a catastrophe and a bold decision.
two days after her arrival at the temporary residence of the northern eskimos, the steam yacht whitebear, while close to the shore, was beset by ice, so that she could neither advance nor retreat. everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, the sea was covered with hummocks and bergs and fields of ice, so closely packed that there was not a piece of open water to be seen, with the exception of one small basin a few yards ahead of the lead or lane of water in which the vessel had been imprisoned.
“no chance of escaping from this, i fear, for a long time,” said alf vandervell to his brother, as they stood near the wheel, looking at the desolate prospect.
“it seems quite hopeless,” said leo, with, however, a look of confidence that ill accorded with his words.
“i do believe we are frozen in for the winter,” said benjy vane, coming up at the moment.
“there speaks ignorance,” said the captain, whose head appeared at the cabin hatchway. “if any of you had been in these regions before, you would have learned that nothing is so uncertain as the action of pack ice. at one time you may be hard and fast, so that you couldn’t move an inch. a few hours after, the set of the currents may loosen the pack, and open up lanes of water through which you may easily make your escape. sometimes it opens up so as to leave almost a clear sea in a few hours.”
“but it is pretty tight packed just now, father, and looks wintry-like, doesn’t it?” said benjy in a desponding tone.
“looks! boy, ay, but things are not what they seem hereaway. you saw four mock-suns round the real one yesterday, didn’t you? and the day before you saw icebergs floating in the air, eh?”
“true, father, but these appearances were deceptive, whereas this ice, which looks so tightly packed, is a reality.”
“that is so, lad, but it is not set fast for the winter, though it looks like it. well, doctor,” added the captain, turning towards a tall cadaverous man who came on deck just then with the air and tread of an invalid, “how goes it with you? better, i hope?”
he asked this with kindly interest as he laid his strong hand on the sick man’s shoulder; but the doctor shook his head and smiled sadly.
“it is a great misfortune to an expedition, captain, when the doctor himself falls sick,” he said, sitting down on the skylight with a sigh.
“come, come, cheer up, doctor,” returned the captain, heartily, “don’t be cast down; we’ll all turn doctors for the occasion, and nurse you well in spite of yourself.”
“i’ll keep up all heart, captain, you may depend on’t, as long as two of my bones will stick together, but—well, to change the subject; what are you going to do now?”
“just all that can be done in the circumstances,” replied the captain. “you see, we cannot advance over ice either with sail or steam, but there’s a basin just ahead which seems a little more secure than that in which we lie. i’ll try to get into it. there is nothing but a neck of ice between us and it, which i think i could cut by charging in under full steam, and there seems a faint gleam of something far ahead, which encourages me. tell the steward to fetch my glasses, benjy.”
“butterface!” shouted the boy.
“yis, massa.”
“fetch the captain’s glasses, please.”
“yis, massa.”
a pair of large binoculars were brought up by a huge negro, whose name was pre-eminently unsuggestive of his appearance.
after a long steady gaze at the horizon, the captain shut up the glass with an air of determination, and ordered the engineer to get up full steam, and the crew to be ready with the ice-poles.
there was a large berg at the extremity of the lakelet of open water into which captain vane wished to break. it was necessary to keep well out of the way of that berg. the captain trusted chiefly to his screw, but got out the ice-poles in case they should be required.
when all the men were stationed, the order was given to go ahead full steam. the gallant little yacht charged the neck of ice like a living creature, hit it fair, cut right through, and scattered the fragments right and left as she sailed majestically into the lakelet beyond. the shock was severe, but no harm was done, everything on board having been made as strong as possible, and of the very best material, for a voyage in ice-laden seas.
an unforeseen event followed, however, which ended in a series of most terrible catastrophes. the neck of ice through which they had broken had acted as a check on the pressure of the great body of the floe, and it was no sooner removed than the heavy mass began to close in with slow but irresistible power, compelling the little vessel to steam close up to the iceberg—so close that some of the upper parts actually overhung the deck.
they were slowly forced into this dangerous position. with breathless anxiety the captain and crew watched the apparently gentle, but really tremendous grinding of the ice against the vessel’s side. even the youngest on board could realise the danger. no one moved, for nothing whatever could be done.
“everything depends, under god, on the ice easing off before we are crushed,” said the captain.
as he spoke, the timbers of the yacht seemed to groan under the pressure; then there was a succession of loud cracks, and the vessel was thrust bodily up the sloping sides of the berg. while in this position, with the bow high and dry, a mass of ice was forced against the stern-post, and the screw-propeller was snapped off as if it had been made of glass.
poor captain vane’s heart sank as if he had received his death-blow, for he knew that the yacht was now, even in the event of escaping, reduced to an ordinary vessel dependent on its sails. the shock seemed to have shaken the berg itself, for at that moment a crashing sound was heard overhead. the terror-stricken crew looked up, and for one moment a pinnacle like a church spire was seen to flash through the air right above them. it fell with an indescribable roar close alongside, deluging the decks with water. there was a momentary sigh of relief, which, however, was chased away by a succession of falling masses, varying from a pound to a ton in weight, which came down on the deck like cannon-shots, breaking the topmasts, and cutting to pieces much of the rigging. strange to say, none of the men were seriously injured, though many received bruises more or less severe.
during this brief but thrilling period, the brothers vandervell and benjy vane crouched close together beside the port bulwarks, partially screened from the falling ice by the mizzen shrouds. the captain stood on the quarter-deck, quite exposed, and apparently unconscious of danger, the picture of despair.
