"Let winter come! let polar spirits sweep
The darkening world, and tempest-troubled deep!"
Campbell.
While the bosom of Roswell was thus warming with the new-born faith, of
which the germ was just opening in his heart, Stimson came out upon the
terrace to see what had become of his officer. It was much past the hour
when the men got beneath the coverings of their mattresses; and the honest
boat-steerer, who had performed the duty on which he had been sent, was
anxious about Roswell's remaining so long in the open air, on this
positively the severest night of the whole season.
"You stand the cold well, Captain Gar'ner," said Stephen, as he joined
his officer; "but it might be prudent, now, to get under cover."
"I do not feel it cold, Stephen"--returned Roswell--"on the contrary, I'm
in a pleasant glow. My mind has been busy, while my frame has kept in
motion. When such are the facts, the body seldom suffers. But,
hearken--does it not seem that some one is calling to us from the
direction of the wreck?"
The great distance to which sounds are conveyed in intensely cold and
clear weather, is a fact known to most persons. Conversations in the
ordinary tone had been heard by the sealers when the speakers were nearly
a mile off; and, on several occasions, attempts had been made to hold
communications, by means of the voice, between the wreck and the hut.
Certain words _had_ been understood; but it was found impossible to hold
anything that could be termed conversation. Still, the voice had been
often heard, and a fancy had come over the mind of Roswell that he heard a
cry like a call for assistance, just as Stimson joined him.
"It is so late, sir, that I should hardly think any of the Vineyarders
would be up," observed the boat-steerer, after listening some little time
in the desire to catch the sound mentioned. "Then it is so cold, that most
men would like to get beneath their blankets as soon as they could."
"I do not find it so very cold, Stephen. Have you looked at the
thermometer lately?"
"I gave it a look in coming out, sir; and it tells a terrible story
to-night! The marcury is all down in the ball, which is like givin' the
matter up, I do suppose, Captain Gar'ner."
"'Tis strange! I do not _feel_ it so very cold! The wind seems to be
getting round to north-east, too; give us enough of that, and we shall
have a thaw. Hark! there is the cry again."
This time there could be no mistake. A human voice had certainly been
raised amid the stillness of that almost polar night, clearly appealing to
human ears, for succour. The only word heard or comprehended was that of
"help;" one well enough adapted to carry the sound far and distinctly.
There was a strain of agony in the cry, as if he who made it uttered it
in despair. Roswell's blood seemed to flow back to his heart; never had he
before felt so appalling a sense of the dependence of man on a Divine
Providence, as at that moment.
"You heard it?" he said, inquiringly, to Stephen, after an instant of
silent attention, to make sure that no more was to reach his ears just
then.
"Sartain, sir--no man could mistake _that_. It was the voice of the
nigger, Joe; him that Captain Daggett has for a cook."
"Think you so, Stephen? The fellow has good lungs, and they may have set
him to call upon us in their distress. What can be the nature of the
assistance they ask?"
"I've been thinking of that, Captain Gardner; and a difficult p'int it is
to answer. Food they must have still; and was they in want of their
rations, hands would have been sent across to get 'em. They may have let
their fire go out, and be without the means to re-light it. I can think of
nothing else that is likely to happen to men so sarcumstanced."
The last suggestion struck Roswell as possible. From the instant he felt
certain that he was called on for aid, he had determined to proceed to the
wreck, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, and the intense severity
of the weather. As he had intimated to Stephen, he was not at all
conscious how very cold it was; exercise and the active workings of his
mind having brought him to an excellent condition to resist the sternness
of the season. The appeal had been so sudden and unexpected, however, that
he was at first somewhat at a loss how to proceed. This matter was now
discussed between him and Stimson, when the following plan was adopted:--
The mates were to be called, and made acquainted with what had occurred,
and put on their guard as to what might possibly be required of them. It
was not thought necessary to call any of the rest of the men. There was
always one hand on the watch in the house, whose duty it was to look to
the fires, for the double purpose of security against a conflagration, and
to prevent the warmth within from sinking too near to the cold without. It
had often occurred to Roswell's mind that a conflagration would prove
quick destruction to his party. In the first place, most of the
provisions would be lost; and it was certain that, without a covering and
the means of keeping warm within it, the men could not resist the climate
eight-and-forty hours. The burning of the hut would be certain death.
