DEEP SEA HUNTERS IN THE FROZEN SEAS
_By A. HYATT VERRILL_
THE RADIO DETECTIVES
THE RADIO DETECTIVES UNDER THE SEA
THE RADIO DETECTIVES SOUTHWARD BOUND
THE RADIO DETECTIVES IN THE JUNGLE
THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS
THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS IN FROZEN SEAS
THE BOOK OF THE MOTOR BOAT
ISLES OF SPICE AND PALM
THE REAL STORY OF THE WHALER
THE REAL STORY OF THE PIRATE
[Illustration: “SEAL OVER TO WIND’ARD!” HE SHOUTED.]
DEEP SEA HUNTERS
IN THE FROZEN SEAS
BY
A. HYATT VERRILL
AUTHOR OF “THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS,” “THE
RADIO DETECTIVES,” “THE BOOK OF
THE MOTOR BOAT,” ETC.
[Illustration]
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
NEW YORK :: 1923 :: LONDON
COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE NARWHAL 1
II. THE BOYS SPRING A SURPRISE 12
III. ON THE BANKS 27
IV. A CLOSE SHAVE 43
V. ON THE ICEBERG 56
VI. THE BATTLE 70
VII. THE GLACIER 82
VIII. WHALES AND WHALES 103
IX. THE WALRUS HUNT 120
X. UNAVIK SPINS A YARN 137
XI. THE BOYS CATCH A TARTAR 155
XII. FROZEN IN 171
XIII. UNAVIK TO THE RESCUE 189
XIV. AN ARCTIC CHRISTMAS 204
XV. FRIENDS IN NEED 222
XVI. SOUTHWARD HO! 249
DEEP SEA HUNTERS IN THE FROZEN SEAS
CHAPTER I
THE NARWHAL
Old Cap’n Pem was seated on the stringpiece of the wharf, his short black
pipe gripped firmly in his mouth, and his wooden leg stretched stiffly
before him like the stubby bowsprit of a coasting sloop. Beside him was
his crony, Mike, another wooden-legged old mariner, for since a cruise
the two had made to the Antarctic on the bark _Hector_, they had become
inseparable companions.[1]
Although they were fast friends, they were ever chaffing each other and
made it a point never to agree upon anything.
As Mike said, “Phwhat’s the use av talkin’ if yez don’t be afther
arguin’? Shure an’ if yez agrees there’s not a bit more to be said.”
So, as usual, the two ancient mariners were in the midst of a discussion
regarding a weather-beaten, disreputable, unkempt craft which was being
towed across New Bedford harbor by a fussy little tug.
“Looks like they wuz a-comin’ to berth her here,” remarked Old Pem.
“Reckon Dixon mus’ calc’late to fit the ol’ _Narwhal_ out fer a cruise.”
Mike snorted. “B’gorra thin ’twill be a cruise to Davy Jones she’ll be
afther takin’!” he exclaimed. “Shure, ’tis l’ave o’ yer sinses ye’re
takin’, ye ol’ walrus! ’Tis to junk the schooner they do be towin’ av her
here.”
“Walrus yerself!” retorted Cap’n Pem. “Ye’re a Irish lan’lubber if ye
think the ol’ _Narwhal’s_ only fit for junk. That there ol’ hooker’s
a-goin’ for to fit out, I bet ye. An’, by heck! if she do, I’ll be blowed
if I don’t ask Dixon to ship me erlong.”
Mike guffawed. “Glory be!” he cried. “An’ do yez be afther thinkin’ as
Dixon’ll be fittin’ out av a floatin’ horspittle, ye ol’ cripple?”
Pem bristled. “Dern yer hide!” he roared. “If he was I’ll be sunk if he
wouldn’t grab ye fust, ye peg-legged Harp. I’d——”
Cap’n Pem’s sentence was interrupted by a shout and Jim Lathrop and
Tom Chester, who had been with the old whalemen on the _Hector_ in the
Antarctic, came racing towards them.
