up, and the roof all made. It was thatched first with broad leaves, and
+then with grass. And, mind you a short ladder had to be made first to
+permit them to do the thatching. When this was finished, all the sides
+were filled in with willow branches, except door and window. Never a
+hole was left in it, for Aralia and Pansy collected heaps and heaps of
+dried moss, and the boys worked this in to fill up the gaps.</p>
+
+<p>And when all was finished, and wicker seats made, it did look a cosy
+little hut indeed.</p>
+
+<p>But all the cooking was done out-of-doors. There were no sauce-pans to
+clean, nor knives nor forks. The plates were broad leaves, and for
+knives and forks the castaways used pointed sticks.</p>
+
+<p>It really wasn't bad fun at all being Crusoes in such a place as this.</p>
+
+<p>But&mdash;dear me! there is always a &quot;but&quot; about everything&mdash;how was it all
+to end?</p>
+
+<p>And where was the <i>Valhalla</i>?</p>
+
+<p>Except for these two questions, which would keep on running through
+Tom's and Frank's minds, they could have been quite contented&mdash;well, for
+a time at all events.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>In their rambles through this little Arctic fairy land, Tom noticed that
+the squirrels were now busy every day running away to their holes with
+nuts and leaves. Of course they might have young ones to feed, he
+thought; but surely it was something more than this which made them act
+thus.</p>
+
+<p>Creeping all alone one morning through the bushes, as quietly as a
+mouse, Tom came upon a sight which taught him a useful lesson. For high
+up in the trunk of an old tree was a big round hole with a squirrel's
+tail hanging out. Presently up ran another squirrel, carrying a great
+mouthful of leaves and clay.</p>
+
+<p>The new-comer made a slight noise, when out came No. 1 and took the
+bundle from No. 2, which then darted off for more.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ho! ho!&quot; said Tom to himself, &quot;they seem to be storing up food for
+winter. Heigho! I thought it would always be summer in this fairyland.
+But thank you, Master Squirrel, I shall go and do the same.&quot; So off went
+Tom to tell Frank and the girls what he had seen the squirrels doing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As there is no sign of the ship coming back for us, children,&quot; he said
+somewhat seriously, &quot;and we may have to spend the winter here, I think,
+you know, we ought to be making ready for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So do I,&quot; said Pansy, looking very wise. &quot;We want food, and we want
+wood and all, doesn't we, Tom?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It won't be very, very cold in this island,&quot; said her brother, &quot;because
+we have the warm-water lake all round us. But perhaps the squirrels know
+best.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So now began a very busy season indeed, for everybody went
+nut-gathering.</p>
+
+<p>Tom opened up a squirrel's store, and a pretty noise the little creature
+made about it. But he did not rob it; he only wanted to learn a lesson.</p>
+
+<p>He noticed that the nuts it had collected were a little green on one
+side, so these must be the best. Then he looked at the leaves and clay
+that were packed over them, and thought he would get some just the
+same.</p>
+
+<p>This going a-nutting in fairyland was real fine fun, and to have heard
+their merry voices, talking and laughing and singing, with every now and
+then Briton's great bass &quot;Wowff!&quot; and Veevee's shrill &quot;Wiff!&quot; no one
+would have taken them for castaways and Crusoes.</p>
+
+<p>Nutting made everyone so hungry too!</p>
+
+<p>Rabbits were very plentiful on the island. The boys caught them by means
+of snares made of a kind of tough creeper. And bonny Flossy caught as
+many fish as would have kept a large family alive.</p>
+
+<p>Tom seldom used his rifle, though he always carried it. The cartridges
+were too precious to waste.</p>
+
+<p>Another thing which these Crusoes had to be very careful to do was never
+to let the fire go out. It was easily kept in by placing a kind of mossy
+peat among the hot ashes and covering it quite over.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>So they collected an immense quantity of nuts, and these were placed in
+holes found in the rocks, and covered right up with the same sort of
+cement as the squirrels used. The roots that served them instead of
+bread every day, and which were cooked by placing them for a short time
+in the hot ashes, they also collected and stored. So when the harvest
+was all over, Tom told Frank and his sisters that they needn't be afraid
+to spend their Christmas in this beautiful island.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, but, Tom,&quot; said Pansy, &quot;we'll all be home long, long before
+Christmas, won't we?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Poor child! She was beginning to long for her mother's cosy cottage on
+the cliff, and for the fires that in the long winter evenings always
+burned so brightly in the parlour grate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, about light for the long Arctic winter night, which will soon be
+here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This was the question that Tom put to Frank just after sunset one
+beautiful evening as the snow on the tops of the highest mountains was
+changed to a rose tint in the sun's parting rays.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is a very serious question, you know,&quot; he added.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very serious,&quot; said Pansy, who heard him, shaking her wise, wee head.</p>
+
+<p>Sitting by the camp fire there, with its lights and shadows chasing each
+other over her face and through her sunny hair, Pansy looked a very
+beautiful child indeed.</p>
+
+<p>For some time they had all been sitting round the fire, watching the
+curling smoke and the dancing flames, everyone intent on his or her own
+thoughts. Aralia had been wondering what they were all doing at home,
+and if her father and mother were anxious about her and Pansy. It was
+such a long, long time&mdash;hundreds of years it seemed&mdash;since they had
+sailed away; so many strange things had happened since that day. Pansy
+was a little maiden who took the world very easily, and enjoyed each day
+and hour as it passed. Her thoughts were hardly worth a penny. Frank was
+not unlike Pansy, and took things as they came, and if they were not
+nice, just let them slide. The mastiff was asleep, so was Veevee, and
+both seemed to be dreaming, and talking in their dreams. But Flossy's
+eyes were very wide open now. She was really wondering if she could
+catch another fish to-night. Flossy had lately taken to waddling away
+towards evening for a swim in the warm lake, and never came back without
+something in her mouth.</p>
+
+<p>So nobody was surprised when they missed her from the fire, only, as she
+stayed rather longer to-night than usual, and as the long twilight would
+soon end, Tom took up his rifle and went off all by himself to look for
+her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, dear!&quot; cried Pansy, as the sound of a shot startled everyone in the
+fort. &quot;Tom's gone and killed something!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let's run and see,&quot; said Frank. Veevee and Briton had already rushed
+off.</p>
+
+<p>They found Tom at the lake-side, standing over a huge dead bear, with
+Flossy near him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That bear,&quot; said Tom, laughing, &quot;was keeping poor Floss in the lake;
+but he won't do so again. Isn't he a fine one?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; cried Frank; &quot;he is indeed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And now, children,&quot; said Tom, when he was once more seated in front of
+the camp fire, &quot;the question of lights is settled for good. Frank and I
+are going to make candles out of that bear's tallow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, Pansy, we are. Oh, we shouldn't be half Crusoes if we couldn't
+make candles!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So the boys arranged to start work the very next morning at sunrise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But first let us have a look through this beautiful isle of the sea,
+while the girls are asleep. There may be more bears. Briton, you must
+stay and watch. Veevee, you may come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Though Veevee searched every bush and grove, no bear was found. The one
+Tom had so cleverly killed must have crossed to the island alone by the
+bridge of rocks.</p>
+
+<p>So, after breakfast, the boys built their fire. With big blocks of lava
+they made a sort of stove, and on top of this was placed a large
+cup-like stone, which they had chanced to find. Into this they put the
+tallow to melt. In the meantime Tom pulled a quantity of thick rushes,
+and set Frank and the girls to peel them, while the dogs looked on as if
+wondering what it was all about.</p>
+
+<img class="right" src="images/about.jpg" width="253" height="306"
+alt="discussion">
+
+<p>&quot;It's something to eat, I suppose,&quot; said Briton, looking very wise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A sort of soup of some kind from the smell of it, I should think,&quot; was
+Veevee's remark.</p>
+
+<p>The long threads of white pith were about as thick as a penholder, and
+these were to form the wicks. When dried they were tied two and two by
+one end.</p>
+
+<p>Then between two uprights Tom placed a long willow rod, with three dozen
+strong thorns stuck in it about two inches apart, to serve as hooks.</p>
+
+<p>By this time the tallow was melted and all was ready.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, ladies and gentlemen,&quot; said Tom, &quot;you shall see how candles were
+built in the Royal Navy when Uncle was a boy.&quot; He rolled up his sleeves,
+and, picking up a double wick, dipped it in the pan, and then hung it on
+the first peg for the tallow to set. He did the same with all the rest,
+and by the time he had the thirty-sixth wick hung up, No. 1 was ready to
+be taken down and dipped again. So on he went all along the row, till he
+had dipped them a dozen times at least, when, lo! and behold! they were
+thick and beautiful candles, each one strong enough to give the light of
+half a dozen ordinary ship's candles.</p>
+
+<p>He worked for two days, and made about a hundred in all, so there was no
+fear of their having to sit in the dark.</p>
+
+<p>Next night, while the moon was shining low over the snow-clad hills, the
+whole camp was alarmed by the fierce barking of Briton. The mastiff was
+&quot;wowffing&quot;, Veevee was &quot;wiffing&quot;, and Flossy was moaning and wagging her
+tail in the air. Though it was long past midnight, Briton wanted to be
+off out and kill something or somebody he had heard, and Veevee would
+also go on the war-path for fear Briton might get hurt.</p>
+
+<p>Almost immediately after came the most tremendous yelling the Crusoes
+had ever heard, and it was clear that a whole pack of foxes had invaded
+the island, and if Briton and Veevee had been allowed to go out, they
+would both have been torn to pieces. The awful din lasted for hours,
+with a sound now and then of fighting.</p>
+
+<p>Then it stopped, and all was still.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody went quietly off to sleep again, but next day, when they went
+to the lake-side, behold not a trace of the bear was to be seen. The
+beasts had eaten all the flesh, and carried away the bones and skin.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what if these wild dogs return some night,&quot; said Tom to Frank,
+&quot;and attack the camp. Although no bear could squeeze in here, these
+half-bred wolves might, and tear us all in pieces.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't frighten a fellow, Tom,&quot; said Frank. &quot;But I say, old man, we must
+puzzle our heads once again and make a gate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, that's good!&quot; cried Tom, laughing; &quot;why, there is only one head
+between the two of us, and that belongs to me, Master Frank; and don't
+you forget it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, well, you may have it, only for goodness' sake make good use of
+it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The cup-like top of the hill in which our Crusoes were living had but
+one entrance, as I have before told you, and the path leading to it was
+very steep, and made up of large stones and lumps of lava.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would be a good thing,&quot; Tom said, &quot;to get a lot of these inside.
+They would come in very handy to throw at an enemy, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That they would,&quot; said Frank.</p>
+
+<p>Well, it took them three whole days to make and fix up a gate, which
+they could raise or lower before the entrance by means of ropes made out
+of long trailing weeds, or creepers.</p>
+
+<p>Then, after they had carried about a hundred big stones inside, they
+began to feel happier and safer.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>One morning, a month or two after this, the Crusoes awoke to find that
+the sun rose that day for the last time, and, until spring should
+return, they would see his golden beams no more.</p>
+
+<p>But there was a bright and beautiful twilight every mid-day for two
+weeks longer. Then they knew that the long, dreary Arctic night had come
+in earnest. For about a month the Crusoes had been eating very heartily
+every day and were getting quite fat. It was the same with the animals.</p>
+
+<p>Flossy had long ago lost her puppy coat, and was now a bonny
+whitish-yellow seal, not very large, and with a black saddle on her
+back. But Flossy got drowsy too, and if the boys had not stirred her up
+every day, and sent her off to catch fish, I believe she would have
+slept nearly all the time.</p>
+
+<p>Even the boys felt sleepy, though they could not tell why. Said Tom one
+day to Frank as they sat playing draughts on a rough board, with nuts
+for men: &quot;Frank, old man, by this time all the bears will have gone into
+winter quarters. They won't come out much until the sun returns.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fancy,&quot; cried Aralia, clapping her hands, &quot;Fancy all of us sleeping all
+night long&mdash;three months, didn't you say, Tom? Wouldn't it be nice? And
+if Uncle Staysail should come in to wake us in the morning! 'Get up,' he
+would say, 'are you going to sleep all day?'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They all laughed at the idea, but it was not carried out. Besides the
+candles, which they only burned at supper and after, they had torches
+made of wood which they could burn at any time. Moreover, there was the
+light of the camp fire, which they kept always burning, for they had
+laid in a vast store of peat and wood.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Tom was time-keeper. He had a little log-book in which he had been
+careful to note down day and date every morning, and, like a good lad,
+he never forgot to wind his watch. He made a really first-class Crusoe.</p>
+
+<p>But they were all good. And what a grand guard Briton was! If ever he
+heard the slightest sound of bird or rabbit down amongst the trees or
+bushes beneath them, he gave a low growl. One night he sprang to his
+feet and barked very loudly and angrily.</p>
+
+<p>The Crusoes were awake at once.</p>
+
+<p>And no wonder, for terrible noises, like distant thunder, were heard
+just beneath their feet. They were startled still more when explosion
+after explosion took place, both in the air and in the earth, while the
+ground was shaken under them.</p>
+
+<p>It was a curious, giddy movement, and made them all feel rather sick.</p>
+
+<p>Then the thunder-storm burst in earnest, with rain and hail in torrents,
+and the whole island seemed to be on fire with the lightning.</p>
+
+<p>Tom had to take Pansy in his arms to soothe her, for she shook and
+trembled like a little bird. But in two hours it was all over, and the
+stars were shining as bright and large and near as before.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Sometimes the moon shone with a stronger light than it ever does in this
+country. It seemed so close to them, too, that Pansy used to say it was
+only just resting on the snowy hill-top.</p>
+
+<p>On moonlit days the children were always abroad in the forest or by the
+lake-side watching Flossy catching fish. She dived and swam far more
+quickly than an eel.</p>
+
+<p>It is terribly dreary to want the sun, but after a month one gets used
+to it. Besides, one knows that bright and beautiful days are on ahead.
+Older people might have felt very weary, but none of our Crusoes lost
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>I have not told you yet of the Aurora Borealis, which was best seen on
+dark, starry nights. It was not in the north only, but all around them,
+great bright fringes of coloured lights&mdash;chiefly green, crimson, or
+pink. How they danced and flickered, to be sure! Such dazzling beauty no
+pen could describe, and I will not attempt it.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Christmas-day came at last, and how glad they all were to be still
+spared alive and in comfort!</p>
+
+<p>Tom meant to make the most of it. But, of course, there was no turkey or
+goose to roast. Instead, they had a splendid great rabbit stuffed with
+nuts, and roasted roots to eat with it.</p>
+
+<p>They had no crackers either, but Tom and Frank got an immense pile of
+dry wood, and heaped it in the middle of the rocky bridge that led to
+the mainland, and early in the day or night&mdash;whichever you like to call
+it&mdash;they set it alight.</p>
+
+<img class="right" src="images/fire.jpg" width="255" height="308"
+alt="the fire">
+
+<p>Now, probably this pile saved some of their lives. It had been placed
+there about five days before Christmas, and a huge bear, who had the
+nightmare I suppose, came yawning out of his cave and down the
+mountain-side.</p>
+
+<p>He had shambled along to about the centre of the bridge, then lain down
+among the wood and gone off to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>He slept so soundly that he did not hear the boys crossing over to set
+the bonfire ablaze.</p>
+
+<p>But when the smoke and crackling flames got towards him he started up
+and began to trot off, coughing and roaring till all the hills sent back
+the sound.</p>
+
+<p>So awful was the echo that the boys were for a time almost
+terror-stricken. They thought that about a score of bears had left their
+snow-caves and were swarming down the hill.</p>
+
+<p>Tom fired his rifle, but missed. Veevee wanted to follow up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Only just let me get at him,&quot; cried the little rascal, &quot;and I'll tear
+him limb from limb!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Anyhow that was a fine fire, and it lit up the lake and the woods all
+about, while the numerous sparks that rose and fell in the air were like
+golden rain.</p>
+
+<p>After the fire began to fade and to die they all returned to their
+Christmas dinner in the hut.</p>
+
+<p>No fewer than four candles were lighted to-night, one in each corner of
+the room. Oh, Tom meant to do everything in first-class form, I can tell
+you!</p>
+
+<p>And I feel pretty certain that even at home in Merrie England no one
+that evening ate more heartily or made a better dinner than our Crusoes,
+all alone though they were in the far-off Frozen North.</p>
+
+<p>After supper they all came round the fire, and the dogs went off to
+sleep, perchance to dream; but the children kept very wide awake indeed.
+And Tom told lots of droll, funny stories, and everybody sang songs.
+After this, all the talk was about home and the delightful time they
+were sure to have in one year's time, when Christmas came round again
+once more.</p>
+
+<p>Then came sleep, and when Tom looked at his watch&mdash;next morning let me
+call it&mdash;it was very nearly twelve o'clock!</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Although it now wanted but a fortnight, according to Tom's reckoning, of
+the first sunrise, it was still as dark as ever, and but for the moon
+and stars and glorious Aurora, life about this time would have been very
+tame and dreary indeed.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, owing to the clearness of the air and the purity of everything
+around them, the children never once lost heart. In fact they were as
+merry as sky-larks, and often made the island resound with song and
+mirth and laughter.</p>
+
+<p>And the dogs, as well as Flossy, were merrier still. They barked and
+laughed as only dogs can, and chased each other round and round in great
+circles, often disappearing for ten minutes at a time, and springing out
+and rolling Flossy over and over when she least expected them.</p>
+
+<p>Flossy was gay enough, although she couldn't run, and often leapt fully
+six feet high, turning over and over in the air before she came down
+again.</p>
+
+<p>And when she did manage to entice the dogs into the water, it was her
+turn to show them her skill; and indeed her feats in the water were
+marvellous. Anyhow, she used quite to astonish the dogs. They were all
+very well in the woods, but couldn't match Flossy in the water, and
+there was no use trying it.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>The long mid-day twilights came first, uncertain and gray to begin with,
+but getting brighter and more lovely as time went on. It was as if
+Nature were trying her hand in painting the sky to give the great king
+of day a glorious welcome.</p>
+
+<p>But one day the snow on the mountain peaks changed to a bright red,
+while above floated just one streak of crimson cloud; higher up, the
+stars shone in a strange, green light, and all the horizon was of the
+richest orange colour.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, surely,&quot; cried Pansy, &quot;the sun will rise to-day!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the red faded from the mountain-top, the little cloud turned brown,
+then gray, then black, and it was night once more.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, little sister,&quot; said Tom kindly; &quot;but the sun will rise to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>All went to bed early that night, and were up very early in the morning.
+In fact, breakfast was finished before the stars had begun to pale in
+the west. Then came twilight itself, and, long though it was, its
+intense beauty was the best reward for the waiting, watching little
+Crusoes.</p>
+
+<p>Every heart was beating quickly, and Pansy was standing on brave Tom's
+shoulder, just to be &quot;nearer the sky&quot;, she said.</p>
+
+<p>All were silent.</p>
+
+<p>The sun came at last, and with such a silvery sheen, too, that the
+children were dazzled.</p>
+
+<p>This was best, for they could not thus see the tears that slowly
+trickled down each other's faces.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look! look! look!&quot; was all Pansy could say.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, isn't it splendid!&quot; said Tom, as soon as he could speak.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uncle is sure to come now,&quot; said Aralia firmly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll go and fish,&quot; Flossy seemed to say as she sprang three times her
+length in the air, and turned head over heels like the clown in a
+circus.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on, Veevee,&quot; cried the mastiff, &quot;come for a run in the sunshine.&quot;
+And off they set.</p>
+
+<p>But the day soon ended, for the sun quickly disappeared. Yet the Crusoes
+had seen it, and that was joy enough for once.</p>
+
+<p>And now the days began to lengthen out, but at the same time earthquakes
+and thunder-storms became more and more frequent. The lake felt hot
+again, and the water tossed about so much at times, that even Flossy was
+afraid to venture in to catch the fish she could not live without.</p>
+
+<p>There was a most terrible earthquake-storm about two weeks after the
+first sunrise.</p>
+
+<p>Even Tom himself was frightened this time, for the thunderings and
+lightnings and explosions were awful, and lasted for three long days. It
+was pitch dark all the time, and the rain came down in sheets.</p>
+
+<p>To make matters worse, smoke of a strange red colour was seen on the
+hills. It looked as if it came from rents in the mountain-sides, and
+there was a smell like burning sulphur in the air.</p>
+
+<p>But this season of terror ended at last; the stars shone out, there was
+a fine display of northern lights, and, soon after, the sun rose. A
+stiff breeze sprang up, and all the clouds and vapours were blown away,
+the last thing seen being a rainbow in the east.</p>
+
+<p>The joy of the Crusoes now knew no bounds. The dogs dashed about, Veevee
+barked &quot;Wiff!&quot; Briton barked &quot;Wowff!&quot; and Flossy frisked her tail and
+went off to fish.</p>
+
+<p>The children now set out for a stroll, and saw many curious sights.
+Close to the lake, in several places, the earth seemed to have been
+ripped open, and, looking down as they stood hand in hand on the edge,
+they seemed to be gazing right into the world's dark depths.</p>
+
+<p>Next day Tom took a long walk alone. He went to the top of one of the
+highest hills, having left his sisters in charge of Frank and Briton,
+but taking Veevee and his rifle with him.</p>
+
+<p>Pansy watched him go up and up the mountain, until he was lost to sight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; she cried, as she clapped her hands, &quot;I know where Tom has gone!
+He has just gone away to bring Uncle and 'Fessor Pete back again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Well, anyhow, Tom had a look at the sea. It spread out as far as the eye
+could reach, and was covered everywhere with great snow-clad bergs of
+ice, except just close to the island, where it was clear, but black as
+ink.</p>
+
+<p>It was nothing more than he expected, but somehow he wished it had been
+otherwise.</p>
+
+<p>He marched down the other side of the hill for quite a mile, keeping a
+good look-out, however, lest some huge ice-bear should catch him
+unawares.</p>
+
+<p>By and by he missed his little four-footed friend, and traced him by his
+footprints into a cave.</p>
+
+<p>He called aloud, but received no answer. The cave seemed to be a vast
+one, and he had to feel his way in the dark with his rifle, for fear of
+falling down some hole.</p>
+
+<p>As he could hear nothing, he thought poor Veevee must be dead, and
+slowly and sadly turned back.</p>
+
+<p>His foot kicked against something hard when he was near to the entrance,
+and, stooping down, he picked up what seemed to be a piece of white
+stone, and put it into the pocket of his jacket.</p>
+
+<p>When he got back home at last, poor Pansy cried very much indeed at the
+loss of her pet. But when, next morning, she found him curled up at her
+feet, she thought it must have been all a dream.</p>
+
+<p>How the dog got back was never known, but it is possible he had been
+wandering all night in that cavern, deep down in the earth, and come out
+at the lake side of the range of hills.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>It was quite a month before Tom crossed the hills again. By this time
+spring had already come back to Fairy Island. The buds were all out on
+the trees, and the green leaves on a thousand bushes. Wild flowers were
+everywhere. The birds, too, had returned, and the sea-gulls had taken up
+their abode on a great patch of level ground just on the other side of
+the lake. When anyone went near to their nests, which were in thousands,
+and so close together that it was difficult to thread one's way through
+them, the noise and screaming they made was deafening.</p>
+
+<p>Now I don't think that Tom and Frank were cruel, but they had to live,
+and those great green-speckled eggs made a splendid addition to the
+larder, so that, what with sunshine and better food, the girls soon got
+back all the colour they had lost during the long, long night of winter.</p>
+
+<p>But where was the <i>Valhalla</i> and her crew all this time? Would they
+never, never come?</p>
+
+<p>The Crusoes lived in hope.</p>
+
+<p>Now in spring-time the foxes and bears of the north, that have slept or
+starved for months, become bold and dangerous through hunger. Bears are
+always to be feared, but more so at this time of the year than any
+other.</p>
+
+<p>One day the prisoners of Fairy Island had been gayer than usual, but at
+last, tired and happy, they had lain down to rest. It might have been
+about midnight when they were awakened by a warning growl from Briton.