Roswell took no one with him but Stimson. Two were as good as a hundred,
if all that was asked were merely the means to re-light the fire. These
means were provided, and a loaded pistol was taken also, to enable a
signal-shot to be fired, should circumstances seem to require further aid.
One or two modes of communicating leading facts were concerted, when our
hero and his companion set forth on their momentous journey.
Taking the hour, the weather, and the object before him into the account,
Roswell Gardiner felt that he was now enlisted in the most important
undertaking of his whole life, as he and Stephen shook hands with the two
mates, and left the point. The drifts rendered a somewhat circuitous path
necessary at first; but the moon and stars shed so much of their radiance
on the frozen covering of the earth, that the night was quite as light as
many a London day. Excitement and motion kept the blood of our two
adventurers in a brisk circulation, and prevented their becoming
immediately conscious of the chill intensity of the cold to which they
were exposed.
"It is good to think of Almighty. God, and of his many marcies," said
Stephen, when a short distance from the house, "as a body goes forth on an
expedition as serious as this. We may not live to reach the wrack, for it
seems to me to grow colder and colder!"
"I wonder we hear no more of the cries," remarked Roswell, who was
thinking of the distress he was bent on relieving. "One would think that a
man who could call so stoutly would give us another cry."
"A body can never calcilate on a nigger," answered Stephen, who had the
popular American prejudice against the caste that has so long been held in
servitude in the land. "They call out easily, and shut up oncommon quick,
if there's nothin' gained by yelling. Black blood won't stand cold like
white blood, Captain Gar'ner, any more than white blood will stand heat
like black blood."
"I have heard this before, Stephen; and it has surprised me that Captain
Daggett's cook should be the only one of that party who seems to have had
any voice to-night."
Stimson had a good deal to say now, as the two picked their way across the
field of snow, always walking on the crust, which in most places would
have upheld a loaded vehicle; the subject of his remarks being the
difference between the two races as respects their ability to endure
hardships. The worthy boat-steerer had several tales to relate of cases in
which he had known negroes freeze when whites have escaped. As the fact is
one pretty well established, Roswell listened complacently enough, being
much too earnest in pressing forward toward his object, to debate any of
his companion's theories just then. It was while thus employed that
Roswell fancied he heard one more cry, resembling those which had brought
him on this dangerous undertaking, on a night so fearful. This time,
however, the cry was quite faint; and what was not so easily explained, it
did not appear to come from the precise direction in which the wreck was
known to lie, but from one that diverged considerably from that particular
quarter. Of course, the officer mentioned this circumstance to the
boat-steerer; and the extraordinary part of the information caused some
particular discussion between them.
"To me that last call seemed to come from up yonder, nearer to the cliffs
than the place where we are, and not at all from down there, near to the
sea, where the wrack is," said Stimson, in the course of his remarks. "So
sartain am I of this, that I feel anxious to change our course a little,
to see if it be not possible that one of the Vineyarders has got into some
difficulty in trying to come across to us."
Roswell had the same desire, for he had made the same conjecture; though
he did not believe the black would be the person chosen to be the
messenger on such an occasion.
"I think Captain Daggett would have come himself, or have sent one of his
best men," he observed, "in preference to trusting a negro with a duty so
important."
"We do not know, sir, that it was the nigger we heard, Misery makes much
the same cries, whether it comes from the throat of white or black. Let us
work upward, nearer to the cliffs, sir; I see something dark on the snow,
hereaway, as it might be on our larboard bow."
Roswell caught a glimpse of the same object, and thither our adventurers
now bent their steps, walking on the crust without any difficulty, so long
as they kept out of the drifts. One does not find it as easy to make any
physical effort in an intensely cold atmosphere, as he does when the
weather is more moderate. This prevented Roswell and his companion from
moving as fast as they otherwise might have done; but they got along with
sufficient rapidity to reach the dark spot on the snow in less than five
minutes after they had changed their course.
"You are right, Stephen," said Gardiner, as he came up to this speck, amid
the immensity of the white mantle that covered both sea and land, far as
the eye could reach; "it is the cook! The poor fellow has given out here,
about half-way between the two stations."