“Hurrah!” cried Tom. “That tug’s coming in here with that old brig. Say,
Cap’n Pem, what do you suppose they’re going to do with her?”
“Bless ye, that ain’t no brig,” responded the old man. “That’s a torpsa’l
schooner—the ol’ _Narwhal_. Ain’t seed her afloat fer years. Reckon
Dixon’s goin’ fer to fit her out fer a cruise.”
“Cruise!” cried Jim. “Gee, you don’t mean to say any one would be crazy
enough to go to sea on her! Why, the old _Hector_ was bad enough, but she
was new compared to that tub, and was big enough to hoist this boat up to
her davits.”
Mike chuckled. “Glory be!” he exclaimed. “Even the b’ys is afther knowin’
’tis no cruise she’ll be takin’. Shure, me laddies, Oi wuz just afther
tellin’ Pem ’twas a-junkin’ av her they’ll be. But b’gorra, he’ll be
havin’ av it his own way an’, phwat’s more, the ol’ idjit’s a-sayin’ as
he’ll be afther a-tryin’ to ship along av her.”
The boys laughed. “I thought you were never going to sea again, Cap’n
Pem,” cried Tom. “You said you were going to settle down ashore and buy a
farm with your share of the _Hector’s_ catch.”
“And you said only an old fool like Mr. Nye would ship a wooden-legged
mate,” put in Jim. “Isn’t Mike going too to keep you company?”
“Divvil a bit!” declared Mike positively. “’Tis solid land Oi do be
afther wantin’ to feel ben’ath me two feet—an’ me havin’ but wan.”
“Waall, I’ll bet ye she’s a-goin’ fer a cruise annyways,” rumbled Cap’n
Pem, “an’ we’ll soon fin’ out.”
Rising, the old whaleman stumped across the dock to where the ancient
craft was being moored. At his heels followed the two boys and Mike.
“Hey there, Ben!” shouted the old sailor to the captain of the tug. “What
in tarnation ye bringin’ the _Narwhal_ over here fer?”
The tug’s skipper stuck his head from the pilot house, twirled the big
wheel with one hand, and jerked the bell pull with the other. “Goin’ for
a cruise,” he shouted back. “Heard Dixon’s aimin’ to send her to the
Arctic.”
Cap’n Pem turned triumphantly to Mike. “There ye be, ye ol’ derelic’,” he
cried. “Didn’t I tell ye?”
“Faith an’ yez did thot,” admitted Mike good-naturedly. “An’ by the same
token, ’tis goin’ along av her ye’ll be jus’ fer to be afther provin’ yez
was right altogether.”
“Well, I’m ready to believe anything now,” declared Tom. “You remember
I thought you were fooling about the _Hector_ when you said she was
fitting out, and I never dreamed we’d go on her. And she _was_ a fine
old ship! Gosh, do you remember the way she went through that blow in the
south Atlantic, Jim?”
“Do I!” replied Jim enthusiastically. “And say, I shouldn’t wonder if
this old _Narwhal’s_ just as staunch a ship too, after she’s fixed up.”
“Bet ye she will be!” exclaimed Cap’n Pem. “I tol’ ye whaleships wuz
built to las’ forever, and this here _Narwhal_ ain’t so drefful ol’. Why,
I can recollec’ when she wuz new. Le’s see, reckon I must ha’ been ’bout
the size o’ ye, an’ she warn’t more’n twenty year ol’ then. Yep, I’ll bet
she ain’t much older’n I be.”
“B’gorra, an’ that’s a-plenty,” chuckled Mike. “An’ faith, ’tis a foine
pair yez do be afther makin’! Shure yes, Pem, for the love o’ Hivvin be
afther shippin’ on her—’tis comp’ny yez’ll be for wan another.”
“And the captain of the tug said she was going to the Arctic!” cried Jim,
paying no heed to Mike’s interruption. “Do you suppose they’re going
after whales, Cap’n Pem?”