+Then, with Veevee, he sprang up and rushed to the gate barking
+furiously.</p>
+
+<p class="ctr"><img src="images/island.jpg" width="254" height="306"
+alt="Fairy Island">
+</p>
+
+<p>Tom sprang to his feet, and snatched up his rifle. He was not left long
+in doubt as to who the enemy was. The wild wolf-foxes were in force, and
+the yelping and howling outside was terrible to listen to.</p>
+
+<p>He fired his rifle several times right into the centre of the pack,
+killing many and wounding more. This only made matters worse. The fierce
+and hungry beasts dashed themselves at the gate and tried to tear it in
+pieces.</p>
+
+<p>Stones were hurled at them, but all in vain. Poor Briton was as anxious
+to get out as they were to get in, and had to be kept back by force.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go, quick, Frank,&quot; shouted Tom, &quot;and stir up the fire; heap more peats
+and wood on, and bring lighted torches as soon as you can. I will guard
+the gate till you come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So there Tom stood opposed to the whole awful crowd, with their glaring
+eyes, red tongues, and white-flashing teeth, with only a slight gateway
+between him and death. When he thrust his rifle between the willow bars
+to take a shot, the beasts bit and tore at it, as if they would have
+dragged it from his grasp.</p>
+
+<p>Aralia was busy helping Frank, and presently both came running up with
+lighted fir-torches, which Tom at once flung over the gate, together
+with pieces of burning peat and wood. These did splendid work, and after
+a time the terrible pack drew off.</p>
+
+<p>There was no more sleep that night, however, and towards morning the
+attack began again. The foxes had dragged off their dead and wounded and
+devoured them. In the gray light of morning they rushed to the gate once
+more, and the battle raged again in all its fury.</p>
+
+<p>Poor little Pansy was trembling and shaking with fear as she looked up
+and saw that high up on the walls of the fort those savage, wild animals
+had taken their stand.</p>
+
+<p>It was a terrible morning, and hope seemed at last to fade, for even
+brave Tom had grown faint and weary, and could fight but little longer.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a><h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;Come along, Professor! Come along, Mate! The children are there
+somewhere, over in that strange island. Ha! here is a bridge of rocks!
+Thank goodness for that! And look! here, too, are tracks!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was Uncle Staysail who spoke, and behind him was 'Fessor Pete
+himself, and at least a dozen well-armed sailors.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Listen!&quot; cried the captain. &quot;What is that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wolves, I think,&quot; said the professor. &quot;And hark! surely that was a
+rifle-shot. Pray Heaven we may be in time, Staysail!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hurry up, men! Hurry up!&quot; cried the captain; and the men dashed
+onwards.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Tom had revived a little, and he and Frank were fighting harder than
+ever to hold the gate, as bold</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<p class="i4">"Horatius kept the bridge</p>
+In the brave days of old&quot;
+</div></div>
+
+<p>But it was already giving way, and the beasts without seemed to know it.</p>
+
+<p>Briton was on his legs ready, and all seemed to be lost, when suddenly a
+rattling volley of rifle fire was heard from beneath, with shouts of
+men.</p>
+
+<p>Volley followed volley, and in less time than it takes me to tell it,
+the wild wolf-foxes were seeking safety in flight.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>&quot;Tell us all your story again,&quot; said Tom to his uncle, as the children
+sat round the stove that same evening in the cosy cabin of the
+<i>Valhalla</i>.</p>
+
+<p>They were all washed and clean by this time, and the girls were
+beautifully dressed.</p>
+
+<img class="left" src="images/pipe.jpg" width="253" height="307"
+alt="Uncle lighting pipe">
+
+<p>&quot;Ah! well, you see,&quot; said Uncle as he relit his pipe, &quot;the professor
+here made a dart for the vessel when the storm came on. He wanted a
+stronger crew.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He caught us just in time, for though the gale was a furious one we
+could steam up to it, and were doing so, when suddenly there was a loud
+explosion; one of the boilers had burst, and the engines were smashed
+and useless.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We were now at the mercy of the sea, the waves, and the icebergs too,
+and before another day we were blown far away to sea.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Even then we had hope. But in a week's time we were frozen into the
+main pack, and there we have had to winter, and it is hardly a week
+since we got clear by cutting a canal with our great ice-saws. Oh! it
+has been a dreary time for us, but must have been more so to you, poor
+darlings! and well and bravely you have borne it all!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am sure,&quot; he added, &quot;that even Pansy has grown, and her mother will
+hardly know her again when we all get home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We are going now, aren't we, 'Fessor Pete?&quot; said Pansy, who was sitting
+on his knee.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, my dear, yes. It is no use staying here when we have no steam, so
+the ship is now making for England's sunny shores. And we'll get there
+in the rosy month of June. Won't it be nice?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Pansy was jumping with joy.</p>
+
+<p>Aralia clapped her hands and cried: &quot;Just too jolly for anything!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>By and by Aralia sat down to the piano, and Pete brought out his fiddle,
+and a very happy evening indeed was spent in the <i>Valhalla</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The men were keeping it up forward too, around the galley fire, singing
+songs and spinning yarns, for the ship was &quot;homeward bound&quot;.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, by the by,&quot; said Tom one day to the professor, &quot;I forgot to tell
+you that in the cave where poor Veevee got lost I picked up this curious
+stone!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The professor put his spectacles on his nose and gazed at it for a
+moment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, my dear Tom, this is solid gold, in the centre of a coating of
+quartz! You're in luck, lad; and it is just as I said; that is the
+Island of Gold. We shall return another year, and you will be one of the
+richest men in the kingdom.&quot;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>My story is finished, or almost.</p>
+
+<p>'Fessor Pete and Tom, with Uncle Staysail, to say nothing of the mastiff
+Briton, are out there in the Frozen North this very summer, and I do
+hope they will have luck.</p>
+
+<p>But Aralia and Pansy, with sometimes Frank and always Veevee, may be
+seen any day playing on the sands not far from their mother's home, and
+Flossy too.</p>
+
+<p>Flossy is wondrously tame, and spends an hour or two almost every day in
+the sea, or on the beach, to the great delight of all who see her. But
+Aralia has a whistle, and no matter how far away in the water this
+strange pet may be, whenever the call is sounded she comes ploughing
+back to the beach, and after she has shaken her bonny coat in the
+sunshine, goes waddling home with her little friend Veevee and the
+Crusoes of the Frozen North.</p>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11997 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/11997-h/images/about.jpg b/11997-h/images/about.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e43f73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/about.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/basket.jpg b/11997-h/images/basket.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eeb9186
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/basket.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/coats.jpg b/11997-h/images/coats.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff0e499
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/coats.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/fire.jpg b/11997-h/images/fire.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6fcbc69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/fire.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/frontis.jpg b/11997-h/images/frontis.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28b35c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/frontis.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/hats.jpg b/11997-h/images/hats.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae16470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/hats.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/hut.jpg b/11997-h/images/hut.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9b9841
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/hut.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/island.jpg b/11997-h/images/island.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd2791a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/island.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/jolly.jpg b/11997-h/images/jolly.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a46f895
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/jolly.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/lantern.jpg b/11997-h/images/lantern.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..206c427
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/lantern.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/pipe.jpg b/11997-h/images/pipe.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd68ada
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/pipe.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/sailor.jpg b/11997-h/images/sailor.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..deb0da3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/sailor.jpg
diff --git a/11997-h/images/spyglass.jpg b/11997-h/images/spyglass.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..498cb9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/11997-h/images/spyglass.jpg
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9aa242
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #11997 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11997)
diff --git a/old/11997-h.zip b/old/11997-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f3fdb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h.zip
diff --git a/old/11997-h/11997-h.htm b/old/11997-h/11997-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..573d4f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/11997-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,2377 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Crusoes of the Frozen North,
+       by Dr. Gordon Stables.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
+<!--
+    P {margin-top: .75em;  margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    H1,H2,H3,h5{text-align: center; background-color: white;}
+    HR {width: 33%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;}
+    BODY{margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .ctr {text-align: center;}
+
+    a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
+       link {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
+    a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
+    a:hover {color:red}
+
+    img.right { margin-left: 10px; float:right;}
+    img.left  { margin-right: 10px; float: left;}
+
+    .poem          {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;}
+    .poem .stanza  {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
+    .poem p        {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem p.i4        {margin-left: 4em;}
+    // -->
+    /* XML end  ]]>*/
+    </style>
+   </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Crusoes of the Frozen North, by Gordon Stables
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Crusoes of the Frozen North
+
+Author: Gordon Stables
+
+Release Date: April 11, 2004 [EBook #11997]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRUSOES OF THE FROZEN NORTH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Julie Barkley, Andrea Ball and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p class="ctr">
+<img  src="images/frontis.jpg" width="313" height="482"
+alt="THEY FOUND TOM AT THE LAKE-SIDE,
+STANDING OVER A HUGE DEAD BEAR."></p>
+<h5>THEY FOUND TOM AT THE LAKE-SIDE, STANDING OVER A HUGE DEAD BEAR.</h5>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h1>The Crusoes Of<br>
+The Frozen North</h1>
+
+<h2>From the Well-known Story by<br>
+Dr. Gordon Stables</h2>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+ <h2>CONTENTS</h2><br>
+<p class="ctr">
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII</b></a><br><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX</b></a>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm sure of one thing,&quot; said Aralia to her little sister Pansy, as they
+sat together one lovely summer afternoon on the garden seat, and gazed
+away and away far over the North Sea. &quot;I'm quite sure of one thing.
+Nobody ever could have so good an uncle as our uncle. Now, could
+anybody, Pansy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh no!&quot; answered Pansy, shaking her pretty head. Pansy was hardly eight
+years old, and always agreed with her older sister, who was nearly
+eleven.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How I wish he were home again from his old ship,&quot; sighed Aralia, &quot;and
+Tom with him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, Ara, we can sit here hours and hours every day and watch the sea,
+can't we?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, and we shall easily know the ship. As she goes by, shell set all
+her flags a-flying, and, if Father isn't at home, Mother will send up
+our great red flag on the garden pole. Oh dear! I could nearly cry for
+joy to think of it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And me too!&quot; said Pansy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And me too!&quot; Veevee seemed to say, as he gave a short bark, and,
+jumping down from the seat, ran round the garden, looking like a fluffy
+white ball.</p>
+
+<p>The sea was very blue, only patched with green wherever a cloud-shadow
+fell on it. Down beneath the cliff on which the cottage stood, the waves
+broke lazily in long white lines of foam. On the sea itself were vessels
+of almost every kind, from the little fishing craft with brown sails to
+great ships sailing away to distant lands.</p>
+
+<p>Aralia knew what class of vessel each was by its rig; her best of uncles
+had taught her. And well could she use the spy-glass too, which she now
+held to her right eye. It had been hard at first to keep the left
+closed, but she could manage it now quite easily without asking Pansy to
+clap a hand over it.</p>
+
+<p>Soon she began to talk in little gasps:</p>
+
+<img class="right" src="images/spyglass.jpg" width="255" height="310"
+alt="girl looking through a spyglass">
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Pansy&mdash;I think&mdash;Oh, I'm nearly sure&mdash;yes&mdash;yes&mdash;it must be! it <i>is</i>
+Uncle's ship! I can see the flags all a-flying&mdash;Hurrah! Come and look!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Pansy sat on her sister's knee and peeped through the glass. Then both
+the children started up and waved their arms in the air at the far-off
+ship. They were just about to rush off to tell Mother, when their cousin
+Frank came up. He was a lad of about thirteen or fourteen, but he was
+so tall and manly that he looked older.</p>
+
+<p>Frank came into the garden with a rush and a run when he heard the girls
+call out. A fishing basket was slung over his back, from which the tails
+of fish stuck out, showing what good sport he had had.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hillo, Ara! Hillo, Pansy! What are you dancing and 'hoo-laying' about?
+Been stung by a wasp, my little Pansy Blossom?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Frank,&quot; cried the elder girl, &quot;look through the glass! Uncle's
+coming! Look at the ship, and all the flags.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy was almost as excited now as the girls themselves, and presently
+they were all running in a string through the pretty garden towards the
+cottage with the news, Veevee bringing up the rear and barking bravely.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Rat-tat-tat at the door next afternoon, and little Pansy ran to open it,
+expecting to see the postman, but the knocking was only a bit of Tom's
+fun. Frank had left for Hull the evening before to meet him, and here
+was Tom the sailor, tall and bonny and dark. Pansy jumped into his arms
+like a baby, Aralia rushed to meet him, and his mother came out, though
+a little more slowly. When the bustle was all over, and Tom had answered
+nearly a hundred questions, they all went in to tea.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, Aralia, Uncle is coming up from Hull with Father and Cousin Frank,
+and we shall stop here three whole days before we go back to clear ship
+and pay off&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And,&quot; added Tom, &quot;Uncle has something so strange and nice to tell you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it, Tom?&quot; said his two sisters, both in a breath as it were.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't, won't, and sha'n't tell you, girls,&quot; cried Tom, laughing,
+&quot;because that would spoil the fun when Uncle comes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So all, even Veevee, who would not get off Tom's knees for a minute, had
+to be as patient as they could. But the time passed so quickly,
+listening to all this hearty young sailor had to tell of his voyage to
+the far north, that before anyone was aware it was nearly seven o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>And now down jumps Veevee and runs towards the door, barking aloud as if
+he were a very big dog.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're coming! They're coming! Veevee knows!&quot; And coming they were
+indeed.</p>
+
+<p>Tom had had a hearty welcome when he arrived, but when this best of
+uncles at last managed to sit down on the sofa: &quot;Shiver my timbers,
+sister,&quot; he said to Mrs. Dunlop, &quot;if it isn't worth while going all the
+way to the back of the North Pole just to get such a welcome home as
+this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Jack Staysail was a sailor every inch of him. He had roughed it so much
+in the Greenland seas, and been out in so many storms, that his face was
+as red as a boiled beet; but his eyes were as full of fun and merriment
+as a boy's.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We're not all here yet,&quot; he said. &quot;I have asked my friend, Professor
+Peterkin, the Swede, to come in to-night with his mastiff.&quot; When their
+uncle mentioned the mastiff, Aralia and Pansy began to tremble for
+Veevee, but Tom only laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why,&quot; he said, &quot;although Briton&mdash;that's his name&mdash;is big enough to
+tackle a bear, he wouldn't injure a mouse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly nine o'clock when the professor arrived. Briton marched in
+first, and a bigger and more noble-looking fellow was never seen. Veevee
+said he couldn't stand another dog in the place. So he started up,
+barking loudly, and offering to fight the mastiff to the death on the
+spot. But Briton stepped gingerly over the little dog, and went and lay
+quietly down on the rug.</p>
+
+<p>Then in bustled the professor himself, very droll, very small,
+clean-shaven, merry-eyed, and with as much hair on his great head as
+would have stuffed a cushion. He bowed and smiled to all, patted the
+children, and at last sat down to supper.</p>
+
+<p>All made a very hearty supper, though it was long past the children's
+bed-time. Only Uncle didn't come home every night, you know.</p>
+
+<p>When they had finished, Briton had a huge dish of scraps; Veevee sat
+watching him eat, and the children were very much surprised to see
+Briton shove one of the biggest and best morsels towards him. The tiny
+dog picked up the titbit and wagged his tail. After he had eaten it, he
+went and lay down beside Briton on the hearth-rug.</p>
+
+<p>The &quot;something nice&quot; that Uncle had to tell was soon told now. Captain
+Staysail cleared his throat before he began: &quot;Ahem! Oh, you're all
+waiting, are you, to hear what I've got to say? Well,
+then&mdash;ahem!&mdash;Professor Peterkin&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pete&mdash;Pete&mdash;Pete&mdash;Pete!&quot; cried the droll, wee man, stopping him, and
+one would have thought he was calling a dog. &quot;I'm not going to be called
+Professor, and I won't Peterkin. Just Pete, as I was on board ship, as I
+am to everybody, and must be to you.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But just look here, Staysail, you're a sailor, and you can't make a
+speech. Let me speak.&quot; And speak he did without waiting for a reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's all in a nutshell, dear Mr. and Mrs. Dunlop, and I'll tell you in
+two or three sentences what your worthy sailor-brother would have kept
+you up all night to hear. Now listen! Briton, you lie down! Good again!
+Now I, Dan Peterkin, am a man who has been used to study hard, and think
+hard. You follow me so far? Good again!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, there is one thing has taken me years to work out, and that is,
+where in this world gold and coal are to be found. And I've done it. I
+can go right to the spots. One of them lies on an island right away up
+in the Frozen North. And we're going there. Your brother, Mrs. Dunlop,
+is going to take me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we may have some hardships. Paff! What do we care? We shall win
+such wealth as has never been seen before. You follow still? Good again!
+Well, I go to a town in the north last spring, when the seal ships are
+all there, and I look for an honest face. I find Staysail. I say to him:
+'You give me a passage to Greenland, my friend.' He say: 'What for I
+give you passage?' I smile. I take him by one button, and pull him all
+the way into a private room of the hotel. Briton follows. We all dine
+well&mdash;we all come out smiling&mdash;Briton too. And now, my friends, all is
+arranged. We sail away and away and away next spring for the seas of ice
+and the islands of gold.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is all. You have followed me? Good again!&quot; And once more the
+professor sat down, and the big arm-chair seemed to swallow him up.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<img class="left" src="images/hats.jpg" width="255" height="307"
+alt="girls wearing hats, playing outdoors">
+
+<p>Ara and Pansy lay awake a long time that night thinking of what Pete had
+said. But the next day they went about their duties as usual. They did
+not go to school, as they had a governess, of whom they were both very
+fond. Nearly half their day would be spent out-of-doors with her and
+Veevee. In spring and summer they would gather flowers inland, but what
+they liked best was to play about on the sands, to go out boating with
+an old seaman they knew, or climb the rocks and get into very steep and
+giddy places.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Frank Dunlop was an orphan, and was now the adopted son of Ara's
+father. As for Tom, who was a year or two older, his father had wanted
+him to go into business at home in England, but nothing would satisfy
+the lad but going to sea, so he had been sent to rough it with his uncle
+in the stormy seas of the Frozen North. The cruise now ended was his
+second, and Tom wasn't tired of the sea yet.</p>
+
+<p>Frank went back to school, and appeared no more at the cottage until
+Christmas came round. Then not only Uncle, but Pete and Briton came to
+spend a whole fortnight with the Dunlop family, and to make their final
+plans for the spring. And I should say that no fortnight seemed to pass
+so quickly to the children as did the two weeks when their visitors
+stayed with them.</p>
+
+<p>At last, one day in early spring, there left Hull on a trial trip one of
+the handsomest little steamers, and, for her size, one of the strongest
+that ever put to sea from that port. She was Captain Staysail's new
+ship, the <i>Valhalla</i>. Everything on board, both on deck and between
+decks, and in the saloon, was as clean and beautiful as if she had been
+a royal yacht. The decks were as white as ivory, the polished wood shone
+in the sun, and the brass-work looked like gold. The saloon itself, with
+its curtains, its mirrors, tables pillars, and piano, was really fit for
+a fairy princess to live in. Everything had been prepared under the eye
+of Professor Peterkin himself, so everything was perfect in its way.</p>
+
+<p>Pansy, who was on board, and had been peeping in some of the rooms,
+said to Aralia at last: &quot;Oh, Aralia, what a dear little doll's house of
+a cabin; I should like to live in it always!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Neither of the children was sea-sick when the <i>Valhalla</i> went out under
+steam, and they had such fun with the sailors and the two dogs that they
+were quite sorry when the ship once more steamed into port.</p>
+
+<p>And didn't everybody sleep soundly that night in the hotel! I should say
+so!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>The merry month of May had hardly begun when the brave <i>Valhalla</i>
+steamed away on her perilous cruise to the far and icy north.</p>
+
+<p>Frank, with his two little cousins, had begged leave to go to Hull in
+order to see the very, very last of the beautiful ship and that best of
+uncles, Captain Staysail. Leave had been given by their parents, because
+&quot;Wherever Frank is,&quot; said Mr. Dunlop, &quot;the children are sure to be
+safe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There had been a good deal of stir and bustle on the very last evening,
+and many visitors had been to the <i>Valhalla</i>, for somehow word had gone
+out that Professor Peterkin, the great Swedish traveller, was off to
+find the North Pole!</p>
+
+<p>And all believed that he would find it. Some of the sailors even went so
+far as to say that he would bring it back with him rigged up as a mast
+of his ship!</p>
+
+<p>But by the time eight bells had rung out all was quiet. The hands had
+turned in, and only Tom and two men were left on watch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go forward,&quot; said Tom, &quot;and have a cup of coffee and a smoke, and I'll
+see to the safety of the ship here at the gangway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The men took the young officer at his word, and it was not very long ere
+their smoke was finished, and they, too, were fast asleep. Had any other
+eyes than Tom's been watching the shore, about half an hour afterwards,
+they must have noticed that something very strange was taking place.</p>
+
+<p>Dark figures could be seen drawing near with stealthy footsteps to the
+farther end of the gangway. Then they stopped as if in fear and dread.
+But Tom whistled a long, low whistle, and three figures, muffled in
+oil-skins, stole along the gangway and stepped silently on deck.</p>
+
+<p>Then Tom sprang a small bull's-eye lantern, and let its light shine
+right in front of him, so that no one meeting him could have told who or
+what was stealing up behind. In the same quiet way he led the little
+party down a ladder to the deck below, and then beneath hammocks filled
+with sleeping sailors, and along a passage, until he came to a door,
+which he carefully unlocked, and soon afterwards locked again.</p>
+
+<p class="ctr"><img src="images/lantern.jpg" width="254" height="304"
+alt="Tom shining the lantern"></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>By midnight next night the <i>Valhalla</i> was far out at sea, bearing to
+the north, for Captain Staysail did not mean to touch at any of the
+English or Scotch ports on this voyage.</p>
+
+<p>The weather at first was very beautiful, and so it remained, with a calm
+sea and hardly a breath of wind, until nearly sunset of the second day.
