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EVENINGS AT HOME; OR, WINTER IN SPITZBERGEN.* (Continued from page 282.)

NINTH EVENING.

WITH anxious curiosity, the children awaited the continuation of the story. That there must be something extraordinary in that portion of the cave, they settled as certain, without being able definitely to say why they expected it to be. Maria, who was somewhat more economical and more of a housewife than the others, thought of a gold mine, or a place where diamonds were to be found; she had read in the accounts of travels, that in Peru, and the other South American provinces, they often found large pieces of solid gold, and could not conceive why it was they might not find the same in Spitzbergen, as metals and precious stones needed not the warmth of the sun and a milder climate for their growth, much less than plants. Max and Gustavus conjectured rather of rarities of nature and petrifactions. Julia, on the contrary, had always the old dead Hollander sea-captain in her mind. She feared that Gregory would see the whole dead crew bodily as mummies, or like statues. On Max's recollecting that, according to the account of the journal, they had been buried, she comforted herself with the thought that the cave might be to Ivan and his friends what the stranded ship was for Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday-a well-filled magazine, provided with all sorts of things which the three friends were in need of.

But the children disputed about it, while every one sought to defend his own view, and tried to render it as probable as he could, when their father appeared -and the whole dispute was at an end.

Gus. Now, father? Are we going to the bake-oven?

FATHER. Yes, immediately. Gregory put up the ladder, the old pilot cautioned him to be careful, and begged Ivan to accompany his friend. He himself sat down, while his friends mounted up, on the bottom of that cavern. From there

From the German of C. Hildebrandt, by E. G. Smith.

he observed how the light above in the hole gradually became more feeble, and finally wholly disappeared.

MARIA. I should then have been somewhat troubled.

FATHER. Why should he be so? He had given to the daring Gregory a more prudent director in Ivan; besides, he might hope that Gregory would be more careful after the former adventure in the

cavern.

The pilot had passed almost an hour in his cave, only feebly lighted by the fire which was burning, and all continually grew more and more still, and he heard nothing. He was, in fact, becoming somewhat anxious. He called out; but no answer followed. He called again, but all in vain. He listened with the most intense observation. Everything was still, and so it continued. Then all at once, on the opposite side of the high dark roof of the hole, he saw a bright ray of light, which sometimes took the shape of a sword, and sometimes of a cross or point, and sometimes of a circle. Now it flitted about, now it again stood still; then it vanished all at once, and came into view again suddenly. The more intently the old pilot gazed at it, and the more he thought it over, the darker the matter became to him. But it was beyond conception when he heard loud voices wholly unknown to him, and soon after a strong wild laugh answered on every side. While he was seeking to explain to himself these strange appearances, and puzzling his head with all sorts of thoughts, all at once there fell from every side a large quantity of little stones rattling down on the floor. Even this was not all. Suddenly the light formed itself into a great round circle, and,-think of the awful sight!—in the midst of this fiery circle, all at once came to view a coal-black shaggy head, with glowing, flaming eyes, which called out the old pilot's name so loud, that it resounded through the whole cavern, and the call was answered on every side.

MARIA. I cannot imagine what it

was!

JULIA. Oh! it is horrible. I would not have been in the old pilot's place for anything.

FATHER. I believe it, truly. But your fright will be over, when I tell you that

MARIA. there?

Gregory?

But

the dreadful head belonged to no one but somewhat overstrained the thing. our friend Gregory. our good pilot found here many things How came he which must be valuable to him. Thus, for example, there lay close by the entrance a large supply of dry fire-wood, while, on the opposite side, there was a considerable quantity of moss, and yet further, some heaps of spoon-wort were piled up.

