"All this trouble about nothing," muttered Steve, as soon as he was
alone; and he mechanically went to the little washing-sink to remove the
traces of the fight.
His actions were slow for a few moments, but they soon grew quicker, for
he could hear Captain Marsham giving orders in a sharp, peremptory way.
There was an icy wind blowing through the open window and a peculiar
whistling sound in the air, and as he hurriedly washed he knew by the
rattling noises, faintly as they reached his ears, that the men were
getting the furnace going and shovelling on coals.
By the time he was fit to be seen he had heard order after order given,
and the men hurrying about, so that when he went on deck he was not
surprised to find that they had shortened sail and were reefing those
which were left. But the next instant he was startled by the change
which had taken place since he went below.
Away to the north beyond the ice cliffs all had been bright and
dazzling; now the sky was overcast, the sun had disappeared, and though
a little blue sky was visible to the south it was a dingy kind of blue,
fast becoming grey.
The whistling he had heard below had gone on increasing till the wind
sang through the cordage, and made the canvas tug and strain at the
ropes which held it. Then it died away to a faint whisper, like a sigh
of weariness at the exertion.
The ice to the north was only dimly seen after a few minutes, for a
thick haze appeared to be gathering in that direction, but high up, and
not in any way resembling the fog which had come down upon them twice
and appeared to be resting on the sea.
Steve had hardly grasped the state of affairs when Captain Marsham
caught sight of him.
"Here, Steve, my lad," he cried, quite in his old manner, "you had
better get on your fur cap and mackintosh if you are going to stay on
deck. Sharp! we shall have the storm upon us in a few minutes."
Those words were quite cheering, and the lad hurried down to make the
change suggested, noting, before he went into the cabin, that their
course was altered, and the _Hvalross's_ head lay to the south-east.
"He doesn't want to be near the ice in a storm," thought Steve; and,
strange enough as it appeared to him, he felt comparatively happy, a
big, real trouble making the petty affair over which he had felt so
despondent begin to fade away.
When he reappeared Captain Marsham was forward seeing to the extra
lashing of the boats, which were drawn on board, and a glance showed him
that Johannes and Andrew were at the wheel--that is, one was holding the
spokes, while the other had been ordered there ready to render aid if it
were required.
"Going to be much of a storm, Johannes?" asked Steve.
"Yes, sir, a fierce, heavy snowstorm, with a great wind from the north."
"Ay, awm thenking she'll have ferry dirty weather for twa or three days,
Meester Steve," added Andrew. "Well, lad, ye've got rid of all ta
feathers, hey?"
"Yes," said Steve shortly, as if he did not want to hear any allusion to
the morning's trouble. "But tell me, Johannes, can't we get into any
sheltered bay till the storm has passed?"
"Not without running a great deal of risk of being caught in the ice,
sir. We couldn't beat back to the west coast with this wind rising; and
even if we could, I fear that the ice would be drifting down and
stopping us."
"Ay, she'd never get roond the cape this weather," grunted Andrew.
"Look ahint ye, my lad. She's hat some ferry douce weather lately; now
she's coing to have some ferry pad weather. But she's a coot poat, and
she can ride oot the gale if she ton't go to ta pottom."
"Well, you're a pretty sort of a Job's comforter, Andra," said Steve,
trying to be cheerful under depressing circumstances. "But I say, if we
do take to the boats, mind and not forget the pipes."
"Ta pipes, Meester Steve, sir? She needna have anny fear apoot tat.
They shan't pe trooned."
"What do you say, Johannes?" cried Steve, laughing.
"The captain knows his business, sir," said the man gravely, "and he has
a good crew. He is having the steam got up so that we can get right
away from the ice. With plenty of room the _Hvalross_ will not hurt."
Every one was busy now save the doctor and Steve, who, being the
non-combatants in the fight about to take place with the coming storm,
felt both of them rather in the way; and as birds of a feather are said
to flock together, they, after their fashion, flocked; in other words,
they naturally joined company to talk about the outlook.
"Glad you and the captain are all right again, Steve," said the former.
"Matters look too serious now for petty troubles, eh?"
"It did not seem to be a petty trouble to me, sir," replied Steve
quietly.
"No, no, of course not; but that's all over now. I'm afraid we are
going to have a bad storm."
"Think so, sir?"
"Look at the captain. He does; or he would not be taking all these
precautions. I suppose we can do nothing?"
"Only get out of the way," replied Steve. "Every one looks as if he
wishes we would go below."
"Then every one will be disappointed," said the doctor shortly. "If I'm
to be drowned, it shall be from the deck. I'm not going to be battened
down under hatches, nor you neither, eh?"