+Then clouds began to bank up, dark and threatening, and the glass&mdash;so
+Webb, the first mate, reported to the captain&mdash;was going tumbling down.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We are going to have a blow, sir,&quot; he said, &quot;and it's coming up sharp
+behind us. I reckon, sir, we'll have a ten-knotter afore the middle
+watch is called!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then, have the fires banked, Mr. Webb, as soon as the wind is
+strong enough to get way on her. I wouldn't set too much sail, and if it
+does come a gale, I'd ease her right away. You know what she can do,
+Mate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ay, ay, sir!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I think that's all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the mate didn't move.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Anything else, Mr. Webb?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is something else, sir,&quot; said the mate rather sheepishly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, out with it. Why, you look as if you'd seen a ghost!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, sir, there is a ghost, or demon, or something aboard of this very
+ship, and some of the crew are in a state next door to mutiny about
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What on earth do you mean, Mr. Webb?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The tall, handsome, fair-haired Webb leaned over the table and spoke to
+Staysail almost in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's the little professor they all blame, sir; and there are four of
+them who swear the ship is haunted&mdash;that he keeps evil spirits under
+lock and key for'ard&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But&mdash;but&mdash;Mr. Webb&mdash;Evil spirits under lock and key! Do you mean bad
+rum? And who is he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hush, sir! don't talk so loud. He's walking the deck now. It's the
+professor I mean, sir. As to the evil spirits, I've heard them
+myself&mdash;mutter, mutter, squeak, squeak, squeak! Ugh! it is awful,
+sir&mdash;awful!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And the mate shuddered as he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Staysail was always a good laugher, but at this tale he fairly
+yelled with laughter until everything jingled in the cabin, and the
+tears ran down his cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>The mate never moved a muscle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That awful fore-cabin, sir!&quot; he said. &quot;It's in there, and Broomberg,
+the Finlander, declares that if you don't land him and his mates at
+Bergen they'll seize the ship and sail for Aberdeen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But why on earth don't you open the fore-cabin?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, that's where it is, sir! The key is lost, or else the professor has
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hark!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A squall at that moment struck the ship and heeled her over. It blew
+with tremendous force for a time, and at last settled down to a steady
+gale. But in less than an hour the captain's orders were carried out,
+and the good ship <i>Valhalla</i> was speeding before the wind at a good rate
+with very little sail on her.</p>
+
+<p>The storm increased towards midnight, and at that dark hour the
+<i>Valhalla</i> had to lie to under almost bare poles. So busy had all hands
+been kept that there was very little time to think of ghosts or evil
+spirits, and now that the crew had a chance of turning in, it is
+needless to say that sleep was the first thing to be considered.</p>
+
+<p>But fresh trouble came with the new day. The wind had gone down, and the
+sea as well, and the <i>Valhalla</i> was now bowling along on a pretty even
+keel, for the breeze was well astern.</p>
+
+<p>Webb, the mate, and Tom both slept in bunks in the same cabin. Just as
+the steward was laying breakfast, Webb popped his head out from his
+cabin curtains.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hillo, steward!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good-morning, sah!&quot; said Jake Brown, who, strange as it may seem, was
+a tall and important-looking black man, with hair as white as snow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you seen Master Tom? He hasn't been here all night. I slept too
+sound to take much notice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sakes alive, no!&quot; cried burly Jake. &quot;I run and search de ship plenty
+quick.&quot; And away he went.</p>
+
+<p>Webb was dressed and leaving his cabin when Jake returned. But neither
+high nor low, fore nor aft, could Tom be found, nor had he been seen
+since the main-topsail had carried away just before midnight.</p>
+
+<p>The captain was now roused and the terrible news reported.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Poor Tom! poor Tom! Washed overboard without a doubt!&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>Tom had been a great favourite on board, and the news caused a general
+gloom all over the ship.</p>
+
+<p>But Broomberg and his mates received the news in another way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is von unlucky ship,&quot; cried the former, &quot;and did not those below
+hear the shrieking of the ghosts when the waves and wind were highest?
+Come we to the captain at once, men. I will not sail in a haunted ship.
+No, no.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Some minutes before eight bells rang out in the morning air, the
+captain on the quarter-deck, with Mr. Webb and the professor, were
+engaged in angry talk with Broomberg and his fellows.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Return to your duty, men,&quot; the captain said. &quot;I will make enquiries
+into the matter. As for you, Broomberg, hand over that knife you are
+fingering, and consider yourself under arrest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will not,&quot; shouted the fellow. &quot;See!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He made a wild rush aft, holding the glittering blade high in air, and
+seized the professor by the neck.</p>
+
+<p>But help from an unexpected quarter was at hand, and next moment
+Broomberg was sprawling on his back with Briton's great paws on his
+chest.</p>
+
+<p>Mutiny and ghosts and storm were at once forgotten. The men cheered
+wildly, Broomberg's knife was snatched from his hand, and he himself
+bound hand and foot, while everybody crowded round to shake hands with
+the little professor, or to pat the noble dog who had saved his life.</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly joy was changed to terror, for shriek after shriek could be
+heard forward, and in a few seconds' time the cook rushed helter-skelter
+up on deck, almost pale with fright, followed by the men of the watch
+below.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The ghosts!&quot; somebody shouted.</p>
+
+<p>The captain stood as if stupefied, the little professor's eyes were as
+big as watch-glasses, and the mate had to catch hold of a back-stay to
+prevent himself from falling.</p>
+
+<p>The whole crew now took to the rigging, and the only marvel is that some
+of them did not slip overboard and make food for the sharks.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look, look!&mdash;oh, look, sir!&quot; shouted the mate with a cry like one in a
+nightmare; and the next moment he fainted and fell on the top of
+Broomberg the mutineer.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>Two little girls, one little boy, and one little dog, all as black as
+chimney-sweeps, the girls with their arms in the air, now came wildly
+racing aft.</p>
+
+<p>Tom himself, come back to life, was standing on the capstan waving his
+cap in the air, and cheering and laughing like a mad thing.</p>
+
+<img class="right" src="images/sailor.jpg" width="253" height="305"
+ alt="Pansy and the Captain">
+
+<p>Aralia and Pansy reached the quarter-deck before anyone could say
+&quot;knife&quot;, and, black as they were, sprang right into Captain Staysail's
+arms, hugging him and kissing him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&mdash;what!&mdash;what!&mdash;&quot; He tried to get out a sentence, but failed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I was so frightened, Unky dear, but I is so happy now!&quot; cried
+Pansy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bless my soul and body,&quot; cried Staysail at last, &quot;how did all this
+happen?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then he went forward a few paces, the little ones clinging to him all
+the time, and Veevee racing round the deck like a live muff.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tom, you young rascal, jump down here at once. This is all your work.
+Now, give a full account of it, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I do hope, Uncle, you'll forgive me, but Frank and little Pansy
+and Aralia did want to come with us so much, that&mdash;that&mdash;!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That you took them as stowaways, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm afraid that's it, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain pretended to be awfully angry, and said he would put about
+and land the lot at Aberdeen.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the meantime, go below, children, and get yourselves washed; the
+steward will see to you. Steward!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ay, ay, sir, I'se heah, sah.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let Miss Aralia and Pansy have that spare cabin near mine. I'll talk to
+you afterwards, Tom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Tom hung his head in sorrow&mdash;so it seemed,&mdash;but it really was to hide a
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>He got near enough to his sisters to say: &quot;Keep up your pecker, Pansy,
+for there won't be any Aberdeen about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the spare cabin stood a big box that nobody had noticed before. Tom
+had smuggled it on board, and it contained his sisters' best things, and
+a full rig-out for them for the Arctic regions.</p>
+
+<p>Sly old Tom!</p>
+
+<p>He now stole into their cabin and gave them their clothes, and when
+Staysail came down to dinner at twelve, with his spy-glass under his
+arm, no wonder he cried: &quot;Hillo! Hillo!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For here were the three children, all mirth and smiles, seated beside
+Pete, and Tom, with head bowed down, waiting to take his seat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hillo! Hillo! But what will your father and mother think, my dears?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; cried Tom, &quot;we made that all right! Father gave his consent, and
+he'll easily manage Mother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Steward!&quot; shouted the captain, and Jake came running. &quot;Put the other
+half-leaf in the table to-night, and lay covers for three more, for
+these young ragamuffins must mess with us in future.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was no more word about ghosts now, and the kind professor forgave
+the Finlander. He was set free and sent to duty, and now for weeks and
+weeks there wasn't a much happier vessel afloat than the brave ship
+<i>Valhalla</i> bound for the Frozen North.</p>
+
+<p>The two dogs became great friends, but, strangely enough, both disliked
+Broomberg, and kept out of his way whenever they could. Once, indeed,
+when the man bent down to stroke Veevee, Briton stood guard over his
+little friend and growled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hands off!&quot; the mastiff seemed to say, &quot;hands off till we know more
+about you!&quot;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Of course Uncle was chief favourite with the children, but all the three
+of them came to like the little professor very much indeed. He was with
+them nearly all day long. Tom was usually very busy; so, too, was Uncle
+Staysail; and though it must not be thought that Pete was an idle man,
+for he had much to study, still he always found time to romp and play
+with Aralia, Pansy, and the two dogs.</p>
+
+<p>Though the weather grew colder for a time, it was all one long, long
+summer's day. For in the Arctic regions the sun never sets for at least
+three months, but just goes round and round, blazing high in the south
+at mid-day, and lower in the north at midnight. Indeed, in these seas,
+if you were not to look at the clock, you could not really tell whether
+it was night or day.</p>
+
+<p>Every evening now the little party gathered round the large stove, on
+which a copper urn of coffee was always gently simmering. Then the
+professor told his strangest stories, with perhaps Pansy on his knee,
+and Aralia lying on the hearth-rug with the dogs. Most of his yarns were
+about the Frozen North, its dangers and perils, its joys and pleasures.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And shall we see all these strange sights?&quot; Pansy used to ask.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, dear, and many more than these, because I mean to give you a treat
+if you are good and don't get your fingers frozen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>One day great lumps of white snow-clad ice came floating by, and that
+same evening the crow's-nest was hoisted high, high up at the very top
+of the main-mast. The crow's-nest was like a big barrel with a lid at
+the bottom, Pansy said, and Tom, or the mate, used to climb and crawl
+through the bottom, and stand, spy-glass in hand, and look all about
+them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; cried Pansy one day, &quot;shouldn't I like to get up just once!
+Wouldn't you, Ara?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But we could never climb up,&quot; sighed her sister.</p>
+
+<p>The clever professor heard them, and lo and behold! the very next day he
+had a kind of easy-chair ready for them to go up in. He himself sat down
+in it with the children, and up they were hoisted, up and up. It was so
+fearsome that the girls shut their eyes and clung to Pete, but when they
+did open them what a sight they saw!</p>
+
+<p>They were not far off the main pack, and as far as the eye could see was
+one vast field of snow-covered ice. Their eyes were dazzled in looking
+at it.</p>
+
+<p>They were not in the crow's-nest, but close beside it, and Pete made
+them look through the spy-glass. This was wonderful, for away yonder to
+the north, and near to the edge of the pack, where the sea looked as
+black as ink, they could see four great ships, with their crews on the
+ice, shooting seals and dragging skins. But in two hours' time the
+<i>Valhalla</i> herself got north as far as these ships, and was stopped.</p>
+
+<p>Neither of the girls felt cold, for they wore great mits and hoods, and
+were altogether as snug as mice.</p>
+
+<p>Then a boat was lowered, and when they looked down they could see Tom
+himself get in with shooting-clothes on and a great rifle in his hand.
+He waved his cap to them, and Pansy cried: &quot;Hoo-lay!&quot; The boat pulled
+away and soon touched the ice; Tom sprang nimbly on shore, and before
+long he could be seen only as a little black dot on that dazzling plain
+of snow. Then he was observed to stop and kneel down while some huge
+monster, yellowish-white in colour, came rushing towards him.</p>
+
+<p>Aralia must have the glass now.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, the bear! the bear!&quot; she cried in grief. &quot;It is going to kill Tom.
+Oh! oh! oh! my brother Tom!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me see! let me see!&quot; screamed Pansy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look now!&quot; said Aralia with a smile. &quot;Isn't Tom brave?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Tom was indeed. For Pansy could now see the monster lying dead, and Tom
+leaning on his gun, and once more waving his cap. Then men came up and
+skinned the bear, and dragged the head and hide and paws to the ship.</p>
+
+<p>Tom was a splendid shot, and this was his first bear. When he came
+aboard, his sisters met him with pleasure, although with tears in their
+eyes, for he had run a great risk.</p>
+
+<p>A day or two after this, when still farther north, the children had had
+their first run upon the ice. It was all so strange, and the ice was so
+white, that they felt very giddy for a time. But the professor held
+Pansy, and Tom walked by Aralia.</p>
+
+<p class="ctr">
+<img src="images/coats.jpg" width="258" height="302"
+alt="walking together">
+</p>
+
+<p>The whole ice-pack seemed one vast plain, like a bleak moorland in
+winter, only with little hillocks of ice here and there called hummocks,
+for the flat pieces of ice were all frozen hard together, and Ara
+wondered where &quot;Greenland's icy mountains&quot; had all got to.</p>
+
+<p>There were no bears about to-day, and no seals, only the sea-birds that
+went wheeling and screaming about them in thousands. When they got back
+to the ship it was dinner-time, and both were snow-blind. The black
+steward carried them down and seated them at table, but it was quite
+half an hour before they could see.</p>
+
+<p>Although the ship was now kept well away from the ice-pack, they could
+often see vessels far in through frozen ice, but busy, busy at their
+terrible work. Sometimes Tom and the mate would have a boat lowered, and
+would set off bear-hunting. One day Tom brought home a young seal. It
+was such a beauty, with soft eyes and long, warm, fluffy hair. It was so
+small that even Pansy could carry it a little way in her arms.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, do let us have it for a pet!&quot; cried Aralia, and her uncle
+consented. So they called the seal &quot;Flossy&quot;, and warmed frozen milk for
+it&mdash;great stores of which had been taken on board,&mdash;and fed it with a
+spoon, and soon the wee thing knew Pansy, and used to crawl and waddle
+after her.</p>
+
+<p>The dogs didn't know what to make of Flossy at first, and Briton used to
+roll it all round the deck with his big nose; but Flossy rather liked
+this. But one day, when Briton tried to lift it up by the tail, it
+struck him a slap with its flipper that could be heard from stem to
+stern.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take that,&quot; Flossy seemed to say, &quot;and leave my tail alone!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The vessel was now kept farther to the east, and every day they passed
+between great patches of ice, big pieces of which kept striking the ship
+with such a noise that when anyone wanted to be heard he had to shout
+aloud.</p>
+
+<p>The professor was very busy now, taking soundings almost every day, and
+doing all kinds of clever work that even Tom, smart as he was, couldn't
+understand. But in the evenings he still played with the children, or
+amused them by showing them, through magnifying-glasses, some of the
+wonderful things he had brought up from the bottom of the ocean.</p>
+
+<p>It was all very strange and beautiful, and the children were enchanted.
+But their greatest treat was when he brought some little glass tanks
+containing forms of animal life they had never seen before, and were
+never tired of watching. Only Professor Pete didn't&mdash;because he said he
+couldn't&mdash;bring them out every night.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>On and on sailed the beautiful <i>Valhalla</i>. East and west, but always
+north, went she.</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin was on a voyage of discovery, and one of his chief objects
+seemed to be to keep clear of the ice, which had grown very heavy
+indeed.</p>
+
+<p>It was a delightful holiday for the children as yet, but for the
+professor a time of harder work than many know anything about at all. It
+was really wonderful how this busy little man found time to play with
+the children, with Flossy and with the dogs, or even to play his fiddle.
+But this, he would have told you, was his way of taking exercise; and he
+told Pansy that if it were not for her he didn't think he should ever be
+able to find the island of gold he was in search of.</p>
+
+<p>Do not think, though, it was all and always plain sailing. There were
+dangers of many kinds. Sometimes storms would suddenly rise and blow for
+a day or two at a stretch. At such times the sun was hidden, and the
+cold became intense. The waves that broke on board were turned into ice,
+covering the decks and bows, and giving to the ship a wondrous
+appearance.</p>
+
+<p>One evening, after a gale like this had blown over, the stowaways, who
+had not dared to show face all day, were told to come up on deck.</p>
+
+<p>What a sight! Why, the <i>Valhalla</i> was like a ghost-ship. The decks were
+white, and the bulwarks too. Every rope and stay seemed made of frosted
+silver, while great icicles hung everywhere around.</p>
+
+<p>It was very dark this evening, so that the children at first could
+hardly see anything. But Pete soon had them all hoisted up on to the
+bridge.</p>
+
+<p>And now he turned on the electric and coloured lights&mdash;crimson, blue,
+and orange. Then, what a sight was there! It was one that caused Pansy
+and Aralia quite to forget the beauty of a pantomime they had seen the
+winter before.</p>
+
+<p>They stood spell-bound, and would not have been a bit surprised if all
+the deck had suddenly been crowded with fairies, with silver wands,
+garlands of flowers, and wings of pearly gauze. But the only fairies
+were the sailors, and every one of these looked like a very old man,
+because heads and beards were white with frost and snow, and little
+icicles hung round their hats.</p>
+
+<p>The children dreamt of it all again that night; but lo! when they went
+on deck next morning, before breakfast, to have a romp and a run with
+the dogs and Flossy, everything was changed.</p>
+
+<p>And what a change!</p>
+
+<p>The sun was now shining brightly, with not a cloud in the blue sky.
+Icebergs lay far astern; all around was a calm blue sea, with one great
+whale half-asleep on its surface, wild birds more beautiful than any
+they had ever seen before sailing around, and, more wonderful than
+anything else, the <i>Valhalla</i> was safe at anchor in front of a pretty
+island, patched with the greens, reds, and browns of lovely flowers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Behold!&quot; cried Peterkin, as he lifted Pansy up. &quot;Behold, my child, the
+land of gold and coals!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Pansy's reply was to the point.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very pretty, very pretty,&quot; she said; &quot;but, 'Fessor Pete, I wants to see
+the gold&mdash;not the nasty coals.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This very forenoon Peterkin started off in the biggest boat to &quot;spy out
+the land&quot;, as he called it Tom and the three little stowaways were
+allowed to come too. To them it was going to be a kind of picnic, and
+the steward sent with them a huge basket, filled with enough good things
+to last the whole crew for a week. As there was no wind, the men had to
+row all the way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; cried Pansy, &quot;I hope dear Flossy won't swim away!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Yes, they had taken Flossy with them as well as the dogs.</p>
+
+<p>The water was deep and dark quite close to the beautiful shore, and the
+girls could not help marvelling at the monsters of jelly-fish they saw
+far down in its depths. Their bodies were as great as sunshades, and of
+the same shape, and the legs they jerked out from under were spangled
+with stars of blue and red. Once a huge shark swam up to the boat,
+leered at them with his sly and evil eyes, then, turning on his back,
+showed a mouth that could have swallowed them all. Poor Pansy drew
+nearer to the professor with a cry of horror.</p>
+
+<p>They found a little bay at last, and landed for a meal.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think there is anything that can hurt you here,&quot; said Peterkin,
+&quot;and, if you like, you can run about and gather flowers while I cruise
+round the coast for an hour. There, I will leave you all the rugs, the
+bear-skin, and the basket too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They were delighted.</p>
+
+<img class="right" src="images/basket.jpg" width="253" height="305"
+alt="basket of flowers">
+
+<p>So off they set, Veevee and Briton bounding and barking in front, and
+Flossy waddling behind. Tom had his rifle and plenty of cartridges, but
+there was really nothing to shoot but the lovely gulls, and the boy was
+not so cruel as to touch one of these.</p>
+
+<p>So they wandered on and on and upwards, until they came to a level spot
+all one lovely carpet of small wild flowers. Poppies of many colours
+grew here, mosses, yellow stone-crop, and grasses of every hue, but they
+agreed not to pick any until they should be returning. Still higher
+they went up the mountain-side, when suddenly little Pansy exclaimed:
+&quot;Look, Tom! look, Ara! the sea is all flied away!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Tom stared behind him and stood aghast.</p>
+
+<p>A huge wall of fog or white mist had quite covered the ocean and even
+the shore, shutting them out from view, and was now slowly advancing
+towards them. But that was not the worst, for a low, moaning wind came
+on before it, and flakes of snow began to fall.</p>
+
+<p>It was easy for Tom to say: &quot;Let us get back at once to the beach, the
+boat must be there already.&quot; They had come miles from the bay. Before
+they could walk half the distance back, the snow-fog had swallowed them,
+and it was no wonder that they lost their way, and became cold and faint
+and dizzy.</p>
+
+<p>Both Aralia and Pansy began to cry now, and at last sank down among the
+dry snow, unable to move another yard.</p>
+
+<p>Tom was a boy of great courage. He thought for a little, and then he
+said: &quot;Frank, if you can carry Pansy I'm sure I can manage Ara; and we
+will try to find shelter somewhere till the storm is blown over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So on again in this way they struggled, till, more dead than alive, they
+found, by good luck, the welcome shelter of a cave. The cave was by no
+means large, but they were surprised to find it so warm. The first
+thing, however, that Tom did was to walk all round the inside, rifle in
+hand. Tom had not been two years at sea for nothing. Meanwhile, where
+was Flossy, and where was Briton?</p>
+
+<p>Tom whistled again and again, till he said he had nearly whistled the
+whites of his eyes out, but never a dog replied.</p>
+
+<p>Something else had begun to whistle also, and that was the wind, and
+although Tom made several attempts to leave the cave, to have a look at
+the weather as he called it, he found it impossible to stand. Hours and
+hours passed away like this, and the tempest seemed only to increase in
+force.</p>
+
+<p>They were all very hungry now, and so Tom shared out some biscuits he
+had brought with him, and after they had swallowed a little snow they
+all sat down to talk.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I fear,&quot; said Tom, &quot;we'll have to stay here all night. It will be good
+fun, won't it, girls?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He knew it was anything but fun himself, but he spoke in that way to
+keep up the children's courage.</p>
+
+<p>When Aralia said, &quot;Yes,&quot; so did Pansy, but both looked very quiet.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this, to their great joy, in bounded Briton himself, and
+close behind him waddled Floss. It was clear to all that he had been
+helping Flossy along, for Flossy was still little more than a puppy;
+but, poor wee beauty, how glad she was to see them all again!</p>
+
+<p>She crawled up to Pansy, and lay down on her back to be scratched, which
+was always Flossy's way of showing she was pleased.</p>
+
+<p>Well, after they had all talked till they were tired, Tom said: &quot;Now,
+girls, just you lie down to sleep. Frank, here is my ticker.&quot; He gave
+his cousin his watch as he spoke. &quot;You have to do sentry for three
+hours. Then wake me up and I'll let you lie down. See, I'll put my rifle
+and belt, with fifty cartridges in it, beside you. Mind, that is only
+for show, because you're too little a boy to touch guns. Anybody want a
+little more snow? No? Very well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So the girls curled up with Veevee and Floss, and Tom lay near. But
+Briton seemed to say: &quot;No, I won't sleep; I'll lie and watch with
+Frank.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Frank was not sorry to have the dog beside him for it was terrible to
+feel all alone in such a dismal place.</p>
+
+<p>Well, the night wore slowly on&mdash;one, two, three, four hours&mdash;and Frank
+was just looking at the rifle, and pretending to aim at something in the
+falling snow, when, all at once, Briton uttered a low warning growl and
+sprang to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>Next moment a great shambling bear was right in the mouth of the cave.
