drawing his coat tightly around him, La Salle first drew aside the rubber blanket which had been hung up for a door, and crawled out into the storm. The snow still fell heavily, but although the wind blew very hard, few drifts were formed, owing to the wet and heavy nature of the large, soft flakes2, although at times a flurry of sharp, stinging hail rattled3 against the boats and the roof of the ice-chamber.
As nearly as he could judge, the wind was north-east, or perhaps a point or two south of that, for at times there came warmer gusts4, as if the wind veered5 to a milder quarter. The roar of the sea could be plainly heard, but evidently far up to windward, and there was little doubt that they need have no apprehensions6 from that source at present.
Re-entering he found his friends anxiously awaiting his report on the aspect of things outside, and he plunged7 at once into the gist8 of the matter before them.[Pg 170]
"I see no reason to expect any change in our situation until the tide turns, which will be in about an hour. I can notice no change in the wind, nor do I think we have shifted our relative position to its course. Should the storm decrease towards morning, we shall probably find ourselves up the straits, in the vicinity of the capes9. Only one danger can possibly assail10 us, and that is being ground to pieces on the New Brunswick shore. We must keep a watch to-night, commencing at about twelve o'clock. Regnar, will you keep the first watch of an hour and a half, and then call me?"
"Yes, sir; all right. I wake any time, and I know what 'nip' means. We must not get caught napping if that happens."
"Can't we get ashore11 and off of this horrid12 floe13, if we strike on the other shore?" asked Waring, a little dolorously14.
"I'm afraid not, my dear George. The straits here, nearly thirty miles wide, converge15 to about twelve at the capes; and this terrible gale17, although we feel it scarcely at all in the heart of this berg, will drive us with the rising ebb18, at a velocity19 little less than ten miles an hour, through that narrow, choked pass, bordered by the ice-cliffs which form, on the shallows every winter, to the height of from ten to twenty feet above the water."
"Should this berg be driven against the verge16 of these immovable cliffs, our only resource will be to[Pg 171] take to our boats and retreat farther off on the floes; for a single mishap20 in crossing the terrible chasm21 which borders the irresistible22 course of this great ice-stream, would consign23 us all to irremediable destruction. I propose that we thank God for his mercies thus far, and implore24 his aid in the future. Then we may lie down secure in His protection, and gather new strength for whatever may be before us."
Thus saying, La Salle knelt, and in solemn but unfaltering tones repeated the short but inimitable prayer which embodies25 the needs of every petitioner26. Peter crossed himself at the close, and broke out,—
"I feel 'fraid, all time till now. I hear Lund see ghost. I think we never get back. Now I feel sure all go right, and I worry like woman no more."
"Thank you, Peter. I shall depend on good service from you; and I may say that I have little doubt of landing somewhere to-morrow, if the weather clears so that we can see. Come, Regnie, get the rest of those dry decoys out of the boat, and we'll turn in for two or three hours, when you must take the first watch."
Regnar brought in about twenty bundles more of fir-twigs, which were piled against the wall so as to form a kind of slanting27 pillow, against which the party might rest their backs and heads in a half-sitting posture28, without being chilled by the ice-wall of their narrow dormitory. Waring drew his seal-skin cap over his ears, turned up his wide coat-collar of the[Pg 172] same costly29 fur, and placed himself next to Peter, who, as the worst clad of the party, wrapped himself in his dingy30 blanket, and seated himself at the back of the hut. Regnar, in his Canadian capote, was next, and La Salle with difficulty found room between himself and the door for his faithful dog, whose natural warmth had already dried his long fur, and made him a very welcome bed-fellow under such circumstances. Thus disposed, it was not long before they all fell asleep; and at twelve o'clock, La Salle, only half awake, gave Regnar his watch, and saw the resolute31 boy go out into the storm to commence his lonely vigil.
Scarcely feeling that he had more than got fairly to sleep again, he was again awakened32 by Regnar, who said in a low voice, "'Tis two o'clock, master; but I would not waken you if I did not think that the floe has shifted sides, for we are no longer under a lee. I hear too, at times, cracking and grinding of the ice, and I think we are not far from shore."
