Seen from the vessel, a more lovely spot could not be imagined; its beauty was dazzling; and Steve’s spirits rose as he felt that if the captain and crew of the Ice Blink had escaped safely from the wreck, they had found a glorious island in which to make their sojourn.
He said something of the kind to Captain Marsham, but there was a saddened look and a shake of the head.
“Heavenly-looking, Steve, my boy,” he said, “with the blue sea and sky, the silvered rocks, and the lovely greys, reds, and browns of the cliffs; but don’t you see why it is so beautiful? Once this glorious sunshine is blotted out by a cloud, and you have before you a terrible spot—desolate, sterile, storm-swept. Fancy what it must be when the arctic night, with its months of darkness, sets in!”
Steve was silent, and his heart sank for the time, as he saw the truth of the captain’s words; but there was hope still waiting to assert itself: he had his glass in his hand, with which he swept the shore as they steamed on mile after mile, till all at once he uttered a shout.
“What is it?” said the captain, for the boy was pointing to where there was a perfect wilderness of rocks stretching down from the cliffs to the sea.
“Some one! Look! There he goes! He is trying to get down to the sea to hail us.”
Steve had seen the moving figure with the naked eye, and his hands trembled so with excitement that he could not adjust his glass.
“A bear—a monster,” said the captain, who was gazing through his.
“A bear in an island?” said the doctor in a tone of doubt; and Steve, whose hopes had been cast down by this announcement, felt his spirits rise again.
“An island? Yes,” said the captain; “but an island hemmed in on two or three sides by the ice. Look, we are close to the pack which touches it on the north. We can get no farther this way, and I daresay that the channel between the island and Greenland is one solid floe. Yes, that’s a fine bear; and look, there is its mate.”