Part 9 (1/2)

”'No, sir,' says the lad. 'I'll not, sir!'

”'That's a good boy, Toby,' says Jowl. 'I 'low you'll be a man when you grow up, if your mother doesn't make a parson o' you.'”

Tumm made a wry face.

”Well,” he continued, ”Tommy Jump kep' the _Second t' None_ beatin'

hither an' yon off the Horse Islands for two days, expectin' ice with the nor'east wind. 'Twas in the days afore the sealin' was done in steams.h.i.+ps from St. John's, an' they was a cloud o' sail at the selsame thing. An' we all put into White Bay, in the mornin' in chase o' the floe, an' done a day's work on the swiles [seals] afore night. But nex'

day we was jammed by the ice-the fleet o' seventeen schooners, cotched in the bottom o' the bay, an' like t' crack our hulls if the wind held.

Whatever, the wind fell, an' there come a time o' calm an' cold, an' we was all froze in, beyond help, an' could do nothin' but wait for the ice t' drive out an' go abroad, an' leave us t' sink or sail, as might chance. Tommy Jump 'lowed the _Second t' None_ would sink; said her timbers was sprung, an' she'd leak like a basket, an' crush like a eggsh.e.l.l, once the ice begun t' drive an' grind an' rafter-leastwise, he _thunk_ so, admittin' 'twas open t' argument; an' he wouldn't go so far as t' pledge the word of a gentleman that she _would_ sink.

”'Whatever,' says he, 'we'll stick to her an' find out.'

”The change o' wind come at dusk-a big blow from the sou'west. 'Twas beyond doubt the ice would go t' sea; so I tipped the wink t' young Toby Jowl an' told un the time was come.

”'I'll save my life, Tumm,' says he, 'if I'm able.'

”'Twas a pity! Ecod! t' this day I 'low 'twas a pity; 'Twas a fine, sweet lad, that Toby; but he looked like a wolf, that night, in the light o' the forecastle lamp, when his eyes flashed an his upper lip stretched thin over his teeth!

”'You better get some grub in your pocket,' says I.

”'I got it,' says he.

”'Well,' says I, 'I 'low _you've_ learned! Where'd you get it?”

”'Stole it from the cook,' says he.

”'Any chance for me?'

”'If you're lively,' says he. 'The cook's a fool.... Will it come soon, Tumm?' says he, with a grip on my wrist. 'How long will it be, eh, Tumm, afore 'tis every man for hisself?'

”Soon enough, G.o.d knowed! By midnight the edge o' the floe was rubbin'

Pa'tridge P'int, an' the ice was troubled an' angry. In an hour the pack had the bottom scrunched out o' the _Second t' None_; an' she was kep'

above water-listed an' dead-only by the jam o' little pans 'longside.

Tommy Jump 'lowed we'd strike the big billows o' the open afore dawn an'

the pack would go abroad an' leave us t' fill an' sink; said _he_ couldn't do no more, an' the crew could take care o' their own lives, which was what _he_ would do, whatever come of it. 'Twas blowin' big guns then-rippin' in straight lines right off from Sop's Arm an' all them harbors for starved bodies an' souls t' the foot o' the bay. An'

snow come with the wind; the heavens emptied theirselves; the air was thick an' heavy. Seemed t' me the wrath o' sea an' sky broke loose upon us-wind an' ice an' snow an' big waves an' cold-all the earth contains o' hate for men! Skipper Tommy Jump 'lowed we'd better stick t' the s.h.i.+p so long as we was able; which was merely his opinion, an' if the hands had a mind t' choose their pans while they was plenty, they was welcome t' do it, an' he wouldn't see no man called a fool if his fists was big enough t' stop it. But no man took t' the ice at that time. An' the _Second t' None_ ran on with the floe, out t' sea, with the wind an'

snow playin' the devil for their own amus.e.m.e.nt, an' the ice groanin' its own complaint....

”Then we struck the open.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”I SEED THE SHAPE OF A MAN LEAP FOR MY PLACE”]

”'Now, lads,' yells Tommy Jump, when he got all hands amids.h.i.+ps, 'you better quit the s.h.i.+p. The best time,' says he, 'will be when you sees _me_ go overside. But don't get in my way. You get your own pans. G.o.d help the man that gets in my way!'

”Tommy Jump went overside when the ice opened an' the _Second t' None_ begun t' go down an' the sea was spread with small pans, floatin' free.