"Then get a good staunch, picked crew, and don't spare for expense.
You'll want good first and second mates. Shall I engage them?"
"Oh, no, thanky, sir," I said hastily; "I--"
"Captain Cookson here?" said a voice I knew, and Abram Bostock thrust
his head just inside the door. "Oh, beg pardon, sir!"
"Come in, Abram!" I said, eagerly.
"Begging the gentleman's pardon," he said, wiping a little brown juice
out of each corner of his mouth; "I only wanted a word with you,
skipper. Binny Scudds is outside."
"Bring him in, then!" I said, quickly.
Abram looked from one to the other, rubbed his hollow, sallow cheeks,
upon which there was not a particle of hair, and then his body swayed
about as if, being so thin, the draught of the door was blowing
him,--"Bring him in?" he said.
"To be sure!" I exclaimed.
Tall, thin, Abram Bostock stared at my companion for a moment, and then
backed out, to return directly with my old bos'en, Abinadab Scudds, half
leading, half dragging him; and no sooner was the mahogany-faced old
salt inside the door, and caught sight of the stranger, than he slewed
round, and was half outside before Abram growled out, "Avast there!"
collared him, and bringing him back, closed the door; when Scudds
growled out something that seemed to come from somewhere below his
waistband, and then, thoroughly captured, he stood, rolling his one eye
from one to the other, and began to rub his shaggy head, ending by an
old habit of his--namely, taking out a piece of rope, and beginning to
unlay it.
"Begging the gentleman's pardon," said Abram, as he feasted on his
goodly proportions, "I come to tell you, skipper, as they wants a cap'n
and mates for the Gladiator."
"But you have not engaged?" I said, anxiously.
Scudds growled, bear-fashion, and shook his head.
"Because here's a chance for you, my lads!" I said. "I have engaged
with Doctor--Doctor--"
"Curley," said my stout friend.
"With Doctor Curley, to command that smart steamer lying in the
Greenland Dock, and we go up north. Will you come?"
"What arter?" growled Scudds, tearing at his piece of rope.
"Seal," I said, with a look at the doctor. "What do you say, Bostock?"
"Oh, I'm game, if you're going, skipper!" he said, staring at the
doctor.
"And you, Scudds?"
"Same as Abram," growled Abinadab--Binny we called him, for short.
"This is lucky, doctor!" I said; "for our two friends here will soon
get a good crew together. Plenty of men will be glad to join the vessel
they sail in!"
"Don't you believe him, sir!" said Abram, polishing away at his cheek.
"It's acause the skipper there, Capen Cookson's going, as they'd come!"
"Ah! Well, never mind about that," said the doctor, smiling. "So long
as I've a good crew going with me, I don't care what induces them."
"But you ain't a-going, sir?" says Abram, looking harder than ever at
our owner.
"Indeed, but I am, my man!" replied the doctor. "Why not?"
"Oh, nothing, sir!" says Abram, looking as confused as a great girl,
while he stared harder than ever at the doctor.
"Now, what on earth are you thinking about?" said the doctor, making an
effort to cross his legs, but failing, on account of the tight fit in
the chair.
"Well, sir," says Abram Bostock, slowly, "meaning no offence, I was
a-wishing I were as fat as you are!"
"Oh, lor'!" groaned Scudds. And his one eye rolled tremendously.
"My good friend," exclaimed the doctor, starting up a little way, but
subsiding again, for he had raised the chair with him, as if he had been
a hermit-crab and it was his shell,--"my good friend, I'd give five
thousand pounds to be as thin as you!"
"Hor--hor--hor--hor!" roared Scudds, bursting into a tremendous laugh.
"I say, skipper, what a wunner he'd be if we took to the boats!"
"Hush!" I exclaimed.
"What does he mean?" cried the doctor; "that I should sink the boat?"
"No," growled Scudds. "Long pork!"
"Long pork!" said the doctor.
