about fivebells in the middle watch I saw--and every man Jack of us saw--"
"Saw what?" said McBain. "Sit down, man; you are looking positivelyscared."
"We saw--_the great Sea-Serpent_!"
[What is herein related really occurred as described. I myself was awitness to the event, being then in medical charge of the barque_Xanthus_, recently burned at sea.]
McBain did not attempt to laugh him out of his story, but he made himdescribe over and over again what he had seen; then he called the watch,and examined them verbally man by man, and found they all told theself-same tale, talking soberly, earnestly, and truthfully, as men dowho feel they are stating facts.
The terrible monster they averred came from the northwards, and wasdistinctly visible for nearly a minute, passing between the ship and theice-line which Stevenson had mentioned. They described his length,which could not have been less than seventy or eighty yards, theundulations of his body as he swept along on the surface of the water,the elevated head, the mane and--some added--the awful glaring eyes.
It did not come on to blow as the mate predicted, so the ship made nomove from her position, but all day long there was but little elsetalked about, either fore or aft, save the visit of the greatsea-serpent, and as night drew on the stories told around the galleyfire would have been listened to with interest by any one at all fond ofthe mysterious and awful.
"I mean," said Rory, as he retired, "to turn out as soon as it is light,and watch; the brute is sure to return. I've told Peter to call me."
"So shall I," said Allan and the doctor.
"So shall I," said Ralph.
"Well, boys," said McBain, "I'll keep you company."
When they went on deck, about four bells in the middle watch, they werenot surprised to find all hands on deck, eagerly gazing towards the spotwhere they had seen "the maned monster of the deep,"--as poet Rorytermed him--disappear.
It was a cold, dull cheerless morning; the sun was up but his beams weresadly shorn--they failed to pierce the thick canopy of clouds and mistthat overspread the sky, and brought the horizon within a quarter of amile of them. They could, however, easily see the ice-line--long andlow and white.
A whole hour passed, and McBain at all events was thinking of goingbelow, when suddenly came a shout from the men around the forecastle.
"Look! look! Oh! look! Yonder he rips! There he goes!"
Gazing in the direction indicated, the hearts of more than one of ourheroes seemed to stand still with a strange, mysterious fear, for there,rushing over the surface of the dark water, the undulated bodywell-defined against the white ice-edge, was--what else could it be?--the great sea-serpent!
"I can see his mane and head and eyes," cried Rory. "Oh! it is toodreadful."
Then a shout from the masthead,--
"He is coming this way."
It was true. The maned monster had altered his course, and was bearingstraight down upon the _Arrandoon_.
No one moved from his position, but there were pale, frightened facesand starting eyes; and though the men uttered no cry, a strange,frightened moan arose, a fearful quavering "Oh-h-h?"--a sound that onceheard is never to be forgotten. Next moment, the great sea-serpent,with a wild and unearthly scream, bore down upon the devoted ship, thensuddenly resolved itself _into a long flight of sea-birds_ (Arcticdivers)!
So there you have a true story of the great sea-serpent, but I amutterly at a loss to describe to you the jollity and fun and laughingthat ensued, as soon as the ridiculous mistake was discovered.
And nothing would suit Ted Wilson but getting up on the top of thebowsprit and shouting,--
"Men of the _Arrandoon_, bold sailors all, three cheers for the greatsea-serpent. Hip! hip! hip! Hurrah!!!"
Down below dived Ralph, followed by all the others. "Peter! Peter!Peter!" he cried.
"Ay, ay, sir," from Peter.
"Peter, I'm precious hungry."
"And so am I," said everybody.
Peter wasn't long in laying the cloth and bringing out the cold meat andthe pickles, and it wasn't long either before Freezing Powders broughthot coffee. Oh! didn't they do justice to the good things, too!
"I dare say," said the doctor, "this is our breakfast."
"Ridiculous!" cried Ralph, "ridiculous! It's only a late supper,doctor. We'll have breakfast just the same."
