The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1902-05-27
After Three Hundred Years.
BY HERBERT L. COGGINs.

Copyright, 1901 by Daily Story Pub. Coz
Late in the spring Of 1872 the steam
ship Polaris, having fought its way
through Fury strait, entered the open
waters of Boothia bay. OF all the peo-
pie who knew Of the voyage. only |
through the exciting accounts which /
filled the newspapers of the time, few
indeed can imagine its hardships, the |
long dark days when the ice had rem
dered the boat helpless, the dreary yet
scarcely darker nights which sleep |
alone made bearable, and cold which |
human sense could only register as
pain.
At that time I was assistant to Or.
Thayer, the biologist Of the expedi-
ton, and had been looking forward to
the cruise as one long tour of pleasur-
able excitement.
Pleasurable? / had used that word,
but now, as l look back and shudder,
it seems meaningless Days Of excite
ment there were by the score; times
when the awful question of death rose
up before us. Still, they but make
sombre background for the single hour
which is stamped indelibly upon my
memory.
The Polaris was anchored in latitude
/ So 4017, longitude S460. To the east
was Melville Peninsular, a typical
! portion Of Northwestern British Amer
lea. to my mind the most dreary and
desoIate bit Of land on this whole
round globe.
The snow of the previous year had
worn away, leaving exposed an almost
4 barren waste. Away from the shore
/ low moss covered tundra" or frozen
swamps. spread themselves on all
sides, while here and there margin
Of stunted tree growth cut dull line
across the bleak surface. Around and
above all was the funeral gloom of an
Arctic silence.
Out in the bay great ice foes were
moving slowly southwark. Against the
darkened sky we could see them in the
distance, huge frozen mountains, APP
preaching steadily and silently like a
feet Of ghostly vessels bound on some
weird mission Of destruction.
1t was on the 7th Of May, particu-
larly large berg drifted so close to the
Polaris that the doctor and took the
yawl and rowed over to it in the hope
Of killing a stranded bear or musk OK
/ shall not speak of our tedious strug-
giles along that icy cliff. nor of oul
weary wandeFings over its cold noun
famous surface. Terrible as they wer,
it is not because of them that the dal
is memorable to me.
Unsuccessful in the search and will
only the thought of getting back t.
the Polaris in my mind, was wearil!
making my way along the small leve
stretch Of ice to which our boat wa
anchored when my eye caught OF
something which caused me to pause
A few feet ahead Of me and buried al
inch or two below the surface wa
some dark OPAQUE object
: ''Fur." 1 exclaimed: ''some fossil
The st. Petersburg mammoth came t
my mind Ny shout brought the doc
tor hurrying towards me. He. toe
was taken with the same idea and wit
our hatchets we began the work Of ex
eavation.
Z A minute later the doctor spran
back, and 1 heard his Ratchet ia
3 changing upon the ice.
Good God" he cried, .lookl"
His last blow had left but a thin
transparent lens of ice above the oil
| Iect of his search. SILVER as {
: some ague. passed through my nerves
5 1 recognized, not the limb Of some Ion
buried fossil, but, staring up at US wit
awful co1nposure. a human face Ha
: been alone would never have take
a second look. TO the doctor. howeve
such sights were less repulsive. and h
instinct for investigation instantly r,
asserted itself
An hours hard work enabled us /
lift the body from its icy tomb. ca
see it now. The massive head an
! broad shoulders. the powerful limb
and even the stern expression of tn;
E rigid face. In spite of my aversio
i the physical aspect of the man file
> me with awe. Never has that pictul
: arisen to my vision-and the mist
Q years have come between-without in
pressing me with the belief that it W;