Steve walked back to the captain looking puzzled, and feeling damped by
this sudden change, while his eyes gazed questioningly in his leader's.
"What did I say to you?" cried Captain Marsham.
"I was to go up to the crow's-nest and make observations," replied the
boy.
"Coolly, warily, and without excitement, because you were going to make
a dangerous ascent, over what is ten times as slippery as glass."
"Yes," said Steve; "and I was going."
"Going!" cried the captain angrily. "Yes, just as if you were about to
run up somebody's carefully sanded steps to the front door."
"But I should have been as careful as could be as soon as I started,
sir."
"It looked like it. What do you say, doctor?"
"That he seemed to me as if he would have given me a job to mend some of
his bones before he was half-way to the main-top."
"Oh, Mr Handscombe!" cried Steve reproachfully.
"It's a fact, sir," said the captain sternly. "I dare not let you go
about so serious a task in that jaunty way. There, give me the glass."
Steve slowly handed the glass, in so despondent a fashion that the
captain spoke more quietly.
"I can't help it, my lad. I regret checking you; but you see the state
of the rigging, and that a slip might be fatal. I dare not let you go."
Steve said nothing, but glanced up at the crow's-nest, which glistened
like silver in the sunshine; and he noted again how the rope ladders
were all coated with ice, and he found it hard to imagine that he had
been jaunty and careless; he told himself he had only been eager to do
what was required, and hence it seemed to be doubly hard.
"I did mean to be very careful, sir," he said at last.
"I know it, my lad," replied the captain quietly; "but I was wrong to
think of it, and your quick, eager way showed me the risk, and made me
wiser."
"But I don't think it is so dangerous, sir," cried Steve. "Let me try."
"I do think it dangerous," said the captain. "There, you shall hear
another opinion. Johannes!"
The Norseman answered the hail, and came quickly aft, after laying down
his pole.
"Can you get up to the crow's-nest, and make a few observations?"
The man looked up at the ice-hardened rigging, and his eyebrows
contracted a little.
"Yes," he said. "Shall I take a glass?"
"There!" cried Steve quickly.
"You shall go," said the captain. "I will send him instead, Johannes."
The man's quiet, stolid manner passed away in an instant.
"It is dangerous for the boy, sir," he said. "The rigging is all ice."
"Yes, but I'm going to be very careful, Johannes," cried Steve. "Let me
see; can't I sling the glass somehow?"
"Don't take that," said the captain. "Go to the cabin and fetch my
large binocular in its case. You can sling that over your shoulder."
Steve made a dart for the cabin, but stopped short, turned, gave the
doctor a quick look, and then walked slowly to the cabin door,
disappeared, and came back quite deliberately, adjusting the strap of
the glass over his arm.
"Yes, that will be powerful enough for the purpose," said the captain
quietly. "Now listen: what I want to know is in what directions the
lanes of open water lead. You will have an excellent view from up
there. Try and make out whether there is open water right up to the
land."
"Yes, I see," said Steve quietly; and he was about to take off his
gloves.
"Stop! What are you going to do?" cried the captain.
"Take off my gloves. I can hold on so much better."
"And perhaps leave the skin of your hands on the ropes. You do not feel
the cold much now because the air is perfectly still and the sun shining
brightly; but the mercury is very low, and it is growing colder. Keep
your gloves on, and be slow and careful. Now go."
Steve started once more, reached the main shrouds, swung himself up on
to the bulwark, and instantly had his first lesson in the peril of his
task, for all at once a foot glided along the top of the bulwark, and
then went off and downward. But he had taken a good grip of the shrouds
and saved himself, otherwise he must have gone overboard, and a curious
sensation of heat came over him, as he at once began to climb with the
ratlines feeling hard and thick like the staves of a ladder, while his
hold upon he icy ropes was awkward and strange. And now he began to
awaken to the fact that the job was a much harder one than he had
imagined it would be, and felt more and more the necessity for the
greatest of caution. Glancing down as he heard talking in a low,
earnest voice below, he saw that Johannes was speaking to the captain;
but it did not occur to him that it was about him till he had reached
the main-top, where he paused for a few moments, holding on by the
ropes.
