For weeks the whaler Albatross had been trying to make headway against the vigorous norther which constantly headed them off.
But a few weeks more remained for them to get into northern seas before the winter would set in.
Captain Hardy1 had spent one winter among the ice and snow of the Antarctic and had no desire to spend another.
The ship was loaded down with whale oil, and pecuniarily2 the cruise bid fair to be a tremendous success.
But provisions were getting low, and to be nipped in the ice again meant a horrible fate, nothing short of starvation.
Realizing this, it was little wonder that Captain Hardy paced the deck of his ship anxiously and studied the northern sky.
“Well, Jack3 Wallis!” he cried, in his bluff4 way, “it still blows, and, by Neptune5, it looks likely to keep on. We can’t make seaway in such a wind. What are we going to do?”
Jack Wallis, the mate, was a tall, handsome fellow, with resolute6 blue eyes and Saxon complexion7.
He was a favorite with the crew and brave as a lion.
But his face now was a trifle pale. He realized the danger of their position quite as well as did Captain Hardy.
He was not thinking of his own safety, but of those aboard the ship and their prospective9 fate as well as the peril10 of a certain very charming young lady on board. No other than Lucille Hardy, the captain’s daughter.
The captain had yielded against his will to Lucille’s pleadings to be allowed to come on the voyage.
He knew better than she did the mighty11 risk involved.
But he had finally yielded, it was true that Lucille was the light of the ship. The crew to a man worshipped and revered12 her.
Two years under the Southern Cross was a long while to remain away from home.
But Lucille had been happy even in the monotonous13 routine of ship life.
Now, however, when the prospect8 of being compelled to spend another winter in frozen latitudes14 confronted him Captain Hardy wished devoutly15 that he had left her at home.
All this prospect, so dreadful, might have been averted16 had they started a month earlier for home.
But striking a school of whales, the temptation to fill every barrel aboard had caused the captain to linger.
In an ordinary season, however, he would yet have succeeded in getting beyond the circle.
But it seemed as if the fates themselves held the north wind in their hands. It had grown in fury for weeks.
And now the cold had begun to set in.
Pack ice even showed itself, and the rigging was frozen at times, so that a block or stay could hardly be moved.
No wonder the captain was anxious.
“We must bend every sail!” he declared, “Unless we get out of here this week it is winter quarters, and——”
He did not finish the sentence.
Something like a groan17 escaped his lips.
But every day the wind grew stiffer and the Albatross labored18 harder.
It was certain that she would never make the northern seas. A gloom settled down over ship and crew.
The sailors, brave fellows all, could not help a murmur19.
Many of them thought of their homes in the far North where dear ones were awaiting them. Alas20! it looked as if they would never see them again.
Day by day the vessel21 lost headway.
Then one day the black clouds shut in from the north and there came an ice storm, the like of which they had never seen before.
There was little use to attempt to face the wind now.
All they could do was to keep the vessel steady and look out for a collision with drift ice.
The nights were long sieges, with trying to keep the ship from being stove. The days were rigid22 battles against the careering blasts.
Then the sun disappeared below the horizon. The Antarctic night had begun.
There was no longer any hope of reaching northern waters that year.
Winter quarters was the order. In a remarkably23 brief space of time the tossing, turbulent sea had become a solid mass of pack ice.
And in the midst of this her timbers grinding and wrenching24 with the strain lay the Albatross.
But soon the ice pack became motionless as the fearful cold contributed to make it solid.
Thus fixed25 in her icy bed the Albatross was to remain a fixture26 for seven long dreary27 months.
It was by no means a pleasant outlook. Yet the crew proceeded to make the best of it.
The rations28 were carefully reckoned up.
It was found that only with the most frugal29 of indulgence would they last until spring.
But yet there was a chance that game might be procured30 to some extent. Even then, however, it was remembered that after the ice pack should break up it would be three months before they could hope to reach a port.
Therefore the outlook was serious indeed.
Added to this was the almost absolute certainty of sickness.
Scurvy31 already threatened various members of the crew. Yet they did no yield to despair.
It was a common conviction that the only hope of escape consisted in clinging together, and this they did.
There was no mutiny, no recriminations, no quarrels. It was a common cause, and life was its stake.
Soon the Antarctic winter with all its fearful rigors32 had set in.
But they were quite comfortable aboard the ship, grouping about the furnace by the light of the oil lamps.
Outside the cold was at times so severe as to have almost precluded33 a human being living in the open air a moment.
But there were many of these spells, and fortunately they were not of long duration.
At times the thermometer would go up with a rush and the air became quite mild.