"No, I shall stop on deck," said Steve stoutly. "How dark it's
getting!"
"Yes, my lad. It looks very beautiful in the bright sunshine, with the
ice and snow glittering; but Nature certainly seems to have drawn her
line up here in the north, to show us that this part of the world was
never meant for ordinary human habitation. If ever the North Pole is
reached it will only be a scientific feat, and no valuable result can
follow for enterprising man. Whew!" he added with a shiver; "did you
feel that?"
For an icy puff of wind struck them suddenly and then passed on, leaving
the air as calm as it was before its coming.
"No one could help feeling it," said Steve, buttoning his mackintosh
tightly.
"Part of the advance-guard of the storm, my lad. Yes, we're going to
have it soon. Let's see, you thought one day that it was horribly hot
down below, didn't you?"
Steve nodded.
"I'm thinking that we shall be glad to go down and visit the
engine-room, and not be above turning stokers."
Another icy blast put an end to the doctor's remarks; and as it passed
on toward the south, after making the ship heel over and then race
onward, the captain gave sharp orders for reducing the small amount of
sail even more, Johannes giving one of his fellow-Norsemen a satisfied
nod of the head, which Steve read to mean:
"All right; he knows his business."
And all the while the men were busy below, hurrying on the furnaces and
adding to the darkness astern by making the low, wide funnel send out a
great black cloud of smoke, which, instead of trailing astern like a
plume, gathered together and followed the vessel, shutting off the view
northward, save when one of the chilling blasts dispersed it, driving it
onward and leaving all clear.
"Getting snug by degrees," said the captain, joining the two idlers for
a few moments before hurrying off in a fresh direction. "If it will
hold up another quarter of an hour, I think we shall be ready to say to
it, `Do your worst.'"
"Oh, it will last that time."
The captain did not answer, but went to where the men were furling a
sail, and he had hardly reached them when a puff of wind seemed to dash
down and seize the portion of the great fore-and-aft canvas unsecured,
fill it out balloon-fashion, and swing round the heavy yard, which was
about to be laid along the top, level with the boom below.
Two men went backwards on the deck.
"Two more hands here!" roared the captain. "Lay on to it, my lads;" and
as two of the Norwegians sprang to help, and the two men who had been
sent sprawling on the deck regained their feet, Steve shouted, "Come on,
Mr Handscombe!" and ran and climbed on to the swinging yard to help
bear it down.
Five minutes' hard fight, and the sail was bound down with its yard
firmly on to the great boom which lay horizontally level with the
bulwarks, and a stout rope was passed round and round and made fast
before the next puff came. For these began to succeed each other more
rapidly now, following the advance-guard of the boreal enemy like a band
of skirmishers trying to make an easy way for the main army close upon
their track.
The sail reduced, all but that which was absolutely necessary, and
which, small as was its surface, was sufficient to make the _Hvalross_
race along during the time the blasts endured, the captain directed his
attention to the hatches' battening down, spreading tarpaulins, and
having them nailed over, till at last he turned to where the doctor and
Steve stood gazing astern at the grim, black wall, which appeared to be
following about a mile away.
"There," he said, "I think we are ready for the fight now. A pretty
good lesson this in having everything shipshape, so as to be prepared
for emergencies."
"I think it has been wonderful," said the doctor. "How well the men
seconded you!"
"Yes; not forgetting the doctor and Steve. That was very brave of you,
my lad. A sailor of twenty years' experience could not have done
better."
"What, in getting astride of that yard to bear it down? Why, it seemed
just the thing to do!"
"Exactly; but it was the doing it speedily, before it did any mischief."
"Perhaps we shall ride on before the storm now, and not be much affected
by it," said the doctor tentatively; but the captain shook his head.
"We shall have it directly. Look how the water is beginning to foam
away yonder! What I fear is that it may not keep on from the north, but
veer about and change. We want more sea room."
"But we have come miles away from the ice already."
"Yes; but I should like to be another fifty. Hark!" The command was
not needed, for those he addressed listened awe-stricken to a deep,
crashing roar which now came from astern.
"Thunder?" asked Steve.
"Wind, and breaking up of the ice," said the captain quietly. "If we
had stopped in one of the bays of Spitzbergen, we should have had
shelter, found the way open after the gale is over, and been able to get
round the north of the great island."
"Here it comes!" cried Steve, as there was another of the fierce rushes
of wind, this time so heavy that the air smote him in the face, and he
had to turn away, panting, to breathe.
"Yes, we have it now!" cried the captain. "Stand fast there, you two by
the wheel!"