FATHER. In the most natural manner possible. The division of the cavern, or rather the new cavern, wondrously led close to, and over the great principal cavern. We often find those passages winding about and caverns near by, as, for example, in the woodman's hole. Ivan and Gregory had gone on into it; some little chinks of the wall had let through the shining of their light on the dark roof, and this shining showed itself in different shapes according as the openings through which it fell were formed. Many parts of the newly-discovered caves were large and roomy, and, of course, the echo of the sound of the voice was greatly increased, when Gregory or Ivan spoke. In the extreme corner of the cave, there was a round opening which naturally formed the round, shining circle. Through this opening Gregory looked, and, as the light was behind him, so his face must appear black. In the high rocky vault of the cave, there was naturally an echo on every side when he called out to the old pilot, whom he saw far below him. The stones which rolled down, had either accidentally fallen through the chinks, while Ivan and Gregory pressed on them, or they had thrown them down purposely, in order to ascertain how deep the chinks reached. "O you cobolds" (black spirits), cried out the old pilot, laughing over the adventure, "how came you there? You have almost frightened me!"

"If you wish to rejoice in many important and valuable things," was Gregory's answer, "then come up here. Here we have found stores with which we could fit out a man-of-war."

The pilot followed the call. Curious as to what he might find, he mounted the ladder, and indeed found that Gregory had not fibbed as to the main thing.

JULIA. And so there were vegetables! FATHER. Many bear and reindeer skins lay in one corner.

JULIA. And so there were beds, and, in case of necessity, warm articles of clothing.

FATHER. But now Ivan and Gregory called out to the pilot that he should no longer stay by those trifles, as here where they were vastly more important things were to be seen. The old pilot hastened thither. The young men came to meet him, and gladly showed him the newlycovered magazine. There stood little casks and barrels, the weight of which proved that they were not empty; here lay tools of all kinds; there, some wellfilled bags, the contents of which appeared never to have been used. With joyful feelings the friends stood there, and with hearty satisfaction they considered this new property, although they knew not the contents of the barrels and casks.

MAX. But how, then, did they come here?

FATHER. This was inconceivable to our friends. There was nothing of it in the paper they had found. Whether these supplies had been brought together by the eleven Hollanders, or were they indebted for them to some other person's care, there was no means of ascertaining.

Gus. Did any one know of more persons having wintered on the island?

FATHER. Yes; not only here, but also in other northern regions of the earth, have different navigators made experiments of this sort. More than two hundred years since, the Danish Captain The whole portion of the wide-extended| Monk passed the winter on one of the wellcave might be compared to the upper-known northern coasts of America. He story of a house. The wall and floor was on a voyage of discovery, but venconsisted of smooth rock, which formed many crooked and winding passages.

tured too far; his ship froze in, and with the strong crew of sixty-four persons, MARIA. And how was it with the stores saw himself compelled to leave his ship with which one could fit out a ship? and seek the land. They found it, built FATHER. In this matter Gregory had themselves huts, brought in their supplies,

and led a most scanty and wretched life, in an intensely cold clime. In three quarters of a year only three men were left; who, after undergoing incredible sufferings and dangers, finally again reached their fatherland.

Some years afterwards the Hollanders inade two attempts to erect for their fisheries winter abodes, in Greenland and Spitzbergen. They left in each place seven sailors, who were provided with all things their necessities required. The journals which both companies kept, are still in existence, and furnish proof of what men are often obliged to endure. The Greenland journal relates, that already, on the 18th of September, the portion of brandy which each one had dealt out to him was spent. From the 9th of October they were oliged to keep up a constant fire, so as not to freeze, and their only meal consisted of bear's meat. In March they were all seized with the scurvy. MARIA. The scurvy? FATHER. So they call one of the most frightful of diseases, which is extremely dangerous to the crews of ships in the northern parts of the ocean. It attacks both body and mind; all the feelings of the soul of such a sick man become gloomy and sad, the body is emaciated, the breath becomes difficult, the gums swell up, the teeth loosen, and finally fall out. The bodies are covered with rustycoloured spots, out of which run streams of bad smelling blood; the breathing becomes continually more and more difficult, the distress greater, until death puts an end to the sufferings of such an unhappy man. This disease seized on all of them, and only one of the unfortunates could keep up the journal till the last of April. They were all found dead.

Alike sad was the lot of those who were left in Spitzbergen. According to their day-book they were obliged, just as were our three friends, to content themselves with bear's flesh, and were also attacked by the scurvy. The first of them died in January; and the journal goes on to the end of February. All of them, too, were found dead.