"Hadn't I better kick some of these icicles and this snow down, sir?" he
cried.
"Yes; all you can, my lad," replied the captain.
"Stand from below!" Steve shouted. And then there was the rattle and
crackling of the pieces of ice he broke away, till he had made some
clearance; and he was then about to start upward, when he became aware
of the fact that Johannes was three parts of the way up to the top where
he stood.
"Hullo!" he cried, "what do you want?" and as he spoke he saw that the
man had a little coil of line over one arm.
"Only coming to keep you company, Mr Steve," he said, drawing himself
up the last few feet and reaching the boy's side.
"Oh, but it's too bad!" cried Steve hotly. "It's treating me as if I
were a child. You've brought this line up to tie me on."
"I've brought the line up because it may be useful, sir," said Johannes
gravely; "and I've come up because the captain thought the way aloft was
very dangerous."
"And so did you, and asked him to let you come?"
Johannes was silent.
"I knew it!" cried Steve. "I do wish you people wouldn't treat me as if
I were a baby."
"Yes, I did ask him to let me come, sir," said the Norseman; "for it's
more dangerous than even he thinks. I saw you make that slip when you
started, though he did not; and I felt that if you made a slip higher up
I might be handy to help you."
"Yes, but--" began Steve.
"And he gave me leave to come up."
"Then you'd better go and make the observations, and I'll go down," said
Steve sulkily.
Johannes looked pained.
"You shall not do that," he said gravely.
"Why not?"
"Because it would not be like what I, a Norseman, would expect to see in
an English gentleman's son."
"Oh, I say," cried Steve, "that's hitting foul. But it's too bad,
Johannes, and I hate it. I might just as well be pulled up by the
halyards."
"When you have been as long at sea as I have," said Johannes, with a
calm, grave smile lighting up his fine, manly face, "you will not think
it a hardship in a dangerous task to have a man at your side whom you
can trust, and whom you can feel is ready to help you as long as he has
a bit of strength."
"Come along," said Steve quickly; "the captain will be wondering why I
don't go up, and thinking I am afraid."
"Oh no," said the Norseman, smiling, "he will not think that of you,
sir. There, I'm glad to be with you, Mr Steve; for it is bad climbing,
and a slip up here would be very, very risky."
"Yes, it is bad climbing," said Steve, as he slowly mounted higher and
higher, warning his companion, who kept close below him, when he was
going to kick down some of the ice which encrusted the ropes.
And so the top-mast was passed, and with the main topgallant mast they
came to the ice-covered cross-spells, which had been lashed on, and
directly after Steve was beneath the cask raising his hand to push open
the hinged bottom; but, to his surprise, it did not yield.
"It's frozen!" he cried; and he made effort after effort to move the
trap, but in vain.
"You'll have to let me come, sir," said Johannes quietly. "I'm thinking
that the nest is full of snow."
Steve moved off the spell on which he stood, and held on to the shrouds
upon the other side, leaving room for the Norseman to take his place.
"Well?" said Steve, as the man exerted his huge strength without effect.
"More than I can do, sir," said Johannes quietly. "Let's try it a
little at a time." And, taking tightly hold, he began to thrust with
one shoulder up and up, until the trap began to crack and give way
little by little.
Then a little powdery snow began to crumble out, and the Norseman paused
to rest.
"You see I am useful," he said, smiling. "I don't think you could have
moved that."
"Aloft there! Can't you get in?" came from below.
"Crow's-nest full of ice and snow!" cried Steve.
"Knock up the bottom, and let it fall through."
"Well, that's what we are doing," said Steve to himself; and then he
watched as the Norseman toiled away till he could get one hand through
the opening he had made.
