CHAPTER XI.THE DEVIL'S THUMB.
During the commander's absence the men had been variously busied inattempts to relieve the ship from the pressure of the ice. Pen,Clifton, Bolton, Gripper, and Simpson had this in charge; the firemanand the two engineers came to the aid of their comrades, for, as soonas the engines did not require their attention, they became sailors,and as such could be employed in all that was going on aboard theship.
But there was a great deal of discontent among them.
"I declare I've had enough," said Pen; "and if we are not free inthree days, I swear I sha'n't stir a finger to get the ship out."
"Not stir a finger!" answered Plover; "you'd better use them ingetting back. Do you think we want to stay here till next year?"
"It certainly would be a hard winter," said Pen, "for we are exposedon all sides."
"And who knows," said Brunton, "whether next spring the sea will beany freer than it is now?"
"Never mind about next spring," answered Pen; "to-day is Thursday; ifthe way is not clear Sunday morning, we shall turn back to the south."
"Good!" cried Clifton.
"Don't you agree with me?" asked Pen.
"We do," cried his companions.
"That's so," said Warren; "for if we have to work in this way and haulthe ship along with our own arms, I think it would be as well to haulher backwards."
"We shall do that on Sunday," said Wolston.
"Only give me the order," resumed Brunton, "and my fires shall belighted."
"Well," remarked Clifton, "we shall light them ourselves."
"If any officer," said Pen, "is anxious to spend the winter here, hecan; we can leave him here contentedly; he'll find it easy to build ahut like the Esquimaux."
"Not at all, Pen," retorted Brunton, quickly; "we sha'n't abandon anyone here; do you understand that, all of you? I think it won't be hardto persuade the commander; he seems to me to be very much discouraged,and if we propose it to him gently--"
"But," interrupted Plover, "Richard Shandon is often very obstinate;we shall have to sound him cautiously."
"When I think," said Bolton, with a sigh of longing, "that in a monthwe might be back in Liverpool! We can easily pass the line of ice atthe south! Davis Strait will be open by the beginning of June, andthen we shall have nothing but the free Atlantic before us."
"Besides," said the cautious Clifton, "if we take the commander backwith us, and act under his commands, we shall have earned our pay; butif we go back without him, it's not so sure."
"True," said Plover; "Clifton talks sense. Let's try not to get intoany trouble with the Admiralty, that's safer, and don't let us leaveany one behind."
"But if they refuse to come with us?" continued Pen, who wished tocompel his companions to stand by him.
They found it hard to answer the question thus squarely put them.
"We shall see about that when the time comes," replied Bolton; "itwill be enough to bring Richard Shandon over to our side, and I fancythat won't be hard."
"There's one I shall leave here," exclaimed Pen with fierce oaths,"even if he should bite my arm off."
"O, the dog!" said Plover.
"Yes, that dog! I shall soon settle accounts with him."
"So much the better," retorted Clifton, returning to his favoritetheory; "he is the cause of all our troubles."
"He has thrown an evil spell upon us," said Plover.
"He led us into the ice," remarked Gripper.
"He brought more ice in our way," said Wolston, "than was ever seen atthis season."
"He made my eyes sore," said Brunton.
"He shut off the gin and brandy," cried Pen.
"He's the cause of everything," they all exclaimed excitedly.
"And then," added Clifton, "he's the captain."
"Well, you unlucky Captain," cried Pen, whose unreasonable fury grewwith the sound of his own words, "you wanted to come here, and hereyou shall stay!"
"But how shall we get hold of him?" said Plover.
"Well, now is a good time," answered Clifton. "The commander is away;the second mate is asleep in his cabin; the fog is so thick thatJohnson can't see us--"
"But the dog?" said Pen.
"He's asleep in the coal," answered Clifton, "and if any one wants--"
"I'll see to it," replied Pen, angrily.
"Take care, Pen; his teeth would go through a bar of iron."
"If he stirs, I'll rip him open," answered Pen, drawing his knife.
And he ran down between decks, followed by Warren, who was anxious tohelp him.