And Abram clapped his hands over his mouth, to stay his laughter.
"Yes," growled Scudds, grinning, and showing a wonderfully white set of
teeth; "long pork--long pig--human! Don't you see? You'd keep a boat's
crew for a fortnit, if they were hard up and starvin'. Hor--hor--hor--
hor!"
"My good man," cried the doctor, shuddering, "that's a very good joke,
no doubt, and very funny, only don't make it about me again; try it on
somebody else! Such a dreadfully anthropophagistic idea!"
"Which?" growled Scudds.
"Well, then, cannibal idea," said the doctor, shuddering again.
"Lor', sir, I meant no harm," said Scudds holding out his great, heavy
paw, which the doctor shook. "I've often made it about long, thin,
Abram Borstick, there; only when I makes it about him, I allers puts it
t'other way, and says he'd _starve_ a boat's crew for a fortnit. Don't
you see?"
"Oh, yes, I see!" said the doctor, nodding.
"And it's the only joke he ever does make, sir," says Abram.
"Right," growled Scudds.
"I didn't mean no offence, sir, about your going, neither," said Abram,
respectfully. "Of course it'll be a great advantage to have a doctor on
board. You air a doctor, sir?"
"Yes," said our stout employer, laughing till his cheeks wabbled. "I
can cure anything from a frost-bite to a flea-bite; but I'm not an M.D."
"No; of course not, sir," says Abram, nodding his head sagely.
"I mean, sir, not a doctor of medicine."
"Good job, too," growled Scudds. "Yah! I hates physic!" and he looked
about for somewhere to spit, ending by opening the room door, and
disposing of his tobacco-juice on the mat.
"Well, then, sir," I said, rising, "here are our first and second mates,
and I'll get together a crew of sixteen men in a few days, and meet you
every morning on board."
"My sarvice to you, sir," said Abram, touching his forehead.
"And mine," growled Scudds.
I was close beside the doctor now, and held the chair as he rose,
otherwise he would have lifted it with him. Then we took our leave, and
I walked down Hull Street with my two old shipmates.
"Where did you pick up the skipper?" growled Scudds.
"Well," I said, "he's been dodging me about for a week, and been mighty
civil, so much so, that I thought he wanted to try the confidence dodge
on me, of trusting one another with money; but it's all right, my lads,
we've found a good ship and owner, and the pay's good, so we'll sign the
articles to-morrow, and get to work."
I needn't tell you all that took place during the next mouth; how we got
coal on board, and stores, and casks for oil, or whatever we might get;
had her cabins lined to keep them warm; fitted up stoves; had plenty of
extra canvas and spars, ice-anchors, a couple of sledges; plenty of
ammunition, and provisions enough for two years. Last of all came on
board a whole lot of strange-looking mahogany cases, which the doctor
had brought very carefully under his own superintendence, and then, one
fine morning in June, we steamed out of the Humber, and away we went to
the North, with the doctor going about the deck like an active tub,
rubbing his hands, and smiling at every body.
Everything was soon ship-shape; boats ready for work, fur coats and
boots served out to the men against they were wanted, and I was very
busy one morning getting some of the tackle a little better stowed, when
the doctor waddled up to me, and tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned round, and he led the way into the cabin, sat down, and pointed
to a seat.
"Now, Captain Cookson," he said, "I think it's time to tell you about my
plans."
"If you please, sir," I said, "that is if it suits you."
"Well," he said, "you are now sailing to the North."
"Yes, sir, according to your orders, right away for Spitzbergen."
"And do you know what for?"
"Discovery of some kind, sir, I suppose."
"You are right, Captain; I mean to discover the North Pole."
"With all my heart, sir," I said.
"At least," he said, "I mean to try. If I fail, I shall still be able
to make a good many scientific discoveries, so that the voyage won't be
for nothing."
"No, sir," I said.