At such times they dared to venture away from the ship.
Hunts were organized and as game came out from the mainland to roam the ice pack there was always a chance of shooting something.
Foxes and rabbits, or Arctic hares were common. Occasionally an elk34 was seen, or a species of reindeer35.
Seals were plenty, though rather difficult to hunt, and great flocks of ducks and geese at times flew over.
The party were getting along amazingly well when one day a fearful, thrilling catastrophe36 occurred.
Of course, none of the ship’s crew had ever penetrated37 further south, and knew nothing of the Antarctic continent.
That it might be inhabited was possible, but there was no record.
In the Arctic, Esquimaux lived contiguous to the Pole.
But in the Antarctic human life had never been found existent. Yet this was no evidence that it did not exist.
One day Captain Hardy and Jack proposed to go on a seal hunt four miles away toward the open sea.
They took two of the seamen38—Jerry Mains and Adolph Sturgeson—with them. This left Second Mate Albert Stearns and six seamen aboard the craft.
Of course, Lucille remained aboard.
It was a fatal day.
Arrived at the sealing grounds the first catastrophe occurred. It was one never to be forgotten.
A seal was lanced by Sturgeson, very near the edge of the pack. The creature was killed, as the sailor believed.
But as he ventured near it suddenly it turned and attacked him.
Before Sturgeson could get out of the way it had fastened one of its tusks39 through the calf40 of his leg.
He was held a prisoner, and the agony was so intense that he shrieked41 for aid. He was seen by all three of his companions.
“My God!” cried Jack Wallis, with the utmost horror. “Poor Sturgeson is done for!”
“Don’t say that!” cried Captain Hardy, with anguish42. “Save him!”
Jerry Mains was the nearest.
Seeing his companion in such deep trouble, he at once started for him. Out over the pack he ran.
The seal still hanging to his victim, was backing to the edge of the pack. A moment more and he would slide into the water.
Mains reached the spot the next moment. With a blow he killed the seal and then grasped Sturgeson’s hands.
But at that moment a fearful thing happened.
The section of ice upon which they were suddenly snapped and broke away from the main pack.
It drifted out into the black water. All might have been well even then had it not been for a phenomenon, almost always certain to occur.
There were huge, top-heavy peaks on the ice floe43, which caused it to become unbalanced.
Suddenly it rocked violently, and then with a mighty vortex of waters keeled over and turned bottom side up, the heavy part of the berg sinking.
An awful cry of horror escaped Captain Hardy and Jack Wallis.
“My God, they are lost forever!” cried the young mate.
This was certainly true.
The two unfortunate men never rose. The bed of the deep Antarctic was their final resting place.
There was no more seal hunting that day. The grief and horror of the two survivors44 can well be imagined.
There was nothing to do but to return to the Albatross and report the mishap45.
So back toward the ship they started. But as they came in sight of it, Captain Hardy remarked a peculiar46 circumstance.
“That is queer!” he exclaimed. “There is no smoke from the galley47 pipes. What does it mean?”
“They cannot have let the fire go out!” cried Jack.
The two men exchanged startled glances. Without a word they pressed forward.
And as they drew nearer the ice-bound ship no one came out to greet them. No one answered Jack’s hail.
All was as silent as death.
“What is the matter with them?” cried Captain Hardy. “Why on earth don’t they answer?”
Forward they pushed rapidly.
When twenty yards from the ship Jack Wallis paused with an awful cry of terror.
“Look!” he shrieked.
There about the ship’s gangway the snow had been fearfully trampled48 and it was a crimson49 color. Blood was the cause of this.
And upon the sides of the ship, upon the ladder and the rail all was blood. Over the rail Jack Wallis went.
And there upon the ship’s deck he saw the rigid figure of a man frightfully mutilated and frozen stiff in the bitter air.
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收听单词发音
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1
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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pecuniarily
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| adv.在金钱上，在金钱方面 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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Neptune
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| n.海王星 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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8
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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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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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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wrenching
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| n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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fixture
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| n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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31
scurvy
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| adj.下流的，卑鄙的，无礼的；n.坏血病 | |
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rigors
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| 严格( rigor的名词复数 )； 严酷； 严密； （由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体）僵直 | |
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precluded
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| v.阻止( preclude的过去式和过去分词 )；排除；妨碍；使…行不通 | |
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elk
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| n.麋鹿 | |
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reindeer
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| n.驯鹿 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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38
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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39
tusks
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| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
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40
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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floe
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| n.大片浮冰 | |
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44
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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45
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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48
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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49
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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