Soon they both returned, carrying the dog in their arms; his mouth andpaws were securely tied; they had caught him asleep, and the poor dogcould not escape them.
"Hurrah for Pen!" cried Plover.
"And what are you going to do with him now?" asked Clifton.
"Drown him, and if he ever comes back--" answered Pen with a smile ofsatisfaction.
Two hundred feet from the vessel there was a hole in the ice, a sortof circular crevasse, made by the seals with their teeth, and alwaysdug out from the inside to the outside; it was there that the sealsused to come to breathe on the surface of the ice; but they werecompelled to take care to prevent the aperture from closing, for theshape of their jaws did not permit them to make the hole from theoutside, and in any danger they would not be able to escape from theirenemies.
Pen and Warren hastened to this crevasse, and then, in spite of hisobstinate struggles, the dog was pitilessly cast into the sea; a hugecake of ice they then rolled over the aperture, closing all means ofescape for the poor dog, thus locked in a watery prison.
"A pleasant journey, Captain!" cried the brutal sailor.
Soon they returned on board; Johnson had seen nothing of it all; thefog was growing thick about the ship, and the snow was beginning tofall with violence.
An hour later, Richard Shandon, the doctor, and Garry regained the_Forward_.
Shandon had observed in the northeast a passage, which he determinedto try. He gave his orders to that effect; the crew obeyed with acertain activity; they wanted to convince Shandon of the impossibilityof a farther advance, and besides, they had before them three days ofobedience.
During a part of the following night and day the sawing and towingwent on busily; the _Forward_ made about two miles of progress. On the18th they were in sight of land, five or six cable-lengths from astrange peak, to which its singular shape had given the name of theDevil's Thumb.
At this very place the _Prince Albert_, in 1851, the _Advance_, withKane, in 1853, had been caught in the ice for many weeks.
The odd shape of the Devil's Thumb, the barren and desolatesurroundings, which consisted of huge icebergs often more than threehundred feet high, the cracking of the ice, repeated indefinitely bythe echo, made the position of the _Forward_ a very gloomy one.Shandon saw that it was necessary to get away from there; withintwenty-four hours, he calculated he would be able to get two milesfrom the spot. But that was not enough. Shandon felt himselfembarrassed by fear, and the false position in which he was placedbenumbed his energy; to obey his instructions in order to advance, hehad brought his ship into a dangerous position; the towing wore outhis men; more than three hours were necessary to cut a canal twentyfeet in length through ice which was generally four or five feetthick; the health of the crew gave signs of failing. Shandon wasastonished at the silence of the men, and their unaccustomedobedience; but he feared it was only the calm that foreboded a storm.
We can, then, easily judge of the painful surprise, disappointment,and even despair which seized upon him, when he noticed that by meansof an imperceptible movement in the ice, the _Forward_ lost in thenight of the 18th all that had been gained by such toilsome efforts;on Saturday morning he was opposite the Devil's Thumb, in a still morecritical position; the icebergs increased in number and passed by inthe mist like phantoms.
Shandon was thoroughly demoralized; it must be said that fear seizedboth this bold man and all his crew. Shan
don had heard of thedisappearance of the dog; but he did not dare to punish the guiltypersons; he feared exciting a mutiny.
The weather during that day was horrible; the snow, caught up in densewhirls, covered the brig with an impenetrable veil; at times, underthe influence of the hurricane, the fog would rise, and theirterror-stricken eyes beheld the Devil's Thumb rising on the shore likea spectre.
The _Forward_ was anchored to a large piece of ice; there was nothingto be done, nothing to be tried; darkness was spreading about them,and the man at the helm could not see James Wall, who was on watchforward.
Shandon withdrew to his cabin, a prey to perpetual disquiet; thedoctor was arranging his notes of the expedition; some of the crewwere on the deck, others in the common room.
At a moment when the violence of the storm was redoubling, the Devil'sThumb seemed to rise immoderately from the mist.
"Great God!" exclaimed Simpson, recoiling with terror.
"What's the matter?" asked Foker.