+He gave a roar that seemed to shake the whole island.</p>
+
+<p>Whether the boy took aim or not, I never could tell, but he certainly
+fired the rifle, and down dropped Bruin dead, and lay in the snow with
+his great tongue hanging out, a marvellous sight to see.</p>
+
+<p>The noise in the cave was fearful, but as soon as the girls had stopped
+screaming, Frank told what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you what it is, girls,&quot; he said more than once, &quot;there wasn't
+the least bit of bravery about it. I just held out the gun, and off it
+went.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, but you were brave!&quot; said Aralia; &quot;and if you hadn't killed the
+awful monster, we should all be dead now.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, no,&quot; cried Tom, &quot;it was only Flossy that the bear wanted! He just
+wanted a bit of seal for supper.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wowff!&quot; barked Briton.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wiff!&quot; barked Veevee, as much as to say: &quot;No bear shall touch Flossy
+while we are alive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But nobody thought of sleeping any more, and as they were all very
+hungry, Tom served out more snow.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>The tempest howled for many hours more. Then at last it grew almost
+calm, and the sun shone out on the pure white snow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know what to do now,&quot; said Tom. &quot;Let us find our way to the beach.
+The boat may be there, you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But long before they reached the shore they beheld a wondrous sight, for
+as far as the eye could reach there was no water to be seen, only huge
+icebergs covered with dazzling snow, all gently moving up and down with
+the swelling waves beneath. The noise made by these great bergs as they
+ground their sides together was deafening.</p>
+
+<p>But there were no signs of the boat, and no ship was to be seen. The
+<i>Valhalla</i> had either been crushed to atoms or been driven out to sea.
+Tom clung to the last hope, and even told his sisters that she was sure
+to return for them soon. He would not get downhearted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is a queer business, Frank,&quot; he said with a light laugh, which had
+no sound of fun in it however; &quot;but we must do the best we can till they
+come back. Eh, Frank?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, of course.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Pansy was clinging to Aralia, quietly crying.</p>
+
+<img class="right"  src="images/jolly.jpg" width="251" height="302"
+alt="the cave">
+
+<p>&quot;Well, Frank, we must live in the cave for a little, and so we had
+better get everything in, and be as jolly as we can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When they had got everything up to the cave, which took a long time,
+everybody had a good breakfast. There was really enough food to last a
+week, and it was lucky there were several boxes of sardines, for Floss
+would take nothing else.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's going to be a big, big picnic,&quot; said Frank, and the girls began
+to laugh. &quot;We're going to have lots of fun.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Frank and Tom could climb like monkeys, and in about an hour's time they
+had put all the food high up in a hole in the rock out of the reach of
+bears or foxes.</p>
+
+<p>By twelve o'clock, when the sun was as high as it could get, the snow
+had disappeared, and once more there was a soft, warm breeze blowing,
+and beauty everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>Two days flew by and nothing happened, only at night they could hear
+foxes barking in the distance. They never attack people singly, as bears
+do, but they are dangerous in packs, as Tom one day found out to his
+cost.</p>
+
+<p>The food was getting low, and Tom thought it was time to do something.
+They had found strange fruits like strawberries growing, and also some
+sort of roots that tasted like nuts; but unless they could get some fish
+poor Flossy would die.</p>
+
+<p>So Tom started off all alone on a voyage of discovery. Frank stayed in
+the cave with the girls, and they promised to be very good.</p>
+
+<p>The morning was very calm, and so still that Tom could hear Pansy
+calling to him &quot;not to be long&quot; when he was quite a mile up the
+mountain-side. Why he took this course he could never tell, but, when
+he crossed the top, marvellous indeed was the view that lay before his
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Staysail used to tell him that the natives of the north say there
+is an open sea somewhere near the Pole, with many islands in it, and
+trees, and flowers, and birds.</p>
+
+<p>And now, behold! such a sea lay right down in the round valley yonder at
+his feet. It was not really a sea, but a lovely round lake, and right in
+the middle was a large green island.</p>
+
+<p>Tom rubbed his eyes and gazed and gazed, and then rubbed his eyes and
+gazed again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Was it all a dream?&quot; he wondered.</p>
+
+<p>No, there was no dream about it. It took Tom some hours to explore this
+lake. He walked round it and found that at the far side a ridge of
+rocks, very narrow, led right out to the island. He crossed this natural
+bridge and found himself in a perfect paradise. Flowers and fruit
+everywhere, and beautiful wild birds the like of which he had never seen
+before. There were rabbits, too, and very tame they were, for they
+followed him about, and seemed to wonder what he was and where on earth
+he came from.</p>
+
+<p>Tom knocked one on the head, though he was not cruel, and with this
+slung over his shoulder, and his pockets full of nuts, he started to
+walk back.</p>
+
+<p>But I suppose that walking round in a circle had confused him. Anyhow
+he walked miles out of his way, and lost himself. He sat down on a big
+stone at last, and wondered what he should do. He was tired and hungry,
+so he ate a handful of nuts. And then he began to nod.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll just have five minutes of a nap,&quot; he said, &quot;and then get on
+again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So down he lay. But his five minutes lasted for an hour, and still the
+lad lay fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>A large gray fox stole up and smelt the rabbit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That'll just suit me,&quot; said he to himself. &quot;I'll go and call my
+brothers and sisters, and we'll kill this two-legged creature and steal
+his rabbit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yap-yap-yap!&quot; barked the fox, and soon he had a whole pack round him.
+But just as they were getting near to Tom, he awoke and sat up. Bang
+went his rifle at once, as he saw his danger. One fox fell dead, but the
+others came on with a rush, and there was soon a lively fight. Tom laid
+about him with the butt end of his rifle, and, being a strong young
+fellow, dead and dying foxes were soon lying all round him.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the pack drew back a little way, only to come on again,
+yelping and yelling more than ever. Poor Tom's wrists were dripping with
+blood, for he had been bitten in many places. He thought it was all
+over now, yet he meant to fight to the last.</p>
+
+<p>But help was at hand, for the next moment Briton bounded into the centre
+of the spiteful pack, and the savage beasts fled in every direction.</p>
+
+<p>What a happy meeting that was! The mastiff led Tom back over the hills,
+and in an hour's time he was safe and sound at the cave.</p>
+
+<p>Pansy wept with delight, and Aralia bound up Tom's wrists. He made very
+light of the bites, however.</p>
+
+<p>There were many pieces of old black wood in the cave, so Frank collected
+them and lit a fire; and when it was quite clear, the rabbit was
+roasted, and everybody made a splendid dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Then Tom told them all he had seen; and, after a night's rest, they all
+started off the next morning for the lake and the island, taking the
+skins and rugs with them. They reached the long ridge of rocks and
+crossed over. Then, indeed, were the girls surprised and delighted. What
+a lot they would have to tell Father and Mother when they got home
+again!</p>
+
+<p>Tom sighed. He feared in his own mind that they would never, never see
+their home any more.</p>
+
+<p>When Flossie saw the lake she made a spring towards it and dived below
+the surface. They could see her darting about beneath, and soon up she
+came, looking as pleased as Punch, with a fine, great fish in her mouth.
+She laid it gently at Pansy's feet, and dived in again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll be happy here,&quot; she seemed to say, as she brought another fish,
+&quot;and we need never be hungry any more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After Tom had well explored the island, he told Frank they must build a
+fort. He had found the very spot for it, too, on a little hill. This was
+about a hundred feet high, and the top was hollow, like a cup, with only
+one opening into it. In fact, the top of the hill was part of the crater
+of an extinct volcano, and was shaped like the letter G, the doorway
+being only a gap in the rocks, through which no bear could squeeze.</p>
+
+<p>Inside, the walls were twenty feet high all round, all bare rock; but
+the floor was covered with grass, and moss, and wild flowers.</p>
+
+<p>Aralia and Pansy were wild with delight, and Pansy said she would now be
+able to sleep without ugly dreams.</p>
+
+<p>Veevee would be her bed-fellow, and Floss would curl up with Sissie, and
+big Briton could sleep at the entrance.</p>
+
+<p>So it was all arranged.</p>
+
+<p>But as there could be no telling how long they might have to remain
+here, and as rain would be sure to fall, even if snow did not, Tom and
+Frank began to build a hut inside Fort Fairyland, as they called their
+strange abode.</p>
+
+<p class="ctr"><img src="images/hut.jpg" width="254" height="306"
+alt="building a hut">
+</p>
+
+<p>Now each boy had&mdash;like all Greenland sailors&mdash;not only a large,
+many-bladed knife, with a saw in it, but a huge broad dagger in a
+leathern belt round his waist. So they did not want for tools.</p>
+
+<p>They found the best wood for what they wanted growing close by the
+lake, in the shape of straight and strong willows. There were plenty of
+leaves, and grasses, and heath also.</p>
+
+<p>It would be rather a long job, but they set to work with a will, and in
+three days' time they had dragged everything they wanted up to Fort
+Fairyland. The building of the hut was fine fun. At first it was only
+meant to be a kind of shelter on poles, but, as they had so much time
+upon their hands, they agreed to build real walls, and leave space for a
+door and a window. In little more than a week they had the framework all
+up, and the roof all made. It was thatched first with broad leaves, and
+then with grass. And, mind you a short ladder had to be made first to
+permit them to do the thatching. When this was finished, all the sides
+were filled in with willow branches, except door and window. Never a
+hole was left in it, for Aralia and Pansy collected heaps and heaps of
+dried moss, and the boys worked this in to fill up the gaps.</p>
+
+<p>And when all was finished, and wicker seats made, it did look a cosy
+little hut indeed.</p>
+
+<p>But all the cooking was done out-of-doors. There were no sauce-pans to
+clean, nor knives nor forks. The plates were broad leaves, and for
+knives and forks the castaways used pointed sticks.</p>
+
+<p>It really wasn't bad fun at all being Crusoes in such a place as this.</p>
+
+<p>But&mdash;dear me! there is always a &quot;but&quot; about everything&mdash;how was it all
+to end?</p>
+
+<p>And where was the <i>Valhalla</i>?</p>
+
+<p>Except for these two questions, which would keep on running through
+Tom's and Frank's minds, they could have been quite contented&mdash;well, for
+a time at all events.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>In their rambles through this little Arctic fairy land, Tom noticed that
+the squirrels were now busy every day running away to their holes with
+nuts and leaves. Of course they might have young ones to feed, he
+thought; but surely it was something more than this which made them act
+thus.</p>
+
+<p>Creeping all alone one morning through the bushes, as quietly as a
+mouse, Tom came upon a sight which taught him a useful lesson. For high
+up in the trunk of an old tree was a big round hole with a squirrel's
+tail hanging out. Presently up ran another squirrel, carrying a great
+mouthful of leaves and clay.</p>
+
+<p>The new-comer made a slight noise, when out came No. 1 and took the
+bundle from No. 2, which then darted off for more.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ho! ho!&quot; said Tom to himself, &quot;they seem to be storing up food for
+winter. Heigho! I thought it would always be summer in this fairyland.
+But thank you, Master Squirrel, I shall go and do the same.&quot; So off went
+Tom to tell Frank and the girls what he had seen the squirrels doing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As there is no sign of the ship coming back for us, children,&quot; he said
+somewhat seriously, &quot;and we may have to spend the winter here, I think,
+you know, we ought to be making ready for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So do I,&quot; said Pansy, looking very wise. &quot;We want food, and we want
+wood and all, doesn't we, Tom?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It won't be very, very cold in this island,&quot; said her brother, &quot;because
+we have the warm-water lake all round us. But perhaps the squirrels know
+best.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So now began a very busy season indeed, for everybody went
+nut-gathering.</p>
+
+<p>Tom opened up a squirrel's store, and a pretty noise the little creature
+made about it. But he did not rob it; he only wanted to learn a lesson.</p>
+
+<p>He noticed that the nuts it had collected were a little green on one
+side, so these must be the best. Then he looked at the leaves and clay
+that were packed over them, and thought he would get some just the
+same.</p>
+
+<p>This going a-nutting in fairyland was real fine fun, and to have heard
+their merry voices, talking and laughing and singing, with every now and
+then Briton's great bass &quot;Wowff!&quot; and Veevee's shrill &quot;Wiff!&quot; no one
+would have taken them for castaways and Crusoes.</p>
+
+<p>Nutting made everyone so hungry too!</p>
+
+<p>Rabbits were very plentiful on the island. The boys caught them by means
+of snares made of a kind of tough creeper. And bonny Flossy caught as
+many fish as would have kept a large family alive.</p>
+
+<p>Tom seldom used his rifle, though he always carried it. The cartridges
+were too precious to waste.</p>
+
+<p>Another thing which these Crusoes had to be very careful to do was never
+to let the fire go out. It was easily kept in by placing a kind of mossy
+peat among the hot ashes and covering it quite over.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>So they collected an immense quantity of nuts, and these were placed in
+holes found in the rocks, and covered right up with the same sort of
+cement as the squirrels used. The roots that served them instead of
+bread every day, and which were cooked by placing them for a short time
+in the hot ashes, they also collected and stored. So when the harvest
+was all over, Tom told Frank and his sisters that they needn't be afraid
+to spend their Christmas in this beautiful island.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, but, Tom,&quot; said Pansy, &quot;we'll all be home long, long before
+Christmas, won't we?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Poor child! She was beginning to long for her mother's cosy cottage on
+the cliff, and for the fires that in the long winter evenings always
+burned so brightly in the parlour grate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, about light for the long Arctic winter night, which will soon be
+here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This was the question that Tom put to Frank just after sunset one
+beautiful evening as the snow on the tops of the highest mountains was
+changed to a rose tint in the sun's parting rays.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is a very serious question, you know,&quot; he added.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very serious,&quot; said Pansy, who heard him, shaking her wise, wee head.</p>
+
+<p>Sitting by the camp fire there, with its lights and shadows chasing each
+other over her face and through her sunny hair, Pansy looked a very
+beautiful child indeed.</p>
+
+<p>For some time they had all been sitting round the fire, watching the
+curling smoke and the dancing flames, everyone intent on his or her own
+thoughts. Aralia had been wondering what they were all doing at home,
+and if her father and mother were anxious about her and Pansy. It was
+such a long, long time&mdash;hundreds of years it seemed&mdash;since they had
+sailed away; so many strange things had happened since that day. Pansy
+was a little maiden who took the world very easily, and enjoyed each day
+and hour as it passed. Her thoughts were hardly worth a penny. Frank was
+not unlike Pansy, and took things as they came, and if they were not
+nice, just let them slide. The mastiff was asleep, so was Veevee, and
+both seemed to be dreaming, and talking in their dreams. But Flossy's
+eyes were very wide open now. She was really wondering if she could
+catch another fish to-night. Flossy had lately taken to waddling away
+towards evening for a swim in the warm lake, and never came back without
+something in her mouth.</p>
+
+<p>So nobody was surprised when they missed her from the fire, only, as she
+stayed rather longer to-night than usual, and as the long twilight would
+soon end, Tom took up his rifle and went off all by himself to look for
+her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, dear!&quot; cried Pansy, as the sound of a shot startled everyone in the
+fort. &quot;Tom's gone and killed something!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let's run and see,&quot; said Frank. Veevee and Briton had already rushed
+off.</p>
+
+<p>They found Tom at the lake-side, standing over a huge dead bear, with
+Flossy near him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That bear,&quot; said Tom, laughing, &quot;was keeping poor Floss in the lake;
+but he won't do so again. Isn't he a fine one?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; cried Frank; &quot;he is indeed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And now, children,&quot; said Tom, when he was once more seated in front of
+the camp fire, &quot;the question of lights is settled for good. Frank and I
+are going to make candles out of that bear's tallow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, Pansy, we are. Oh, we shouldn't be half Crusoes if we couldn't
+make candles!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So the boys arranged to start work the very next morning at sunrise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But first let us have a look through this beautiful isle of the sea,
+while the girls are asleep. There may be more bears. Briton, you must
+stay and watch. Veevee, you may come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Though Veevee searched every bush and grove, no bear was found. The one
+Tom had so cleverly killed must have crossed to the island alone by the
+bridge of rocks.</p>
+
+<p>So, after breakfast, the boys built their fire. With big blocks of lava
+they made a sort of stove, and on top of this was placed a large
+cup-like stone, which they had chanced to find. Into this they put the
+tallow to melt. In the meantime Tom pulled a quantity of thick rushes,
+and set Frank and the girls to peel them, while the dogs looked on as if
+wondering what it was all about.</p>
+
+<img class="right" src="images/about.jpg" width="253" height="306"
+alt="discussion">
+
+<p>&quot;It's something to eat, I suppose,&quot; said Briton, looking very wise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A sort of soup of some kind from the smell of it, I should think,&quot; was
+Veevee's remark.</p>
+
+<p>The long threads of white pith were about as thick as a penholder, and
+these were to form the wicks. When dried they were tied two and two by
+one end.</p>
+
+<p>Then between two uprights Tom placed a long willow rod, with three dozen
+strong thorns stuck in it about two inches apart, to serve as hooks.</p>
+
+<p>By this time the tallow was melted and all was ready.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, ladies and gentlemen,&quot; said Tom, &quot;you shall see how candles were
+built in the Royal Navy when Uncle was a boy.&quot; He rolled up his sleeves,
+and, picking up a double wick, dipped it in the pan, and then hung it on
+the first peg for the tallow to set. He did the same with all the rest,
+and by the time he had the thirty-sixth wick hung up, No. 1 was ready to
+be taken down and dipped again. So on he went all along the row, till he
+had dipped them a dozen times at least, when, lo! and behold! they were
+thick and beautiful candles, each one strong enough to give the light of
+half a dozen ordinary ship's candles.</p>
+
+<p>He worked for two days, and made about a hundred in all, so there was no
+fear of their having to sit in the dark.</p>
+
+<p>Next night, while the moon was shining low over the snow-clad hills, the
+whole camp was alarmed by the fierce barking of Briton. The mastiff was
+&quot;wowffing&quot;, Veevee was &quot;wiffing&quot;, and Flossy was moaning and wagging her
+tail in the air. Though it was long past midnight, Briton wanted to be
+off out and kill something or somebody he had heard, and Veevee would
+also go on the war-path for fear Briton might get hurt.</p>
+
+<p>Almost immediately after came the most tremendous yelling the Crusoes
+had ever heard, and it was clear that a whole pack of foxes had invaded
+the island, and if Briton and Veevee had been allowed to go out, they
+would both have been torn to pieces. The awful din lasted for hours,
+with a sound now and then of fighting.</p>
+
+<p>Then it stopped, and all was still.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody went quietly off to sleep again, but next day, when they went
+to the lake-side, behold not a trace of the bear was to be seen. The
+beasts had eaten all the flesh, and carried away the bones and skin.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what if these wild dogs return some night,&quot; said Tom to Frank,
+&quot;and attack the camp. Although no bear could squeeze in here, these
+half-bred wolves might, and tear us all in pieces.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't frighten a fellow, Tom,&quot; said Frank. &quot;But I say, old man, we must
+puzzle our heads once again and make a gate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, that's good!&quot; cried Tom, laughing; &quot;why, there is only one head
+between the two of us, and that belongs to me, Master Frank; and don't
+you forget it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, well, you may have it, only for goodness' sake make good use of
+it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The cup-like top of the hill in which our Crusoes were living had but
+one entrance, as I have before told you, and the path leading to it was
+very steep, and made up of large stones and lumps of lava.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would be a good thing,&quot; Tom said, &quot;to get a lot of these inside.
+They would come in very handy to throw at an enemy, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That they would,&quot; said Frank.</p>
+
+<p>Well, it took them three whole days to make and fix up a gate, which
+they could raise or lower before the entrance by means of ropes made out
+of long trailing weeds, or creepers.</p>
+
+<p>Then, after they had carried about a hundred big stones inside, they
+began to feel happier and safer.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>One morning, a month or two after this, the Crusoes awoke to find that
+the sun rose that day for the last time, and, until spring should
+return, they would see his golden beams no more.</p>
+
+<p>But there was a bright and beautiful twilight every mid-day for two
+weeks longer. Then they knew that the long, dreary Arctic night had come
+in earnest. For about a month the Crusoes had been eating very heartily
+every day and were getting quite fat. It was the same with the animals.</p>
+
+<p>Flossy had long ago lost her puppy coat, and was now a bonny
+whitish-yellow seal, not very large, and with a black saddle on her
+back. But Flossy got drowsy too, and if the boys had not stirred her up
+every day, and sent her off to catch fish, I believe she would have
+slept nearly all the time.</p>
+
+<p>Even the boys felt sleepy, though they could not tell why. Said Tom one
+day to Frank as they sat playing draughts on a rough board, with nuts
+for men: &quot;Frank, old man, by this time all the bears will have gone into
+winter quarters. They won't come out much until the sun returns.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fancy,&quot; cried Aralia, clapping her hands, &quot;Fancy all of us sleeping all
+night long&mdash;three months, didn't you say, Tom? Wouldn't it be nice? And
+if Uncle Staysail should come in to wake us in the morning! 'Get up,' he
+would say, 'are you going to sleep all day?'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They all laughed at the idea, but it was not carried out. Besides the
+candles, which they only burned at supper and after, they had torches
+made of wood which they could burn at any time. Moreover, there was the
+light of the camp fire, which they kept always burning, for they had
+laid in a vast store of peat and wood.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Tom was time-keeper. He had a little log-book in which he had been
+careful to note down day and date every morning, and, like a good lad,
+he never forgot to wind his watch. He made a really first-class Crusoe.</p>
+
+<p>But they were all good. And what a grand guard Briton was! If ever he
+heard the slightest sound of bird or rabbit down amongst the trees or
+bushes beneath them, he gave a low growl. One night he sprang to his
+feet and barked very loudly and angrily.</p>
+
+<p>The Crusoes were awake at once.</p>
+
+<p>And no wonder, for terrible noises, like distant thunder, were heard
+just beneath their feet. They were startled still more when explosion
+after explosion took place, both in the air and in the earth, while the
+ground was shaken under them.</p>
+
+<p>It was a curious, giddy movement, and made them all feel rather sick.</p>
+
+<p>Then the thunder-storm burst in earnest, with rain and hail in torrents,
+and the whole island seemed to be on fire with the lightning.</p>
+
+<p>Tom had to take Pansy in his arms to soothe her, for she shook and
+trembled like a little bird. But in two hours it was all over, and the
+stars were shining as bright and large and near as before.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Sometimes the moon shone with a stronger light than it ever does in this
+country. It seemed so close to them, too, that Pansy used to say it was
+only just resting on the snowy hill-top.</p>
+
+<p>On moonlit days the children were always abroad in the forest or by the
+lake-side watching Flossy catching fish. She dived and swam far more
+quickly than an eel.</p>
+
+<p>It is terribly dreary to want the sun, but after a month one gets used
+to it. Besides, one knows that bright and beautiful days are on ahead.