“it can’t last long,” sighed poor benjy, looking solemnly up at the vast mass of the bluish-white berg, which hung above them as if ready to fall.
presently the pressure ceased, then the ice eased off, and in a few minutes the whitebear slid back into the sea, a pitiable wreck! now had come the time for action.
“out poles, my lads, and shove her off the berg!” was the sharp order.
every one strained as if for life at the ice-poles, and slowly forced the yacht away from the dreaded berg. it mattered not that they were forcing her towards a rocky shore. any fate would be better than being crushed under a mountain of ice.
but the danger was not yet past. no sooner had they cleared the berg, and escaped from that form of destruction, than the ice began again to close in, and this time the vessel was “nipped” with such severity, that some of her principal timbers gave way. finally, her back was broken, and the bottom forced in.
“so,” exclaimed the captain, with a look of profound grief, “our voyage in the whitebear, lads, has come to an end. all that we can do now is to get the boats and provisions, and as much of the cargo as we can, safe on the ice. and sharp’s the word, for when the floes ease off, the poor little yacht will certainly go to the bottom.”
“no, massa,” said the negro steward, stepping on deck at that moment, “we can’t go to de bottom, cause we’s dare a-ready!”
“what d’ye mean, butterface?”
“jus’ what me say,” replied the steward, with a look of calm resignation. “i’s bin b’low, an’ seed de rocks stickin’ troo de bottom. der’s one de size ob a jolly-boat’s bow comed right troo my pantry, an’ knock all de crockery to smash, an’ de best teapot, he’s so flat he wouldn’t know hisself in a lookin’-glass.”
it turned out to be as butterface said. the pack had actually thrust the little vessel on a shoal, which extended out from the headland off which the catastrophe occurred, and there was therefore no fear of her sinking.
“well, we’ve reason to be thankful for that, at all events,” said the captain, with an attempt to look cheerful; “come, lads, let’s to work. whatever our future course is to be, our first business is to get the boats and cargo out of danger.”
with tremendous energy—because action brought relief to their overstrained feelings—the crew of the ill-fated yacht set to work to haul the boats upon the grounded ice. the tide was falling, so that a great part of the most valuable part of the cargo was placed in security before the rising tide interrupted the work.
this was fortunate, for, when the water reached a certain point the ice began to move, and the poor little vessel was so twisted about that they dared not venture on board of her.
that night—if we may call it night in a region where the sun never quite went down—the party encamped on the north-western coast of greenland, in the lee of a huge cliff just beyond which the tongue of a mighty glacier dipped into the sea. for convenience the party divided into two, with a blazing fire for each, round which the castaways circled, conversing in subdued, sad tones while supper was being prepared.
it was a solemn occasion, and a scene of indescribable grandeur, with the almost eternal glacier of greenland—the great humboldt glacier—shedding its bergs into the dark blue sea, the waters of which had by that time been partially cleared to the northward. on the left was the weird pack and its thousand grotesque forms, with the wreck in its iron grasp; on the right the perpendicular cliffs, and the bright sky over all, with the smoke of the campfires rising into it from the foreground.
“now, my friends,” said captain vane to the crew when assembled after supper, “i am no longer your commander, for my vessel is a wreck, but as i suppose you still regard me as your leader, i assemble you here for the purpose of considering our position, and deciding on what is best to be done.”
here the captain said, among other things, it was his opinion that the whitebear was damaged beyond the possibility of repair, that their only chance of escape lay in the boats, and that the distance between the place on which they stood and upernavik, although great, was not beyond the reach of resolute men.
“before going further, or expressing a decided opinion,” he added, “i would hear what the officers have to say on this subject. let the first mate speak.”
“it’s my opinion,” said the mate, “that there’s only one thing to be done, namely, to start for home as soon and as fast as we can. we have good boats, plenty of provisions, and are all stout and healthy, excepting our doctor, whom we will take good care of, and expect to do no rough work.”
“thanks, mate,” said the doctor with a laugh, “i think that, at all events, i shall keep well enough to physic you if you get ill.”
“are you willing to take charge of the party in the event of my deciding to remain here?” asked the captain of the mate.
“certainly, sir,” he replied, with a look of slight surprise. “you know i am quite able to do so. the second mate, too, is as able as i am. for that matter, most of the men, i think, would find little difficulty in navigating a boat to upernavik.”
“that is well,” returned the captain, “because i do not intend to return with you.”
“not return!” exclaimed the doctor; “surely you don’t mean to winter here.”
“no, not here, but further north,” replied the captain, with a smile which most of the party returned, for they thought he was jesting.
benjy vane, however, did not think so. a gleeful look of triumph caused his face, as it were, to sparkle, and he said, eagerly—
“we’ll winter at the north pole, father, eh?”
this was greeted with a general laugh.
