UNEXPECTED ARRIVALS--THE RESCUE-PARTY--LOST AND FOUND--RETURN TO THE
SHIP.
The sixth night after the hunting-party had left the ship, Grim and Fred
Ellice suddenly made their appearance on board. It was quite dark, and
the few of the ship's company who were able to quit their berths were
seated round the cabin at their meagre evening meal.
"Hallo, Fred!" exclaimed Captain Ellice, as his son staggered rather
than walked in, and sank down on a locker. "What's wrong, boy? where
are the rest of you?"
Fred could not answer; neither he nor Grim were able to utter a word at
first. It was evident that they laboured under extreme exhaustion and
hunger. A mouthful of hot soup administered by Tom Singleton rallied
them a little, however.
"Our comrades are lost, I fear."
"Lost!" exclaimed Captain Guy. "How so? Speak, my boy; but hold, take
another mouthful before you speak. Where did you leave them, say you?"
Fred looked at the captain with a vacant stare. "Out upon the ice to
the north; but, I say, what a comical dream I've had!" Here he burst
into a loud laugh. Poor Fred's head was evidently affected, so his
father and Tom carried him to his berth.
All this time Grim had remained seated on a locker, swaying to and fro
like a drunken man, and paying no attention to the numerous questions
that were put to him by Saunders and his comrades.
"This is bad!" exclaimed Captain Guy, pressing his hand on his forehead.
"A search must be made," suggested Captain Ellice. "It's evident that
the party have broken down out on the floes, and Fred and Grim have been
sent to let us know."
"I know it," answered Captain Guy; "a search must be made, and that
instantly, if it is to be of any use; but in which direction are we to
go is the question. These poor fellows cannot tell us. `Out on the ice
to the north' is a wide word. Fred, Fred, can you not tell us in which
direction we ought to go to search for them?"
"Yes, far out on the floes--among hummocks--far out," murmured Fred
half-unconsciously.
"We must be satisfied with that. Now, Mr Saunders, assist me to get
the small sledge fitted out. I'll go to look after them myself."
"An' I'll go with 'ee, sir," said the second mate promptly.
"I fear you are hardly able."
"No fear o' me, sir. I'm better than 'ee think."
"I must go too," added Captain Ellice; "it is quite evident that you
cannot muster a party without me."
"That's impossible," interrupted the doctor; "your leg is not strong
enough, nearly, for such a trip; besides, my dear sir, you must stay
behind to perform my duties, for the ship can't do without a doctor, and
I shall go with Captain Guy, if he will allow me."
"That he won't," cried the captain. "You say truly the ship cannot be
left without a doctor. Neither you nor my friend Ellice shall leave the
ship with my permission. But don't let us waste time talking. Come,
Summers and Mizzle, you are well enough to join, and Meetuck, you must
be our guide; look alive and get yourselves ready."
In less than half an hour the rescue party were equipped and on their
way over the floes. They were six in all--one of the freshest among the
crew having volunteered to join those already mentioned.
It was a very dark night, and bitterly cold, but they took nothing with
them except the clothes on their backs, a supply of provisions for their
lost comrades, their sleeping-bags, and a small leather tent. The
captain also took care to carry with them a flask of brandy.
The colossal bergs, which stretched like well-known landmarks over the
sea, were their guides at first, but, after travelling ten hours without
halting, they had passed the greater number of those, with which they
were familiar, and entered upon an unknown region. Here it became
necessary to use the utmost caution. They knew that the lost men must
be within twenty miles of them, but they had no means of knowing the
exact spot, and any footprints that had been made were now obliterated.
In these circumstances Captain Guy had to depend very much on his own
sagacity.
Clambering to the top of a hummock he observed a long stretch of level
floe to the northward.
"I think it likely," he remarked to Saunders, who had accompanied him,
"that they may have gone in that direction. It seems an attractive road
among the chaos of ice-heaps."
"I'm no sure o' that," objected Saunders; "yonder's a pretty clear road
away to the west, maybe they took that."
"Perhaps they did, but as Fred said they had gone far out on the ice _to
the north_, I think it likely they've gone in _that_ direction."
"Maybe yer right sir, and maybe yer wrang," answered Saunders, as they
returned to the party. As this was the second mate's method of
intimating that he _felt_ that he ought to give in (though he didn't
give in, and never would give in, _absolutely_), the captain felt more
confidence in his own opinion.
"Now, Meetuck, keep your eyes open," he added, as they resumed their
rapid march.
After journeying on for a considerable distance, the men were ordered to
spread out over the neighbouring ice-fields, in order to multiply the
chances of discovering tracks; but there seemed to be some irresistible
power of attraction which drew them gradually together again, however
earnestly they might try to keep separate. In fact, they were beginning
to be affected by the long-continued march and the extremity of the
cold.
This last was so great that constant motion was absolutely necessary in
order to prevent them from freezing. There was no time allowed for
rest--life and death were in the scale. Their only hope lay in a
continuous and rapid advance, so as to reach the lost men ere they
should freeze or die of starvation.
"Holo! look 'eer!" shouted Meetuck, as he halted and went down on his
knees to examine some marks on the snow.
"These are tracks," cried Captain Guy eagerly. "What think you,
Saunders?"
"They look like it."