+Older people might have felt very weary, but none of our Crusoes lost
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>I have not told you yet of the Aurora Borealis, which was best seen on
+dark, starry nights. It was not in the north only, but all around them,
+great bright fringes of coloured lights&mdash;chiefly green, crimson, or
+pink. How they danced and flickered, to be sure! Such dazzling beauty no
+pen could describe, and I will not attempt it.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Christmas-day came at last, and how glad they all were to be still
+spared alive and in comfort!</p>
+
+<p>Tom meant to make the most of it. But, of course, there was no turkey or
+goose to roast. Instead, they had a splendid great rabbit stuffed with
+nuts, and roasted roots to eat with it.</p>
+
+<p>They had no crackers either, but Tom and Frank got an immense pile of
+dry wood, and heaped it in the middle of the rocky bridge that led to
+the mainland, and early in the day or night&mdash;whichever you like to call
+it&mdash;they set it alight.</p>
+
+<img class="right" src="images/fire.jpg" width="255" height="308"
+alt="the fire">
+
+<p>Now, probably this pile saved some of their lives. It had been placed
+there about five days before Christmas, and a huge bear, who had the
+nightmare I suppose, came yawning out of his cave and down the
+mountain-side.</p>
+
+<p>He had shambled along to about the centre of the bridge, then lain down
+among the wood and gone off to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>He slept so soundly that he did not hear the boys crossing over to set
+the bonfire ablaze.</p>
+
+<p>But when the smoke and crackling flames got towards him he started up
+and began to trot off, coughing and roaring till all the hills sent back
+the sound.</p>
+
+<p>So awful was the echo that the boys were for a time almost
+terror-stricken. They thought that about a score of bears had left their
+snow-caves and were swarming down the hill.</p>
+
+<p>Tom fired his rifle, but missed. Veevee wanted to follow up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Only just let me get at him,&quot; cried the little rascal, &quot;and I'll tear
+him limb from limb!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Anyhow that was a fine fire, and it lit up the lake and the woods all
+about, while the numerous sparks that rose and fell in the air were like
+golden rain.</p>
+
+<p>After the fire began to fade and to die they all returned to their
+Christmas dinner in the hut.</p>
+
+<p>No fewer than four candles were lighted to-night, one in each corner of
+the room. Oh, Tom meant to do everything in first-class form, I can tell
+you!</p>
+
+<p>And I feel pretty certain that even at home in Merrie England no one
+that evening ate more heartily or made a better dinner than our Crusoes,
+all alone though they were in the far-off Frozen North.</p>
+
+<p>After supper they all came round the fire, and the dogs went off to
+sleep, perchance to dream; but the children kept very wide awake indeed.
+And Tom told lots of droll, funny stories, and everybody sang songs.
+After this, all the talk was about home and the delightful time they
+were sure to have in one year's time, when Christmas came round again
+once more.</p>
+
+<p>Then came sleep, and when Tom looked at his watch&mdash;next morning let me
+call it&mdash;it was very nearly twelve o'clock!</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Although it now wanted but a fortnight, according to Tom's reckoning, of
+the first sunrise, it was still as dark as ever, and but for the moon
+and stars and glorious Aurora, life about this time would have been very
+tame and dreary indeed.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, owing to the clearness of the air and the purity of everything
+around them, the children never once lost heart. In fact they were as
+merry as sky-larks, and often made the island resound with song and
+mirth and laughter.</p>
+
+<p>And the dogs, as well as Flossy, were merrier still. They barked and
+laughed as only dogs can, and chased each other round and round in great
+circles, often disappearing for ten minutes at a time, and springing out
+and rolling Flossy over and over when she least expected them.</p>
+
+<p>Flossy was gay enough, although she couldn't run, and often leapt fully
+six feet high, turning over and over in the air before she came down
+again.</p>
+
+<p>And when she did manage to entice the dogs into the water, it was her
+turn to show them her skill; and indeed her feats in the water were
+marvellous. Anyhow, she used quite to astonish the dogs. They were all
+very well in the woods, but couldn't match Flossy in the water, and
+there was no use trying it.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>The long mid-day twilights came first, uncertain and gray to begin with,
+but getting brighter and more lovely as time went on. It was as if
+Nature were trying her hand in painting the sky to give the great king
+of day a glorious welcome.</p>
+
+<p>But one day the snow on the mountain peaks changed to a bright red,
+while above floated just one streak of crimson cloud; higher up, the
+stars shone in a strange, green light, and all the horizon was of the
+richest orange colour.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, surely,&quot; cried Pansy, &quot;the sun will rise to-day!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the red faded from the mountain-top, the little cloud turned brown,
+then gray, then black, and it was night once more.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, little sister,&quot; said Tom kindly; &quot;but the sun will rise to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>All went to bed early that night, and were up very early in the morning.
+In fact, breakfast was finished before the stars had begun to pale in
+the west. Then came twilight itself, and, long though it was, its
+intense beauty was the best reward for the waiting, watching little
+Crusoes.</p>
+
+<p>Every heart was beating quickly, and Pansy was standing on brave Tom's
+shoulder, just to be &quot;nearer the sky&quot;, she said.</p>
+
+<p>All were silent.</p>
+
+<p>The sun came at last, and with such a silvery sheen, too, that the
+children were dazzled.</p>
+
+<p>This was best, for they could not thus see the tears that slowly
+trickled down each other's faces.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look! look! look!&quot; was all Pansy could say.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, isn't it splendid!&quot; said Tom, as soon as he could speak.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uncle is sure to come now,&quot; said Aralia firmly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll go and fish,&quot; Flossy seemed to say as she sprang three times her
+length in the air, and turned head over heels like the clown in a
+circus.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on, Veevee,&quot; cried the mastiff, &quot;come for a run in the sunshine.&quot;
+And off they set.</p>
+
+<p>But the day soon ended, for the sun quickly disappeared. Yet the Crusoes
+had seen it, and that was joy enough for once.</p>
+
+<p>And now the days began to lengthen out, but at the same time earthquakes
+and thunder-storms became more and more frequent. The lake felt hot
+again, and the water tossed about so much at times, that even Flossy was
+afraid to venture in to catch the fish she could not live without.</p>
+
+<p>There was a most terrible earthquake-storm about two weeks after the
+first sunrise.</p>
+
+<p>Even Tom himself was frightened this time, for the thunderings and
+lightnings and explosions were awful, and lasted for three long days. It
+was pitch dark all the time, and the rain came down in sheets.</p>
+
+<p>To make matters worse, smoke of a strange red colour was seen on the
+hills. It looked as if it came from rents in the mountain-sides, and
+there was a smell like burning sulphur in the air.</p>
+
+<p>But this season of terror ended at last; the stars shone out, there was
+a fine display of northern lights, and, soon after, the sun rose. A
+stiff breeze sprang up, and all the clouds and vapours were blown away,
+the last thing seen being a rainbow in the east.</p>
+
+<p>The joy of the Crusoes now knew no bounds. The dogs dashed about, Veevee
+barked &quot;Wiff!&quot; Briton barked &quot;Wowff!&quot; and Flossy frisked her tail and
+went off to fish.</p>
+
+<p>The children now set out for a stroll, and saw many curious sights.
+Close to the lake, in several places, the earth seemed to have been
+ripped open, and, looking down as they stood hand in hand on the edge,
+they seemed to be gazing right into the world's dark depths.</p>
+
+<p>Next day Tom took a long walk alone. He went to the top of one of the
+highest hills, having left his sisters in charge of Frank and Briton,
+but taking Veevee and his rifle with him.</p>
+
+<p>Pansy watched him go up and up the mountain, until he was lost to sight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; she cried, as she clapped her hands, &quot;I know where Tom has gone!
+He has just gone away to bring Uncle and 'Fessor Pete back again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Well, anyhow, Tom had a look at the sea. It spread out as far as the eye
+could reach, and was covered everywhere with great snow-clad bergs of
+ice, except just close to the island, where it was clear, but black as
+ink.</p>
+
+<p>It was nothing more than he expected, but somehow he wished it had been
+otherwise.</p>
+
+<p>He marched down the other side of the hill for quite a mile, keeping a
+good look-out, however, lest some huge ice-bear should catch him
+unawares.</p>
+
+<p>By and by he missed his little four-footed friend, and traced him by his
+footprints into a cave.</p>
+
+<p>He called aloud, but received no answer. The cave seemed to be a vast
+one, and he had to feel his way in the dark with his rifle, for fear of
+falling down some hole.</p>
+
+<p>As he could hear nothing, he thought poor Veevee must be dead, and
+slowly and sadly turned back.</p>
+
+<p>His foot kicked against something hard when he was near to the entrance,
+and, stooping down, he picked up what seemed to be a piece of white
+stone, and put it into the pocket of his jacket.</p>
+
+<p>When he got back home at last, poor Pansy cried very much indeed at the
+loss of her pet. But when, next morning, she found him curled up at her
+feet, she thought it must have been all a dream.</p>
+
+<p>How the dog got back was never known, but it is possible he had been
+wandering all night in that cavern, deep down in the earth, and come out
+at the lake side of the range of hills.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>It was quite a month before Tom crossed the hills again. By this time
+spring had already come back to Fairy Island. The buds were all out on
+the trees, and the green leaves on a thousand bushes. Wild flowers were
+everywhere. The birds, too, had returned, and the sea-gulls had taken up
+their abode on a great patch of level ground just on the other side of
+the lake. When anyone went near to their nests, which were in thousands,
+and so close together that it was difficult to thread one's way through
+them, the noise and screaming they made was deafening.</p>
+
+<p>Now I don't think that Tom and Frank were cruel, but they had to live,
+and those great green-speckled eggs made a splendid addition to the
+larder, so that, what with sunshine and better food, the girls soon got
+back all the colour they had lost during the long, long night of winter.</p>
+
+<p>But where was the <i>Valhalla</i> and her crew all this time? Would they
+never, never come?</p>
+
+<p>The Crusoes lived in hope.</p>
+
+<p>Now in spring-time the foxes and bears of the north, that have slept or
+starved for months, become bold and dangerous through hunger. Bears are
+always to be feared, but more so at this time of the year than any
+other.</p>
+
+<p>One day the prisoners of Fairy Island had been gayer than usual, but at
+last, tired and happy, they had lain down to rest. It might have been
+about midnight when they were awakened by a warning growl from Briton.
+Then, with Veevee, he sprang up and rushed to the gate barking
+furiously.</p>
+
+<p class="ctr"><img src="images/island.jpg" width="254" height="306"
+alt="Fairy Island">
+</p>
+
+<p>Tom sprang to his feet, and snatched up his rifle. He was not left long
+in doubt as to who the enemy was. The wild wolf-foxes were in force, and
+the yelping and howling outside was terrible to listen to.</p>
+
+<p>He fired his rifle several times right into the centre of the pack,
+killing many and wounding more. This only made matters worse. The fierce
+and hungry beasts dashed themselves at the gate and tried to tear it in
+pieces.</p>
+
+<p>Stones were hurled at them, but all in vain. Poor Briton was as anxious
+to get out as they were to get in, and had to be kept back by force.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go, quick, Frank,&quot; shouted Tom, &quot;and stir up the fire; heap more peats
+and wood on, and bring lighted torches as soon as you can. I will guard
+the gate till you come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So there Tom stood opposed to the whole awful crowd, with their glaring
+eyes, red tongues, and white-flashing teeth, with only a slight gateway
+between him and death. When he thrust his rifle between the willow bars
+to take a shot, the beasts bit and tore at it, as if they would have
+dragged it from his grasp.</p>
+
+<p>Aralia was busy helping Frank, and presently both came running up with
+lighted fir-torches, which Tom at once flung over the gate, together
+with pieces of burning peat and wood. These did splendid work, and after
+a time the terrible pack drew off.</p>
+
+<p>There was no more sleep that night, however, and towards morning the
+attack began again. The foxes had dragged off their dead and wounded and
+devoured them. In the gray light of morning they rushed to the gate once
+more, and the battle raged again in all its fury.</p>
+
+<p>Poor little Pansy was trembling and shaking with fear as she looked up
+and saw that high up on the walls of the fort those savage, wild animals
+had taken their stand.</p>
+
+<p>It was a terrible morning, and hope seemed at last to fade, for even
+brave Tom had grown faint and weary, and could fight but little longer.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a><h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;Come along, Professor! Come along, Mate! The children are there
+somewhere, over in that strange island. Ha! here is a bridge of rocks!
+Thank goodness for that! And look! here, too, are tracks!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was Uncle Staysail who spoke, and behind him was 'Fessor Pete
+himself, and at least a dozen well-armed sailors.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Listen!&quot; cried the captain. &quot;What is that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wolves, I think,&quot; said the professor. &quot;And hark! surely that was a
+rifle-shot. Pray Heaven we may be in time, Staysail!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hurry up, men! Hurry up!&quot; cried the captain; and the men dashed
+onwards.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>Tom had revived a little, and he and Frank were fighting harder than
+ever to hold the gate, as bold</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<p class="i4">"Horatius kept the bridge</p>
+In the brave days of old&quot;
+</div></div>
+
+<p>But it was already giving way, and the beasts without seemed to know it.</p>
+
+<p>Briton was on his legs ready, and all seemed to be lost, when suddenly a
+rattling volley of rifle fire was heard from beneath, with shouts of
+men.</p>
+
+<p>Volley followed volley, and in less time than it takes me to tell it,
+the wild wolf-foxes were seeking safety in flight.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>&quot;Tell us all your story again,&quot; said Tom to his uncle, as the children
+sat round the stove that same evening in the cosy cabin of the
+<i>Valhalla</i>.</p>
+
+<p>They were all washed and clean by this time, and the girls were
+beautifully dressed.</p>
+
+<img class="left" src="images/pipe.jpg" width="253" height="307"
+alt="Uncle lighting pipe">
+
+<p>&quot;Ah! well, you see,&quot; said Uncle as he relit his pipe, &quot;the professor
+here made a dart for the vessel when the storm came on. He wanted a
+stronger crew.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He caught us just in time, for though the gale was a furious one we
+could steam up to it, and were doing so, when suddenly there was a loud
+explosion; one of the boilers had burst, and the engines were smashed
+and useless.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We were now at the mercy of the sea, the waves, and the icebergs too,
+and before another day we were blown far away to sea.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Even then we had hope. But in a week's time we were frozen into the
+main pack, and there we have had to winter, and it is hardly a week
+since we got clear by cutting a canal with our great ice-saws. Oh! it
+has been a dreary time for us, but must have been more so to you, poor
+darlings! and well and bravely you have borne it all!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am sure,&quot; he added, &quot;that even Pansy has grown, and her mother will
+hardly know her again when we all get home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We are going now, aren't we, 'Fessor Pete?&quot; said Pansy, who was sitting
+on his knee.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, my dear, yes. It is no use staying here when we have no steam, so
+the ship is now making for England's sunny shores. And we'll get there
+in the rosy month of June. Won't it be nice?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Pansy was jumping with joy.</p>
+
+<p>Aralia clapped her hands and cried: &quot;Just too jolly for anything!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>By and by Aralia sat down to the piano, and Pete brought out his fiddle,
+and a very happy evening indeed was spent in the <i>Valhalla</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The men were keeping it up forward too, around the galley fire, singing
+songs and spinning yarns, for the ship was &quot;homeward bound&quot;.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, by the by,&quot; said Tom one day to the professor, &quot;I forgot to tell
+you that in the cave where poor Veevee got lost I picked up this curious
+stone!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The professor put his spectacles on his nose and gazed at it for a
+moment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, my dear Tom, this is solid gold, in the centre of a coating of
+quartz! You're in luck, lad; and it is just as I said; that is the
+Island of Gold. We shall return another year, and you will be one of the
+richest men in the kingdom.&quot;</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>My story is finished, or almost.</p>
+
+<p>'Fessor Pete and Tom, with Uncle Staysail, to say nothing of the mastiff
+Briton, are out there in the Frozen North this very summer, and I do
+hope they will have luck.</p>
+
+<p>But Aralia and Pansy, with sometimes Frank and always Veevee, may be
+seen any day playing on the sands not far from their mother's home, and
+Flossy too.</p>
+
+<p>Flossy is wondrously tame, and spends an hour or two almost every day in
+the sea, or on the beach, to the great delight of all who see her. But
+Aralia has a whistle, and no matter how far away in the water this
+strange pet may be, whenever the call is sounded she comes ploughing
+back to the beach, and after she has shaken her bonny coat in the
+sunshine, goes waddling home with her little friend Veevee and the
+Crusoes of the Frozen North.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Crusoes of the Frozen North, by Gordon Stables
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRUSOES OF THE FROZEN NORTH ***
+
+***** This file should be named 11997-h.htm or 11997-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/9/9/11997/
+
+Produced by Julie Barkley, Andrea Ball and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's
+eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII,
+compressed (zipped), HTML and others.
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over
+the old filename and etext number.  The replaced older file is renamed.
+VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving
+new filenames and etext numbers.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000,
+are filed in directories based on their release date.  If you want to
+download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular
+search system you may utilize the following addresses and just
+download by the etext year.
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06
+
+    (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99,
+     98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90)
+
+EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are
+filed in a different way.  The year of a release date is no longer part
+of the directory path.  The path is based on the etext number (which is
+identical to the filename).  The path to the file is made up of single
+digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename.  For
+example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234
+
+or filename 24689 would be found at:
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689
+
+An alternative method of locating eBooks:
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/about.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/about.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e43f73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/about.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/basket.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/basket.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eeb9186
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/basket.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/coats.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/coats.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff0e499
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/coats.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/fire.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/fire.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6fcbc69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/fire.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/frontis.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/frontis.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28b35c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/frontis.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/hats.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/hats.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae16470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/hats.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/hut.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/hut.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9b9841
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/hut.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/island.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/island.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd2791a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/island.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/jolly.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/jolly.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a46f895
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/jolly.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/lantern.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/lantern.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..206c427
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/lantern.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/pipe.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/pipe.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd68ada
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/pipe.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/sailor.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/sailor.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..deb0da3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/sailor.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997-h/images/spyglass.jpg b/old/11997-h/images/spyglass.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..498cb9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997-h/images/spyglass.jpg
diff --git a/old/11997.txt b/old/11997.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07a1ee6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2267 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Crusoes of the Frozen North, by Gordon Stables
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Crusoes of the Frozen North
+
+Author: Gordon Stables
+
+Release Date: April 11, 2004 [EBook #11997]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRUSOES OF THE FROZEN NORTH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Julie Barkley, Andrea Ball and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THEY FOUND TOM AT THE LAKE-SIDE, STANDING OVER
+A HUGE DEAD BEAR.]
+
+
+
+
+The Crusoes Of
+The Frozen North
+
+
+
+From the Well-known Story by
+Dr. Gordon Stables
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+"I'm sure of one thing," said Aralia to her little sister Pansy, as they
+sat together one lovely summer afternoon on the garden seat, and gazed
+away and away far over the North Sea. "I'm quite sure of one thing.
+Nobody ever could have so good an uncle as our uncle. Now, could anybody,
+Pansy?"
+
+"Oh no!" answered Pansy, shaking her pretty head. Pansy was hardly eight
+years old, and always agreed with her older sister, who was nearly
+eleven.
+
+"How I wish he were home again from his old ship," sighed Aralia, "and
+Tom with him!"
+
+"Well, Ara, we can sit here hours and hours every day and watch the sea,
+can't we?"
+
+"Yes, and we shall easily know the ship. As she goes by, shell set all
+her flags a-flying, and, if Father isn't at home, Mother will send up our
+great red flag on the garden pole. Oh dear! I could nearly cry for joy to
+think of it!"
+
+"And me too!" said Pansy.
+
+"And me too!" Veevee seemed to say, as he gave a short bark, and, jumping
+down from the seat, ran round the garden, looking like a fluffy white
+ball.
+
+The sea was very blue, only patched with green wherever a cloud-shadow
+fell on it. Down beneath the cliff on which the cottage stood, the waves
+broke lazily in long white lines of foam. On the sea itself were vessels
+of almost every kind, from the little fishing craft with brown sails to
+great ships sailing away to distant lands.
+
+Aralia knew what class of vessel each was by its rig; her best of uncles
+had taught her. And well could she use the spy-glass too, which she now
+held to her right eye. It had been hard at first to keep the left closed,
+but she could manage it now quite easily without asking Pansy to clap a
+hand over it.
+
+Soon she began to talk in little gasps:
+
+"Oh, Pansy--I think--Oh, I'm nearly sure--yes--yes--it must be! it _is_
+Uncle's ship! I can see the flags all a-flying--Hurrah! Come and look!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Pansy sat on her sister's knee and peeped through the glass. Then both
+the children started up and waved their arms in the air at the far-off
+ship. They were just about to rush off to tell Mother, when their cousin
+Frank came up. He was a lad of about thirteen or fourteen, but he was so
+tall and manly that he looked older.
+
+Frank came into the garden with a rush and a run when he heard the girls
+call out. A fishing basket was slung over his back, from which the tails
+of fish stuck out, showing what good sport he had had.
+
+"Hillo, Ara! Hillo, Pansy! What are you dancing and 'hoo-laying' about?
+Been stung by a wasp, my little Pansy Blossom?"
+
+"Oh, Frank," cried the elder girl, "look through the glass! Uncle's
+coming! Look at the ship, and all the flags."
+
+The boy was almost as excited now as the girls themselves, and presently
+they were all running in a string through the pretty garden towards the
+cottage with the news, Veevee bringing up the rear and barking bravely.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Rat-tat-tat at the door next afternoon, and little Pansy ran to open it,
+expecting to see the postman, but the knocking was only a bit of Tom's
+fun. Frank had left for Hull the evening before to meet him, and here was
+Tom the sailor, tall and bonny and dark. Pansy jumped into his arms like
+a baby, Aralia rushed to meet him, and his mother came out, though a
+little more slowly. When the bustle was all over, and Tom had answered
+nearly a hundred questions, they all went in to tea.
+
+"Yes, Aralia, Uncle is coming up from Hull with Father and Cousin Frank,
+and we shall stop here three whole days before we go back to clear ship
+and pay off"
+
+"And," added Tom, "Uncle has something so strange and nice to tell you!"
+
+"What is it, Tom?" said his two sisters, both in a breath as it were.
+
+"I can't, won't, and sha'n't tell you, girls," cried Tom, laughing,
+"because that would spoil the fun when Uncle comes."
