“Well, lad, you’ve come back to life at last, it seems,” spoke a gruff, but kindly voice.

“Where am I?”

“On board the whaler Penguin.”

“How did I come here?”

“Picked up on a floating cake of ice.”

“When—last night?”

The sailor laughed.

“No, indeed. A week ago.”

“And I have been here since?”

“Under the surgeon’s care, yes.”