Wild Adventures round the Pole

by Burt L. Standish

to fifty feetsquare--thus affording them a good run for their leaps--and as thepieces were pretty closely packed, jumping was no great hardship. Whennow and then they came to a bit of water that required a tolerablespring to get over, tall Ralph vaulted first, then brawny-chested Allanpitched Freezing Powders after him, whom Ralph caught as easily as if hehad been a cricket-ball.

  They landed on the island in a kind of bay, where the land sloped downto the snow-clad beach. Not far from the sea they were much surprisedto find the ruins of huts that had been. No smoke issued therefrom now,but there was ample proof that roaring fires had once burned in eachhut. They were partly underground, and though built of wood andsealskins they were thatched and fortified with snow. The largest cotof all was in the centre, and entering this they found a key to theseeming mystery, for here were evidences of civilisation. Pots and pansstood on the empty hearth; a chair or two, a truckle bed, a deal tableand a book-cupboard, formed the furniture, and to cap all a writtendocument was found, which informed them that this village had been theencampment for the summer months of a party of American walrus-hunters,the captain of which had aided science by making innumerableobservations of a meteorological and scientific nature.

  "I reckon," said Seth, "there ain't many parts o' the world where myenterprising countrymen hain't shown their noses."

  "All honour to them for that same," said Rory; "and troth, there isn't amightier nation on the face of the earth bar the kingdom of Ireland."

  "Now, look here," said Allan, "this wee chap, Freezing Powders, will befar too tired if he goes with us; and here, by good luck, is a frozenham in this enterprising Yankee's cupboard. I move we light a fire,hang it over it, and leave the little black butler as cook till we comeback."

  "Bravo!" said Ralph. "Allan, you're a brick. You won't be afraid, willyou, Freezing Powders?"

  "I stop and do de cookin', plenty quick," answered the boy, briskly."Freezin' Powders never was afraid of nuffin in his life."

  So the fire was lighted--there was fuel enough in the hut to keep itgoing for a month; then, leaving the boy to watch the ham, away went ourexplorers, upwards and onwards, through the ruggedest glens imaginable;winding round rocks and hills of ice and snow, they soon lost sight ofthe primitive village, the distant ship, and the sea of ice itself.They wandered on and on for miles, pausing often to allow Rory to make asketch of some more than usually wild and fantastic group of ice-cladrocks or charming bit of scenery; but wherever they went, or whicheverway they turned, there loomed the great mountain cone of Jan Mayen abovethem.

  The scene was everywhere silent and desolate in the extreme, for not abreath of wind was blowing, not a cloud was in the sky, and no sign oflife was there to greet them, not even a solitary gull or snowbird.

  It wanted two good hours to sunset when they once more returned to thedeserted village, eager to test the flavour of the Yankee's ham, forwalking on the snow had given them the appetite of healthy hunters.

  Their astonishment as well as horror may be imagined when, on enteringthe hut, they found a scene of utter confusion. The fire still burned,it is true, and yonder hung the ham; but the table and chairs wereoverturned, and the contents of even the rude bookcase scattered aboutthe floor.

  _And Freezing Powders was gone_!

  He had been carried off by a bear. Of this there was plenty oftestimony, if only in the huge footprints of the monster, which he hadleft in the snow. Not very distinct were they, however, for the surfaceof the snow was crisp and hard. But Seth was equal to the occasion, andat once--walking in a bee line, the trapper leading--they set out totrack the bear, if possible, to his lair. The footprints led themsouthwards and west, through a region far more wild than that which theyhad already traversed.

  For a whole hour they walked in silence, until they found themselves atthe top of a ravine, the rocks of which joined to form a sort oftriangle. Half-roofed over was this triangle with a balcony of frozensnow, from which descended immense icicles, on which the roof leant,forming a kind of verandah.

  Seth paused, and pointed upwards. "The b'ar is yonder!" he whispered."Stay here; the old trapper's feet are moccasined, he won't be heard.Gentlemen, Seth means to have that b'ar, or he won't come back alive!"

  So leaving his companions, onwards, all alone, steals Seth. A bearitself could not have crept more silently, more cautiously along thanthe trapper does.

