The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-11-27

Will soon bo coming on, ana a Wintering
hero means that when spring comes our
bones will DO found bleaching on the
rocks. The Hotel White Bear has been
snug resting place for two weeks, two
weeks OF weary waiting for chance to
get away. Though the wind was for many
days strong In the right quarter, the stub
born ice would never move 10 began TO
be q serious question whether it ever would
move. Until some change In the situation
showed itself escape was Impossible, TOT
between US and the mainland was SIX
mile belt of iInpassable ice. Through IL
we might have struggled with our aiu-
minimum boats. but not all Of tho party Of
10 ca uld go in these craft in the event OF
coming TO open water, and such thing as
leaving the men Of the Jarl behind was
not TO be thought Of Night and day we
kept watch upon the mountain, deter
mined to use the first opportunity to get
away. even a poor one. We had food
enough for so days, but IL winter should
catch us here--well, it would be cold
and hungry winter.
At Hotel White Bear.
The Hotel White Bear really consists OF
O single room 30 by "a feet, but In one cor
ner Is little apartment for the four Off
reproduced, with table and chairs and
beds and even the pictures on the wall.
Here we sleep and have our meals. It Is
like being civilized again, for we have our
trunks, rescued In more or less damaged
condition from the hold of the ship, and
are able TO shave and wear silken pajamas
and bathe in toilet water and could, II oc-
casion arose. don our dress suits and pat
nd ~, hp
STILL we have q lot Of books, chiefly about
arctic expeditions, most OF them even moro
luokless than our own, and as we read
we wondered why arctic expeditions never
do have any luck anyway. Our greatest
enjoyment is eating. We eat and sleep
and play whist and read and talk and
watch the ice, but our principal avocation
is eating. Plum duff is luxurious, and we
eat SO much that it occasionally makes
some OF the men i'll. But they eat mono
the less at the next meal on that account.
Having lived SO long on hard biscuit and
saccba arine and soup stuff, ''salt horse"
seems good enough for the gods; the coars-
est substitute for fresh bread Is a delight
forever; anything sweet strangely fasci-
mates us. We have been pining for cara
mels and chocolate drops and vowing If
we ever reached civilization TO buy out all
the canoy shops In the first town we en-
tered. Thank heaven, there is coffee
enough even for our Norwegian coffee
flends. and all day long and half the night
they sit about the galley swigging great
bowls of their favorite beverage and filling
the White Bear with its pervasive aroma.
Tyrsnnicni and Treacherous.
All this Is pleasant enough as long as it
1ao nd hae n
It might hast too long. Still there is no
change in the ice. Whoever comes to this
country must needs make up his mind to
bow submission to the ice king. He rules
all arcticdom with an iron hand. There
is no doing anything at all without his
permission. His power is everywhere.
Now and then he withdraws little dis
tance and permits you to sail In bit Of
open water and TO become confident and
imagine you possess the earth or a large
part thereof. Then he descends upon you,
blocks your way, puts you TO rout, skaters
your fondost hopes, humbles your pride.
One gets awfully weary of this continual
bowling the knee to the tyrant, of this end
less talk of the ice, of what 1t Is, where 1t
is, whittier moving You are its abject
slave You must consult its every mood
and whim. All your conversation is Of
it, The first thing In the morning is a
look Mt the ice and consultation about
1t. This is repeated once an hour all day.
The last thing before retiring at night is
u final inspection Of tho ice-nay, more,
even when the winds arc still, the sky
clear and no danger apparent you must
still keep watch throughout tho night.
The ice king is not only tyrannical, but
he is treacherous. This vigil is a tribute
which he demands under threat of the
direst penalty Neglect him, and he comes
stealthily down upon you, serpentlike,
with a hiss and rattle, and just as youpop
your eyes open I'm n sudden sense of alarm
he has you In bis embrace. This is the
sort of tyrant we have been living with all
summer, and we have him with us still.
For exercise we go to the top of tho
mountain and roll great stones down its
precipitous sides. There is something fas-
cinating in the sport, for we imagine we
are bombardlng the ice. So industrious
have we been that the mountain is denud-