“Dunno,” replied the whaleman. “Reckon they’re goin’ fer mos’ anythin’
what they gets. Seals, walrus, furs, ile an’ bone.”
“Furs!” exclaimed Tom inquiringly. “What kind of furs do you mean?”
“Different kinds,” replied Pem. “White b’ar, fox, musk ox, reindeer,
anythin’ what the Eskimos bring in or the hands on the schooner kin
shoot.”
“Gosh, wouldn’t it be fun to go!” shouted Jim. “Say, Tom, I’m going to
ask Dad if I can go. That is, if Cap’n Pem goes. Now we’ve been on the
_Hector_ and everything came out so well I’ll bet he’ll let me.”
“Me too!” declared Tom. “Say, that will be bully!”
“’Tis daffy yez all do be afther gettin’!” declared Mike shaking his
grizzled head sadly. “Furrst ’tis ol’ timber-lig here an’ thin ’tis yez
b’ys—goin’ to look afther him Oi’m thinkin’, an’ ’tis meself’ll have to
be afther goin’ along to be lookin’ afther the three of yez.”
“Oh, you old fox!” cried Tom. “You know you’re just as crazy to go on
another trip as any of us. You said yourself that voyage on the _Hector_
made a man of you. And you’d never be happy ashore without Cap’n Pem.”
“Shure, Oi dunno but phwat it’s the truth yez do be afther sp’akin’,
Master Tom,” agreed the Irishman grinning. “But b’gorra ’tis wan thing to
be talkin’ av goin’ an’ another to be aboarrd. Shure ’tis no knowin’ as
Misther Dixon’ll be afther takin’ anny av us, at all, at all.”
“Well, we’re going to find out if we can go first—before we ask him,”
said Jim. “And if we can, I’ll bet we can get Mr. Dixon to take you and
Cap’n Pem. Mr. Nye and Captain Edwards can put in a good word for you,
and besides, everybody in New Bedford knows you’re the two best whalemen
here, and real whalemen are scarce nowadays.”
“Well, ’tis havin’ av me doots Oi do be, as the Scotchman sez,”
declared Mike. “Cruisin’ to the Ar’tic’s not a bit the same as cruisin’
south—phwat wid the oice an’ all.”
“Fiddlesticks!” snorted Cap’n Pem. “What do ye know erbout it? Ye
ain’t no whaleman. Bet ye he’ll be right glad fer to git us. ’Tain’t
so all-fired easy to git navergators these times. An’ I’ve been in the
ice—why, durn it, wuzn’t I ice pilot fer the ol’ _Petrel_?”
“Well, I hope he will take you—both,” said Tom. “Our folks will be
more likely to let us go if you two are along. When do you think the
schooner’ll be ready to sail? And say, I never saw a schooner like her.
She’s got yards on her foremast like a brigantine.”
“Course she has,” replied Cap’n Pem. “Thet’s what makes her a torps’l
schooner. Didn’t ye never seed one afore? But shucks, ’course ye didn’t.
Ain’t many on ’em knockin’ erbout nowadays. Time wuz when they wuz
thicker’n rats on a lime juicer. Yessir, an’ mighty handy craf’ in the
ice, I tell ye. Thet’s why Dixon’s a-fittin’ o’ the _Narwhal_ out I
’spect. Ye see a or’nary fore-an’-aft schooner’s all right fer a-sailin’
on the wind, or when the win’s on the quarter or abeam, but she ain’t no
use dead afore it, an’ ye can’t back her. An’ by glory! I’m a-tellin’ ye
that when ye’re a-handlin’ of a ship in the ice, with bergs fore-an’-aft
an’ to po’t an’ sta’board, an’ jes leads in the floes, ye wants a ship
what kin back an’ fill an’ make steerageway st’arn fummust. Yessir, an’
the torps’l schooner’s the hooker what fills the bill. An’ as fer gettin’
ready, how can I tell? Reckon if there ain’t too pesky much to be did,
she’ll be gettin’ away long ’bout the fust o’ June. Have ter fetch Hudson
Straits by fust o’ August to git through safe an’ soun’.”
