THE WORLD OF ICE. 31

pursue his studies, and he determined at last to
procure a passage in a whale-ship, and go out in
search of the brig.

It happened that the principal merchant and ship-
owner in the town, Mr. Singleton by name, was an
intimate friend and old school-fellow of Captain Ellice,
so Fred went boldly to him and proposed that a vessel
should be fitted out immediately, and sent off to search
for his father’s brig. Mr. Singleton smiled at the
request, and pointed out the utter impossibility of
his agreeing to it; but he revived Fred’s sinking
hopes by saying that he was about to send out a
whaler to the Northern Seas at any rate, and that
he would give orders to the captain to devote a
portion of his time to the search, and, moreover,
agreed to let Fred go as a passenger in company
with his own son Tom.

Now, Tom Singleton had been Fred’s bosom friend
and companion during his first year at school; but
during the last two years he had been sent to the
Edinburgh University to prosecute his medical studies,
and the two friends had only met at rare intervals.
It was with unbounded delight, therefore, that he
found his old companion, now a youth of twenty,
was to go out as surgeon of the ship, and he could
scarce contain himself as he ran down to Buzzby’s
cottage to tell him the good news, and ask him to
join.

Of course Buzzby was ready to go, and, what was
of far greater importance in the matter. his wife threw