+
+So all, even Veevee, who would not get off Tom's knees for a minute, had
+to be as patient as they could. But the time passed so quickly, listening
+to all this hearty young sailor had to tell of his voyage to the far
+north, that before anyone was aware it was nearly seven o'clock.
+
+And now down jumps Veevee and runs towards the door, barking aloud as if
+he were a very big dog.
+
+"They're coming! They're coming! Veevee knows!" And coming they were
+indeed.
+
+Tom had had a hearty welcome when he arrived, but when this best of
+uncles at last managed to sit down on the sofa: "Shiver my timbers,
+sister," he said to Mrs. Dunlop, "if it isn't worth while going all the
+way to the back of the North Pole just to get such a welcome home as
+this."
+
+Jack Staysail was a sailor every inch of him. He had roughed it so much
+in the Greenland seas, and been out in so many storms, that his face was
+as red as a boiled beet; but his eyes were as full of fun and merriment
+as a boy's.
+
+"We're not all here yet," he said. "I have asked my friend, Professor
+Peterkin, the Swede, to come in to-night with his mastiff." When their
+uncle mentioned the mastiff, Aralia and Pansy began to tremble for
+Veevee, but Tom only laughed.
+
+"Why," he said, "although Briton--that's his name--is big enough to
+tackle a bear, he wouldn't injure a mouse."
+
+It was nearly nine o'clock when the professor arrived. Briton marched in
+first, and a bigger and more noble-looking fellow was never seen. Veevee
+said he couldn't stand another dog in the place. So he started up,
+barking loudly, and offering to fight the mastiff to the death on the
+spot. But Briton stepped gingerly over the little dog, and went and lay
+quietly down on the rug.
+
+Then in bustled the professor himself, very droll, very small,
+clean-shaven, merry-eyed, and with as much hair on his great head as
+would have stuffed a cushion. He bowed and smiled to all, patted the
+children, and at last sat down to supper.
+
+All made a very hearty supper, though it was long past the children's
+bed-time. Only Uncle didn't come home every night, you know.
+
+When they had finished, Briton had a huge dish of scraps; Veevee sat
+watching him eat, and the children were very much surprised to see
+Briton shove one of the biggest and best morsels towards him. The tiny
+dog picked up the titbit and wagged his tail. After he had eaten it,
+he went and lay down beside Briton on the hearth-rug.
+
+The "something nice" that Uncle had to tell was soon told now.
+Captain Staysail cleared his throat before he began: "Ahem! Oh,
+you're  all waiting, are you, to hear what I've got to say? Well,
+then--ahem!--Professor Peterkin--"
+
+"Pete--Pete--Pete--Pete!" cried the droll, wee man, stopping him, and
+one would have thought he was calling a dog. "I'm not going to be called
+Professor, and I won't Peterkin. Just Pete, as I was on board ship, as I
+am to everybody, and must be to you.
+
+"But just look here, Staysail, you're a sailor, and you can't make a
+speech. Let me speak." And speak he did without waiting for a reply.
+
+"It's all in a nutshell, dear Mr. and Mrs. Dunlop, and I'll tell you in
+two or three sentences what your worthy sailor-brother would have kept
+you up all night to hear. Now listen! Briton, you lie down! Good again!
+Now I, Dan Peterkin, am a man who has been used to study hard, and think
+hard. You follow me so far? Good again!
+
+"Well, there is one thing has taken me years to work out, and that is,
+where in this world gold and coal are to be found. And I've done it. I
+can go right to the spots. One of them lies on an island right away up in
+the Frozen North. And we're going there. Your brother, Mrs. Dunlop, is
+going to take me.
+
+"Well, we may have some hardships. Paff! What do we care? We shall win
+such wealth as has never been seen before. You follow still? Good again!
+Well, I go to a town in the north last spring, when the seal ships are
+all there, and I look for an honest face. I find Staysail. I say to him:
+'You give me a passage to Greenland, my friend.' He say: 'What for I give
+you passage?' I smile. I take him by one button, and pull him all the way
+into a private room of the hotel. Briton follows. We all dine well--we
+all come out smiling--Briton too. And now, my friends, all is arranged.
+We sail away and away and away next spring for the seas of ice and the
+islands of gold.
+
+"That is all. You have followed me? Good again!" And once more the
+professor sat down, and the big arm-chair seemed to swallow him up.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ara and Pansy lay awake a long time that night thinking of what Pete had
+said. But the next day they went about their duties as usual. They did
+not go to school, as they had a governess, of whom they were both very
+fond. Nearly half their day would be spent out-of-doors with her and
+Veevee. In spring and summer they would gather flowers inland, but what
+they liked best was to play about on the sands, to go out boating with an
+old seaman they knew, or climb the rocks and get into very steep and
+giddy places.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Poor Frank Dunlop was an orphan, and was now the adopted son of Ara's
+father. As for Tom, who was a year or two older, his father had wanted
+him to go into business at home in England, but nothing would satisfy the
+lad but going to sea, so he had been sent to rough it with his uncle in
+the stormy seas of the Frozen North. The cruise now ended was his second,
+and Tom wasn't tired of the sea yet.
+
+Frank went back to school, and appeared no more at the cottage until
+Christmas came round. Then not only Uncle, but Pete and Briton came to
+spend a whole fortnight with the Dunlop family, and to make their final
+plans for the spring. And I should say that no fortnight seemed to pass
+so quickly to the children as did the two weeks when their visitors
+stayed with them.
+
+At last, one day in early spring, there left Hull on a trial trip one of
+the handsomest little steamers, and, for her size, one of the strongest
+that ever put to sea from that port. She was Captain Staysail's new ship,
+the _Valhalla_. Everything on board, both on deck and between decks, and
+in the saloon, was as clean and beautiful as if she had been a royal
+yacht. The decks were as white as ivory, the polished wood shone in the
+sun, and the brass-work looked like gold. The saloon itself, with its
+curtains, its mirrors, tables pillars, and piano, was really fit for a
+fairy princess to live in. Everything had been prepared under the eye of
+Professor Peterkin himself, so everything was perfect in its way.
+
+Pansy, who was on board, and had been peeping in some of the rooms, said
+to Aralia at last: "Oh, Aralia, what a dear little doll's house of a
+cabin; I should like to live in it always!"
+
+Neither of the children was sea-sick when the _Valhalla_ went out under
+steam, and they had such fun with the sailors and the two dogs that they
+were quite sorry when the ship once more steamed into port.
+
+And didn't everybody sleep soundly that night in the hotel! I should say
+so!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+The merry month of May had hardly begun when the brave _Valhalla_ steamed
+away on her perilous cruise to the far and icy north.
+
+Frank, with his two little cousins, had begged leave to go to Hull in
+order to see the very, very last of the beautiful ship and that best of
+uncles, Captain Staysail. Leave had been given by their parents, because
+"Wherever Frank is," said Mr. Dunlop, "the children are sure to be safe."
+
+There had been a good deal of stir and bustle on the very last evening,
+and many visitors had been to the _Valhalla_, for somehow word had gone
+out that Professor Peterkin, the great Swedish traveller, was off to find
+the North Pole!
+
+And all believed that he would find it. Some of the sailors even went so
+far as to say that he would bring it back with him rigged up as a mast of
+his ship!
+
+But by the time eight bells had rung out all was quiet. The hands had
+turned in, and only Tom and two men were left on watch.
+
+"Go forward," said Tom, "and have a cup of coffee and a smoke, and I'll
+see to the safety of the ship here at the gangway."
+
+The men took the young officer at his word, and it was not very long ere
+their smoke was finished, and they, too, were fast asleep. Had any other
+eyes than Tom's been watching the shore, about half an hour afterwards,
+they must have noticed that something very strange was taking place.
+
+Dark figures could be seen drawing near with stealthy footsteps to the
+farther end of the gangway. Then they stopped as if in fear and dread.
+But Tom whistled a long, low whistle, and three figures, muffled in
+oil-skins, stole along the gangway and stepped silently on deck.
+
+Then Tom sprang a small bull's-eye lantern, and let its light shine right
+in front of him, so that no one meeting him could have told who or what
+was stealing up behind. In the same quiet way he led the little party
+down a ladder to the deck below, and then beneath hammocks filled with
+sleeping sailors, and along a passage, until he came to a door, which he
+carefully unlocked, and soon afterwards locked again.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+By midnight next night the _Valhalla_ was far out at sea, bearing to the
+north, for Captain Staysail did not mean to touch at any of the English
+or Scotch ports on this voyage.
+
+The weather at first was very beautiful, and so it remained, with a calm
+sea and hardly a breath of wind, until nearly sunset of the second day.
+Then clouds began to bank up, dark and threatening, and the glass--so
+Webb, the first mate, reported to the captain--was going tumbling down.
+
+"We are going to have a blow, sir," he said, "and it's coming up sharp
+behind us. I reckon, sir, we'll have a ten-knotter afore the middle watch
+is called!"
+
+"Well, then, have the fires banked, Mr. Webb, as soon as the wind is
+strong enough to get way on her. I wouldn't set too much sail, and if it
+does come a gale, I'd ease her right away. You know what she can do,
+Mate."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!"
+
+"Well, I think that's all."
+
+But the mate didn't move.
+
+"Anything else, Mr. Webb?"
+
+"There is something else, sir," said the mate rather sheepishly.
+
+"Well, out with it. Why, you look as if you'd seen a ghost!"
+
+"Well, sir, there is a ghost, or demon, or something aboard of this very
+ship, and some of the crew are in a state next door to mutiny about it."
+
+"What on earth do you mean, Mr. Webb?"
+
+The tall, handsome, fair-haired Webb leaned over the table and spoke to
+Staysail almost in a whisper.
+
+"It's the little professor they all blame, sir; and there are four of
+them who swear the ship is haunted--that he keeps evil spirits under lock
+and key for'ard--"
+
+"But--but--Mr. Webb--Evil spirits under lock and key! Do you mean bad
+rum? And who is he?"
+
+"Hush, sir! don't talk so loud. He's walking the deck now. It's the
+professor I mean, sir. As to the evil spirits, I've heard them
+myself--mutter, mutter, squeak, squeak, squeak! Ugh! it is awful,
+sir--awful!"
+
+And the mate shuddered as he spoke.
+
+Now, Staysail was always a good laugher, but at this tale he fairly
+yelled with laughter until everything jingled in the cabin, and the tears
+ran down his cheeks.
+
+The mate never moved a muscle.
+
+"That awful fore-cabin, sir!" he said. "It's in there, and Broomberg, the
+Finlander, declares that if you don't land him and his mates at Bergen
+they'll seize the ship and sail for Aberdeen."
+
+"But why on earth don't you open the fore-cabin?"
+
+"Oh, that's where it is, sir! The key is lost, or else the professor has
+it."
+
+"Hark!"
+
+A squall at that moment struck the ship and heeled her over. It blew with
+tremendous force for a time, and at last settled down to a steady gale.
+But in less than an hour the captain's orders were carried out, and the
+good ship _Valhalla_ was speeding before the wind at a good rate with
+very little sail on her.
+
+The storm increased towards midnight, and at that dark hour the
+_Valhalla_ had to lie to under almost bare poles. So busy had all hands
+been kept that there was very little time to think of ghosts or evil
+spirits, and now that the crew had a chance of turning in, it is needless
+to say that sleep was the first thing to be considered.
+
+But fresh trouble came with the new day. The wind had gone down, and the
+sea as well, and the _Valhalla_ was now bowling along on a pretty even
+keel, for the breeze was well astern.
+
+Webb, the mate, and Tom both slept in bunks in the same cabin. Just as
+the steward was laying breakfast, Webb popped his head out from his cabin
+curtains.
+
+"Hillo, steward!"
+
+"Good-morning, sah!" said Jake Brown, who, strange as it may seem, was a
+tall and important-looking black man, with hair as white as snow.
+
+"Have you seen Master Tom? He hasn't been here all night. I slept too
+sound to take much notice."
+
+"Sakes alive, no!" cried burly Jake. "I run and search de ship plenty
+quick." And away he went.
+
+Webb was dressed and leaving his cabin when Jake returned. But neither
+high nor low, fore nor aft, could Tom be found, nor had he been seen
+since the main-topsail had carried away just before midnight.
+
+The captain was now roused and the terrible news reported.
+
+"Poor Tom! poor Tom! Washed overboard without a doubt!" he said.
+
+Tom had been a great favourite on board, and the news caused a general
+gloom all over the ship.
+
+But Broomberg and his mates received the news in another way.
+
+"It is von unlucky ship," cried the former, "and did not those below hear
+the shrieking of the ghosts when the waves and wind were highest? Come we
+to the captain at once, men. I will not sail in a haunted ship. No, no."
+
+Some minutes before eight bells rang out in the morning air, the captain
+on the quarter-deck, with Mr. Webb and the professor, were engaged in
+angry talk with Broomberg and his fellows.
+
+"Return to your duty, men," the captain said. "I will make enquiries
+into the matter. As for you, Broomberg, hand over that knife you are
+fingering, and consider yourself under arrest."
+
+"I will not," shouted the fellow. "See!"
+
+He made a wild rush aft, holding the glittering blade high in air, and
+seized the professor by the neck.
+
+But help from an unexpected quarter was at hand, and next moment
+Broomberg was sprawling on his back with Briton's great paws on his
+chest.
+
+Mutiny and ghosts and storm were at once forgotten. The men cheered
+wildly, Broomberg's knife was snatched from his hand, and he himself
+bound hand and foot, while everybody crowded round to shake hands with
+the little professor, or to pat the noble dog who had saved his life.
+
+But suddenly joy was changed to terror, for shriek after shriek could be
+heard forward, and in a few seconds' time the cook rushed helter-skelter
+up on deck, almost pale with fright, followed by the men of the watch
+below.
+
+"The ghosts!" somebody shouted.
+
+The captain stood as if stupefied, the little professor's eyes were as
+big as watch-glasses, and the mate had to catch hold of a back-stay to
+prevent himself from falling.
+
+The whole crew now took to the rigging, and the only marvel is that some
+of them did not slip overboard and make food for the sharks.
+
+"Look, look!--oh, look, sir!" shouted the mate with a cry like one in
+a nightmare; and the next moment he fainted and fell on the top of
+Broomberg the mutineer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+Two little girls, one little boy, and one little dog, all as black as
+chimney-sweeps, the girls with their arms in the air, now came wildly
+racing aft.
+
+Tom himself, come back to life, was standing on the capstan waving his
+cap in the air, and cheering and laughing like a mad thing.
+
+Aralia and Pansy reached the quarter-deck before anyone could say
+"knife", and, black as they were, sprang right into Captain Staysail's
+arms, hugging him and kissing him.
+
+"What!--what!--what!--" He tried to get out a sentence, but failed.
+
+"Oh, I was so frightened, Unky dear, but I is so happy now!" cried Pansy.
+
+"Bless my soul and body," cried Staysail at last, "how did all this
+happen?"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Then he went forward a few paces, the little ones clinging to him all the
+time, and Veevee racing round the deck like a live muff.
+
+"Tom, you young rascal, jump down here at once. This is all your work.
+Now, give a full account of it, sir."
+
+"Oh, I do hope, Uncle, you'll forgive me, but Frank and little Pansy and
+Aralia did want to come with us so much, that--that--!"
+
+"That you took them as stowaways, eh?"
+
+"I'm afraid that's it, sir."
+
+The captain pretended to be awfully angry, and said he would put about
+and land the lot at Aberdeen.
+
+"In the meantime, go below, children, and get yourselves washed; the
+steward will see to you. Steward!"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir, I'se heah, sah."
+
+"Let Miss Aralia and Pansy have that spare cabin near mine. I'll talk to
+you afterwards, Tom."
+
+Tom hung his head in sorrow--so it seemed,--but it really was to hide a
+smile.
+
+He got near enough to his sisters to say: "Keep up your pecker, Pansy,
+for there won't be any Aberdeen about it."
+
+In the spare cabin stood a big box that nobody had noticed before. Tom
+had smuggled it on board, and it contained his sisters' best things, and
+a full rig-out for them for the Arctic regions.
+
+Sly old Tom!
+
+He now stole into their cabin and gave them their clothes, and when
+Staysail came down to dinner at twelve, with his spy-glass under his arm,
+no wonder he cried: "Hillo! Hillo!"
+
+For here were the three children, all mirth and smiles, seated beside
+Pete, and Tom, with head bowed down, waiting to take his seat.
+
+"Hillo! Hillo! But what will your father and mother think, my dears?"
+
+"Oh," cried Tom, "we made that all right! Father gave his consent, and
+he'll easily manage Mother."
+
+"Steward!" shouted the captain, and Jake came running. "Put the other
+half-leaf in the table to-night, and lay covers for three more, for these
+young ragamuffins must mess with us in future."
+
+There was no more word about ghosts now, and the kind professor forgave
+the Finlander. He was set free and sent to duty, and now for weeks and
+weeks there wasn't a much happier vessel afloat than the brave ship
+_Valhalla_ bound for the Frozen North.
+
+The two dogs became great friends, but, strangely enough, both disliked
+Broomberg, and kept out of his way whenever they could. Once, indeed,
+when the man bent down to stroke Veevee, Briton stood guard over his
+little friend and growled.
+
+"Hands off!" the mastiff seemed to say, "hands off till we know more
+about you!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Of course Uncle was chief favourite with the children, but all the three
+of them came to like the little professor very much indeed. He was with
+them nearly all day long. Tom was usually very busy; so, too, was Uncle
+Staysail; and though it must not be thought that Pete was an idle man,
+for he had much to study, still he always found time to romp and play
+with Aralia, Pansy, and the two dogs.
+
+Though the weather grew colder for a time, it was all one long, long
+summer's day. For in the Arctic regions the sun never sets for at least
+three months, but just goes round and round, blazing high in the south at
+mid-day, and lower in the north at midnight. Indeed, in these seas, if
+you were not to look at the clock, you could not really tell whether it
+was night or day.
+
+Every evening now the little party gathered round the large stove, on
+which a copper urn of coffee was always gently simmering. Then the
+professor told his strangest stories, with perhaps Pansy on his knee, and
+Aralia lying on the hearth-rug with the dogs. Most of his yarns were
+about the Frozen North, its dangers and perils, its joys and pleasures.
+
+"And shall we see all these strange sights?" Pansy used to ask.
+
+"Yes, dear, and many more than these, because I mean to give you a treat
+if you are good and don't get your fingers frozen."
+
+One day great lumps of white snow-clad ice came floating by, and that
+same evening the crow's-nest was hoisted high, high up at the very top of
+the main-mast. The crow's-nest was like a big barrel with a lid at the
+bottom, Pansy said, and Tom, or the mate, used to climb and crawl through
+the bottom, and stand, spy-glass in hand, and look all about them.
+
+"Oh," cried Pansy one day, "shouldn't I like to get up just once!
+Wouldn't you, Ara?"
+
+"But we could never climb up," sighed her sister.
+
+The clever professor heard them, and lo and behold! the very next day he
+had a kind of easy-chair ready for them to go up in. He himself sat down
+in it with the children, and up they were hoisted, up and up. It was so
+fearsome that the girls shut their eyes and clung to Pete, but when they
+did open them what a sight they saw!
+
+They were not far off the main pack, and as far as the eye could see was
+one vast field of snow-covered ice. Their eyes were dazzled in looking at
+it.
+
+They were not in the crow's-nest, but close beside it, and Pete made them
+look through the spy-glass. This was wonderful, for away yonder to the
+north, and near to the edge of the pack, where the sea looked as black
+as ink, they could see four great ships, with their crews on the ice,
+shooting seals and dragging skins. But in two hours' time the _Valhalla_
+herself got north as far as these ships, and was stopped.
+
+Neither of the girls felt cold, for they wore great mits and hoods, and
+were altogether as snug as mice.
+
+Then a boat was lowered, and when they looked down they could see Tom
+himself get in with shooting-clothes on and a great rifle in his hand. He
+waved his cap to them, and Pansy cried: "Hoo-lay!" The boat pulled away
+and soon touched the ice; Tom sprang nimbly on shore, and before long he
+could be seen only as a little black dot on that dazzling plain of snow.
+Then he was observed to stop and kneel down while some huge monster,
+yellowish-white in colour, came rushing towards him.
+
+Aralia must have the glass now.
+
+"Oh, the bear! the bear!" she cried in grief. "It is going to kill Tom.
+Oh! oh! oh! my brother Tom!"
+
+"Let me see! let me see!" screamed Pansy.
+
+"Look now!" said Aralia with a smile. "Isn't Tom brave?"
+
+Tom was indeed. For Pansy could now see the monster lying dead, and Tom
+leaning on his gun, and once more waving his cap. Then men came up and
+skinned the bear, and dragged the head and hide and paws to the ship.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Tom was a splendid shot, and this was his first bear. When he came
+aboard, his sisters met him with pleasure, although with tears in their
+eyes, for he had run a great risk.
+
+A day or two after this, when still farther north, the children had had
+their first run upon the ice. It was all so strange, and the ice was so
+white, that they felt very giddy for a time. But the professor held
+Pansy, and Tom walked by Aralia.
+
+The whole ice-pack seemed one vast plain, like a bleak moorland in
+winter, only with little hillocks of ice here and there called hummocks,
+for the flat pieces of ice were all frozen hard together, and Ara
+wondered where "Greenland's icy mountains" had all got to.
+
+There were no bears about to-day, and no seals, only the sea-birds that
+went wheeling and screaming about them in thousands. When they got back
+to the ship it was dinner-time, and both were snow-blind. The black
+steward carried them down and seated them at table, but it was quite half
+an hour before they could see.
+
+Although the ship was now kept well away from the ice-pack, they could
+often see vessels far in through frozen ice, but busy, busy at their
+terrible work. Sometimes Tom and the mate would have a boat lowered, and
+would set off bear-hunting. One day Tom brought home a young seal. It was
+such a beauty, with soft eyes and long, warm, fluffy hair. It was so
+small that even Pansy could carry it a little way in her arms.
+
+"Oh, do let us have it for a pet!" cried Aralia, and her uncle consented.
+So they called the seal "Flossy", and warmed frozen milk for it--great
+stores of which had been taken on board,--and fed it with a spoon, and
+soon the wee thing knew Pansy, and used to crawl and waddle after her.
+
+The dogs didn't know what to make of Flossy at first, and Briton used to
+roll it all round the deck with his big nose; but Flossy rather liked
+this. But one day, when Briton tried to lift it up by the tail, it struck
+him a slap with its flipper that could be heard from stem to stern.
+
+"Take that," Flossy seemed to say, "and leave my tail alone!"
+
+The vessel was now kept farther to the east, and every day they passed
+between great patches of ice, big pieces of which kept striking the ship
+with such a noise that when anyone wanted to be heard he had to shout
+aloud.
+
+The professor was very busy now, taking soundings almost every day, and
+doing all kinds of clever work that even Tom, smart as he was, couldn't
+understand. But in the evenings he still played with the children, or
+amused them by showing them, through magnifying-glasses, some of the
+wonderful things he had brought up from the bottom of the ocean.