  Those left behind waited in a fever of almost breathless suspense. Thedoctor stretched out his arm and took gentle hold of Rory's wrist. Hispulse was over a hundred; so was the doctor's own, and he could easilyhear his heart beat.

  How slowly old Seth seems to move. He is on hands and knees now, andmany a listening pause he makes. Now he has reached the edge of the icyverandah, and peers carefully over. The bear is there, undoubtedly,for, see, he gives one anxious glance at his rifle--it is adouble-barrelled bone-crusher.

  Crang-r-r-r! goes the rifle, and every rock in the island seems tore-echo the sound. The reverberation has not ceased, however, whenthere mingles with it a roar--a blood-curdling roar--that seems to shakethe very ground. "Wah-o-ah! waugh! waugh! wah-o?" and a greatpale-yellow bear springs from the cave, then falls, quivering andbleeding, on his side in the snow.

  Our heroes rush up now.

  "Any more of them?" cries Rory.

  "Wall, I guess not," said the old trapper. "Yonder lies the master;I've given him a sickener; and the missus ain't at home. But there issuthin' black in thar, though!"

  "Why," cried Allan, "I declare it is Freezing Powders himself!" and outinto the bright light stalked the poor nigger boy, staring wildly roundabout, and seemingly in a dream.

  "Ah, gem'lams!" he said, slowly, "so you have come at last! What adrefful, _drefful_ fright dis poor chile have got! 'Spect I'll nebberget ober it; nebber no more!"

  "Come along," said Ralph. "Get on top of my shoulder. That's thestyle! You can tell us all about it when we reach the village."

  "Now," cried Allan, "look alive, lads, and whip old Bruin out of hisskin, and bring along his jacket and paws!"

  When they did get back to the hut, and poor Freezing Powders had warmedhimself and discussed a huge slice of broiled ham and a captain'sbiscuit, the boy got quite cheery again, and proceeded to relate histerrible adventure.

  "You see, gem'lams," he said, "soon as ebber you leave me I begin for towatch de ham, and turn he round and round plenty much, and make de fireblaze like bobbery. Mebbe one whole hour pass away. De flames deycrack, and de ham he frizzle. Den all to once I hear somebodysnuff-snuffing like, and I look round plenty quick, and dere was--oh!dat great big awful bear--bigger dan a gator [alligator]. Didn't Iscream and run jus'! And de bear he knock down de chairs and de tables,and den he catchee me in his mouf, all de same I one small mouse and heone big cat. You see, gem'lam, he smell de ham. `Dat bery nice,' hetink, `but de nigga boy better.' So he take dis chile. He nebber havetake one nigga boy before dis, praps. Den he run off wid me ober demountains. He no put one tooth in me all de time. When he come to decave he put me down and snuff me. Den he say to himself, `I want somefun; I make play wid dis nigga boy befoh I gobbles 'im up.' So he makeme run wid his big foot, and when I run away den he catchee me again,and he keep me run away plenty time, till I so tired I ready to drop.[Greenland bears have been known to play this cat-and-mouse game withseals before devouring them.] All de same, I not want to be gobble uptoo soon, gem'lams, so I make all de fun I can. I stand on my head, andI run on my four feet. I jump and I kick, and I dance, and I sing to detune ob--

  "`Plenty quick, nigga boy, Plenty fast you run, De bear will nebber gobble you up So long's you make de fun.'

  "Den de big, ugly yellow bear he berry much tickled, and he tink tohisself, `Well,' he tink, `'pon my word and honah! I nebber see nuffinlike dis before--not in all my born days! I not eat dis nigga boy uptill my mudder come home.' And all de time I make dance and sing--

  "`Quicker, quicker, nigga boy, Faster, faster go, Amoosi
n' ob de ole bear, Among de Ahtic snow.

  "`Jing-a-ring, a-ring-a-ring, Sich somersaults I frow, In all his life dis nigger chile Ne'er danced like dis befoh.'

  "But now, gem'lams, I notice dat de bear he begin to make winkee-winkeewid both his two eyes. Den I dance all de same, but I begin to singmore slow and plaintive, gem'lams--

  "`Oh! I'm dreaming 'bout my mudder dear Dat I leave on Afric's shoh, And de little hut among de woods Dat I ne'er shall see no moh.