La Salle hurriedly went out. The wind blew into his very teeth, as he emerged from the narrow door; but it seemed no warmer or colder, and the snow fell much the same as before. Near them, through the storm, another berg of equal height with their own seemed to appear at times, and the crash of falling and breaking ice arose on all sides. Still, for an hour nothing could be seen, until between three and four the snow gave place to a sleety33 rain, and the watchers[Pg 173] saw that they were passing with frightful34 rapidity a line of jagged ice-cliffs, not two hundred yards away. La Salle called his companions, and they watched for nearly an hour in constant expectation of having to take to their boat.
The pressure was tremendous, and on every side floes heaped up their debris35 on each other, and pinnacles36 forced into collision were ground into common ruin. Now shut out from view in darkness and storm, and now close at hand in the multitudinous shiftings of the ice, the immovable and gigantic buttresses37 of the ice-pool ground into powder acres of level floe, and bergs containing hundreds of thousands of tons of ice. Along that terrible line of impact rolled and heaved a chaos38 of mealy sludge and gigantic fragments, while from time to time a mass of many tons would be thrown, like a child's plaything, high up amid the debris already heaped along the inaccessible39 shore. Half a dozen times the startled voyagers seized their boat to drag her down from the berg, as the shore-ice gnawed40 into the sides of their narrowing ice-field.
At last a move appeared inevitable41. The distance between their refuge and the shore was less than fifty yards, and in the gray of the morning they saw castle after castle crushed off by this fearful attrition, while high above their heads rose the ruin-strewed and inhospitable ice-foot.
"Stand by, lads, to move the boats, when I give[Pg 174] the word. Look, Regnar! What is that above the cliff?"
"That a light-house, I think. Guess that on Cape Torment42. No light there in winter; not many vessels43 here then."
"Yes, we are passing the capes, and not a mile distant is the hostelry of Tom Allan. Well, we can't land, that's certain; and as we can't, I hope we shall soon get into a wider channel. How the trees fly past! Ah, here the pressure lessens44; we shall soon be above the narrows, and if the tide only serves—Good Heaven! what is that?"
An eddy45 seemed to catch the floe as he spoke46, and whirling like a top, it brought between it and the shore a fantastically-shaped berg, at least twenty-five feet high. The "nip" was but momentary47; but the lofty shaft48 and its floating base cracked like a mirror, the huge fabric49 fell into ruins, and one of its pieces, striking the smaller boat, crushed it into utter uselessness.
La Salle viewed the wreck50 of his little bark ruefully a moment.
"Well, the worst is over, and we are fortunate in losing so little, for it might have struck the larger boat, and that would have been indeed a loss. Come, boys, we have passed Cape Torment; let us pick some of those birds and get breakfast, for we shan't land this day, with an easterly gale hurrying the ice-pack thus to the north-west."
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1
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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5
veered
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| v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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gist
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| n.要旨；梗概 | |
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capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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12
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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floe
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| n.大片浮冰 | |
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dolorously
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| adj. 悲伤的；痛苦的；悲哀的；阴沉的 | |
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15
converge
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| vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近 | |
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16
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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19
velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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20
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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consign
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| vt.寄售（货品），托运，交托，委托 | |
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24
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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25
embodies
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| v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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26
petitioner
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| n.请愿人 | |
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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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29
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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30
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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32
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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33
sleety
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| 雨夹雪的，下雨雪的 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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35
debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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36
pinnacles
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| 顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔 | |
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buttresses
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| n.扶壁，扶垛( buttress的名词复数 )v.用扶壁支撑，加固( buttress的第三人称单数 ) | |
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38
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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40
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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41
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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42
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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43
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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44
lessens
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| 变少( lessen的第三人称单数 )； 减少（某事物） | |
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45
eddy
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| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
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46
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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47
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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48
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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49
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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50
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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