Then there was a momentary silence of breathless expectation. The two men seemed about to meet with a shock that would annihilate both, when Mivins bounded to one side like an india-rubber ball. O’Riley shot past him like a rocket, and the next instant went head-foremost into the pool of water.
This unexpected termination to the affair converted the intended huzzah of the men into a yell of mingled laughter and consternation as they hastened in a body to the spot; but before they reached it O’Riley’s head and shoulders reappeared, and when they came up, he was standing on the margin of the pool blowing like a walrus.
“Oh, then, but it is cowld!” he exclaimed, wringing the water from his garments. “Och, where’s the ball? give me a kick or I’ll freeze, so I will.”
As he spoke, the drenched Irishman seized the ball from Mivins’ hands and gave it a kick that sent it high into the air. He was too wet and heavy to follow it up, however, so he ambled off towards the ship as vigorously as his clothes would allow him, followed by the whole crew.
Chapter Eight.
Fred and the doctor go on an excursion, in which, among other strange things, they meet with red snow and a white bear, and Fred makes his first essay as a sportsman.
But where were Fred Ellice and Tom Singleton all this time? the reader will probably ask.
Long before the game at football was suggested, they had obtained leave of absence from the captain, and, loaded with game-bags, a botanical box, and geological hammer, and a musket, were off along the coast on a semi-scientific cruise. Young Singleton carried the botanical box and hammer, being an enthusiastic geologist and botanist, while Fred carried the game-bag and musket.