324, THE WORLD OF ICE.

the hour of death is the hour of victory. «“ Change ”
is written in broad letters on everything connected
with Time; and he who would do his duty well, and
enjoy the greatest possible amount of happiness here,
must seek to prepare himself for every change. Men
cannot escape the general law. The current of their
particular stream may long run smooth, but sooner or
later the rugged channel and the precipice will come.
Some streams run quietly for many a league, and only
at the last are troubled. Others burst from their very
birth on rocks of difficulty, and rush, throughout their
course, in tortuous, broken channels.

So was it with the actors in our story. Our hero’s
course was smooth. Having fallen in love with his
friend Tom Singleton’s profession, he studied medicine
and surgery, became an M.D., and returned to practise
in Grayton, which was a flourishing sea-port, and,
during the course of Fred’s career, extended consider-
ably. Fred also fell in love with a pretty young girl
in a neighbouring town, and married her. Tom
Singleton also took up his abode in Grayton, there
being, as he said, “room for two.” Ever since Tom
had seen Isobel on the end of the quay, on the day
when the Dolphin set sail for the Polar Regions, his
heart had been taken prisoner. Isobel refused to give
it back unless he, Tom, should return the heart which
he had stolen from her. This he could not do, so it
was agreed that the two hearts should be tied to-
gether, and they two should be constituted joint
guardians of both. In short, they were married, and