"Ay, ay, sir!" came in a deep growl from Johannes, as he and Andrew
grasped the spokes side by side.
"And now," said the captain to his companions in a low voice, "you two
had better go below."
"No!" cried the doctor and Steve at one and the same moment.
"Very well. Get under shelter of the bulwarks, then. The fight has
begun."
He was right, for the storm was upon them with a wild, shrieking,
hissing, deafening roar that nearly took Steve off his legs, and sent
the doctor staggering forward to clutch at the nearest object that would
offer a hold. In an instant the deck was white with a fine, powdery
dust that bit and stung and filled the hair, penetrating to the skin.
Voices were inaudible, but there was a weird chorus from the ropes and
stays, and then a loud report as one of the storm sails burst into
ribbons and was torn piecemeal out of the bolt ropes.
Steve turned to see what effect this had upon the captain, and to learn
whether it meant danger; but the blinding snow hid him from sight, as
well as the men at the wheel; and all he knew was that no one stirred
save the doctor, who had crawled to the shelter of the bulwark, and
crouched down by his side, to grasp his arm, and place his lips close to
his ear and shout:
"What do you think of this?"
Steve made no answer, for the noise, the rush of the snow, the swaying
motion of the ship, and the darkness combined to stun his senses. All
he could do was to struggle for his breath, gasping, glad to get his
hands over his mouth and nostrils as he realised how easily any one
might be suffocated in such a storm.
The _Hvalross_ was almost on her beam ends for a few minutes; then she
righted and tore through the water, which was nearly smooth, the
hurricane cutting off the tops of the waves, to mingle with the
snow-dust in a spray which froze instantly, and beat against everything
it encountered with painful violence, or covered the masts, sails, and
ropes with a thick coating of ice.
Then all was darkness and confusion, deafening, bewildering, and
strange. The captain made his way to the wheel, and the rest clustered
forward, sheltering themselves in front of the galley, for nothing could
be done then. The only men who could do anything for their safety were
those at the wheel, and the engineer and fireman, who, sheltered in the
warmth below, worked on to get up a head of steam ready against it was
wanted; but that did not seem probable for some time to come, the vessel
racing on under almost bare poles into a continuation of the
semi-darkness which surrounded them.
And now Steve thoroughly realised how helpless man, with all his
ingenuity, became in the midst of such a storm. Absolutely nothing
could be done but trust themselves to the hands of God, and wait
patiently for the end.
As soon as the lad could collect his thoughts, he began to wonder what
the consequences would be if they overtook some other unfortunate
vessel. Again, how far it was to the Siberian coast, toward which they
were being driven; and whether Captain Marsham would be able to tell in
the midst of that deafening clamour and blinding darkness of the
elements how far they might go before being able to turn ship and try to
hold his own by the help of the steam in the teeth of the gale. Then,
suffering an intensity of cold such as was perfectly new to him, he
crouched there, stunned, bewildered, and unable to move.
He was conscious, after a space of what must have been hours, that some
change had taken place, for the vessel appeared to be struck again by
the storm, but from the other quarter, and just then the wind seemed to
pluck and drag at him, as if to tear him from where he crouched, while a
short time after the _Hvalross_ heeled over again to such an extent that
she seemed as if she would never recover herself.
At last Steve became conscious of some one touching him, grasping his
arm, and shaking him; but he could hardly move. Then he felt himself
dragged over the ice--for it did not seem like the deck--to the way down
to the engine-room, and heard a voice shouting, "No, it would be
dangerous--cabin!"
How he was helped down he did not know, but he revived a little to the
fact that the doctor and captain were by him, and in spite of the din it
was possible to hear what was said.
"Is he frost-bitten?"
"No, I think not."
"Keep him down here, then, and stay yourself."
"Are you going back on deck?"
"Of course."
"But one moment. Tell me--I felt a shock. Are we running right for the
coast, due south?"
"I wish we were," said the captain gravely. "No; the storm seemed to
swing round, and is blowing almost in a contrary direction. We are
running north-east, and unless I can get her head to wind and the steam
well up we shall soon be amongst the drifting ice."
He hurried out of the cabin and closed the door after him, while the
doctor hastened to get Steve's mackintosh from his stiffened body and
arms, and helped him to put on a fur-lined coat.
"That's better," said the doctor.
Steve nodded.
"How are your feet--numbed?"
"No," said Steve, rather faintly, "I think they are all right. I was
crouched together sitting on them."
"And your hands?"
"They were in my breast. There's nothing the matter now. I only felt
confused, and as if I could not think or do anything."