"There must be life in him yet, sir--nigger as he is. It's not yet twenty
minutes since he gave that last cry. Help me to turn him over, Captain
Gar'ner, and we will rub him, and give him a swallow of brandy. A little
hot coffee, now, might bring the life back to his heart."
Roswell complied, first firing his pistol as a signal to those left
behind. The negro was not dead, but so near it, that a very few more
minutes would have sealed his fate. The applications and frictions used by
Gardiner and the boat-steerer had an effect. A swallow of the brandy
probably saved the poor fellow's life. While working on his patient,
Captain Gardiner found a piece of frozen pork, which, on examination, he
ascertained had never been cooked. It at once explained the nature of the
calamity that had befallen the crew of the wreck.
So intent were the two on their benevolent duty, that a party arrived from
the house in obedience to the signal, in much less time than they could
have hoped for. It was led by the mate, and came provided with a lamp
burning beneath a tin vessel filled with sweetened coffee. This hot drink
answered an excellent purpose with both well and sick. After a swallow or
two, aided by a vigorous friction, and closely surrounded by so many human
bodies, the black began to revive; and the sort of drowsy stupor which is
known to precede death in those who die by freezing, having been in a
degree shaken off, he was enabled to stand alone, and by means of
assistance to walk. The hot coffee was of the greatest service, every
swallow that he got down appearing to set the engine of life into new
motion. The compelled exercise contributed its part; and by the time the
mate, to use his own expression, "had run the nigger into dock," which
meant when he had got him safe within the hut, his senses and faculties
had so far revived as to enable him to think and to speak. As Gardiner and
Stimson returned with him, everybody was up and listening, when the black
told his story.
It would seem that, during the terrible month which had just passed,
Daggett had compelled his crew to use more exercise than had been their
practice of late. Some new apprehension had come over him on the subject
of fuel, and his orders to be saving in that article were most stringent,
and very rigidly enforced. The consequence was, that the camboose was not
as well attended to as it had been previously, and as circumstances
required, indeed, that it should be. At night, the men were told to keep
themselves warm with bed-clothes, and by huddling together; and the cabin
being small, so many persons crowded together in it, did not fail to
produce an impression on its atmosphere.
Such was the state of things, when, on going to his camboose, in order to
cook the breakfast, this very black found the fire totally extinguished!
Not a spark could he discover, even among the ashes; and, what was even
worse, the tinder-box had disappeared. As respects the last, it may be
well to state here, that it was afterwards discovered carefully bestowed
between two of the timbers of the wreck, with a view to a particular
safe-keeping; the person who had made this disposition of it, forgetting
what he had done. The loss of the tinder-box, under the circumstances, was
almost as great a calamity as could have befallen men, in the situation of
the Vineyarders. As against the cold, by means of bed-clothes, exercise,
and other precautions, it might have been possible to exist for some time,
provided warm food could be obtained; but the frost penetrated the cabin,
and every one soon became sensitively alive to the awkwardness, not to say
danger, of their condition. A whole day was passed in fruitless attempts
to obtain fire, by various processes. Friction did not succeed; it
probably never does with the thermometer at zero. Sparks could be
obtained, but by this time everything was stiff with the frost. The food
already cooked was soon as hard as bullets, and it was found that, on the
second night, brandy that was exposed was converted into a lump of ice.
Not only did the intensity of the cold increase, but everything, even to
the human system, seemed to be gradually congealing, and preparing to
become converted into receptacles for frost. Several of the men began to
suffer in their ears, noses, feet and other extremities, and the bunks
were soon the only places in which it was found possible to exist in
anything like comfort. No less than three men had been sent, at intervals
of a few hours, across to the house, with a view to obtain fire, or the
means of lighting one, along with other articles that were considered
necessary to the safety of the people. The cook had been the third and
last of these messengers. He had passed his two shipmates, each lying dead
on the snow,--or, as he supposed, lifeless; for neither gave the smallest
sign of vitality, on an examination. It was in the agony of alarm produced
by these appalling spectacles, that the negro had cried aloud for help,
sending the sounds far enough to reach the ears of Roswell. Still he had
persevered; until chilled, as much with terror, as with the cold and the
want of warm nourishment, the cook had sunk into what would have soon
proved to be his last long sleep, when the timely succour arrived.
