Page:Furcountryorseve00vernrich.djvu/290

 I/O THE FUR COUNTRY. when hunting did not go far from Fort Hope. Beach-marks, if they had been made, would have been useless ; for heavy mists obscured everything at a short distance, the ground remained apparently firm and motionless, and there was, in short, nothing to hint to the Lieutenant and his men that they had become islanders. The position of the new island with regard to the rising and setting of the sun was the same as before. Had the cardinal points changed their position, had the island turned round, the Lieutenant, the astronomer, or Mrs Barnett, would certainly have noticed and understood the change ; but in its course the island had thus far followed a parallel of latitude, and its motion, though rapid, had been imperceptible. Although Hobson had no doubt of the moral and physical courage and determination of his companions, he determined not to acquaint them with the truth. It would be time enough to tell them of their altered position when it had been thoroughly studied. Fortunately the good fellows, soldiers or workmen, took little notice of the astronomical observations, and not being able to see the consequences involved, they did not trouble themselves about the change of latitude just announced. The Lieutenant determined to conceal his anxiety, and seeing no remedy for the misfortune, mastered his emotion by a strong effort, and tried to console Thomas Black, who was lamenting his dis- appointment and tearing his hair. The astronomer had no doubt about the misfortune of which he was the victim. .Not having, like the Lieutenant, noticed the peculiarities of the district, he did not look beyond the one fact in which he was interested : on the day fixed, at the time named, the moon had not completely eclipsed the sun. And what could he conclude but that, to the disgrace of observatories, the almanacs were false, and that the long desired eclipse, his own eclipse, Thomas Black's, which he had come so far and through so many dangers to see, had not been " total " for this particular district under the seventieth parallel ! No, no, it was impossible to believe it ; he could not face the terrible certainty, and he was overwhelmed with disappointment He was soon to learn the truth, however. Meanwhile Hobson let his men imagine that the failure of the eclipse could only interest himself and the astronomer, and they returned to their ordinary occupations ; but as they were leaving, Corporal Joliflfe stopped suddenly and said, touching his cap —