"Mind!" cried Steve. "Put on your glove, or you'll take the skin off."
"No," said Johannes gravely, "not yet awhile. It does not freeze in
that way now; that is when the colder weather sets in. The sun is
warming the air too much everywhere. Look, there are drips forming."
He worked as he spoke, and now sent the snow and ice showering down from
the cask, till at last there was quite a little avalanche, after which
he drew himself up inside, let the door close, and scraped and worked
away, throwing out consolidated portions, and then sweeping the
snow-dust till he could open the trap partially and shuffle it out with
his feet. "Warm work, sir," he said at last, as he looked over the edge
and down at Steve.
"Let me come and have a turn, then, for it's horribly cold here."
"Come along, then," said the Norseman; "there's room now."
There was an unusual sensation of numbness in Steve's arms as he climbed
back on to the wooden spells, and he knew that he had been motionless
quite long enough; and he could not help feeling that if he had remained
there another hour clinging to the icy shrouds he would not have been
able to live. But the circulation began to return as soon as he exerted
himself, and, after a little effort, he squeezed himself up through the
bottom of the cask, the trap fell into its place, and he dragged the
case of the glass round to the front so as to get at the double
telescope.
The scene from the deck had been wonderful, but from the interior of the
crow's-nest the wonder was vastly increased, and Steve could have stood
there for hours, sweeping with the glass in all directions, gazing with
delight at the floating ice-islands of every form and size, from the
little block that could be thrust aside with a boat-hook to the field or
detached floe a mile across; and all in motion, drifting with the
current toward the north-east, and rising and falling on the heavy swell
left by the storm. There was an incessant cracking roar, too, from all
around, as the blocks came in contact and ground together; while from
time to time, consequent upon undulation of the surface, a field split
right across with a tremendous report.
But there was no time to study the beauty of the surroundings, and Steve
had to leave all contemplation of the silver islands floating upon a
black sea, to try and trace the open water from where they were right up
to the land.
Twice over he was at fault, as he supposed, for he followed with the
glass a broad, canal-like line of clear water quite a couple of miles,
and then it appeared to be blocked up with ice. He said so to Johannes;
but the Norseman shook his head.
"The water goes round behind those blocks, sir," he said.
"But can you tell that with the naked eye, Johannes?"
"Yes, sir, clearly."
The result was that a clear way was well traced out for the _Hvalross_
right up to the rugged land with its mountains, not more than eight
miles away, so that navigation would be perfectly easy at that moment.
What it would be with the vast army of ice blocks advancing to invade
the shores of the unknown land, it would be impossible to say.
All these facts were communicated bit by bit to the deck, with the
consequence that the speed was increased, and the vessel went gliding on
in and out amongst the floating fields of ice, while Steve stayed with
his companion, who kept pointing out objects worthy of notice.
"Seals yonder," he said, pointing to one low flat of snow-covered ice;
and Steve brought the glass to bear upon the cluster of animals huddled
up together.
"Yonder's a bear, too," said Johannes after a time.
"What eyes you have!" cried Steve. "I had not even seen that with the
glass. Why, he's on quite a small island of ice, all to himself. How
easily we could get to him with a boat!"
"Yes, easily enough, sir; but this is no time for hunting," said the
Norseman. "While we are drifting onward with all this ice the danger is
not great; but if we lay to while boats were out fishing we should soon
be fast, and it might be months before we got free. There is only one
thing to do now: get the ship into a safe haven. Then we can talk about
hunting."
"How long will it take us to get there?"
"Little more than an hour if we do not meet with a check," said
Johannes, as the _Hvalross_ glided round the edge of an ice-field into
quite a winding river of black water, more open than any they had passed
since the storm, and along which the vessel now made good way, while the
land ahead began to grow more rugged and wild, looking grand, desolate,
and apparently very much broken-up by jutting promontories and deep
inlets.
"Yes," said Johannes, after a long inspection through the glass; "there
are plenty of shelter havens there, if we are not shut off from them by
the ice."