It was some two hours after the black had been got into the hut, and was
strengthened with a good hot supper, ere he had communicated all the facts
just related. Roswell succeeded, however, in getting a little at a time
from him; and when no more remained to be related, the plan was already
arranged for future proceedings. It was quite clear no unnecessary delay
should be permitted to take place. The cold continued to increase in
intensity, notwithstanding it was the opinion of the most experienced
among the men that a thaw, and a great spring thaw, was approaching. It
often happens, in climates of an exaggerated character, that these
extremes almost touch each other, as they are said to meet in man.
Roswell left the house, for the second time that eventful night, just at
the hour of twelve. He now went accompanied by the second mate and a
foremast-hand, as well as by his old companion, the boat-steerer. Each
individual drank a bowl of hot coffee before he set out, and a good warm
supper had also been taken in the interval between the return and this new
sortie. Experience shows that there is no such protector against the
effect of cold as a full stomach, more especially if the food be warm and
nourishing. This was understood by Roswell; and not only did he cause the
whole party that set forth with him at that late and menacing hour to
receive this sustenance, but he ordered the kettle of boiling coffee to be
carried with them, and kept two lamps burning, for the double purpose of
maintaining the heat, and of having a fire ready on reaching the wreck.
The oil of the sea-elephant, together with pieces of canvass prepared for
the purpose, supplied the necessary materials.
So intensely severe was the weather, that Roswell had serious thoughts of
returning when he reached the spot where the black had been found. But the
picture of Daggett's situation that occurred to his mind, urged him on,
and he proceeded. Every precaution had been taken to exclude the cold, as
it is usually termed, which, as it respects the body, means little else
than keeping the vital heat in, and very useful were these provisions
found to be. Skins formed the principal defence, though the men had long
adopted the very simple but excellent expedient of wearing two shirts.
Owing to this, and to the other measures taken, neither of the four was
struck with a chill, and they all continued on.
At the place mentioned by the black, the body of one of Daggett's best
men, a boat-steerer, was found. The man was dead, of course, and the
corpse was as rigid as a billet of wood. Every particle of moisture in it
had congealed, until the whole of what had been a very fine and manly
frame, lay little more than a senseless lump of ice. A few degrees to the
southward of the spot where it was now seen, it is probable that this
relic of humanity would have retained its form and impression, until the
trump sounded to summon it to meet its former tenant, the spirit, in
judgment.
No time was lost in useless lamentations over the body of this man, who
was much of a favourite among the Oyster Ponders. Twenty minutes later,
the second corpse was found; both the bodies lying in what was the
customary track between the house and the wreck. It was the last that had
died; but, like that of the unfortunate man just described, it was in a
state to be preserved ten thousand years, without the occurrence of a
thaw. Merely glancing at the rigid features of the face, in order to
identify the person, Roswell passed on, the chill feelings of every
individual of his party now admonishing them all of the necessity of
getting as soon as possible to some place where they could feel the
influence of a fire. In ten minutes more, the whole were in the caverns of
the ice, and, presently, the cabin of the wreck was entered. Without
turning to the right hand or to the left, without looking for one of the
inmates of the place, every man among the new-comers turned his attention
instantly to getting the fire lighted. The camboose had been filled with
wood, and it was evident that many efforts had been made to produce a
blaze, by those who had put it there. Splinters of pine had been inserted
among the oak of the vessel, and nothing was wanting but the means of
kindling. These, most fortunately for themselves, the party of Roswell
had, and eagerly did they now have recourse to their use.
There was not a man among the Oyster Ponders who did not, just at that
moment, feel his whole being concentrated in that one desire to obtain
warmth. The cold had slowly, but surely, insinuated itself among their
garments, and slight chills were now felt even by Roswell, whose frame had
been most wonderfully sustained that night, through the force of moral
feeling. Stimson was the individual who was put forward at the camboose,
others holding the lamps, canvass saturated with oil, and some prepared
paper. It was found to be perceptibly warmer within the cabin, with its
doors closed, and the external coverings of sails, &c., that had been made
to exclude the air, than without; nevertheless, when Roswell glanced at a
thermometer that was hanging against the bulk-head, he saw that all the
mercury was still in the ball!