"I felt the same, my lad. It is very awful. I never thought such a
storm was possible. Do you think you can venture to go on deck again?"
"Oh yes, I'm ready. I shan't feel the cold so in this coat."
"Then come and help me. I want to do something to comfort the men if I
can. Let's make our way to the galley."
"Yes."
"I want to get the cook to make a quantity of hot tea. The poor fellows
must have something, or they will perish."
"I'm ready, sir," cried Steve; "come along."
"Wait a minute. Which will be the best way?"
"Get to the bulwarks at once, and creep along till we're opposite the
galley. It will be easy enough then."
"I doubt it, my lad."
Then the door was opened, for a blinding cloud of powdery snow to rush
in; and as they stood together out there once more in the wild shrieking
and yelling of the storm, while the ship shivered and creaked and
throbbed, they had hard work to close the door after them before making
their way on hands and knees through the thick snow to the weather
bulwark, and along by this they crept till abreast of the galley without
coming across a soul. They paused here for a few moments, and then
Steve placed his lips to the doctor's ear.
"Come on!" he said; and leading the way once more he crossed to the end
of the galley in a blind struggle against the wind, which seemed to
pounce upon him and try to tear him away. But he crept on, with the
doctor close to him, and became aware that he was touching something
cold, which moved and then seized him with a hoarse:
"Wha's this?"
"I, Hamish!" shouted the boy. "We want to get into the galley."
"Gang below, laddie. Ta fire's oot, and there's naebody there."
"Come back," said the doctor in Steve's ear; and the boy followed, too
much stunned and confused by the wind and driving ice powder to propose
any other plan. But as he turned to follow the doctor he became aware
that several men were huddled together there in the slight shelter
afforded by the cook-house, and this confused him more, for the men were
at the wrong end, and not where he knew they had taken refuge before.
And now he recalled the sudden change which had taken place, and grasped
the fact that they were head to wind, or nearly so, while a vibration
beneath his feet told him that the engine was hard at work.
The next minute--how he did not know--they were by the way down into the
engine-room, the doctor's snowy figure being visible in a misty light
which struck upward as he descended, Steve following breathless and
panting, to find in the glow shed by the fires the cook on one side and
Watty Links on the other, while even here the snow-dust was whirling
down and melting at once into a rain, which ascended as a thick steam.
"Hadn't you better have kept in the cabin, sir?" said the engineer to
Steve; and then he turned to the doctor, "Come down for a warm, sir?"
"No! I wanted to try and get some hot drink to the men on deck--some
hot coffee."
"Couldn't be done, sir," said the cook.
"Let's say that when we've tried and failed," cried Steve. "You can get
hot water here; I'll fetch coffee and sugar."
"Very well, sir, I'll try; but how are we to get it to them on deck?"
"Bottles, man, bottles!" cried the doctor. "Where there's a will
there's a way."
The energy displayed by the new-comers, aided by the warmth, had its
effect upon the man; the engineer remembered that he had two clean
bottles in a locker, and Steve and the doctor fought their way again
over the slippery, snowy deck to the cabin, from which they emerged
again well laden, and in another quarter of an hour they were on their
way first to the wheel, holding on tightly to prevent their being swept
heavily across the poop, and they felt, more than saw, the two men, and
by them the captain and mate.
They did not speak their mission, but told it dumbly by pressing a
bottle of hot coffee in each man's hand, waiting while it was consumed,
and then returning to get the bottles refilled, their thanks being a
warm, hearty pressure and a shouted warning from the captain to take
care as they turned to creep back under such shelter as they could get,
Steve having hard work once to save himself from being driven forward by
the wind, which seemed to come from all quarters at once.
The men huddled forward on deck were now relieved in the same way, this
taking two journeys, after which they joined the engineer in partaking
of the hot, steaming compound, and prepared to return on deck.
"Hadn't you better stay below here, sir?" said the man; "there's nothing
to be done on deck."
"We'll come down again," replied the doctor. "Why, Steve," he cried,
"Captain Marsham is on the bridge!"
For at that moment there was a sharp ting upon the gong just overhead,
which the engineer responded to by seizing the lever and altering the
number of revolutions per minute of the screw. The next moment he
staggered, and would have fallen but for his grasp of the lever, the
doctor staggered up against the side, and Steve caught hold of the
engineer, while Watty Links was pitched from his seat on to the iron
flooring, and evidently uttered a yell, though it was not heard in the
terrific noise of the storm; neither did they hear a tremendous crash;
but all knew that they had struck something, for there was a fearful
shock, and a peculiar thrill ran through the vessel just as if she were
being shaken to pieces and her timbers were about to fall apart.