The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 117, July, 1867: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and PoliticsVarious
General
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 117, July, 1867: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics
Various
American periodicals
get wet, and are in danger of freezing. Perhaps we reach a crack which
we cannot pass, and have to hold on, possibly in a hut of snow, waiting
for the frost to build a bridge for us to pass. This is the wildest and
most dangerous of my experiences,--this dog-sledging it from place to
place in the early or late winter,--and I have had many wild adventures.
In the middle of the winter, when it is dark pretty much all the time,
and the snow is hard and crisp, and the clear, cold bracing air makes
the blood run freely through the veins, is the best time for travelling;
for then we may start a bear, and be pretty sure of catching him before
he gets on rotten ice or across a crack defying us in the pursuit."
By this time the sun had begun to climb above the hills, and the shadow
of the cliffs had passed over the town, so we stole back again to the
Doctor's house. The Doctor insisted that I should not sleep on board, so
we returned to the study, where I was soon wrapt in a sound sleep on the
Doctor's "shake-down," from which I never once awoke until there came a
loud tapping on the door.
"Who's there?"
"Sophy."
"What's Sophy want?"
"Breakfast."
Breakfast indeed! It was hard to believe that I was to come back to the
experiences of life under such a summons, for I had dreamed that I was
on a visit to the Man in the Moon, and was enjoying a genuine surprise
at finding him happy and well contented, seated in the centre of an
extinct volcano, with all the riches of the great satellite gathered
round him, hanging in tempting clusters on its horns.
But my eyes at length were opened wide enough to see, near by, the very
terrestrial ruins of our evening's pastime; and if these had left any
doubts upon my mind as to the reality of my present situation, those
doubts would certainly have been removed by the cheerful voice of the
Doctor; for a loud "Good morning!" came from out the painted chamber,
and from beneath the sky-blue canopy a graceful query of the night.
"What of the night, sleeper?--what of the night?" Then I was quickly out
upon the floor, and dressed, and in the cosey little room where the
fruits and flowers were hanging on the wall, and where the bright face
of Sophy, and aromatic coffee, and a charming little breakfast, were
awaiting us with a kindly welcome.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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