“No, that would annoy him, as we have no reason for calling him back. We must let him go,” said Harry. “Well, at all events, we can pray for him,” exclaimed Charley, in a tone which showed that the thought was consolatory. They did so immediately, and felt far greater confidence than before. For themselves, they had no cause to fear. They had food enough for a month or more, should the frost return, and they had the means of building a hut, in which they could be perfectly sheltered from the weather. They had abundance of fuel, and the bear’s skin would keep them warm at night. There were the cranberries, and probably some other berries, and they knew of several roots which they thought they should find. “Really, we are very well off,” said Charley, after they had reviewed their resources. “I don’t think there is another part of the world where, in a little island like this, we could find such ample means of support. I shouldn’t mind spending a month here at all.”
“Ah! but we could not expect always to find a bear in such a place as this; and as for the fish, we brought them with us,” said Harry, by way of argument.
“But I daresay, if we were to hunt about, we should find some racoons; and if the ice melted we should catch plenty of fish—or we might make a hole in the ice and fish through it,” argued Charley. “By the by, I have got some hooks and a line in my pocket; I vote we try.”
No sooner was the proposal made than executed; two fishing lines were fitted—with their spears a hole was made in the easily yielding ice—the bear furnished bait. Scarcely was a line in than a tug was felt, and a small fish was hauled up. They did not know the name, but as its appearance was prepossessing, they had no doubt that it was fit for food. Another and another followed; they were delighted with their sport, and even Harry felt that he should be sorry to have to go away. “If we had but some bread and some tea, with a pot to boil it in, we should do capitally,” he observed.
“We may dig dandelion roots for coffee, we can boil water with hot stones in a wooden jug, which we can make, and there are roots which will serve us for bread,” said Charley. “If we could but get a few heads of Indian corn, we might thrive just as we are.”
“We might live, certainly,” said Harry; “but I doubt if we could do more.”
Chapter Eight.
We must follow Philip in his perilous adventure. He felt more doubtful as to the strength of the ice than he had expressed; but should it break beneath him, he relied on his long pole to extricate himself. He looked back every now and then, and he appeared to be taking a straight course; he felt the breeze also always on his left cheek. This inspirited him, though he could not see the shore. The snow was yielding enough, though rather clogging about his heels; the fog, however, grew thicker than ever; it was evidently the fog caused by a warm thaw. He had seen many such in England. He pushed on boldly—faster than he had gone with his brothers—he was lightly clad and carried no weight. Did he hear sounds coming from the shore—sleigh-bells—or sheep-bells—men’s voices also? If so, he was probably near the settlement. He was trying to pierce the mist, when suddenly he felt his feet sinking from under him, and before he could spring back, he was sent gliding down a slab of ice, and plunged in the water. For several yards before him there was nothing but water. Holding his pole he swam on. He reached the edge of the ice: it broke as he clutched it. It is a difficult operation to get out of water on to a slab of ice. He found it so. If he got one end of the pole on the ice the other slipped off. He saw the danger of exhausting his strength by useless struggles. He had heard voices. He might make himself heard, so he shouted—“Help! help! the ice has broken in—help!”