  "`Sierra-lee-le-ohney, Sierra-lee-leon, Ah! who will feed de cockatoo When I is dead and gone?'

  "Dat song fix de yellow bear, gem'lams. He no winkee no more now; hesleep sound and fast, wid his big head on his big paws. Den I sing oneoder verse, and I sleep, too, and I not hear nuffin more until de riflesmake de bobbery and de yellow bear begin to cough."

  "Bravo!" cried Ralph, when Freezing Powders had finished his story."Now, Allan, lad, cut us all another slice of that glorious ham, and letus be moving."

  "Yes," said Allan. "Here goes, then, for night is falling already, andthe captain will be longing to hear of our adventures."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

  MORE ABOUT FREEZING POWDERS--"PERSEVERANDO"--DINING IN THE SKY--THEDESCENT OF THE CRATER.

  A black man in a barrel of treacle is said by some to be emblematical ofhappiness. So situated, a black man without doubt enjoys a deal ofbliss, but I question very much if it equals the joy poor FreezingPowders felt when he found himself once more safe on board the_Arrandoon_, and cuddled down in a corner with his old cockatoo. [Itmay be as well to state here that neither the negro boy nor the cockatoois a character drawn at random; both had their counterparts in reallife.] What a long story he had to tell the bird, to be sure!--what a"terrible tale," I might call it!

  As usual, when greatly engrossed in listening, the bird was busilyengaged helping himself to enormous mouthfuls of hemp-seed, spillingmore than he swallowed, cocking his head, and gazing at his little blackmaster, with many an interjectional and wondering "Oh!" and many along-drawn "De-ah me!" just as if he understood every word the boy said,and fully appreciated the dangers he had come through.

  "Well, duckie?" said the bird, fondly, when Freezing Powders hadconcluded.

  "Oh! der ain't no moh to tell, cockie," said the boy; "but I 'ssure you,when I see dat big yellow bear wid his big red mouf, I tink I not habmuch longer to lib in dis world, cockie--I 'ssure you I tink so."

  Freezing Powders was the hero for one evening at all events. McBainmade him recite his story and sing his daft, wild songs more than once,and the very innocence of the poor boy heightened the general effect.He was a favourite all over the ship from that day forth. Everybody ina manner petted him, and yet it was impossible to spoil him, for he tookthe petting as a matter of course, but always kept his place. Hisduties were multifarious, though light--he cleaned the silver and shinedthe boots, and helped to lay the cloth and wait at table. He went bydifferent names in different parts of the ship. Ralph called him hiscup-bearer, because he brought that young gentleman's matutinal coffee,without which our English hero would not have left his cabin for theworld. Freezing Powders was message-boy betwixt steward and cook, andbore the viands triumphantly along the deck, so the steward called him"Mustard and Cress," and the cook "Young Shallots," while Ted Wilsondubbed him "Boss of the Soup Tureen;" but the boy was entirelyindifferent as to what he was called.

  "Make your games, gem'lams," he would say; "don't be afraid to 'ffenddis chile. He nebber get angry I 'ssure you."

  When Freezing Powders had nothing in his hand his method of progressionforward was at times somewhat peculiar. He went cart-wheel fashion,rolling over and over so quickly that you could hardly see him, heseemed a mist of legs, or something like the figure you see on a Manxpenny.

  At other times "the doctor," as the cook was invariably called by thecrew, would pop up his head out of the fore-hatch and bawl out,--

  "Pass young Shallots forward here."

  "Ay, ay, doctor," the men would answer. "Shalots! Shalots! Shalots!"

  Then Freezing Powder's curly head would beam up out of the salooncompanion.

  "Stand by, men!" the sailor who captured him would cry; and the menwould form themselves into a line along the deck about three yardsapart, and Freezing Powders would be pitched from one to the other as ifhe had been a ball of spun-yarn, until he finally fell into the friendlyarms of the cook.

  About a week after the bear adventure De Vere, the aeronaut, wasbreakfasting in the saloon, as he always did when there was anything"grand in the wind," as Rory styled the situation.