“but seriously, uncle, what do you mean to do?” asked leonard vandervell, who, with his brother, was not unhopeful that the captain meditated something desperate.
“benjy is not far off the mark. i intend to winter at the pole, or as near to it as i can manage to get.”
“my dear captain vane,” said the doctor, with an anxious look, “you cannot really mean what you say. you must be jesting, or mad.”
“well, as to madness,” returned the captain with a peculiar smile, “you ought to know best, for it’s a perquisite of your cloth to pronounce people mad or sane, though some of yourselves are as mad as the worst of us; but in regard to jesting, nothing, i assure you, is further from my mind. listen!”
he rose from the box which had formed his seat, and looked earnestly round on his men. as he stood there, erect, tall, square, powerful, with legs firmly planted, and apart, as if to guard against a lurch of his ship, with his bronzed face flushed, and his dark eye flashing, they all understood that their leader’s mind was made up, and that what he had resolved upon, he would certainly attempt to carry out.
“listen,” he repeated; “it was my purpose on leaving england, as you all know, to sail north as far as the ice would let me; to winter where we should stick fast, and organise an over-ice, or overland journey to the pole with all the appliances of recent scientific discovery, and all the advantages of knowledge acquired by former explorers. it has pleased god to destroy my ship, but my life and my hopes are spared. so are my stores and scientific instruments. i intend, therefore, to carry out my original purpose. i believe that former explorers have erred in some points of their procedure. these errors i shall steer clear of. former travellers have ignored some facts, and despised some appliances. these facts i will recognise; these appliances i will utilise. with a steam yacht, you, my friends, who have shown so much enthusiasm and courage up to this point, would have been of the utmost service to me. as a party in boats, or on foot, you would only hamper my movements. i mean to prosecute this enterprise almost alone. i shall join myself to the eskimos.”
he paused at this point as if in meditation. benjy, whose eyes and mouth had been gradually opening to their widest, almost gasped with astonishment as he glanced at his cousins, whose expressive countenances were somewhat similarly affected.
“i have had some long talks,” continued the captain, “with that big eskimo chingatok, through our interpreter, and from what he says i believe my chances of success are considerable. i am all the more confirmed in this resolution because of the readiness and ability of my first mate to guide you out of the arctic regions, and your willingness to trust him. anders has agreed to go with me as interpreter, and now, all i want is one other man, because—”
“put me down, father,” cried benjy, in a burst of excitement—“i’m your man.”
“hush, lad,” said the captain with a little smile, “of course i shall take you with me and also your two cousins, but i want one other man to complete the party—but he must be a heartily willing man. who will volunteer?”
there was silence for a few moments. it was broken by the doctor.
“i for one won’t volunteer,” he said, “for i’m too much shaken by this troublesome illness to think of such an expedition. if i were well it might be otherwise, but perhaps some of the others will offer.”
“you can’t expect me to do so,” said the mate, “for i’ve got to guide our party home, as agreed on; besides, under any circumstances, i would not join you, for it is simple madness. you’ll forgive me, captain. i mean no disrespect, but i have sailed many years to these seas, and i know from experience that what you propose is beyond the power of man to accomplish.”
“experience!” repeated the captain, quickly. “has your experience extended further north than this point?”
“no, sir, i have not been further north than this—nobody has. it is beyond the utmost limit yet reached, so far as i know.”
“well, then, you cannot speak from experience about what i propose,” said the captain, turning away. “come, lads, i have no wish to constrain you, i merely give one of you the chance.”
still no one came forward. every man of the crew of the whitebear had had more or less personal acquaintance with arctic travel and danger. they would have followed captain vane anywhere in the yacht, but evidently they had no taste for what he was about to undertake.
at last one stepped to the front. it was butterface, the steward. this intensely black negro was a bulky, powerful man, with a modest spirit and a strange disbelief in his own capacities, though, in truth, these were very considerable. he came forward, stooping slightly, and rubbing his hands in a deprecating manner.
“’scuse me, massa capting. p’r’aps it bery presumsheeous in dis yer chile for to speak afore his betters, but as no oder man ’pears to want to volunteer, i’s willin’ to go in an’ win. ob course i ain’t a man—on’y a nigger, but i’s a willin’ nigger, an’ kin do a few small tings—cook de grub, wash up de cups an’ sarsers, pull a oar, clean yer boots, fight de eskimos if you wants me to, an’ ginrally to scrimmage around a’most anything. moreover, i eats no more dan a babby—’sep wen i’s hungry—an’ i’ll foller you, massa, troo tick and tin—to de nort pole, or de sout pole, or de east pole, or de west pole—or any oder pole wotsomediver—all de same to butterface, s’long’s you’ll let ’im stick by you.”
the crew could not help giving the negro a cheer as he finished this loyal speech, and the captain, although he would have preferred one of the other men, gladly accepted his services.
a few days later the boats were ready and provisioned; adieus were said, hats and handkerchiefs waved, and soon after captain vane and his son and two nephews, with anders and butterface, were left to fight their battles alone, on the margin of an unexplored, mysterious polar sea.