Part 32 (2/2)
”What, in getting astride of that yard to bear it down? Why, it see 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 e 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, crashi+ng 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 s, to breathe
”Yes, we have it now!” cried the captain ”Stand fast there, you two by the wheel!”
”Ay, ay, sir!” carasped the spokes side by side
”And now,” said the captain to his coo 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 stor 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 hite 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 ht, as well as the men at the wheel; and all he kneas 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 shi+p, and the darkness cole for his breath, gasping, glad to get his hands over his ht be suffocated in such a storm
The _Hvalross_ was alhted and tore through the water, which was nearly s off the tops of the waves, to le with the snow-dust in a spray which froze instantly, and beat against everything it encountered with painful violence, or covered theof 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 the could be done then The onlyfor their safety were those at the wheel, and the engineer and fireet up a head of steaainst it anted; but that did not see on under almost bare poles into a continuation of the sehly realised how helpless enuity, beca 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 soain, how far it was to the Siberian coast, tohich they were being driven; and whether Captain Marsha claht go before being able to turn shi+p and try to hold his own by the help of the stea 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 e had taken place, for the vessel appeared to be struck again by the storm, but from the other quarter, and just then the wind see at him, as if to tear him from where he crouched, while a short tiain to such an extent that she seemed as if she would never recover herself