Wild Adventures round the Pole
Page 54
called a "bumper ship." If they should succeed inregaining their own country, Rory would be able to live all his days inpeace and comfort, independent of the whims of his Irish tenantry, andAllan--ah, yes, poor Allan!--began to dream of home now. Already, inimagination, he saw Glentruim a fair and smiling valley, every acre ofit tilled, comfortable cottages sending their blue smoke heavenwardsfrom the green birchen woods, a new and beautiful church, and the castlerestored, himself once more resuming his rights of chief of his clan,and his dear mother and sister honoured and respected by all.
"I'll roast an ox whole, boys!" he cried, one evening, jumping up fromthe sofa in the snuggery, where he had been lying thinking and dreamingof the future. "A whole ox; nothing less!"
Rory and Ralph burst out laughing.
"A vera judeecious arrangement!" cried Sandy. "But where will ye getthe ox? I'm getting tired o' bear-beef, and wouldn't mind a slice outof a juicy stot's rump."
"Oh, dear!" said Allan, smiling; "I forgot you hadn't been following thetrain of my thoughts. I was back again in Arrandoon."
"Hurrah!" cried Rory. "Gather round the fire, boys; sit in, captain;sit in, Sandy; let us talk about home and what we all will do when weget there."
Little, little did they know then the hardships that were in store forthem.
Summer had fairly set in, but as yet there were not the slightest signsof the ice breaking up. Several balloon flights were made, the aeronautalways making most careful calculations for days before starting, andgenerally succeeding in catching a favourable time.
Then the principal adventure of the whole cruise was undertaken--a greatsledging journey towards the Pole itself.
The sledges, specially prepared for the purpose, were got out andcarefully loaded with everything that would be found necessary.
For a time the _Arrandoon_ was to be left with but a few hands, or"ship-keepers," as they are called, on her.
The great snowstorm of the previous winter McBain judged, and rightlytoo, would be in favour of the expedition; it smoothed the roughness ofthe ice, and made sledging even pleasurable. De Vere had two sledges,devoted to carrying his balloon and the means wherewith to inflate it.
Ted Wilson was left in charge of the ship, with little Ap, the cook, andcarpenter's crew, to say nothing of little Freezing Powders and Cockie.
"If you do find the North Pole," cried Ted Wilson, as a partingsalutation to one of his companions, "do fair Johnick, Bill, fairJohnick--bring us a bit."
I have to tell of no terrible hardships or sufferings experienced by ourheroes during this memorable sledge journey. They accomplished on anaverage about twelve miles a day, or seventy miles a week, and theyinvariably rested on the Sabbath, merely taking exercise on that day tokeep up the warmth of their bodies.
They suffered but little from the cold, but it must be remembered thatby this time they had become thoroughly inured to the rigours of theArctic regions. It was easy to keep warm trudging along over the snow,and helping to drag the sledge by day.
The dogs they found were a great acquisition. Under the wise andjudicious management of Trapper Seth they were most tractable, and theirstrength seemed something marvellous. They were fat and sleek, andcomfortable-looking, too, and had entirely lost the gaunt, hungry,wolfish appearance they presented when Captain Cobb first sent them onboard. Well did they work for, and richly did they deserve, the fourSpratts' biscuits given to each of them daily; that, followed by amouthful of snow, was all they cared for and all they needed to makethem the happiest of the happy.
A short halt was made for luncheon every noon, and at six o'clock theystopped for the night, and dinner was cooked. This was Seth's duty,and, considering the limited means at his command, he succeededwonderfully. The tent was erected over a large pit in the snow, thesledges being drawn up to protect it against the prevailing wind. Butof this there was but little.
After dinner they gathered around a great spirit-lamp stove, wrapped inskins and blankets, and generally talked themselves to sleep. But Sethalways slept with the dogs.
"I like to curl up," he explained, "with the animiles. They keeps mewarm, they do; and, gentlemen, Seth's bones ain't quite so young as theyused to be."