"It has been one of the dreams of my life to go upon a scientific voyage
up in the North; but the Admiralty wouldn't listen to me. They had the
notion that I was not a suitable man for the expedition; when all the
while Nature has expressly designed me for the purpose. See how she has
clothed me with adipose tissue."
"With what, sir?"
"Fat, man--fat! like she does the bears, and whales, and Eskimo. While
you men will be shivering in your fur coats, I shall be quite warm
without. Well, what we have to do is to take advantage of every open
channel when we reach the ice, and push forward due North. If the men
get discontented, we will keep promising them extra pay, and--What's the
matter?"
"Skipper, sir!" growled Scudds, who had just thrust his head in at the
cabin door. "Wanted on deck, sir--reg'lar mutinee. Tom Brown's come up
from below, and says as there's a ghost in the hold!"
"Where--where?" cried the doctor, excitedly, as he waddled out of the
cabin, thoroughly earning the nickname the men had bestowed upon him of
The Penguin. "Captain, get one of the casks ready for a specimen. I
have never seen a ghost!"
"Ain't he a rum beggar, skipper?" whispered Scudds, as we followed him
on deck, where a knot of the crew were standing round one of the
foremast-men, Tom Brown, whose face was covered with perspiration, his
hair being plastered down upon his forehead.
"Well, where's the ghost, my man?" said the doctor.
"Down in the hold, sir. You can hear him a-groaning!"
The doctor led the way down the open hatch; and I followed, to give him
a push down, if he stuck fast, finding that there was something in the
man's alarm, for from out of the darkness came, every now and then, a
deep, sighing groan.
"Why, there's some one there!" cried the doctor.
"Here, quick, half a dozen of you!" I shouted, for an idea had just
struck me; and, getting a lantern, I crept over some of the stores to
where stood a row of casks, to one of which I traced the voice.
"Hallo!" I cried, tapping the cask; when there came a rustling noise
from inside, and a tap or two seemed given by a hand.
"Found anything?" said the doctor, who had stuck fast between the stores
and the deck.
"It's a stowaway, I think," I answered; and, creeping back, with the
groans becoming more frequent, I gave orders, had some of the hatches
taken off farther along the deck, and just over where the cask lay; and
then, by means of some strong tackle, we hauled the cask out on deck, to
find it only partly headed, and from out of it half slipped, half
crawled, a pale, thin, ghastly looking young fellow, of about four or
five-and-twenty.
"Why, it's Smith!" exclaimed the doctor.
"Water--food!" gasped the poor wretch, lying prostrate on his side.
These were given him, and the doctor added some spirit, with the effect
that the poor fellow began to revive, and at last sat up on the deck.
"And how did you get here?" I said.
"Got on board at night!" he gasped. "Crept into the cask--meant to get
out--but packed in!"
"Did I not refuse you permission to come, sir?" cried the doctor,
shaking his fist.
"Yes, uncle!" gasped the stowaway; "but Fanny said, if I didn't come and
take care of you, she--she would never--speak to me--any more! Oh,
dear! please stop the ship! I feel so poorly!"
"It's a wonder you were not starved to death," said the doctor.
"Or smothered," I said.
"Ye-yes," stammered the poor fellow. "I was all right till they packed
things all round me, and then I couldn't get out!"
"Shall we put the ghost specimen in the spirit cask, doctor?" I said.
"Well, no," he replied. "I think we'll let him go down to the cabin.
But you'd no business to come, Alfred, for you'll only be in the way."
"Oh, no, uncle," he said, rapidly getting better, between the qualms
produced by the rolling of the steamer; "I shall be a great help to you,
uncle. I've brought my Alpenstock, a two-jointed one like a
fishing-rod; and--and my ice-boots that I wore in Switzerland."
"Bah!" said the doctor.
"And a climbing-rope."
"Pish!" exclaimed the doctor again.
"And--a pair of snow-shoes."
"Did you bring your skates, sir?"