“Hurrah! that makes it all the better,” cried Tom. “School will be pretty
near over and we could miss a few days—at the last. There’s just a lot of
graduation exercises and such things. Come on, Jim, let’s go and see what
our folks say.”
But the boys’ parents frowned upon the scheme at once. “That cruise in
the _Hector_ should be enough to last you boys for a lifetime,” declared
Mr. Lathrop. “And a cruise to the Arctic is a very different matter. The
_Narwhal’s_ a very old and small ship, and she’ll spend the winter there
probably, freeze in and take chances of being crushed. And you’d find it
far from a picnic. Why, just imagine being locked hard and fast in the
ice for six or eight months with the temperature fifty or sixty below
zero, and shut up in the ship with a crowd of greasy whalers and Eskimos.
No, Jim, there’s far too much risk.”
“Oh, hang it all!” cried Jim bitterly. “You said there’d be danger on the
_Hector_ and everything was all right, and I’d love to be in the ice all
winter and see Eskimos and hunt polar bears and walrus and everything.
Say, if Cap’n Pem and Mike go, can’t I go too?”
Mr. Lathrop shook his head decisively. “If the entire crew of the
_Hector_ went along, I’d not consent,” he declared. “But I’ll ask Tom’s
father and see if he agrees with me.”
Mr. Chester, however, was as much against the idea as Jim’s parent. “No,
Tom,” he said, after Tom had explained matters. “It would mean a year
from school at least, and while I realize the knowledge you boys would
obtain would be of real value, still it’s too risky a trip. You’d be
frozen in for six months or more, the ship might be stove—in which case
you might be killed or might be marooned in the Arctic for months or
years—or she might strike a berg or a floe and founder. Arctic whaling’s
dangerous, and I don’t feel sure the _Narwhal_ is seaworthy. Besides, I
don’t know who Dixon is sending as ice pilot. It’s been years since a New
Bedford whaler went to the Arctic and it takes men experienced in the ice
to bring the ships through safely.”
“But Cap’n Pem was an ice pilot—on the _Petrel_,” argued Tom. “And you
have faith in him.”
Mr. Chester laughed. “Yes, as far as looking after you boys to the best
of his ability and being a good whaleman is concerned. But don’t for a
moment think that Dixon will ship him or Mike. In the Arctic they need
able-bodied young men—half the work is done ashore and there are long
tramps over ice and snow. No, Tom, Cap’n Pem won’t go, that’s certain.”
“You said that about the _Hector_,” Tom reminded him. “And yet he went.
Oh, Dad, if Cap’n Pem and Mike go, can’t I?”
“I suppose you want me to make another bargain,” chuckled his father,
“and make a condition that seems impossible but may be fulfilled. No,
Tom, even if Cap’n Pem went I would hesitate to consent. But I’ll tell
you what. If the owners of the _Narwhal_ invite you to go—remember
you’re not to ask them—and if they guarantee that they’ll be personally
responsible for your safety, then I’ll consent.”
“Well that’s poor comfort!” exclaimed the disappointed boy. “Just as if
the owners are going to invite us without even knowing we want to go,
and as if they’d be responsible for us! Gee, they’d have to double their
insurance, I guess.”
“One’s as likely as the other, I admit,” laughed Mr. Chester. “But don’t
be so disappointed, Tom. Maybe there’ll be a ship going to the West
Indies or the Atlantic this summer that you can go on—some short cruise.”
“Bother the West Indies!” cried Tom petulantly. “I want to go to the
Arctic, and maybe Mr. Dixon may take Cap’n Edwards and maybe he or Cap’n
Pem or some one may tell him we can navigate, and if he wants mates
perhaps he will ask us.”
“Well, if he does you can go—that is, of course, if Jim goes too,” smiled
Tom’s father. “But remember you’re neither to ask, nor hint about it. And
I don’t think you’ll need to get out your winter things this June.”