Meanwhile, good news was brought them from the ship.  Two bears and a walrus had been purchased from the Esquimaux, a party of whom—­sleek, fat, oily, good-humoured, and hairy—­were encamped on the lee side of the Dolphin, and were busily engaged in their principal and favourite occupation—­eating!

CHAPTER XXIV.

Winter ends—­The first insect—­Preparations for departure—­Narrow escape—­Cutting out—­Once more afloat—­Ship on fire—­Crew take to the boats.

Winter passed away, with its darkness and its frost, and, happily, with its sorrows; and summer—­bright, glowing summer—­came at last, to gladden the heart of man and beast in the Polar Regions.

We have purposely omitted to make mention of spring, for there is no such season, properly so called, within the Arctic Circle.  Winter usually terminates with a gushing thaw, and summer then begins with a blaze of fervent heat.  Not that the heat is really so intense as compared with that of southern climes, but the contrast is so great that it seems as though the Torrid Zones had rushed towards the Pole.

About the beginning of June there were indications of the coming heat.  Fresh water began to trickle from the rocks, and streamlets commenced to run down the icebergs.  Soon everything became moist, and a marked change took place in the appearance of the ice-belt, owing to the pools that collected on it everywhere and overflowed.

Seals now became more numerous in the neighbourhood, and were frequently killed near the atluks, or holes, so that fresh meat was secured in abundance, and the scurvy received a decided check.  Reindeer, rabbits, and ptarmigan, too, began to frequent the bay, so that the larder was constantly full, and the mess-table presented a pleasing variety—­rats being no longer the solitary dish of fresh meat at every meal.  A few small birds made their appearance from the southward, and these were hailed as harbingers of the coming summer.

One day O’Riley sat on the taffrail, basking in the warm sun, and drinking in health and gladness from its beams.  He had been ill, and was now convalescent.  Buzzby stood beside him.

“I’ve bin thinkin’,” said Buzzby, “that we don’t half know the blessin’s that are given to us in this here world till we’ve had ’em taken away.  Look, now, how we’re enjoyin’ the sun an’ the heat, just as if it wos so much gold!”

“Goold!” echoed O’Riley, in a tone of contempt; “faix I niver thought so little o’ goold before, let me tell ye.  Goold can buy many a thing, it can, but it can’t buy sunshine.  Hallo! what’s this?”

O’Riley accompanied the question with a sudden snatch of his hand.

“Look here, Buzzby!  Have a care, now! jist watch the openin’ o’ my fist.”

“Wot is it?” inquired Buzzby, approaching, and looking earnestly at his comrade’s clinched hand with some curiosity.