"No, uncle; Fanny wanted me to, because she said I skated so
beautifully; but I knew you had come on business, so I left them
behind."
The doctor gave me a fat smile, and I turned round to check Scudds, for
fear he should laugh outright; and lucky I did, for he was just getting
ready for a tremendous roar, while Abram Bostock held his hands over his
mouth.
"Well, get below," said the doctor; "and the sooner you find your
sea-legs the better."
So our new member of the exploring expedition crawled below, and we set
to and trimmed sails, for the weather was changing, steam being reserved
till we wanted it to go through the ice.
We did not get along very fast, for the doctor was always stopping the
vessel for something, and the men soon fell in with his whims, and began
to enjoy helping him. One day, they would be busy bucketing up water,
for him to fill bottles with specimens of whales' food; another time, we
tried after a whale with a small gun and a harpoon fired from it, to the
great delight of the men. Then we came in sight of the first iceberg,
slowly sailing south, like a fairy castle on a fairy rock, that had
broken away from its land in the North, and taken to the sea. The sun
was shining upon it, and it was like one grand mass of turrets and
spires, glistening with silver, gold, and gems of every colour. Here
and there, it was split into great openings, with arches over them like
bridges; and near the sea were more archways, leading like into caves,
and all these places were of the most deep sapphire blue. All was so
beautiful, that even the old salts like Abram and Scudds said they had
never seen anything like it up North.
Of course, the doctor couldn't pass it without landing; and as there
were some seals and a few birds sitting on the farther side, I ran the
steamer close in, till, in the still water on the lee, we were able to
bring her close alongside of what was just like a natural wharf of ice;
when Scudds and four more got on the berg, a couple of ice-anchors were
passed over to them, and soon after we were made fast, and the doctor
took a gun, his nephew followed, and we had a good climb along the
wonderful sides of the iceberg.
"If we could only get on the top I wouldn't mind," said the doctor,
after making half a dozen tries; but every one was a failure, for it was
for all the world like climbing the side of a slippery board.
"Suppose you did get up, sir--what then?" I said.
"What then, Captain Cookson? Why, I could take observations; notice the
structure of the ice; chip off specimens; but I suppose I must be
disappointed."
But he was not, for when toward evening we were sitting on deck, I said
to him, "I suppose we may cast loose now, doctor, and get on?" there
suddenly came a strange scraping noise, and a peculiar motion of the
ship.
"Cut away those ice-cables!" I roared, running to get an axe, for I
scented the danger.
But I was too late, and stopped paralysed, holding on by one of the
shrouds! for I suddenly woke to the fact that in going close in to the
visible part of the iceberg, we had sailed in over a part of it that was
under water, and now the huge mass of ice having grown top-heavy, it was
slowly rolling over, but fortunately away from us, though the result
seemed to threaten destruction.
Almost before I knew where I was, the steamer began to sway over to
starboard; then I saw that we were lifted out of the water; and as the
men gave a cry of horror, we rose higher, and higher, and higher, as the
great berg rolled slowly over till we were quite a couple of hundred
feet in the air, perched on almost an even keel in a narrow V-marked
valley, with the ice rising as high as the main yard on either side, and
the little valley we were in running steeply down to the sea.
We all remained speechless, clinging to that which was nearest, and the
motion made the doctor's nephew exceedingly ill; but as for the doctor,
he was standing note-book in hand, exclaiming, "Wonderful! Magnificent!
Captain, I would not have missed such a phenomenon for the world!"
"Other world, you mean, sir!" I said, with a gasp of horror. "We shall
never reach home again!"
"Nonsense, man," he said. "Why, this ice will melt in less than a
month, and let us down."
"Or turn over the other way, and finish us off, sir!" I said, gloomily.
"Meanwhile, captain, I am up on the top of the iceberg, and can make my
meteorological observations. Alfred, bring me the glaceoscope. Hang
the fellow, he's always poorly when I want him. Captain, will you
oblige?"