"Follow them up, Meetuck. Go in advance, my lad, and let the rest of
you scatter again."
In a few minutes there was a cry heard, and as the party hastened
towards the spot whence it came, they found Davie Summers pointing
eagerly to a little snow-hut in the midst of a group of bergs.
With hasty steps they advanced towards it and the captain, with a
terrible misgiving at heart, crept in.
"Ah, then, is it yerself, darlint?" were the first words that greeted
him.
A loud cheer from those without told that they heard and recognised the
words. Immediately two of them crept in, and, striking a light, kindled
a lamp, which revealed the careworn forms of their lost comrades
stretched on the ground in their sleeping-bags. They were almost
exhausted for want of food, but otherwise they were uninjured.
The first congratulations over, the rescue party immediately proceeded
to make arrangements for passing the night. They were themselves little
better than those whom they had come to save, having performed an
uninterrupted march of eighteen hours without food or drink.
It was touching to see the tears of joy and gratitude that filled the
eyes of the poor fellows, who had given themselves up for lost as they
watched the movements of their comrades while they prepared food for
them; and the broken, fitful conversation was mingled strangely with
alternate touches of fun and deep feeling, indicating the conflicting
emotions that struggled in their breasts.
"I knowed ye would come, Captain; bless you, sir," said Amos Parr in an
unsteady voice.
"Come! Av coorse ye knowed it," cried O'Riley energetically. "Och, but
don't be long wid the mate, darlints, me stummik's shut up intirely."
"There won't be room for us all here, I'm afraid," remarked Bolton.
This was true. The hut was constructed to hold six, and it was
impossible that ten could _sleep_ in it, although they managed to
squeeze in.
"Never mind that," cried the captain. "Here, take a drop of soup;
gently, not too much at a time."
"Ah, then, it's cruel of ye, it is, to give me sich a small taste!"
It was necessary, however, to give men in their condition a "small
taste" at first, so O'Riley had to rest content. Meanwhile the rescue
party supped heartily, and, after a little more food had been
administered to the half-starved men, preparations were made for
spending the night. The tent was pitched, and the sleeping-bags spread
out on the snow, then Captain Guy offered up fervent thanks to God for
his protection thus far, and prayed shortly but earnestly for
deliverance from their dangerous situation, after which they all lay
down and slept soundly till morning--or at least as soundly as could be
expected with a temperature at 55 degrees below zero.
Next morning they prepared to set out on their return to the ship. But
this was no easy task. The exhausted men had to be wrapped up carefully
in their blankets, which were sewed closely round their limbs, then
packed in their sleeping-bags and covered completely up, only a small
hole being left opposite their mouths to breathe through, and after that
they were lashed side by side on the small sledge. The larger sledge,
with the muskets, ammunition, and spare blankets, had to be abandoned.
Then the rescue party put their shoulders to the tracking-belts, and
away they went briskly over the floes.
But the drag was a fearfully heavy one for men who, besides having
walked so long and so far on the previous day, were, most of them, much
weakened by illness and very unfit for such laborious work. The floes,
too, were so rugged that they had frequently to lift the heavy sledge
and its living load over deep rents and chasms which, in circumstances
less desperate, they would have scarcely ventured to do. Work as they
would, however, they could not make more than a mile an hour, and night
overtook them ere they reached the level floes. But it was of the
utmost importance that they should continue to advance, so they pushed
forward until a breeze sprang up that pierced them through and through.
Fortunately there was a bright moon in the sky, which enabled them to
pick their way among the hummocks. Suddenly, without warning, the whole
party felt an alarming failure of their energies. Captain Guy, who was
aware of the imminent danger of giving way to this feeling, cheered the
men to greater exertion by word and voice, but failed to rouse them.
They seemed like men walking in their sleep.
"Come, Saunders, cheer up, man," cried the captain, shaking the mate by
the arm; but Saunders stood still, swaying to and fro like a drunken
man. Mizzle begged to be allowed to sleep, if it were only for two
minutes, and poor Davie Summers deliberately threw himself down on the
snow, from which, had he been left, he would never more have risen.
The case was now desperate. In vain the captain shook and buffeted the
men. They protested that they did not feel cold--"they were quite warm,
and only wanted a little sleep." He saw that it was useless to contend
with them, so there was nothing left for it but to pitch the tent.
This was done as quickly as possible, though with much difficulty, and
the men were unlashed from the sledge and placed within it. The others
then crowded in, and, falling down beside each other, were asleep in an
instant. The excessive crowding of the little tent was an advantage at
this time, as it tended to increase their animal heat. Captain Guy
allowed them to sleep only two hours, and then roused them in order to
continue the journey; but short though the period of rest was, it proved
sufficient to enable the men to pursue their journey with some degree of
spirit. Still, it was evident that their energies had been overtaxed,
for when they neared the ship next day, Tom Singleton, who had been on
the lookout, and advanced to meet them, found that they were almost in a
state of stupor, and talked incoherently; sometimes giving utterance to
sentiments of the most absurd nature, with expressions of the utmost
gravity.
Meanwhile good news was brought them from the ship. Two bears and a
walrus had been purchased from the Esquimaux, a party of whom--sleek,
fat, oily, good-humoured, and hairy--were encamped on the lee side of
the _Dolphin_, and busily engaged in their principal and favourite
occupation--eating!