For weeks our heroes journeyed on towards the Pole, but they came to theend of what McBain called the snowfields at last, and all fartherprogress by sledge was practically at an end. Before them stretchedaway to the utmost limits of the horizon The Sea of Ancient Ice, a chaosof boulders, over which it would take a week at least to drag thesledges even a distance of ten miles, Now came the balloon to therescue, but who were to go in it? Its car would, big as it was, containbut four. The four were finally selected; they were McBain, theaeronaut himself, Allan, and Rory.
Upwards mounted the great balloon, upwards but sailing southwards; yetwell had De Vere counted his chances. Ballast was thrown out, and theyrose into the air with inconceivable rapidity, and McBain soon perceivedthat the direction had now changed, and that the balloon was goingrapidly northwards.
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To those left behind on the snowfields the time dragged on very slowlyindeed, and when four-and-twenty hours had gone by, and still there wasno sign of the return of the aeronauts, Ralph's anxiety knew no bounds.He seemed to spend most of his time on the top of a large iceberg,gazing northwards and skywards in hopes of catching a glimpse of theballoon. But all in vain, and so passed six-and-thirty hours, and sopassed forty-eight and fifty. Something must have happened. Griefbegan to weigh like lead on poor Ralph's heart. A hundred times in anhour he reproached himself for not having gone in the balloon instead ofRory. He was strong, Rory was not, and if anything had happened to hismore than brother, he felt he could never forget it and never forgivehimself. Despair was slowly taking the place of grief; he was walkingup and down rapidly on the snow, for he could not rest,--he had takenneither food nor sleep since the balloon departed,--when there was ashout from the man on the outlook.
"Something black on the northern horizon, sir, but no signs of theballoon."
"Hurrah?" cried Ralph. "Now, men, to the rescue. Let us go and meetthem, and help them over this sea of boulders."
In three hours more McBain and party were back in camp, safe and sound,terribly tired, but able to tell all their story.
"We've planted the dear old flag as far north as we could get," saidMcBain, "and left it there."
"Ay," said Rory, "and kissed and blessed it a hundred times over."
"And but for the accident to the balloon, which we were obliged toabandon, we would have been back long ere now."
"But we have not seen de open sea around de Pole," said De Vere.
"No," said McBain; "there is no such sea; that is all a myth; only thesea of ancient ice, and land, with tall, cone-shaped mountains on it,evidently the remains of extinct volcanoes. Oh! it was a dreary, drearyscene. No signs of life, never a bird or bear, and a silence like thesilence of death."
"It was on one of those hills," added Rory, "we planted the flag--`theflag that braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze.' It was aglorious moment, dear Ralph, when we saw that bit of bunting unfurled.How Allan and myself wished you'd been with us. It was so funny, too,because, you see, there was no north, no east, and no west; everythingwas south of us. The whole world lay down beneath us, as it were, allto the south'ard, and we could walk round the world, so to speak, adozen times in a minute."
"Yes, it is curious," replied Ralph, musing in silence for a moment.Then he stretched out his hand and grasped Rory's. He did not speak.There was no need, Rory knew well what he meant.
"Now, boys and men," cried the captain, "we have to return thanks to Himwho has safely guided us through all perils into these distant regions,and pray that He may permit us to return in safety to our native land.Let us pray."
A more heartfelt prayer than that of those hardy sailors probably neverascended on high. Afterwards a psalm was sung, to a beauti
ful oldmelody, and this closed the service; but next morning, ere they startedto return to the _Arrandoon_, another spar was erected on the top of thebiggest and highest iceberg. On this the English colours were _nailed_,and around it the crew assembled, and cheer after cheer rent the air,and, as Sandy McFlail afterwards observed, hats and bonnets were pitchedon high, till they positively darkened the air, like a flock o' craws.
Then "Give us a good bass and tenor, boys," cried Rory, and he burstinto the grand old National Anthem,--
"God save our Gracious Queen, Long may Victoria reign, God save the Queen."
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
ANOTHER WINTER AT THE POLE--CHRISTMAS DAY--THE CURTAIN RISES ON THE