  "Dat is von thing I admire very mooch," said the Frenchman, pointing toa beautifully-framed design that hung in a conspicuous part of thesaloon bulkhead.

  "Ah," said Allan, laughing, "that was an idea of dear foolish boy Rory.He brought it as a gift to me last Christmas. The coral comes from theIndian Ocean; Rory gathered it himself; the whole design is his."

  "It's a vera judeecious arrangement," said Sandy McFlail, admiringly.

  The arrangement, as the doctor called it, was simple enough. Threepieces of coral, in the shape of a rose, a thistle, and shamrock,encased--nay, I may say enshrined--in a beautiful casket of crystal andgilded ebony. There was the milk-white rose of England and theblood-red thistle of Scotland side by side, and fondly twining aroundthem the shamrock of old Ireland--all in black.

  Here was the motto underneath them--

  "Perseverando."

  "There is nothing like perseverance," said Allan. "The little coralinsect thereby builds islands, ay, and founds continents, destined to bestages on which will be worked out or fought out the histories ofnations yet unborn. `Perseverando!' it is a grand and bold motto, and Ilove it."

  The Frenchman had been standing before the casket; he now turned quicklyround to Allan and held out his hand.

  "You are a bold man," he said; "you will come with me to-day in deballoon?"

  "I will," said Allan.

  "We vill soar far above yonder mountain," continued De Vere; "we villdescend into the crater. We vill do vat mortal man has neever donebefore. Perseverando! Do you fear?"

  "Fear?" said Allan; "no! I fear nothing under the sun. Whate'er a mandares he can do."

  "Bravely spoken," cried the Frenchman. "Perseverando! I have room fortwo more."

  "Perseverando!" says Rory. "Perseverando for ever! Hoorah! I'm one ofyou, boys."

  Ralph was lying on the sofa, reading a book. But he doubled down aleaf, got up, and stretched himself.

  "Here," he said, quietly, "you fellows mustn't have all the fun; I'll gotoe, just to see fair play. But, I say," he added, after a moment'spause, "I don't suppose there will be any refreshment-stalls downthere--eh?"

  "No, that there won't," cried Allan. "Hi! Peter, pack a basket forfour."

  "Ay, ay, sir?" said Peter.

  "And, I say, Peter--" This from Ralph.

  "Yes, sir," said the steward, pausing in the doorway.

  "Enough for twenty," said Ralph. "That's all, Peter."

  "Thank'ee, sir," said Peter, laughing; "I'll see to that, sir."

  It was some time before De Vere succeeded in gaining Captain McBain'sconsent to the embarkation of his boys on this wild and strangeadventure, but he was talked over at last.

  "It is all for the good of science, I suppose," he said, halfdoubtfully, as he shook hands with our heroes before they took theirplaces in the car. "God keep you, boys. I'm not at all sure I'll eversee one of you again."

  The ropes were let go, and upwards into the clear air rose the mightyballoon.

  "Here's a lark," said Allan.

  "A skylark," said Rory. "Let us sing, boys--let us sing as we soar,`Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves.'"

  Standing on the quarter-deck, and gazing upwards, McBain heard thevoices growing fainter and fainter, and saw the balloon lessening andlessening, till the song could no longer be heard, and the balloonitself was but a tiny speck in the heaven's
blue. Then he went downbelow, and busied himself all day with calculations. He didn't want tothink.

  Meanwhile, how fared it with our boys? Here they were, all together,embarked upon as strange an expedition as it has ever probably been thelot of any youth or youths to try the chance of. Yet I do not thinkthat anything approaching to fear found place in the hearts of one ofthem. The situation was novel in the extreme. With a slow and steadybut imperceptible motion--for she was weightily ballasted--the"Perseverando," as they had named the balloon, was mounting skywards.There was not the slightest air or wind, nor the tiniest of clouds to beseen anywhere, and down beneath and around them was spread out apanorama, which but to gaze upon held them spell-bound.

  There was the island itself, with its rugged hills looking now sostrangely flattened and so grotesquely contorted; to the west and to thenorth lay the white and boundless sea of ice, but far to the eastwardand south was the ocean itself, looking dark as night in contrast withthe solid ice.

  But see, yonder, where the ice joins the water, and just a little wayfrom its edge, lie stately