This was a log-book.
Strange to say, the brass box had been water-tight and the log-book was in a perfect state of preservation.
Had Frank known this he would not have opened the box to let the water soak the book.
But curiosity overcame his scruples and he turned the leaves of the book.
The water magnified the letters and he read the writing in a large coarse hand.
Thus it read:
“Saturday, December 10, 18––.
“A bitter day for all. No sign of the ice breaking up, and we are plainly in for another winter. Oh, the horrors of this awful life of solitude!
“Three years cast away in this accursed region! Oh, for a chance for life! Alas! none of us, the three survivors of the crew of the Arabella (the ship sent by the American Exploration Company to the North Pole), may never hope to see home again.
“It is a week ago to-day since Captain Cliff suicided. Driven to madness by the horrors of this fate, he took his own life.