Soon shouts were heard on all sides.
"It's going to crush us!"
"We are lost!"
"Mr. Wall, Mr. Wall!"
"It's all over!"
"Commander, Commander!"
All these cries were uttered by the men on watch.
Wall hastened to the after-deck; Shandon, followed by the doctor, flewto the deck and looked out.
Through a rift in the mist, the Devil's Thumb appeared to havesuddenly come near the brig; it seemed to have grown enormously insize; on its summit was balanced a second cone, upside down, andrevolving on its point; it threatened to crush the ship with itsenormous mass; it wavered, ready to fall down. It was an alarmingsight. Every one drew back instinctively, and many of the men, jumpingupon the ice, abandoned the ship.
"Let no one move!" cried the commander with a loud voice; "every oneto his place!"
"My friends, don't be frightened," said the doctor, "there is nodanger! See, Commander, see, Mr. Wall, that's the mirage and nothingelse."
"You are right, Dr. Clawbonny," replied Johnson; "they've all beenfrightened by a shadow."
When they had heard what the doctor said, most of the sailors drewnear him, and from terror they turned to admiration of this wonderfulphenomenon, which soon passed from their view.
"They call that a mirage," said Clifton; "the Devil's at the bottom ofit, I'm sure."
"That's true," growled Gripper.
But the break in the fog had given the commander a glimpse of a broadpassage which he had not expected to find; it promised to lead himaway from the shore; he resolved to make use of it at once; men weresent out on each side of the canal; hawsers were given them, and theybegan to tow the ship northward.
During long hours this work was prosecuted busily but silently;Shandon had the furnace-fires lighted to help him through this passageso providentially discovered.
"That's great luck," he said to Johnson, "and if we can only get on afew miles, we may be free. Make a hot fire, Mr. Brunton, and let meknow as soon as you get steam on. Meanwhile, men, the farther on weget, the more gained! You want to get away from the Devil's Thumb;well, now is your chance!"
Suddenly the brig stopped. "What's the matter?" shouted Shandon."Wall, have the tow-ropes broken?"
"No," answered Wall, leaning over the railing. "See, there are the menrunning back; they are climbing on board; they seem very muchfrightened."
"What's happened?" cried Shandon, running forward.
"On board, on board!" cried the sailors, evidently exceedinglyterrified.
Shandon looked towards the north, and shuddered in spite of himself.
A strange animal, with alarming motions, whose steaming tongue hungfrom huge jaws, was bounding along within a cable's length from theship; it seemed more than twenty feet high; its hair stood on end; itwas chasing the sailors as if about to seize them, while its tail,which was at least ten feet long, lashed the snow and tossed it aboutin dense gusts. The sight of the monster froze the blood in the veinsof the boldest.
"A strange animal was bounding along within a cable'slength from the ship."]
"It's an enormous bear," said one.
"It's the beast of Gevaudan!"
"It's the lion of the Apocalypse!"
Shandon ran to his cabin to get a gun which he kept always loaded; thedoctor seized his arms, and made ready to fire at the beast, which byits size, recalled antediluvian monsters.
It drew near with long leaps; Shandon and the doctor fired at the sametime, and suddenly the report of the pieces agitated the air andproduced an unlooked-for effect.
The doctor gazed attentively, and could not help bursting outlaughing. "It's refraction!" said he.
"Refraction!" cried Shandon.
But a terrible cry from the crew interrupted them.
"The dog!" shouted Clifton.
"The dog-captain!" repeated his companions.
"It's he!" cried Pen.
In fact, it was the dog who had burst his bonds and had made his wayto the surface of the ice through another hole. At that moment therefraction, by a phenomenon common in these latitudes, exaggerated hissize, and this had only been broken by the report of the guns; but,notwithstanding, a disastrous impression had been produced upon theminds of the sailors, who were not very much inclined to admit anyexplanation of the fact from physical causes. The adventure of theDevil's Thumb, the reappearance of the dog under such peculiarcircumstances, completely upset them, and murmurs arose on all sides.