Chapter XII.
SNOWED UNDER.
There was a roguish twinkle in the Captain's eye, as though oil wasnot so precious but that they might have burned a few more drops ofit; but an order was an order, and everybody was quite ready fordarkness when it came, except Tug.
Then, how pitchy it was, and how the wind sung and whizzed over theirrough-edged shield of ice, now and then catching the border of theill-stayed tent and giving it a furious flap, as though about to throwit over! But weariness and warmth--for often snowy nights are not socold as clear ones--closed ears as well as eyes, and when they awokeit was gray light in the tent, and half-past seven o'clock in themorning.
Katy was the first one to peep over the gunwale of the boat, thoughAleck was already awake.
"Is the place full of snow?" he asked.
"No, but the canvas sags a good deal."
"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'mafraid we won't get away from here to-day."
After breakfast the two larger lads crawled over the wall, sinking upto their waists in the snow as they stepped off. Struggling out, theyclimbed up a little way upon the crest of the hummock, where it hadbeen swept clear of snow by the wind, which had now subsided; butnothing could be seen through the veil of thick-flying flakes exceptthe dirty gray of their canvas roof and the thin wisps of smoke thatcurled upward from beneath it. All else was pure white, sinking onevery side into a circle of foggy storm. Around the outer side of theboat and the end of the house drifts had been heaped up even on to theedge of the canvas, so that their house had become a cave between theice and the snow-bank.
"It's snug enough," said Tug.
"Yes, but I should hate to starve to death or freeze there, all thesame," Aleck replied.
"But it ain't very cold--and--and--say! we've lots of food, haven'twe?"
"Enough for about ten days, if we put ourselves on precious shortrations; but most of it--the flour and bacon and so on--must becooked, and this takes fire, and fire needs fuel, which is just whatwe haven't got. If we should use every bit of wood there is exceptthe boat and sledge, there wouldn't be enough to cook our food for tendays. Besides, though it isn't cold now, it's likely to turn mightycold after this snow-storm, and then we must have a fire, or freeze."
"But we could get ashore back at the Point in a day's travel. Or, forthat matter, the south shore can't be far off, though we can't see itthrough this fearful storm."
"If we had clear ice it would be all right, but how can we travel inthis snow? It can't be less than two feet deep everywhere for milesand miles. You and I might go a little way, but Katy and The Youngstercouldn't budge twenty steps. It's really a serious scrape we havebrought ourselves into; and we ought to have thought about this beforewe started. Talk about Dr. Kane! He never was worse off in the arcticregions than we're likely to be right here in a day or two, unlesssomething happens."
Aleck certainly was very down-hearted, and his companion did not seemmuch disposed to "brace him up," as he would have expressed it. Hecould 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 standing here in the storm. But,mind you, no word of all this to the others yet."
All day long the snow sifted down in fine, dense flakes that piled uphigher and higher around their house, though there was enough wind tokeep it from collecting on the roof, which was very fortunate. Theysat in the boat, half nestling in the straw; told stories; made Tugtell 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 conundrums. Here Jimoutshone all the rest. He was sharper with his answers than any ofthem, and finally proposed the following:
"Ebenezer Mary Jane, spell it with two letters?"
They knit their brows over it, pronounced it impossible to solve, andgave it up.
"I-t, _it_," says Jim, and carried off the honors.
Tired of this, they listened while Katy read from the precious book ofNorwegian stories, and then chapter after chapter out of the littlered Testament.
"'Twouldn't be a bad scheme for some raven to bring _us_ food," saidTug, thoughtfully. "I reckon Elisha's wilderness wasn't a worse onethan this ice-plain."
"The Eskimos, Dr. Kane writes, eat the raven himself sometimes, intheir snow-deserts, which Elisha wouldn't have done on any account, Isuppose."
"No. That would have been like Aesop's fable of killing the goose thatlaid the golden eggs."
"Yes, so it would," Katy responded; "but the Eskimos have lots ofother birds to eat--auks and guillemots, and eider-ducks, andmollemokes."
"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!" Tugexclaimed, with outstretched arms. "No such a thing on our lake afterthe blackbirds leave the marshes."
"Except owls," interposed Jim; "and we can't eat them."
"I feel as though even an owl-stew wouldn't be bad about now," Aleckreplied.
Nevertheless, when lunch-time came, both the big boys vowed they werenot a bit hungry, and refused to eat. Katy took only a cracker, butJim ate three crackers and the last bit of the cold ham, picking thebone so clean that, big as it was, Rex, who was frightfully hungry,could get little comfort out of it, though he gnawed at it nearly allthe 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 theyhave to kill and eat their dogs sometimes"--Rex stopped crunching, andlooked up with a glance of alarm at this--"and if we should--"
"What a grand time Rex would have at his own bones!" interruptedTug--a joke the utter absurdity of which wrinkled the faces that hadbecome straight into hearty laughter. Towards evening a fire wasbuilt, which used the last of the sticks and one of the box-coversbefore the biscuits could be baked in the skillet, the ham fried, andtea made.
"I'm 'fraid it won't be long before I shall have to try the littlestove," said Katy.
"I had no idea we were so near the end," Aleck muttered, under hisbreath.
The meal that evening was a very dull one, and if they did not go tosleep at once after they had gone to bed, certainly there was littlefun-making among the weather-bound prisoners. Aleck said afterwards hethought he slept about an hour that night, and Katy was sure shedidn't really get soundly asleep at all; but it is difficult to lieawake _all_ night, though your rest may be so broken that you think inthe morning you have never once lost your knowledge of what was goingon.