+
+It was all very strange and beautiful, and the children were enchanted.
+But their greatest treat was when he brought some little glass tanks
+containing forms of animal life they had never seen before, and were
+never tired of watching. Only Professor Pete didn't--because he said he
+couldn't--bring them out every night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+On and on sailed the beautiful _Valhalla_. East and west, but always
+north, went she.
+
+Peterkin was on a voyage of discovery, and one of his chief objects
+seemed to be to keep clear of the ice, which had grown very heavy indeed.
+
+It was a delightful holiday for the children as yet, but for the
+professor a time of harder work than many know anything about at all. It
+was really wonderful how this busy little man found time to play with the
+children, with Flossy and with the dogs, or even to play his fiddle. But
+this, he would have told you, was his way of taking exercise; and he told
+Pansy that if it were not for her he didn't think he should ever be able
+to find the island of gold he was in search of.
+
+Do not think, though, it was all and always plain sailing. There were
+dangers of many kinds. Sometimes storms would suddenly rise and blow for
+a day or two at a stretch. At such times the sun was hidden, and the
+cold became intense. The waves that broke on board were turned into ice,
+covering the decks and bows, and giving to the ship a wondrous
+appearance.
+
+One evening, after a gale like this had blown over, the stowaways, who
+had not dared to show face all day, were told to come up on deck.
+
+What a sight! Why, the _Valhalla_ was like a ghost-ship. The decks were
+white, and the bulwarks too. Every rope and stay seemed made of frosted
+silver, while great icicles hung everywhere around.
+
+It was very dark this evening, so that the children at first could hardly
+see anything. But Pete soon had them all hoisted up on to the bridge.
+
+And now he turned on the electric and coloured lights--crimson, blue, and
+orange. Then, what a sight was there! It was one that caused Pansy and
+Aralia quite to forget the beauty of a pantomime they had seen the winter
+before.
+
+They stood spell-bound, and would not have been a bit surprised if all
+the deck had suddenly been crowded with fairies, with silver wands,
+garlands of flowers, and wings of pearly gauze. But the only fairies were
+the sailors, and every one of these looked like a very old man, because
+heads and beards were white with frost and snow, and little icicles hung
+round their hats.
+
+The children dreamt of it all again that night; but lo! when they went on
+deck next morning, before breakfast, to have a romp and a run with the
+dogs and Flossy, everything was changed.
+
+And what a change!
+
+The sun was now shining brightly, with not a cloud in the blue sky.
+Icebergs lay far astern; all around was a calm blue sea, with one great
+whale half-asleep on its surface, wild birds more beautiful than any they
+had ever seen before sailing around, and, more wonderful than anything
+else, the _Valhalla_ was safe at anchor in front of a pretty island,
+patched with the greens, reds, and browns of lovely flowers.
+
+"Behold!" cried Peterkin, as he lifted Pansy up. "Behold, my child, the
+land of gold and coals!"
+
+Pansy's reply was to the point.
+
+"Very pretty, very pretty," she said; "but, 'Fessor Pete, I wants to see
+the gold--not the nasty coals."
+
+This very forenoon Peterkin started off in the biggest boat to "spy out
+the land", as he called it Tom and the three little stowaways were
+allowed to come too. To them it was going to be a kind of picnic, and the
+steward sent with them a huge basket, filled with enough good things to
+last the whole crew for a week. As there was no wind, the men had to row
+all the way.
+
+"Oh," cried Pansy, "I hope dear Flossy won't swim away!"
+
+Yes, they had taken Flossy with them as well as the dogs.
+
+The water was deep and dark quite close to the beautiful shore, and the
+girls could not help marvelling at the monsters of jelly-fish they saw
+far down in its depths. Their bodies were as great as sunshades, and of
+the same shape, and the legs they jerked out from under were spangled
+with stars of blue and red. Once a huge shark swam up to the boat, leered
+at them with his sly and evil eyes, then, turning on his back, showed a
+mouth that could have swallowed them all. Poor Pansy drew nearer to the
+professor with a cry of horror.
+
+They found a little bay at last, and landed for a meal.
+
+"I don't think there is anything that can hurt you here," said Peterkin,
+"and, if you like, you can run about and gather flowers while I cruise
+round the coast for an hour. There, I will leave you all the rugs, the
+bear-skin, and the basket too."
+
+They were delighted.
+
+So off they set, Veevee and Briton bounding and barking in front, and
+Flossy waddling behind. Tom had his rifle and plenty of cartridges, but
+there was really nothing to shoot but the lovely gulls, and the boy was
+not so cruel as to touch one of these.
+
+So they wandered on and on and upwards, until they came to a level spot
+all one lovely carpet of small wild flowers. Poppies of many colours grew
+here, mosses, yellow stone-crop, and grasses of every hue, but they
+agreed not to pick any until they should be returning. Still higher they
+went up the mountain-side, when suddenly little Pansy exclaimed: "Look,
+Tom! look, Ara! the sea is all flied away!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Tom stared behind him and stood aghast.
+
+A huge wall of fog or white mist had quite covered the ocean and even the
+shore, shutting them out from view, and was now slowly advancing towards
+them. But that was not the worst, for a low, moaning wind came on before
+it, and flakes of snow began to fall.
+
+It was easy for Tom to say: "Let us get back at once to the beach, the
+boat must be there already." They had come miles from the bay. Before
+they could walk half the distance back, the snow-fog had swallowed them,
+and it was no wonder that they lost their way, and became cold and faint
+and dizzy.
+
+Both Aralia and Pansy began to cry now, and at last sank down among the
+dry snow, unable to move another yard.
+
+Tom was a boy of great courage. He thought for a little, and then he
+said: "Frank, if you can carry Pansy I'm sure I can manage Ara; and we
+will try to find shelter somewhere till the storm is blown over."
+
+So on again in this way they struggled, till, more dead than alive, they
+found, by good luck, the welcome shelter of a cave. The cave was by no
+means large, but they were surprised to find it so warm. The first thing,
+however, that Tom did was to walk all round the inside, rifle in hand.
+Tom had not been two years at sea for nothing. Meanwhile, where was
+Flossy, and where was Briton?
+
+Tom whistled again and again, till he said he had nearly whistled the
+whites of his eyes out, but never a dog replied.
+
+Something else had begun to whistle also, and that was the wind, and
+although Tom made several attempts to leave the cave, to have a look at
+the weather as he called it, he found it impossible to stand. Hours and
+hours passed away like this, and the tempest seemed only to increase in
+force.
+
+They were all very hungry now, and so Tom shared out some biscuits he had
+brought with him, and after they had swallowed a little snow they all sat
+down to talk.
+
+"I fear," said Tom, "we'll have to stay here all night. It will be good
+fun, won't it, girls?"
+
+He knew it was anything but fun himself, but he spoke in that way to keep
+up the children's courage.
+
+When Aralia said, "Yes," so did Pansy, but both looked very quiet.
+
+Soon after this, to their great joy, in bounded Briton himself, and close
+behind him waddled Floss. It was clear to all that he had been helping
+Flossy along, for Flossy was still little more than a puppy; but, poor
+wee beauty, how glad she was to see them all again!
+
+She crawled up to Pansy, and lay down on her back to be scratched, which
+was always Flossy's way of showing she was pleased.
+
+Well, after they had all talked till they were tired, Tom said: "Now,
+girls, just you lie down to sleep. Frank, here is my ticker." He gave his
+cousin his watch as he spoke. "You have to do sentry for three hours.
+Then wake me up and I'll let you lie down. See, I'll put my rifle and
+belt, with fifty cartridges in it, beside you. Mind, that is only for
+show, because you're too little a boy to touch guns. Anybody want a
+little more snow? No? Very well."
+
+So the girls curled up with Veevee and Floss, and Tom lay near. But
+Briton seemed to say: "No, I won't sleep; I'll lie and watch with Frank."
+
+Frank was not sorry to have the dog beside him for it was terrible to
+feel all alone in such a dismal place.
+
+Well, the night wore slowly on--one, two, three, four hours--and Frank
+was just looking at the rifle, and pretending to aim at something in the
+falling snow, when, all at once, Briton uttered a low warning growl and
+sprang to his feet.
+
+Next moment a great shambling bear was right in the mouth of the cave. He
+gave a roar that seemed to shake the whole island.
+
+Whether the boy took aim or not, I never could tell, but he certainly
+fired the rifle, and down dropped Bruin dead, and lay in the snow with
+his great tongue hanging out, a marvellous sight to see.
+
+The noise in the cave was fearful, but as soon as the girls had stopped
+screaming, Frank told what had happened.
+
+"I tell you what it is, girls," he said more than once, "there wasn't the
+least bit of bravery about it. I just held out the gun, and off it went."
+
+"Oh, but you were brave!" said Aralia; "and if you hadn't killed the
+awful monster, we should all be dead now.
+
+"No, no," cried Tom, "it was only Flossy that the bear wanted! He just
+wanted a bit of seal for supper."
+
+"Wowff!" barked Briton.
+
+"Wiff!" barked Veevee, as much as to say: "No bear shall touch Flossy
+while we are alive."
+
+But nobody thought of sleeping any more, and as they were all very
+hungry, Tom served out more snow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+The tempest howled for many hours more. Then at last it grew almost calm,
+and the sun shone out on the pure white snow.
+
+"I know what to do now," said Tom. "Let us find our way to the beach. The
+boat may be there, you know."
+
+But long before they reached the shore they beheld a wondrous sight, for
+as far as the eye could reach there was no water to be seen, only huge
+icebergs covered with dazzling snow, all gently moving up and down with
+the swelling waves beneath. The noise made by these great bergs as they
+ground their sides together was deafening.
+
+But there were no signs of the boat, and no ship was to be seen. The
+_Valhalla_ had either been crushed to atoms or been driven out to sea.
+Tom clung to the last hope, and even told his sisters that she was sure
+to return for them soon. He would not get downhearted.
+
+"This is a queer business, Frank," he said with a light laugh, which had
+no sound of fun in it however; "but we must do the best we can till they
+come back. Eh, Frank?"
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+But Pansy was clinging to Aralia, quietly crying.
+
+"Well, Frank, we must live in the cave for a little, and so we had better
+get everything in, and be as jolly as we can."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+When they had got everything up to the cave, which took a long time,
+everybody had a good breakfast. There was really enough food to last a
+week, and it was lucky there were several boxes of sardines, for Floss
+would take nothing else.
+
+"It's going to be a big, big picnic," said Frank, and the girls began to
+laugh. "We're going to have lots of fun."
+
+Frank and Tom could climb like monkeys, and in about an hour's time they
+had put all the food high up in a hole in the rock out of the reach of
+bears or foxes.
+
+By twelve o'clock, when the sun was as high as it could get, the snow had
+disappeared, and once more there was a soft, warm breeze blowing, and
+beauty everywhere.
+
+Two days flew by and nothing happened, only at night they could hear
+foxes barking in the distance. They never attack people singly, as bears
+do, but they are dangerous in packs, as Tom one day found out to his
+cost.
+
+The food was getting low, and Tom thought it was time to do something.
+They had found strange fruits like strawberries growing, and also some
+sort of roots that tasted like nuts; but unless they could get some fish
+poor Flossy would die.
+
+So Tom started off all alone on a voyage of discovery. Frank stayed in
+the cave with the girls, and they promised to be very good.
+
+The morning was very calm, and so still that Tom could hear Pansy calling
+to him "not to be long" when he was quite a mile up the mountain-side.
+Why he took this course he could never tell, but, when he crossed the
+top, marvellous indeed was the view that lay before his eyes.
+
+Uncle Staysail used to tell him that the natives of the north say there
+is an open sea somewhere near the Pole, with many islands in it, and
+trees, and flowers, and birds.
+
+And now, behold! such a sea lay right down in the round valley yonder at
+his feet. It was not really a sea, but a lovely round lake, and right in
+the middle was a large green island.
+
+Tom rubbed his eyes and gazed and gazed, and then rubbed his eyes and
+gazed again.
+
+"Was it all a dream?" he wondered.
+
+No, there was no dream about it. It took Tom some hours to explore this
+lake. He walked round it and found that at the far side a ridge of rocks,
+very narrow, led right out to the island. He crossed this natural bridge
+and found himself in a perfect paradise. Flowers and fruit everywhere,
+and beautiful wild birds the like of which he had never seen before.
+There were rabbits, too, and very tame they were, for they followed him
+about, and seemed to wonder what he was and where on earth he came from.
+
+Tom knocked one on the head, though he was not cruel, and with this slung
+over his shoulder, and his pockets full of nuts, he started to walk back.
+
+But I suppose that walking round in a circle had confused him. Anyhow he
+walked miles out of his way, and lost himself. He sat down on a big stone
+at last, and wondered what he should do. He was tired and hungry, so he
+ate a handful of nuts. And then he began to nod.
+
+"I'll just have five minutes of a nap," he said, "and then get on again."
+
+So down he lay. But his five minutes lasted for an hour, and still the
+lad lay fast asleep.
+
+A large gray fox stole up and smelt the rabbit.
+
+"That'll just suit me," said he to himself. "I'll go and call my brothers
+and sisters, and we'll kill this two-legged creature and steal his
+rabbit."
+
+"Yap-yap-yap!" barked the fox, and soon he had a whole pack round him.
+But just as they were getting near to Tom, he awoke and sat up. Bang went
+his rifle at once, as he saw his danger. One fox fell dead, but the
+others came on with a rush, and there was soon a lively fight. Tom laid
+about him with the butt end of his rifle, and, being a strong young
+fellow, dead and dying foxes were soon lying all round him.
+
+The rest of the pack drew back a little way, only to come on again,
+yelping and yelling more than ever. Poor Tom's wrists were dripping with
+blood, for he had been bitten in many places. He thought it was all over
+now, yet he meant to fight to the last.
+
+But help was at hand, for the next moment Briton bounded into the centre
+of the spiteful pack, and the savage beasts fled in every direction.
+
+What a happy meeting that was! The mastiff led Tom back over the hills,
+and in an hour's time he was safe and sound at the cave.
+
+Pansy wept with delight, and Aralia bound up Tom's wrists. He made very
+light of the bites, however.
+
+There were many pieces of old black wood in the cave, so Frank collected
+them and lit a fire; and when it was quite clear, the rabbit was roasted,
+and everybody made a splendid dinner.
+
+Then Tom told them all he had seen; and, after a night's rest, they all
+started off the next morning for the lake and the island, taking the
+skins and rugs with them. They reached the long ridge of rocks and
+crossed over. Then, indeed, were the girls surprised and delighted. What
+a lot they would have to tell Father and Mother when they got home again!
+
+Tom sighed. He feared in his own mind that they would never, never see
+their home any more.
+
+When Flossie saw the lake she made a spring towards it and dived below
+the surface. They could see her darting about beneath, and soon up she
+came, looking as pleased as Punch, with a fine, great fish in her mouth.
+She laid it gently at Pansy's feet, and dived in again.
+
+"I'll be happy here," she seemed to say, as she brought another fish,
+"and we need never be hungry any more."
+
+After Tom had well explored the island, he told Frank they must build a
+fort. He had found the very spot for it, too, on a little hill. This was
+about a hundred feet high, and the top was hollow, like a cup, with only
+one opening into it. In fact, the top of the hill was part of the crater
+of an extinct volcano, and was shaped like the letter G, the doorway
+being only a gap in the rocks, through which no bear could squeeze.
+
+Inside, the walls were twenty feet high all round, all bare rock; but the
+floor was covered with grass, and moss, and wild flowers.
+
+Aralia and Pansy were wild with delight, and Pansy said she would now be
+able to sleep without ugly dreams.
+
+Veevee would be her bed-fellow, and Floss would curl up with Sissie, and
+big Briton could sleep at the entrance.
+
+So it was all arranged.
+
+But as there could be no telling how long they might have to remain here,
+and as rain would be sure to fall, even if snow did not, Tom and Frank
+began to build a hut inside Fort Fairyland, as they called their strange
+abode.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now each boy had--like all Greenland sailors--not only a large,
+many-bladed knife, with a saw in it, but a huge broad dagger in a
+leathern belt round his waist. So they did not want for tools.
+
+They found the best wood for what they wanted growing close by the lake,
+in the shape of straight and strong willows. There were plenty of leaves,
+and grasses, and heath also.
+
+It would be rather a long job, but they set to work with a will, and in
+three days' time they had dragged everything they wanted up to Fort
+Fairyland. The building of the hut was fine fun. At first it was only
+meant to be a kind of shelter on poles, but, as they had so much time
+upon their hands, they agreed to build real walls, and leave space for a
+door and a window. In little more than a week they had the framework all
+up, and the roof all made. It was thatched first with broad leaves, and
+then with grass. And, mind you a short ladder had to be made first to
+permit them to do the thatching. When this was finished, all the sides
+were filled in with willow branches, except door and window. Never a hole
+was left in it, for Aralia and Pansy collected heaps and heaps of dried
+moss, and the boys worked this in to fill up the gaps.
+
+And when all was finished, and wicker seats made, it did look a cosy
+little hut indeed.
+
+But all the cooking was done out-of-doors. There were no sauce-pans to
+clean, nor knives nor forks. The plates were broad leaves, and for knives
+and forks the castaways used pointed sticks.
+
+It really wasn't bad fun at all being Crusoes in such a place as this.
+
+But--dear me! there is always a "but" about everything--how was it all to
+end?
+
+And where was the _Valhalla_?
+
+Except for these two questions, which would keep on running through Tom's
+and Frank's minds, they could have been quite contented--well, for a time
+at all events.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+In their rambles through this little Arctic fairy land, Tom noticed that
+the squirrels were now busy every day running away to their holes with
+nuts and leaves. Of course they might have young ones to feed, he
+thought; but surely it was something more than this which made them act
+thus.
+
+Creeping all alone one morning through the bushes, as quietly as a mouse,
+Tom came upon a sight which taught him a useful lesson. For high up in
+the trunk of an old tree was a big round hole with a squirrel's tail
+hanging out. Presently up ran another squirrel, carrying a great mouthful
+of leaves and clay.
+
+The new-comer made a slight noise, when out came No. 1 and took the
+bundle from No. 2, which then darted off for more.
+
+"Ho! ho!" said Tom to himself, "they seem to be storing up food for
+winter. Heigho! I thought it would always be summer in this fairyland.
+But thank you, Master Squirrel, I shall go and do the same." So off went
+Tom to tell Frank and the girls what he had seen the squirrels doing.
+
+"As there is no sign of the ship coming back for us, children," he said
+somewhat seriously, "and we may have to spend the winter here, I think,
+you know, we ought to be making ready for it."
+
+"So do I," said Pansy, looking very wise. "We want food, and we want wood
+and all, doesn't we, Tom?"
+
+"It won't be very, very cold in this island," said her brother, "because
+we have the warm-water lake all round us. But perhaps the squirrels know
+best."
+
+So now began a very busy season indeed, for everybody went nut-gathering.
+
+Tom opened up a squirrel's store, and a pretty noise the little creature
+made about it. But he did not rob it; he only wanted to learn a lesson.
+
+He noticed that the nuts it had collected were a little green on one
+side, so these must be the best. Then he looked at the leaves and clay
+that were packed over them, and thought he would get some just the same.
+
+This going a-nutting in fairyland was real fine fun, and to have heard
+their merry voices, talking and laughing and singing, with every now and
+then Briton's great bass "Wowff!" and Veevee's shrill "Wiff!" no one
+would have taken them for castaways and Crusoes.
+
+Nutting made everyone so hungry too!
+
+Rabbits were very plentiful on the island. The boys caught them by means
+of snares made of a kind of tough creeper. And bonny Flossy caught as
+many fish as would have kept a large family alive.
+
+Tom seldom used his rifle, though he always carried it. The cartridges
+were too precious to waste.
+
+Another thing which these Crusoes had to be very careful to do was never
+to let the fire go out. It was easily kept in by placing a kind of mossy
+peat among the hot ashes and covering it quite over.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So they collected an immense quantity of nuts, and these were placed in
+holes found in the rocks, and covered right up with the same sort of
+cement as the squirrels used. The roots that served them instead of bread
+every day, and which were cooked by placing them for a short time in the
+hot ashes, they also collected and stored. So when the harvest was all
+over, Tom told Frank and his sisters that they needn't be afraid to spend
+their Christmas in this beautiful island.
+
+"Oh, but, Tom," said Pansy, "we'll all be home long, long before
+Christmas, won't we?"
+
+Poor child! She was beginning to long for her mother's cosy cottage on
+the cliff, and for the fires that in the long winter evenings always
+burned so brightly in the parlour grate.
+
+"Now, about light for the long Arctic winter night, which will soon be
+here?"
+
+This was the question that Tom put to Frank just after sunset one
+beautiful evening as the snow on the tops of the highest mountains was
+changed to a rose tint in the sun's parting rays.
+
+"It is a very serious question, you know," he added.
+
+"Very serious," said Pansy, who heard him, shaking her wise, wee head.
+
+Sitting by the camp fire there, with its lights and shadows chasing each
+other over her face and through her sunny hair, Pansy looked a very
+beautiful child indeed.
+
+For some time they had all been sitting round the fire, watching the
+curling smoke and the dancing flames, everyone intent on his or her own
+thoughts. Aralia had been wondering what they were all doing at home, and
+if her father and mother were anxious about her and Pansy. It was such a
+long, long time--hundreds of years it seemed--since they had sailed away;
+so many strange things had happened since that day. Pansy was a little
+maiden who took the world very easily, and enjoyed each day and hour as
+it passed. Her thoughts were hardly worth a penny. Frank was not unlike
+Pansy, and took things as they came, and if they were not nice, just let
+them slide. The mastiff was asleep, so was Veevee, and both seemed to be
+dreaming, and talking in their dreams. But Flossy's eyes were very wide
+open now. She was really wondering if she could catch another fish
+to-night. Flossy had lately taken to waddling away towards evening for a
+swim in the warm lake, and never came back without something in her
+mouth.
+
+So nobody was surprised when they missed her from the fire, only, as she
+stayed rather longer to-night than usual, and as the long twilight would
+soon end, Tom took up his rifle and went off all by himself to look for
+her.
+
+"Oh, dear!" cried Pansy, as the sound of a shot startled everyone in the
+fort. "Tom's gone and killed something!"
+
+"Let's run and see," said Frank. Veevee and Briton had already rushed
+off.
+
+They found Tom at the lake-side, standing over a huge dead bear, with
+Flossy near him.
+
+"That bear," said Tom, laughing, "was keeping poor Floss in the lake; but
+he won't do so again. Isn't he a fine one?"
+
+"Yes," cried Frank; "he is indeed."
+
+"And now, children," said Tom, when he was once more seated in front of
+the camp fire, "the question of lights is settled for good. Frank and I
+are going to make candles out of that bear's tallow."
+
+"Yes, Pansy, we are. Oh, we shouldn't be half Crusoes if we couldn't make
+candles!"