"A vera judeecious arrangement," said Sandy.
CHAPTER THIRTY.
LAND HO! THE ISLE OF DESOLATION--THE LAST BLINK OF SUNSHINE--THE AURORABOREALIS--STRANGE ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR.
"Well, Magnus," said Captain McBain one day to his old friend, "whatthink you of our prospects of gaining the North Pole, or your mysteriousisland of Alba?"
Magnus was seated at the table in the captain's own room, with an oldyellow, much-worn chart spread out before him, the only other person inthe cabin, save these two, being Rory, who, with his chin resting on hishands and his elbows on the table, was listening with great interest tothe conversation.
"Think of it?" replied the weird wee man, looking up and glaring atMcBain through his fierce grey eyebrows. "Think of it, sir? Why we arenearly as far north now as _we_ were in 1843. We'll reach the Isle ofAlba, sir, if--"
"If what, good Magnus?" asked McBain, as the old man paused. "If what?"
"If that be all you want," answered Magnus.
"Nay, nay, my faithful friend," cried the captain, "that isn't all. Wewant to reach the Pole, to plant the British flag thereon, and returnsafely to our native shores again."
"So you will, so you will," said Magnus, "if--"
"What, another `if,' Magnus?" said McBain. "What does this new `if'refer to?"
"If," continued Magnus, "Providence gives us just such another autumn asthat we have had this year. If not--"
"Well, Magnus, well?"
"We will leave our bones to lie among the eternal snows until the lasttrump shall sound."
After a pause, during which McBain seemed in deep and earnest thought.
"Magnus," he said, "my brave boys and I have determined to push on asfar as ever we can. We have counted all the chances, we mean to do ourutmost, and we leave the rest to Providence."
Allan had entered while he was speaking, and he said, as the captainfinished,--
"Whatever a man dares he can do."
"Brave words, my foster-son," replied McBain, grasping Allan's hand,"and the spirit of these words gained for the English nation the victoryin a thousand fights."
"Besides, you know," added Rory, looking unusually serious, "it is sureto come right in the end."
The _Arrandoon_, wonderful to relate, had now gained the extremealtitude of 86 degrees north latitude, and although winter was rapidlyapproaching, the sea was still a comparatively open one. Nor was thecold very intense; the frosts that had fled away during the short Arcticsummer had not yet returned. The sea between the bergs and floes waseverywhere calm; they had passed beyond the region of fogs, and, itwould almost seem, beyond the storm regions as well, for the air waswindless.
So on they steamed steadily though slowly, never relaxing theirvigilance; so careful, indeed, in this respect was McBain, that the manin the chains as well as the "nest hand" were changed every hour, andonly old and tried sailors were permitted to go on duty on these posts.
"Land ahead!" was the shout one day from the nest. The day, be itremembered, was now barely an hour long.
"Land ahead on the port bow!"
"What does it look like, Mr Stevenson?" cried the captain.
The mate had run up at the first hail.
"I can just see the tops of a few hills, sir," was the reply, "toweringhigh over the icebergs."
The _Arrandoon_ bore away for this strange land. In three hours' timethey were lying off one of the dreariest and most desolate-lookingislands it has ever been the lot of mariners to behold. It looked likean island of some worn-out planet, whose internal fires have gone forever out, from which life has long since fled, which possesses no futu
resave the everlasting night of silence and death.
Some slight repairs were required in the engine-room, so the _Arrandoon_lay here for a week.
"To think," said McBain, as he stood on the bridge one day with ourheroes, "that in the far-distant past that lonely isle of gloom was onceclad in all the bright colour of tropical vegetation, with wild beastsroaming in its jungles and forests, and wild birds filling its groveswith music,--an island of sunshine, flowers, and beauty! And now beholdit."
An expedition was got up to explore the isle, and to climb its highestpeak to make observations.
McBain himself accompanied it, so did Allan, Rory,