Yet later, eight Englishmen were in many respects more fortunate. In the same region in which we know our friends to

understanding a boat's crew were once left behind, which had been sent ashore to shoot reindeer, and the poor men, deprived of the necessaries of life, saw themselves compelled to spend their winter here. Fortunately they were landed in a place in which they found a wooden hut, partly in ruins.

JULIA. Probably the same which Ivan lived in with his friends?

FATHER. I believe not; they would otherwise have mentioned the cavern in their journal, and the simple narrative which they published after their return. This hut which they discovered they put not only in a better state, but also built inside of it a smaller one, and filled the space between the two with moss. They had firewood more than they wanted; they laid up many reindeer, and gathered, before the entrance of winter, a quantity of spoonwort and other plants, and caught many fish, which they smoked together with the reindeer. A short time before the beginning of winter, they were so fortunate as to catch a young whale, the flesh of which they cut into strips and roasted hard at the fire for their winter food. Water from melted ice was their only drink. Thus they were obliged for one half of the year to undergo sufferings and deprivations, which no description could portray. It was a great piece of good fortune for the poor men, that they remained healthy. Finally, in the month of June, of the next year, a ship on which they had before served, came again to this region, and happily carried them back to their own country. So there are many examples that men have been compelled to spend a winter on this barren coast. And it is likewise probable that many persons of whom we have no knowledge have met with such a fate. Ruins have often been found of ships wrecked on the coast and in the bays of this island; and it is possible, that these stores were brought into the cave from such an unfortunate ship; it is possible that their possessors, rescued in some way, left the stores in order to help thereby some other unfortunate persons.

Gus. Our friends must have been very thankful for them!

FATHER. They were, indeed, even behave been, either from negligence or mis-fore they knew what those casks and

barrels contained. To ascertain this, was now their most important task. The first cask was opened. What joy they felt, when they saw that it was filled with gunpowder! This was exactly the most useful thing, for the question always had been whether the furious bears would be afraid of their arrows and lances only. Now they opened a second cask.

But there was in the cave below them a dreadful crash; the whole floor seemed about to tumble; a thundering noise rolled around the rocks, and the distressing cry of some one calling for help resounded even to the spot on which our astonished friends were standing, who were unable to explain this most unexpected pheno

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Gus. What could it be? Why, certainly the heedless Gregory had come too near the powder cask with his lamp.

FATHER. If this had been the case, the history of our three friends would have ended with this moment. But this matter was not so bad, and was explained, as you shall immediately hear, in a perfectly natural manner. All three of them went with their lamps back to the entrance, and there they found the cause of the dreadful noise. The ladder on which they had mounted into the hole was thrown down, and lay across the reindeer, who uttered the most piteous moans under its weight. Probably the creature, which had been accustomed to his kind guardian, had wished to follow him up the ladder; or, perhaps, he was left merely tied by the horns to one of the rounds, and so had pulled down the heavy ladder on himself. The noise of this in falling must have caused a very loud and powerful echo in the empty rocky cavern, in which the distressing cry of the animal had a great resemblance to the voice of an unfortunate man; and thus our friends, as well as ourselves, saw the whole strange matter explained.

MAX. But now, how were they to get down again?

FATHER. That was the most difficult thing. To climb down the smooth rock was impossible, and to jump down would be a folly not to be thought of. They were compelled, therefore, to devise some

other means, and this they did. Among the stores, they had found many ropes; these they tied together. Gregory soon let himself down on it, raised up the ladder, mounted again, and to prevent any similar accident, fastened the ladder tight.

And now they went to work again to examine the stores. The three were never more rejoiced than now, when they saw one want after another supplied. They called out by turns to each other, as any one found something long-wished for, or most needed. But greater still was their joy, when Gregory uncovered a cask full of the best well-preserved flour.

MARIA. This must indeed have been most pleasant. The poor men may now bake some bread, and make themselves more good soup!

JULIA. Now they ought to find potatoes too, just as Robinson Crusoe did.

con

FATHER. Yes, if Spitzbergen only lay as near the Equator as it did to the North Pole! But they were already helped to many things, and they could now more tentedly look forward to the future, to the end of the winter, and the half-year's night. Then the day would dawn, which in this zone lasts almost half a year, and they might reasonably hope that in the milder season of the year they would be able to provide for their future subsistence.

