“Yes, sir. It’s many years since any one reached that land, if it ever was reached, and we’re thinking all of us that the walrus will be there in herds.”
“But did Mr Lowe tell you that was land yonder?”
“No, sir; we saw him pointing with his glass, and Jakobsen there has wondrous eyes; he could see the tops of the mountains when he looked. There’s good coming out of evil, sir; and you’ll see we shall load up with oil when we get there.”
“But do you really think we shall find the sea-horses there. I want to see a walrus.”
“We feel sure of it, sir, because they have been hunted and driven back farther and farther every year of late; and we all felt that they must have retired to somewhere farther north, and by a great stroke of good fortune the ice has opened enough for us to get there.”
“Then the storm was all for the best, Johannes?”
“Yes, sir, I hope so,” said the man, joining another in sending off a great block as he spoke.
“But I say,” said Steve anxiously, “suppose we get frozen up there, and can’t get back.”
“We don’t talk like that, sir, at the beginning of summer out here,” said the Norseman. “If it was September, it would be different. We’ve got nearly three months for the ice to keep on melting and breaking up.”
“Yes, I see, and a better chance for exploring and searching for the Ice Blink!”