+
+So the boys arranged to start work the very next morning at sunrise.
+
+"But first let us have a look through this beautiful isle of the sea,
+while the girls are asleep. There may be more bears. Briton, you must
+stay and watch. Veevee, you may come."
+
+Though Veevee searched every bush and grove, no bear was found. The one
+Tom had so cleverly killed must have crossed to the island alone by the
+bridge of rocks.
+
+So, after breakfast, the boys built their fire. With big blocks of lava
+they made a sort of stove, and on top of this was placed a large cup-like
+stone, which they had chanced to find. Into this they put the tallow to
+melt. In the meantime Tom pulled a quantity of thick rushes, and set
+Frank and the girls to peel them, while the dogs looked on as if
+wondering what it was all about.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"It's something to eat, I suppose," said Briton, looking very wise.
+
+"A sort of soup of some kind from the smell of it, I should think," was
+Veevee's remark.
+
+The long threads of white pith were about as thick as a penholder, and
+these were to form the wicks. When dried they were tied two and two by
+one end.
+
+Then between two uprights Tom placed a long willow rod, with three dozen
+strong thorns stuck in it about two inches apart, to serve as hooks.
+
+By this time the tallow was melted and all was ready.
+
+"Now, ladies and gentlemen," said Tom, "you shall see how candles were
+built in the Royal Navy when Uncle was a boy." He rolled up his sleeves,
+and, picking up a double wick, dipped it in the pan, and then hung it on
+the first peg for the tallow to set. He did the same with all the rest,
+and by the time he had the thirty-sixth wick hung up, No. 1 was ready to
+be taken down and dipped again. So on he went all along the row, till he
+had dipped them a dozen times at least, when, lo! and behold! they were
+thick and beautiful candles, each one strong enough to give the light of
+half a dozen ordinary ship's candles.
+
+He worked for two days, and made about a hundred in all, so there was no
+fear of their having to sit in the dark.
+
+Next night, while the moon was shining low over the snow-clad hills, the
+whole camp was alarmed by the fierce barking of Briton. The mastiff was
+"wowffing", Veevee was "wiffing", and Flossy was moaning and wagging her
+tail in the air. Though it was long past midnight, Briton wanted to be
+off out and kill something or somebody he had heard, and Veevee would
+also go on the war-path for fear Briton might get hurt.
+
+Almost immediately after came the most tremendous yelling the Crusoes had
+ever heard, and it was clear that a whole pack of foxes had invaded the
+island, and if Briton and Veevee had been allowed to go out, they would
+both have been torn to pieces. The awful din lasted for hours, with a
+sound now and then of fighting.
+
+Then it stopped, and all was still.
+
+Everybody went quietly off to sleep again, but next day, when they went
+to the lake-side, behold not a trace of the bear was to be seen. The
+beasts had eaten all the flesh, and carried away the bones and skin.
+
+"Now, what if these wild dogs return some night," said Tom to Frank, "and
+attack the camp. Although no bear could squeeze in here, these half-bred
+wolves might, and tear us all in pieces.
+
+"Don't frighten a fellow, Tom," said Frank. "But I say, old man, we must
+puzzle our heads once again and make a gate."
+
+"Well, that's good!" cried Tom, laughing; "why, there is only one head
+between the two of us, and that belongs to me, Master Frank; and don't
+you forget it."
+
+"Well, well, you may have it, only for goodness' sake make good use of
+it!"
+
+The cup-like top of the hill in which our Crusoes were living had but one
+entrance, as I have before told you, and the path leading to it was very
+steep, and made up of large stones and lumps of lava.
+
+"It would be a good thing," Tom said, "to get a lot of these inside. They
+would come in very handy to throw at an enemy, eh?"
+
+"That they would," said Frank.
+
+Well, it took them three whole days to make and fix up a gate, which they
+could raise or lower before the entrance by means of ropes made out of
+long trailing weeds, or creepers.
+
+Then, after they had carried about a hundred big stones inside, they
+began to feel happier and safer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+One morning, a month or two after this, the Crusoes awoke to find that
+the sun rose that day for the last time, and, until spring should return,
+they would see his golden beams no more.
+
+But there was a bright and beautiful twilight every mid-day for two weeks
+longer. Then they knew that the long, dreary Arctic night had come in
+earnest. For about a month the Crusoes had been eating very heartily
+every day and were getting quite fat. It was the same with the animals.
+
+Flossy had long ago lost her puppy coat, and was now a bonny
+whitish-yellow seal, not very large, and with a black saddle on her back.
+But Flossy got drowsy too, and if the boys had not stirred her up every
+day, and sent her off to catch fish, I believe she would have slept
+nearly all the time.
+
+Even the boys felt sleepy, though they could not tell why. Said Tom one
+day to Frank as they sat playing draughts on a rough board, with nuts for
+men: "Frank, old man, by this time all the bears will have gone into
+winter quarters. They won't come out much until the sun returns."
+
+"Fancy," cried Aralia, clapping her hands, "Fancy all of us sleeping all
+night long--three months, didn't you say, Tom? Wouldn't it be nice? And
+if Uncle Staysail should come in to wake us in the morning! 'Get up,' he
+would say, 'are you going to sleep all day?'"
+
+They all laughed at the idea, but it was not carried out. Besides the
+candles, which they only burned at supper and after, they had torches
+made of wood which they could burn at any time. Moreover, there was the
+light of the camp fire, which they kept always burning, for they had laid
+in a vast store of peat and wood.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Tom was time-keeper. He had a little log-book in which he had been
+careful to note down day and date every morning, and, like a good lad, he
+never forgot to wind his watch. He made a really first-class Crusoe.
+
+But they were all good. And what a grand guard Briton was! If ever he
+heard the slightest sound of bird or rabbit down amongst the trees or
+bushes beneath them, he gave a low growl. One night he sprang to his feet
+and barked very loudly and angrily.
+
+The Crusoes were awake at once.
+
+And no wonder, for terrible noises, like distant thunder, were heard just
+beneath their feet. They were startled still more when explosion after
+explosion took place, both in the air and in the earth, while the ground
+was shaken under them.
+
+It was a curious, giddy movement, and made them all feel rather sick.
+
+Then the thunder-storm burst in earnest, with rain and hail in torrents,
+and the whole island seemed to be on fire with the lightning.
+
+Tom had to take Pansy in his arms to soothe her, for she shook and
+trembled like a little bird. But in two hours it was all over, and the
+stars were shining as bright and large and near as before.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Sometimes the moon shone with a stronger light than it ever does in this
+country. It seemed so close to them, too, that Pansy used to say it was
+only just resting on the snowy hill-top.
+
+On moonlit days the children were always abroad in the forest or by the
+lake-side watching Flossy catching fish. She dived and swam far more
+quickly than an eel.
+
+It is terribly dreary to want the sun, but after a month one gets used to
+it. Besides, one knows that bright and beautiful days are on ahead. Older
+people might have felt very weary, but none of our Crusoes lost heart.
+
+I have not told you yet of the Aurora Borealis, which was best seen on
+dark, starry nights. It was not in the north only, but all around them,
+great bright fringes of coloured lights--chiefly green, crimson, or pink.
+How they danced and flickered, to be sure! Such dazzling beauty no pen
+could describe, and I will not attempt it.
+
+Well, Christmas-day came at last, and how glad they all were to be still
+spared alive and in comfort!
+
+Tom meant to make the most of it. But, of course, there was no turkey or
+goose to roast. Instead, they had a splendid great rabbit stuffed with
+nuts, and roasted roots to eat with it.
+
+They had no crackers either, but Tom and Frank got an immense pile of dry
+wood, and heaped it in the middle of the rocky bridge that led to the
+mainland, and early in the day or night--whichever you like to call
+it--they set it alight.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now, probably this pile saved some of their lives. It had been placed
+there about five days before Christmas, and a huge bear, who had the
+nightmare I suppose, came yawning out of his cave and down the
+mountain-side.
+
+He had shambled along to about the centre of the bridge, then lain down
+among the wood and gone off to sleep.
+
+He slept so soundly that he did not hear the boys crossing over to set
+the bonfire ablaze.
+
+But when the smoke and crackling flames got towards him he started up and
+began to trot off, coughing and roaring till all the hills sent back the
+sound.
+
+So awful was the echo that the boys were for a time almost
+terror-stricken. They thought that about a score of bears had left their
+snow-caves and were swarming down the hill.
+
+Tom fired his rifle, but missed. Veevee wanted to follow up.
+
+"Only just let me get at him," cried the little rascal, "and I'll tear
+him limb from limb!"
+
+Anyhow that was a fine fire, and it lit up the lake and the woods all
+about, while the numerous sparks that rose and fell in the air were like
+golden rain.
+
+After the fire began to fade and to die they all returned to their
+Christmas dinner in the hut.
+
+No fewer than four candles were lighted to-night, one in each corner of
+the room. Oh, Tom meant to do everything in first-class form, I can tell
+you!
+
+And I feel pretty certain that even at home in Merrie England no one that
+evening ate more heartily or made a better dinner than our Crusoes, all
+alone though they were in the far-off Frozen North.
+
+After supper they all came round the fire, and the dogs went off to
+sleep, perchance to dream; but the children kept very wide awake indeed.
+And Tom told lots of droll, funny stories, and everybody sang songs.
+After this, all the talk was about home and the delightful time they were
+sure to have in one year's time, when Christmas came round again once
+more.
+
+Then came sleep, and when Tom looked at his watch--next morning let me
+call it--it was very nearly twelve o'clock!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Although it now wanted but a fortnight, according to Tom's reckoning, of
+the first sunrise, it was still as dark as ever, and but for the moon and
+stars and glorious Aurora, life about this time would have been very tame
+and dreary indeed.
+
+Yet, owing to the clearness of the air and the purity of everything
+around them, the children never once lost heart. In fact they were as
+merry as sky-larks, and often made the island resound with song and mirth
+and laughter.
+
+And the dogs, as well as Flossy, were merrier still. They barked and
+laughed as only dogs can, and chased each other round and round in great
+circles, often disappearing for ten minutes at a time, and springing out
+and rolling Flossy over and over when she least expected them.
+
+Flossy was gay enough, although she couldn't run, and often leapt fully
+six feet high, turning over and over in the air before she came down
+again.
+
+And when she did manage to entice the dogs into the water, it was her
+turn to show them her skill; and indeed her feats in the water were
+marvellous. Anyhow, she used quite to astonish the dogs. They were all
+very well in the woods, but couldn't match Flossy in the water, and there
+was no use trying it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+The long mid-day twilights came first, uncertain and gray to begin with,
+but getting brighter and more lovely as time went on. It was as if Nature
+were trying her hand in painting the sky to give the great king of day a
+glorious welcome.
+
+But one day the snow on the mountain peaks changed to a bright red, while
+above floated just one streak of crimson cloud; higher up, the stars
+shone in a strange, green light, and all the horizon was of the richest
+orange colour.
+
+"Oh, surely," cried Pansy, "the sun will rise to-day!"
+
+But the red faded from the mountain-top, the little cloud turned brown,
+then gray, then black, and it was night once more.
+
+"No, little sister," said Tom kindly; "but the sun will rise to-morrow."
+
+All went to bed early that night, and were up very early in the morning.
+In fact, breakfast was finished before the stars had begun to pale in the
+west. Then came twilight itself, and, long though it was, its intense
+beauty was the best reward for the waiting, watching little Crusoes.
+
+Every heart was beating quickly, and Pansy was standing on brave Tom's
+shoulder, just to be "nearer the sky", she said.
+
+All were silent.
+
+The sun came at last, and with such a silvery sheen, too, that the
+children were dazzled.
+
+This was best, for they could not thus see the tears that slowly trickled
+down each other's faces.
+
+"Look! look! look!" was all Pansy could say.
+
+"Oh, isn't it splendid!" said Tom, as soon as he could speak.
+
+"Uncle is sure to come now," said Aralia firmly.
+
+"I'll go and fish," Flossy seemed to say as she sprang three times her
+length in the air, and turned head over heels like the clown in a circus.
+
+"Come on, Veevee," cried the mastiff, "come for a run in the sunshine."
+And off they set.
+
+But the day soon ended, for the sun quickly disappeared. Yet the Crusoes
+had seen it, and that was joy enough for once.
+
+And now the days began to lengthen out, but at the same time earthquakes
+and thunder-storms became more and more frequent. The lake felt hot
+again, and the water tossed about so much at times, that even Flossy was
+afraid to venture in to catch the fish she could not live without.
+
+There was a most terrible earthquake-storm about two weeks after the
+first sunrise.
+
+Even Tom himself was frightened this time, for the thunderings and
+lightnings and explosions were awful, and lasted for three long days.
+It was pitch dark all the time, and the rain came down in sheets.
+
+To make matters worse, smoke of a strange red colour was seen on the
+hills. It looked as if it came from rents in the mountain-sides, and
+there was a smell like burning sulphur in the air.
+
+But this season of terror ended at last; the stars shone out, there was a
+fine display of northern lights, and, soon after, the sun rose. A stiff
+breeze sprang up, and all the clouds and vapours were blown away, the
+last thing seen being a rainbow in the east.
+
+The joy of the Crusoes now knew no bounds. The dogs dashed about, Veevee
+barked "Wiff!" Briton barked "Wowff!" and Flossy frisked her tail and
+went off to fish.
+
+The children now set out for a stroll, and saw many curious sights. Close
+to the lake, in several places, the earth seemed to have been ripped
+open, and, looking down as they stood hand in hand on the edge, they
+seemed to be gazing right into the world's dark depths.
+
+Next day Tom took a long walk alone. He went to the top of one of the
+highest hills, having left his sisters in charge of Frank and Briton, but
+taking Veevee and his rifle with him.
+
+Pansy watched him go up and up the mountain, until he was lost to sight.
+
+"Oh," she cried, as she clapped her hands, "I know where Tom has gone! He
+has just gone away to bring Uncle and 'Fessor Pete back again."
+
+Well, anyhow, Tom had a look at the sea. It spread out as far as the eye
+could reach, and was covered everywhere with great snow-clad bergs of
+ice, except just close to the island, where it was clear, but black as
+ink.
+
+It was nothing more than he expected, but somehow he wished it had been
+otherwise.
+
+He marched down the other side of the hill for quite a mile, keeping a
+good look-out, however, lest some huge ice-bear should catch him
+unawares.
+
+By and by he missed his little four-footed friend, and traced him by his
+footprints into a cave.
+
+He called aloud, but received no answer. The cave seemed to be a vast
+one, and he had to feel his way in the dark with his rifle, for fear of
+falling down some hole.
+
+As he could hear nothing, he thought poor Veevee must be dead, and slowly
+and sadly turned back.
+
+His foot kicked against something hard when he was near to the entrance,
+and, stooping down, he picked up what seemed to be a piece of white
+stone, and put it into the pocket of his jacket.
+
+When he got back home at last, poor Pansy cried very much indeed at the
+loss of her pet. But when, next morning, she found him curled up at her
+feet, she thought it must have been all a dream.
+
+How the dog got back was never known, but it is possible he had been
+wandering all night in that cavern, deep down in the earth, and come out
+at the lake side of the range of hills.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was quite a month before Tom crossed the hills again. By this time
+spring had already come back to Fairy Island. The buds were all out on
+the trees, and the green leaves on a thousand bushes. Wild flowers were
+everywhere. The birds, too, had returned, and the sea-gulls had taken up
+their abode on a great patch of level ground just on the other side of
+the lake. When anyone went near to their nests, which were in thousands,
+and so close together that it was difficult to thread one's way through
+them, the noise and screaming they made was deafening.
+
+Now I don't think that Tom and Frank were cruel, but they had to live,
+and those great green-speckled eggs made a splendid addition to the
+larder, so that, what with sunshine and better food, the girls soon got
+back all the colour they had lost during the long, long night of winter.
+
+But where was the _Valhalla_ and her crew all this time? Would they
+never, never come?
+
+The Crusoes lived in hope.
+
+Now in spring-time the foxes and bears of the north, that have slept or
+starved for months, become bold and dangerous through hunger. Bears are
+always to be feared, but more so at this time of the year than any other.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+One day the prisoners of Fairy Island had been gayer than usual, but at
+last, tired and happy, they had lain down to rest. It might have been
+about midnight when they were awakened by a warning growl from Briton.
+Then, with Veevee, he sprang up and rushed to the gate barking furiously.
+
+Tom sprang to his feet, and snatched up his rifle. He was not left long
+in doubt as to who the enemy was. The wild wolf-foxes were in force, and
+the yelping and howling outside was terrible to listen to.
+
+He fired his rifle several times right into the centre of the pack,
+killing many and wounding more. This only made matters worse. The fierce
+and hungry beasts dashed themselves at the gate and tried to tear it in
+pieces.
+
+Stones were hurled at them, but all in vain. Poor Briton was as anxious
+to get out as they were to get in, and had to be kept back by force.
+
+"Go, quick, Frank," shouted Tom, "and stir up the fire; heap more peats
+and wood on, and bring lighted torches as soon as you can. I will guard
+the gate till you come."
+
+So there Tom stood opposed to the whole awful crowd, with their glaring
+eyes, red tongues, and white-flashing teeth, with only a slight gateway
+between him and death. When he thrust his rifle between the willow bars
+to take a shot, the beasts bit and tore at it, as if they would have
+dragged it from his grasp.
+
+Aralia was busy helping Frank, and presently both came running up with
+lighted fir-torches, which Tom at once flung over the gate, together with
+pieces of burning peat and wood. These did splendid work, and after a
+time the terrible pack drew off.
+
+There was no more sleep that night, however, and towards morning the
+attack began again. The foxes had dragged off their dead and wounded and
+devoured them. In the gray light of morning they rushed to the gate once
+more, and the battle raged again in all its fury.
+
+Poor little Pansy was trembling and shaking with fear as she looked up
+and saw that high up on the walls of the fort those savage, wild animals
+had taken their stand.
+
+It was a terrible morning, and hope seemed at last to fade, for even
+brave Tom had grown faint and weary, and could fight but little longer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+"Come along, Professor! Come along, Mate! The children are there
+somewhere, over in that strange island. Ha! here is a bridge of rocks!
+Thank goodness for that! And look! here, too, are tracks!"
+
+It was Uncle Staysail who spoke, and behind him was 'Fessor Pete himself,
+and at least a dozen well-armed sailors.
+
+"Listen!" cried the captain. "What is that?"
+
+"Wolves, I think," said the professor. "And hark! surely that was a
+rifle-shot. Pray Heaven we may be in time, Staysail!"
+
+"Hurry up, men! Hurry up!" cried the captain; and the men dashed onwards.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Tom had revived a little, and he and Frank were fighting harder than ever
+to hold the gate, as bold
+
+          "Horatius kept the bridge
+  In the brave days of old".
+
+But it was already giving way, and the beasts without seemed to know it.
+
+Briton was on his legs ready, and all seemed to be lost, when suddenly a
+rattling volley of rifle fire was heard from beneath, with shouts of men.
+
+Volley followed volley, and in less time than it takes me to tell it, the
+wild wolf-foxes were seeking safety in flight.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Tell us all your story again," said Tom to his uncle, as the children
+sat round the stove that same evening in the cosy cabin of the
+_Valhalla_.
+
+They were all washed and clean by this time, and the girls were
+beautifully dressed.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Ah! well, you see," said Uncle as he relit his pipe, "the professor here
+made a dart for the vessel when the storm came on. He wanted a stronger
+crew.
+
+"He caught us just in time, for though the gale was a furious one we
+could steam up to it, and were doing so, when suddenly there was a loud
+explosion; one of the boilers had burst, and the engines were smashed and
+useless.
+
+"We were now at the mercy of the sea, the waves, and the icebergs too,
+and before another day we were blown far away to sea.
+
+"Even then we had hope. But in a week's time we were frozen into the main
+pack, and there we have had to winter, and it is hardly a week since we
+got clear by cutting a canal with our great ice-saws. Oh! it has been a
+dreary time for us, but must have been more so to you, poor darlings! and
+well and bravely you have borne it all!
+
+"I am sure," he added, "that even Pansy has grown, and her mother will
+hardly know her again when we all get home."
+
+"We are going now, aren't we, 'Fessor Pete?" said Pansy, who was sitting
+on his knee.
+
+"Yes, my dear, yes. It is no use staying here when we have no steam, so
+the ship is now making for England's sunny shores. And we'll get there in
+the rosy month of June. Won't it be nice?"
+
+Pansy was jumping with joy.
+
+Aralia clapped her hands and cried: "Just too jolly for anything!"
+
+By and by Aralia sat down to the piano, and Pete brought out his fiddle,
+and a very happy evening indeed was spent in the _Valhalla_.
+
+The men were keeping it up forward too, around the galley fire, singing
+songs and spinning yarns, for the ship was "homeward bound".
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Oh, by the by," said Tom one day to the professor, "I forgot to tell you
+that in the cave where poor Veevee got lost I picked up this curious
+stone!"
+
+The professor put his spectacles on his nose and gazed at it for a
+moment.
+
+"Why, my dear Tom, this is solid gold, in the centre of a coating of
+quartz! You're in luck, lad; and it is just as I said; that is the Island
+of Gold. We shall return another year, and you will be one of the richest
+men in the kingdom."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My story is finished, or almost.
+
+'Fessor Pete and Tom, with Uncle Staysail, to say nothing of the mastiff
+Briton, are out there in the Frozen North this very summer, and I do hope
+they will have luck.
+
+But Aralia and Pansy, with sometimes Frank and always Veevee, may be seen
+any day playing on the sands not far from their mother's home, and Flossy
+too.
+
+Flossy is wondrously tame, and spends an hour or two almost every day in
+the sea, or on the beach, to the great delight of all who see her. But
+Aralia has a whistle, and no matter how far away in the water this
+strange pet may be, whenever the call is sounded she comes ploughing back
+to the beach, and after she has shaken her bonny coat in the sunshine,
+goes waddling home with her little friend Veevee and the Crusoes of the
+Frozen North.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Crusoes of the Frozen North, by Gordon Stables
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CRUSOES OF THE FROZEN NORTH ***
+
+***** This file should be named 11997.txt or 11997.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/9/9/11997/
+
+Produced by Julie Barkley, Andrea Ball and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's
+eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII,
+compressed (zipped), HTML and others.
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over
+the old filename and etext number.  The replaced older file is renamed.
+VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving
+new filenames and etext numbers.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000,
+are filed in directories based on their release date.  If you want to
+download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular
+search system you may utilize the following addresses and just
+download by the etext year.
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06
+
+    (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99,
+     98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90)
+
+EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are
+filed in a different way.  The year of a release date is no longer part
+of the directory path.  The path is based on the etext number (which is
+identical to the filename).  The path to the file is made up of single
+digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename.  For
+example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234
+
+or filename 24689 would be found at:
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689
+
+An alternative method of locating eBooks:
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL
+
+
diff --git a/old/11997.zip b/old/11997.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6913025
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/11997.zip