Part 30 (2/2)
replied the professor.
An ominous silence followed his words.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE s.h.i.+P GRAVEYARD
Truly the adventurers were in a position that might well cause the stoutest heart to quail. With hundreds of tons of ice above, below, and on every side of them, their chances of escaping alive from this frozen tomb were very small.
”Can't we make an attempt to get out of this prison?” asked Jack.
”Indeed we will,” said the professor. ”We will try all the means at our command. If they all fail--”
He dared not finish the sentence, but they all knew what he meant. It was now about one o'clock in the morning. The s.h.i.+p had become stationary after the uneasy motion caused by the oscillation of the big berg.
”We may as well turn in and get a little sleep,” remarked Mr. Henderson.
”We can all work better if we get some rest.”
It is doubtful whether any of them slept, for the horror of their position was too fresh in their minds. Still, lying down in the bunks rested them.
It was six o'clock when Was.h.i.+ngton awoke. In spite of the dangers of the icy grave, he had managed to get a little sleep. He prepared breakfast and called the others.
”Make a good meal,” advised Mr. Henderson. ”We have plenty of work ahead of us.”
”Are you going to free the s.h.i.+p?” asked Mark.
”I am going to try,” was the answer.
A little later the inventor was busy in one of the small store rooms aft when Jack came up. The professor was carefully taking out a box labelled:
DYNAMITE! DANGEROUS!
”What are you going to do?” asked the boy.
”I am going to try the same experiment we attempted on the volcanic island,” was the reply. ”Only, this time, I am afraid we shall have to complete it to the end. There is little likelihood of the ice falling apart.”
”Then you are going to blow it up?” went on Jack.
”That's what I hope to do,” the inventor went on. ”I see no other way, and, though there is a risk, it is not so great a one as to wait to be crushed in the ice as it freezes more solidly.”
Under the directions of Mr. Henderson they got out the diving suits. The professor, the two boys and Andy put them on. The dynamite, in specially prepared water-proof packages, with long fuses was laid in readiness close to the door of the diving chamber.
Into the cell, the four who were to make the perilous journey under the ice, took their places. The water was slowly admitted, and then, with the electric lights in their helmets throwing out powerful gleams, they started forward as the outer door swung open.
It was well they had all taken the precautions to don thick undergarments and clothing, for, even through the heavy rubber diving suits, the terrible cold of the southern polar sea struck a chill to their very bones.
As the professor had said, the s.h.i.+p was caught between the upper and lower parts of the iceberg. On either side, ahead and to the rear there was open water. Beneath their feet there was a floor of ice. It was as if they and the s.h.i.+p had been placed between two great sheets of the frozen matter.
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