All these observations were duly communicated to the captain, who
directed the course of the vessel by the instructions he received as to
the lay of the water. And as Johannes had said, the places where Steve
had imagined the open water to end proved to be quite clear, so that
mile after mile was passed, and at last the boy gave his opinion upon
the state of the navigation.
"Why, it's easy enough," he said; "any one might go right on like this
to the North Pole."
"It's too easy, sir," said Johannes, smiling. "How would you get back?"
"Wait till the tide turns and the ice is going the other way."
"Yes, that would be a capital plan," replied Johannes drily.
"Cold? Want to come down?" cried the captain from below.
"No, sir; quite warm shut up here," replied Steve.
"Stay up then, for you're making the navigation quite easy. All clear
ahead?"
"Yes, sir; nothing but a few floating blocks of no consequence; and
there are more openings farther on."
"That's right. Now look out, both of you, for a good deep inlet. That
is what we want next."
Johannes held the glass at this time, and he said to Steve, as the
captain turned away:
"There are two fiords that appear to be just right if we can reach them;
but I cannot make out anything for certain yet. Have a try, sir?"
Steve took the glass, rested his arms on the rail, and began to try and
make out the inlets by following the course of the open water from just
ahead right up to the piled-up mountainous land.
"It looks like a bit of my own country," said Johannes, "and does not
seem to be an island, for there is high ground as far as I can see."
"More seals," said Steve; "good big ones, too!"
"Where?"
"Away to the left of that big ice-field, right on its edge. Why, there
must be fifty of them. See 'em?"
"Yes," said Johannes gravely; "more likely a hundred, sir; and, as you
say, very fine ones indeed. The captain will not have any difficulty in
loading up with oil to take back."
"Not if we can catch the seals," said Steve, with his eyes glued to the
glass. "There, I think I can make out one of the fiords now. I say,
isn't it rather funny that west coasts should be so much alike?"
"I don't understand you, sir."
"Why, all broken-up into fiords, as you call them. Ireland is, and
Scotland, and Norway; then Spitzbergen was, and now this place seems to
be the same."
"Yes, sir; I suppose it's the beating and washing of the sea."
"But places like Spitzbergen and this can't be much beaten by the sea,
because they are so much frozen-in. Yes, I can see the inlet now, and
the other one, too. North of it, isn't it?"
"Yes, sir; those are the two, and there is plenty of open water."
"Plenty. Shall we tell the captain now?"
"He's forward talking to the men," replied Johannes.
"Then we'll wait. But, I say, about these seals? We shall have to
shoot them, I suppose?"
"No, sir, harpoon them; but they are not seals."
"Nonsense! I saw them myself quite plainly; one of them was dragging
itself out of the water."
"Yes, I saw several do that. It is quite a large herd; but these are
walrus--our sea-horses, sir."
"Oh!" cried Steve, turning the glass in the direction of the herd.
"Why, so they are. I can see the big tusks."
"Yes, sir; there are some very fine ones among them. I thought they
must have a haven somewhere up here, if it could be found. The captain
has done well, and we shall have a tremendous hunting season."
"Well?" came from the deck, "see any opening, Steve?"
"Yes, sir, two; and we're not above a mile away from a great herd of
walrus."
"Seals, my lad--the little Jan Mayen seal."
"No, sir," said Johannes quietly; "they are walrus, and we've made our
way up to their home. I have just seen another herd nearer the land."
The men below heard this announcement, and gave a cheer, for the news
promised work, excitement, and plenty of profit for all on board.
Just then there was a loud barking from Skene, who was up in his
favourite place on the bows, just where he could look out well ahead.
"Look at old Skeny," said Steve. "Any one would think he was the master
of the ship. Why, there's a walrus!"
