“Better than a cold sea,” I said, “when there’s a northeast gale1 blowing.”
“How long do we lay up here, Chase?” asked Chauncey Gale. “You’re running this excursion.”
I was secretly uneasy, but I made light of the situation.
“Oh, this is the usual thing. We’ll be here a day or two, perhaps, then the ice will separate again, or a lead form that will let us back to open water. We could hardly be shut in long at this season.”
“I’d invent something to beat this game if I was going to play it regular,” said Gale, then added, “Great place this to lay out an addition. ‘Frozenhurst,’ how’s that for a name?”
116“Can we go out on the ice?” asked Edith Gale.
“Of course, if we are careful, and do not go far from the ship,” I said. “We can try our new snow-shoes.”
“I shall make the first Antarctic experiment in wireless2 communication,” observed Ferratoni.
“Good time to look for the bake-apple,” suggested Mr. Larkins.
But just here came a sharp protest from Zar.
“Yas, I sh’d say baked apples! Well, I reckon we jes’ ’bout as apt to fin’ baked apples as anything else in dis refrigidous country! Not much, my Miss Edith ain’ gwine out on dat ol’ humpety, bow-back ice-pon’! No, sah!”
Zar’s characterization of the sea’s aspect referred to the huge hummocks3 and heaved appearance of the ice in places. There were also many bergs, apparently4 at no great distance, and in spite of the old woman’s strenuous5 objections, Edith Gale and I planned to visit the nearest of these.
We did so in the afternoon. Numberless penguins6, sea-leopards and other species of Antarctic life had gathered curiously7 about the Billowcrest during the day, and some of these waddled8 and floundered after us when we set out. We could not make very rapid progress with our new foot-gear, and for a little distance made an interesting spectacle, with our procession of followers9 trailing out behind. “All hands and the cook” gathered on the deck to enjoy it.
“From our high vantage we could command a vast circle of sunless, melancholy10 cold.”—Page 117.
117We carried one of Ferratoni’s telephones—a neat, compact little affair, with handles for convenience, and from nearly a mile distant communicated with the inventor, who had ascended11 to the crow’s-nest for the experiment. It was a successful trial, and we believed it would have been equally so had the distance been much greater.
Then we pushed in among the silent bergs, and ascending12 by a circuitous13 path to the battlements of a great ice fortress14, tried it again.
“Hello,” I called, “can you hear a message from the South Pole?”
The answer that came back was as prompt as it was unexpected.
“There is a message in the air,” said the voice of Ferratoni. “It is very close—around and about us. Some day—perhaps soon—I shall hear it.”
I repeated this to Edith Gale, wonderingly.
“What do you suppose he means?” I whispered.
“You remember what I told you in the fighting-top,” she said. “I am sure of it now.”
I did not answer, but together our eyes followed the white way to the south.
A light snow had fallen during the forenoon, and dull clouds were banked heavily against the sky. From our high vantage we could command 118a vast circle of sunless, melancholy cold. Beyond this there lay another horizon, and beyond that still another, and yet another. In this deep solitude15 the distant black outline of the Billowcrest marked our only human tie.
A silence and an awe16 fell upon us—a mysterious fear of this pale land that was not a land, but a chill spectral17 semblance18, with amazing forces and surprising shapes. We descended19 hastily and set out for the ship without speaking. From among the bergs the creeping gloom gathered and shut us in. Uncanny sea-leopards and mournful penguins regarded us as we hurried past.
We were clumsy on our snow-shoes, but we consumed no unnecessary time in reaching the vessel20, and not until we were warmed and cheered by a good dinner were we altogether restored. But then came weariness, and with the Billowcrest now moveless and silent, we realized that night more fully21 than ever before the perfect blessing22 of dreamless, Antarctic sleep.
And now passed some days in which I grew ever more uneasy, but maintained as far as possible a cheerful outward calm. The cold lingered, and the way seaward did not open. Huge cracks split the pack here and there, but they did not reach the Billowcrest. Then came that terror of all polar expeditions—the ice pressure—the meeting and closing in 119of enormous ice-fields moving irresistibly23 in opposite directions.
We were awakened24 rather rudely by a sudden harsh grinding below, and felt the vessel heave, first to one side, then to the other. Then there was an ominous25 rumble26, which became a deafening27 roar. I hurried on deck, to find that a strong pressure was taking place, and that we were directly in its midst. Our peril28 was great and imminent29. I was turning hastily toward the cabin, when Captain Biffer ran down the deck yelling:
“Take to the ice! Take to the ice! She’s going down!”
At the same instant Chauncey Gale hurried out of the cabin, followed by Edith Gale and the others. The sailors were skurrying about helplessly.
“To the ice!” roared the Captain. “To the ice! She’s going down!”
Most of us scrambled30 for the rail. If I did not do so it was perhaps because there were others in my way. But Chauncey Gale, his hand on his daughter’s arm, stood firm.
“Stop!” he shouted. “Going down, nothing! She’s going up!”
And this was true. Everybody saw it, now it was pointed31 out to them. Thanks to the shape and strength of her hull32, the sturdy Billowcrest was being squeezed and lifted bodily into the air, instead 120of being crushed like a peanut, as would have been the case with an ordinary vessel.
For ten minutes or more the heaving and grinding continued. Huge pressure ridges33 formed on every side, and the ice world about us was a living, groaning34 agony. Then it seemed that there came relief. The pack split and thundered apart in every direction. The Billowcrest settled back into place, and before us lay a long way of open water, stretching northward35 as far as the eye could reach. Our steam was ready, and in a very brief time we were on our way back to the sea.
“That was about the tightest squeeze I ever got caught in,” observed Gale, “and, say, I didn’t build her for a nip like that, but didn’t the old Billowcrest do noble?”
“Chauncey Gale,” I said, “you’re the best ship builder, and the bravest man God ever made!”
“How much do you want to borrow?” asked Gale, but he said it without bitterness.
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1
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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2
wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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3
hummocks
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| n.小丘，岗( hummock的名词复数 ) | |
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4
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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penguins
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| n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 ) | |
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7
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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8
waddled
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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11
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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16
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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23
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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24
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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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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27
deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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28
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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30
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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32
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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33
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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34
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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35
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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