The interest with which our party now watched the proceedings of Stephen,
had much of that intensity that is known to attend any exhibition of vital
importance. Life and death were, however, to be dependent on the issue;
and the manner in which every eye was turned on the wood, and Stephen's
mode of dealing with it, denoted how completely the dread of freezing had
got possession of the minds of even these robust and generous men. Roswell
alone ventured, for a single moment, to look around the cabin. Three of
the Vineyarders only were visible in it; though it struck him that others
lay in the berths, under piles of clothes. Of the three who were up, one
was so near the lamp he held in his hand, that its light illumined his
face, and all that could be seen of a form enveloped in skins. This man
sat leaning against a transom. His eyes were open, and glared on the party
around the camboose; the lips were slightly parted, and, at first, Roswell
expected to hear him speak. The immovable features, rigid muscles, and
wild expression of the eyeballs, however, soon told him the melancholy
truth. The man was dead. The current of life had actually frozen at his
heart. Shuddering, as much with horror as with a sharp chill that just
then passed through his own stout frame, our young master turned anxiously
to note the success of Stimson, in getting the wood of the camboose in a
blaze.
Every one, in the least accustomed to a very severe climate, must have had
frequent occasions to observe the reluctance with which all sorts of fuel
burn, in exceedingly cold weather. The billet of wood that shall blaze
merrily, on a mild day, moulders and simmers, and seems indisposed to give
out any heat at all, with the thermometer at zero. In a word, all
inanimate substances that contain the elements of caloric appear to
sympathize with the prevailing state of the atmosphere, and to contribute
to render that which is already too cold for comfort, even colder. So it
was now; notwithstanding the preparations that had been made. Baffled
twice in his expectations of procuring a blaze, Stephen stopped and took a
drink of the hot coffee. As he swallowed the beverage, it struck him that
it was fast losing its warmth.
A considerable collection of canvass, saturated with oil, was now put
beneath the pile, in the midst of splinters of pine, and one of the lamps
was forced into the centre of the combustibles. This expedient succeeded;
the frosts were slowly chased out of the kindling materials; a sickly but
gradually increasing flame strove through the kindling stuff and soon
began to play among the billets of the oak, the only fuel that could be
relied on for available heat. Still there was great danger that the
lighter wood would all be consumed ere this main dependence could be
aroused from its dull inactivity. Frost appeared to be in possession of
the whole pile; and it was expelled so slowly, clung to its dominion with
so much power, as really to render the result doubtful, for a moment or
two. Fortunately, there was found a pair of bellows; and by means of a
judicious use of this very useful implement, the oak wood was got into a
bright blaze, and warmth began to be given out from the fire. Then came
the shiverings and chills, with which intense cold consents even to
abandon the human frame; and, by their number and force, Roswell was made
to understand how near he and his companions had been to death. As the
young man saw the fire slowly kindle to a cheerful blaze, a glow of
gratitude flowed towards his heart, and mentally he returned thanks to
God. The cabin was so small, had been made so tight by artificial means,
and the camboose was so large, that a sensible influence was produced on
the temperature, as soon as the wood began to burn a little freely. As
none of the heat was lost, the effect was not only apparent, but most
grateful, Roswell had looked into the vessels of the camboose while the
fire was gathering head. One, the largest, was filled, or nearly so, with
coffee frozen to a solid mass! In the other, beef and pork had been set
over to boil, and there the pieces now were, embedded in ice, and frozen
to blocks. It was when these two distinct masses of ice began to melt,
that it was known the fire was beginning to prevail, and hope revived in
the bosoms of the Oyster Ponders. On taking another look at the
thermometer, it was found that the mercury had so far expanded as to be
leaving the ball. It soon after ascended so high as to denote only forty
degrees below zero!
Every thing, even to life, depending on maintaining and increasing the
power of the fire, the men now looked about them for more fuel. There was
an ample stock in the cabin, however, the fire having become extinguished,
not for want of wood, but in the usual way. It were needless to describe
the manner in which those who stood around the stove watched the flames,
or how profound was their satisfaction when they saw that Stimson had
finally succeeded.