He was quite right, for there in the black water, staring hard at the
excited dog, was a peculiar round head with great soft eyes, a bristling
moustache, and a pair of long white tusks sweeping down from its upper
jaw in graceful curves. There was nothing visible but the head, and
that only for about a minute; for the sight of the vessel gliding
swiftly along startled the huge beast, so that it made a plunge and
disappeared.
A sharp look-out was kept for others, and several were seen, but always
at a distance; and they were forgotten directly in the excitement of the
navigation which followed as they neared the land.
All had gone on well so far. The _Hvalross_ had had to turn and double
to avoid huge masses of the ice-floe; but there had always been plenty
of open water, and this had grown wider as they neared a vast pile of
rocks forming a promontory, to the north of which lay the fiord which
the captain had marked down, becoming more and more satisfied with his
choice as they drew nearer, till they were about a mile away; for it
offered complete protection from the ice, which would be turned aside by
the rocky buttress till such time as a change of wind and the subsidence
of the heavy rocking swell should come.
All at once, with marvellous rapidity, there was a change. Beyond a
little grinding and scraping they had suffered no harm from the ice,
which had been floating with or following them; but now, as if the crowd
of blocks and fields in motion possessed a feeling that the vessel was
about to escape them and take refuge where it would be safe, there was
an increase of speed in their movements; they were more agitated, rising
and falling and crashing together, and appearing as if they were
crowding along to crush the vessel before the refuge was reached.
This had not been noticed from the bridge, and in an excited tone
Johannes hailed the deck.
"We're just entering a swift current, sir, which is caused by the great
point ahead. The ice is crowding up into it, and goes north with a
heavy rush."
"Yes, I see!" cried Captain Marsham; and he issued a few clear, sharp
orders, which were as promptly obeyed.
"Stay aloft there, both of you," he cried next, "and mark the other
water ahead!"
There was a dead silence for a minute on deck, but all around a
condensation of the grinding, cracking, and rending of the ice which
they had heard more or less all day.
Then, as Steve's eyes met Johannes' stern gaze--for the lad was fully
awake to the peril--the Norseman sang out:
"Turn her astarn, sir! The ice has closed up ahead." The captain gave
the order without question, the speed was checked, and the _Hvalross_
began to glide back, when Johannes' voice rose again in hoarse command.
"Stop! There is no way back."
"Look again!" roared Captain Marsham. "There must be. Quick!"
"No way out astarn, nor to right or left, sir!" cried Johannes; "the ice
is closing in upon us."
"But forward--is it not opening?"
"No, sir; and we're in the current, too."
The captain gave his orders again; but those which reached the
crow's-nest had nothing to do with the navigation of the ship; they were
to the men to stow provisions as rapidly as possible in the boats.
"Johannes, what does this mean?" whispered Steve, aghast.
"That the captain means to have the boats ready, if we can use them; if
not, to have provisions to heave on to the ice when we take to it."
"When we take to the ice?" cried Steve.
"Yes, my lad; look!" said the Norseman, pointing to the narrow limits of
the water in which the _Hvalross_ lay; and as the boy gazed downward
with dilating eyes, he could see that on one side there was a wall of
ice almost stationary, while on the other the masses were grinding
together, the smaller being forced upward above the larger to form a
chaotic ridge, which was coming toward them with swift, irresistible
power.
"Quick!" said the Norseman sternly. "In another five minutes we shall
be crushed in the ice. We must be on deck so as to have our chance of
escape with the rest when they take to the floe."
"Ahoy! there aloft!" roared the captain, as the steam whistle began to
utter its deep-toned yell, which sounded strangely amidst the roar and
crack of the ice in motion. "Down with you both--quick!"
"Do you hear?" cried Johannes excitedly. "Down, my lad, quick!"
Steve made a movement to stoop and raise the trap on which he stood, and
he stopped short and gazed despairingly in the great Norseman's face.
"Well, why do you stop?" said Johannes. "Draw up the trap, and go
down."
"I cannot stir," said Steve faintly. "I did not know it before. It's
the cold, I suppose. My legs and feet are quite numbed."