Now our friends went down, and found the poor reindeer in such a plight that they could not think of being able to cure him. The ladder had broken his backbone; and painful as it was to the old pilot, he was compelled to kill the animal.

If by the discovery of the new chamber, or cave, and the large stores it contained, many necessaries of life were supplied, there was also joined with it the important advantage, that the things found afforded our friends occasion and material for new occupation. The first work which they undertook was to bring the most necessary articles, except the gunpowder and the flour, into their cave. these they left above in a safer place. It would have been dangerous to have had the powder in their dwelling; an unlucky spark might easily have set it on fire, and thus the whole cavern would have been blown up. The flour they left above be

Both of

cause it was drier there, and more airy than in the lower cavern, where it was more easily exposed to sour, or become otherwise unfit.

Now they must begin to bake, a business which fell to the pilot, who was not wholly inexperienced in it, as in his earlier years he had been assistant to the cook on board of a ship. To try an experiment, he determined to make use of the absence of his friends, who to-day, notwithstanding the extreme cold, had decided on going out to hunt, as they, being now furnished with powder and ball, might reckon on sure success. But the first thing which was required to have such an experiment succeed, was a bake-oven. | The building of one was, indeed, attended with many difficulties and hard labour; but the pilot would not shrink from it on this account. He went quickly and courageously to work, and his activity was not unrewarded,-as is generally the case with man, when he begins with reflection and goes forward with increased industry. The walls of the cavern had many clefts, and one of these the pilot chose for an oven; it was smooth and straight below, about two yards broad, and went into the rock the same depth. Three sides of the oven therefore, already found. Now the pilot sought in the deeper cleft of the rock for loose stones, placed them upright on some flat ones, kneaded the earth which he found in the hollow into a paste, built up mason-work therewith, and thus there was a bake-oven prepared even to the door. This was formed by means of a board, and in order to give a firm hold and hinder it from falling down, when it was to close the well-heated oven, he made, with mason-work, an addition before the opening, by which the door could be fastened. Probably he afterwards gave it many little changes in the structure, as experience had, no doubt, suggested to his notice various things which he might employ for the improvement of his work.

were,

But as accident often causes the most important and useful discoveries, of this the account of the pilot furnishes a striking proof. He was occupied in hammering a large stone for a plate of his bake-oven, when he noticed in the stone many broad shining veins.

MARIA. It was, no doubt, solid gold?

FATHER. Something more useful to him.

JULIA. Then it was certainly diamonds? FATHER. It was something which the pilot valued more than gold and diamonds, at least its possession was more important in his situation. Every one of the veins was full of the finest rock-salt, which appeared in little bright cubes or blocks, and were here inserted. No discovery could have yielded the honest man greater joy than this; for now, by the help of God, again was furnished the supply for a long-felt and most pressing want. With longing he waited the return of his friends, in order that he might impart to them the joyful news.

The bake-oven was now finished, and the builder immediately made a fire in it to dry it. The oven had a sufficient draught, the fire burned finely, and in half an hour the mason-work was dry. The old pilot caused the oven to be cooled off-and thus he heated it for baking.

He had already kneaded flour and hot water in a kettle to a paste, or dough, and when this was sufficiently firm, he let it stand for an hour; then laid it on a smooth clean board, formed cakes of it, rubbed them with bear's grease, and strewed sugar over them. Then he took out the coals from the thoroughly heated oven, cleansed it by means of a bundle of spoon-wort, put in his baking, and shut up the opening with a board. Already the strong smell of the baking enlivened the old pilot, but far more yet did the sight of it rejoice him, when, of a shining brown colour and well done, it stood on the table, and filled the cavern with its savour.

(To be continued.)

THE GOOD WOMAN.-A good woman is one of the greatest glories of the creation. How do the duties of a good wife, a good mother, and a worthy matron, well performed, dignify a woman! A good woman reflects honour on all those who had any hand in her education, and on the company she has kept. A woman of virtue and of good understanding, skilled in, and delighting to perform the duties of domestic life, needs not fortune to recommend her to the choice of the greatest and richest man, who wishes his own happiness.

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