"God be praised for this and for all his mercies!" exclaimed Stephen,
laying aside the bellows, at last. "I can feel warmth from the fire, and
that will save such of us as have not yet been taken away." He then lifted
the lids, and looked into the different vessels that were on. The ice was
melting fast, and the steams of coffee became apparent to the senses. It
was at this instant that a feeble voice was heard issuing from beneath the
coverings of a berth.
"Gar'ner," it said, imploringly, "if you have any feelin' for a
fellow-creatur' in distress, warm me up with one swallow of that coffee!
Oh! how pleasantly it smells, and how good it must be for the stomach! For
three days have I tasted nothing--not even water."
This was Daggett, the long-tried sealer; the man of iron nerves and golden
longings; he who had so lately concentrated within himself all that was
necessary to form a pertinacious, resolute, and grasping seeker after
gain. How changed, now, in all this! He asked for the means of preserving
life, and thought no more of skins, and oils, and treasures on desert
keys.
Roswell was no sooner apprised of the situation of his brother-master,
than he bestowed the necessary care on his wants. Fortunately, the coffee
brought by the Oyster Ponders, and which retained some of its original
warmth, had been set before the fire, and was now as hot as the human
stomach could bear it. Two or three swallows of this grateful fluid were
given to Daggett, and his voice; almost instantaneously showed the effect
they produced.
"I'm in a bad way, Garner," resumed the vineyard-master; "I fear we're
all in a bad way, that are here. I held out ag'in the cold as long as
human natur' could bear it, but was forced to give in at last."
"How many of your people still remain, Daggett? tell us, that we may look
for them, and attend to their wants."
"I'm afraid, Gar'ner, they'll never want anything more in this life! The
second mate and two of the hands were sitting in the cabin when I got into
this berth, and I fear 't will be found that they're dead. I urged them to
turn in, too, as the berths were the only place where anything like warmth
was to be found; but drowsiness had come on 'em, and, when that is the
case, freezin' soon follows."
"The three men in the cabin are past our assistance, being actually frozen
into logs; but there must be several more of you. I see the signs of two
others in the berths--ah! what do you say to that poor fellow, Stephen?"
"The spirit is still in the body, sir, but about to depart, If we can get
him to swallow a little of the coffee, the angel of death may yet loosen
his hold on him."
The coffee was got down this man's throat, and he instantly revived. He
was a young man named Lee, and was one of the finest physical specimens of
strength and youth in the whole crew. On examining his limbs, none were
found absolutely frozen, though the circulation of the blood was so near
being checked that another hour of the great cold which had reigned in the
cabin, and which was slowly increasing in intensity, must have destroyed
him. On applying a similar process to Daggett, Roswell was startled at the
discovery he made. The feet, legs, and forearms of the unfortunate
Vineyarder were all as stiff and rigid as icicles. In these particulars
there could be no mistake, and men were immediately sent for snow, in
order to extract the frost by the only safe process known to the sealers.
The dead bodies were carried from the cabin, and laid decently on the ice,
outside, the increasing warmth within rendering the removal advisable. On
glancing again at the thermometer, now suspended in a remote part of the
cabin, the mercury was found risen to two above zero. This was a very
tolerable degree of cold, and the men began to lay aside some of their
extra defences against the weather, which would otherwise be of no
service to them when exposed outside.
The crew of the Vineyard Lion had consisted of fifteen souls, one less
than that of her consort. Of these men, four had lost their lives between
the wreck and the house; two on a former, and two on the present occasion.
Three bodies were found sitting in the cabin, and two more were taken out
of the berths, dead. The captain, the cook and Lee, added to these, made a
dozen, leaving but three of the crew to be accounted for. When questioned
on the subject, Lee said that one of those three had frozen to death in
the caverns, several days before, and the other two had set out for the
hut in the last snow-storm, unable to endure the cold at the wreck any
longer. As these two men had not arrived at the house when Gardiner and
his companions left it, they had perished, out of all doubt. Thus, of the
fifteen human beings who had sailed together from Martha's Vineyard, ready
to encounter every hazard in order to secure wealth, or what in their
estimation was wealth, but three remained; and of these, two might be
considered in a critical condition. Lee was the only man of the entire
crew who was sound and fit for service.