Summary
Summary of Adrift in the Ice-Fields
Adrift in the Ice-Fields at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 4 h 55 min3 h 55 min fast, 5 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 70,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1877by Charles Winslow Hall
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
A hunting camp carries a warning
As the March thaw opens the goose season, six sportsmen gather at Captain Lund's farm. Among them are La Salle, the young lawyer who tells the story, and Hughie Creamer, a sailor full of yarns. Their equipment and cheerful company promise days of hunting on the ice.
But Lund is troubled. He has seen two white figures vanish on a path, a sight he believes foretells death. His warning places a shadow over the gathering before the hunters have begun.
Key idea 2
Fear mistakes a lantern for a ghost
The hunters dress in white and set their decoys on the ice.
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Key idea 3
Sharing a prize begins a bond
A black fox offers Peter, a one-armed Mi'kmaq hunter, a chance to help his family after sickness and debt.
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Key idea 4
Bright days still hold danger
Geese arrive in great numbers after the thaw, and the hunters enjoy a successful day.
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Key idea 5
The hunting ground breaks loose
After changes in the party, La Salle, Peter, Regnar Orloff and George Waring remain on the bar with Carlo.
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Key idea 6
Ordinary equipment becomes a means of survival
The drifting ice destroys the smaller boat, but La Salle directs attention to what remains: the larger boat, food and work to do.
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Key idea 7
New supplies bring fresh risks
Seals offer the drifting hunters food and materials, but getting them puts lives at risk.
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Key idea 8
Shared survival crosses old divisions
The hunters bring different peoples, speech and beliefs into the same story.
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Key idea 9
Small acts sustain the larger adventure
What begins with goose hunting and evenings of ghost stories becomes a struggle to survive with a dog and a few tools.
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Who it’s for
This is for anyone who loves winter survival tales, hunting and seafaring lore, ghost stories by firelight, and clever inventions made from almost nothing.
What this book is
What would you do if the ice under your feet broke loose and carried you out into the open Gulf of St. Lawrence? In Adrift in the Ice-Fields, four hunters face exactly that. They have two axes, a few guns, twelve sheet-iron goose decoys, a leaky bucket, and a big Newfoundland dog named Carlo.
Charles Winslow Hall wrote this adventure novel to show young readers the sports of the Maritime Provinces. You get geese, seals and ice drawn with care, fireside ghost stories, and a pilot's warning that comes true.
In this summary
- 1A hunting camp carries a warningFree
- 2Fear mistakes a lantern for a ghost
- 3Sharing a prize begins a bond
- 4Bright days still hold danger
- 5The hunting ground breaks loose
- 6Ordinary equipment becomes a means of survival
- 7New supplies bring fresh risks
- 8Shared survival crosses old divisions
- 9Small acts sustain the larger adventure
Six sportsmen gather at a pilot's farm
The story opens on the island of St. Jean, which ice shuts off from the sea for five months. When the March thaws come, sportsmen prepare for the geese that follow the retreating frost. They pack decoys, white clothing, powder and boats made for the ice.
Six of them lodge with Captain Lund, a pilot who owns most of the farmland on the island of St. Pierre. There is the portly Englishman Henry Risk, his friend Davies, young Ben Davies, and Hughie Creamer, a sailor and teller of tall yarns. Kennedy trusts the New York Tribune on every question. La Salle, the young lawyer who tells the tale, carries a huge gun he calls the Baby.
On the first night, Lund cannot settle. He saw two men in white vanish on the path, and on his island such a sight comes before a death. He speaks too of the Packet Light, a ghost glow that shines before storms. If the breakup of the ice passes without two men lost, he says, he will have guessed wrong.
A cheerful camp and a dark warning sit side by side from the first evening.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Check yourself
What does La Salle discover when he investigates the light Hughie fears?
Right. “La Salle walks toward it alone and finds a lantern on a pole in the hands of Captain Lund, who has brought a search party.”Not quite. “La Salle walks toward it alone and finds a lantern on a pole in the hands of Captain Lund, who has brought a search party.”
Why does La Salle favor staying on the ice over rowing ashore?
Right. “When Regnar proposes rowing ashore, La Salle shows why staying with their food, shelter and fire is safer.”Not quite. “When Regnar proposes rowing ashore, La Salle shows why staying with their food, shelter and fire is safer.”
What does the hunters' shared life on the ice show about their differences?
Right. “Skill and kindness cross the lines that feuds and prejudice draw.”Not quite. “Skill and kindness cross the lines that feuds and prejudice draw.”
Go deeper: the whole of Adrift in the Ice-Fields
About 5 h 10 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 70,500 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 55 min
Questions about Adrift in the Ice-Fields
What is Adrift in the Ice-Fields about?
It follows sportsmen hunting geese on the ice off Prince Edward Island, who tell stories by the fire. When the ice breaks, four of them drift for days across the Gulf of St. Lawrence and must build shelter, food and fire from almost nothing.
Who is La Salle in Adrift in the Ice-Fields?
La Salle is the young man who tells the story and leads the drifting party. He is a lawyer, trader and poet who loves hunting, and he uses his practical skill and calm to keep his companions alive.
What is the Packet Light in the book?
It is a ghost light that islanders say glows on the East Bar before storms. It is said to come from a schooner wrecked there thirty years earlier, and Captain Lund believes it is a warning.
Is Adrift in the Ice-Fields a true story?
It is a work of fiction set in the 1860s, but the preface says the habits of birds and seals and the methods of hunting are carefully and truthfully described. The evening stories come from local folklore.
Is Adrift in the Ice-Fields easy to read?
The story moves with lively dialogue, short scenes and clear step-by-step descriptions of how things are made. Evening tales break up the action, and the plain language makes the hunting and survival easy to follow.
Cite this edition
Hall, Charles Winslow. Adrift in the Ice-Fields. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/adrift-in-the-ice-fields.
Hall, C. W. (2026). Adrift in the ice-fields. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/adrift-in-the-ice-fields (Original work published 1877)
Hall, Charles Winslow. Adrift in the Ice-Fields. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/adrift-in-the-ice-fields.
@book{hall2026adrift,
author = {Hall, Charles Winslow},
title = {Adrift in the Ice-Fields},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/adrift-in-the-ice-fields},
note = {First published 1877}
}
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