Then, how pitchy it was, and how the wind sung and whizzed over their rough-edged shield of ice, now and then catching2 the border of the ill-stayed tent and giving it a furious flap, as though about to throw it over! But weariness and warmth—for often snowy nights are not so cold as clear ones—closed ears as well as eyes, and when they awoke it was gray light in the tent, and half-past seven o'clock in the morning.
Katy was the first one to peep over the gunwale of the boat, though Aleck was already awake.
"Is the place full of snow?" he asked.
"Well, you keep under your blankets till Tug and I—get out of this, mate!—have cleared up the floor a little, and built a fire. I'm afraid we won't get away from here to-day."
After breakfast the two larger lads crawled over the wall, sinking up to their waists in the snow as they stepped off. Struggling out, they climbed up a little way upon the crest4 of the hummock5, where it had been swept clear of snow by the wind, which had now subsided6; but nothing could be seen through the veil of thick-flying flakes7 except the dirty gray of their canvas roof and the thin wisps of smoke that curled upward from beneath it. All else was pure white, sinking on every side into a circle of foggy storm. Around the outer side of the boat and the end of the house drifts had been heaped up even on to the edge of the canvas, so that their house had become a cave between the ice and the snow-bank.
"Yes, but I should hate to starve to death or freeze there, all the same," Aleck replied.
"But it ain't very cold—and—and—say! we've lots of food, haven't we?"
"Enough for about ten days, if we put ourselves on precious short rations9; but most of it—the flour and bacon and so on—must be cooked, and this takes fire, and fire needs fuel, which is just what we haven't got. If we should use every bit of wood there is except the boat and sledge10, there wouldn't be enough to cook our food for ten days. Besides, though it isn't cold now, it's likely to turn mighty11 cold after this snow-storm, and then we must have a fire, or freeze."
"But we could get ashore12 back at the Point in a day's travel. Or, for that matter, the south shore can't be far off, though we can't see it through this fearful storm."
"If we had clear ice it would be all right, but how can we travel in this snow? It can't be less than two feet deep everywhere for miles and miles. You and I might go a little way, but Katy and The Youngster couldn't budge13 twenty steps. It's really a serious scrape we have brought ourselves into; and we ought to have thought about this before we started. Talk about Dr. Kane! He never was worse off in the arctic regions than we're likely to be right here in a day or two, unless something happens."
Aleck certainly was very down-hearted, and his companion did not seem much disposed to "brace14 him up," as he would have expressed it. He could only reply, in an equally discouraged voice,
"I don't see what can happen out here—for good."
"Nor I. Let's go in; it's no use standing15 here in the storm. But, mind you, no word of all this to the others yet."
All day long the snow sifted16 down in fine, dense17 flakes that piled up higher and higher around their house, though there was enough wind to keep it from collecting on the roof, which was very fortunate. They sat in the boat, half nestling in the straw; told stories; made Tug tell them everything he could think of about animals and shooting; invented puzzles, Aleck setting some hard sums; mended clothes—this, of course, was Katy's amusement; and guessed at conundrums18. Here Jim outshone all the rest. He was sharper with his answers than any of them, and finally proposed the following:
"Ebenezer Mary Jane, spell it with two letters?"
They knit their brows over it, pronounced it impossible to solve, and gave it up.
"I-t, it," says Jim, and carried off the honors.
Tired of this, they listened while Katy read from the precious book of Norwegian stories, and then chapter after chapter out of the little red Testament19.
"'Twouldn't be a bad scheme for some raven20 to bring us food," said Tug, thoughtfully. "I reckon Elisha's wilderness21 wasn't a worse one than this ice-plain."
"The Eskimos, Dr. Kane writes, eat the raven himself sometimes, in their snow-deserts, which Elisha wouldn't have done on any account, I suppose."
"Yes, so it would," Katy responded; "but the Eskimos have lots of other birds to eat—auks and guillemots, and eider-ducks, and mollemokes."
"But they're on the sea, where those birds live in enormous flocks, like our wild pigeons up in the pine woods—millions of 'em!" Tug exclaimed, with outstretched arms. "No such a thing on our lake after the blackbirds leave the marshes24."
"Except owls," interposed Jim; "and we can't eat them."
"I feel as though even an owl-stew wouldn't be bad about now," Aleck replied.
Nevertheless, when lunch-time came, both the big boys vowed25 they were not a bit hungry, and refused to eat. Katy took only a cracker26, but Jim ate three crackers27 and the last bit of the cold ham, picking the bone so clean that, big as it was, Rex, who was frightfully hungry, could get little comfort out of it, though he gnawed28 at it nearly all the afternoon. Then Tug smashed it for him, and gave him another try, which he appreciated highly.
"Poor Rex!" said Katy, with a sigh. "Travellers get so badly off they have to kill and eat their dogs sometimes"—Rex stopped crunching29, and looked up with a glance of alarm at this—"and if we should—"
"What a grand time Rex would have at his own bones!" interrupted Tug—a joke the utter absurdity30 of which wrinkled the faces that had become straight into hearty31 laughter. Towards evening a fire was built, which used the last of the sticks and one of the box-covers before the biscuits could be baked in the skillet, the ham fried, and tea made.
"I'm 'fraid it won't be long before I shall have to try the little stove," said Katy.
"I had no idea we were so near the end," Aleck muttered, under his breath.
The meal that evening was a very dull one, and if they did not go to sleep at once after they had gone to bed, certainly there was little fun-making among the weather-bound prisoners. Aleck said afterwards he thought he slept about an hour that night, and Katy was sure she didn't really get soundly asleep at all; but it is difficult to lie awake all night, though your rest may be so broken that you think in the morning you have never once lost your knowledge of what was going on.
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1
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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2
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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3
sags
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| 向下凹或中间下陷( sag的第三人称单数 )； 松弛或不整齐地悬着 | |
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4
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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5
hummock
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| n.小丘 | |
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6
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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7
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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8
snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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9
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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sledge
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| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
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11
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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12
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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13
budge
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| v.移动一点儿；改变立场 | |
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14
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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15
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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16
sifted
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| v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审 | |
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17
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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conundrums
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| n.谜，猜不透的难题，难答的问题( conundrum的名词复数 ) | |
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19
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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20
raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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21
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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22
fable
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| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
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23
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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24
marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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25
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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26
cracker
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| n.（无甜味的）薄脆饼干 | |
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27
crackers
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| adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘 | |
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28
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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29
crunching
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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30
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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31
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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