Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-06-28
CHAPTER XVII.

w men HIS pipe WAS Oub he rose ana MADE
several strides about the cook room, then took
the lantern, and, entering the cabin, stood
awhile surveying the place
$50 this would have been my coffin but
for you Mr.. RodneyF' said he 81 was in
good company, though" pointing over his
shoulder at the crucifix with his thumb.
'Lord, how the rogues prayed and cursed
in this same cabinl In fine weather and
when all was well, the sharks in our wake
had more religion than they; but the instant
they were in danger, down they tumbled
upon their quivering knees; and if heaven
was twice as big as it is, it could not have
held saints enough for those varlets to petit
tion.n
"You were nearly all Spaniards!"
"Ay-the worst class of men a ship could
enter these seas with But for our calling
they are the fittest of all the nations in the
world; better even than the Portuguese. and
with truer trade instincts than the trained
mulatto-nimbler artists In roguery than
ever one of them. l despise their supersti-
ton, but they are the better pirates for it.
They carry it as a man might featherbed:
it enables them to fall soft. "D>ye take meY''
He gave one of his short, loud laughs, and
said, II hope this slope won't increase. Tho
angles stiff enough as it is. Twill be like
living on the roof of house. l have a mind
to see how she lies. What dye say. Mr..
Rodney? Shall venture into the open?n
"Why notF' said ]. "You can move
briskly. You have as much life as ever YOU
had"
"Let's 60 thenl" he exclaimed, and climb
ing the ladder he pushed open the companion
door and stepped on to the deck. l followed
with but little solicitude, as you may sup
pose, as to what might attend his exposure.
The blast of the gale, though it was broken
into downward, eddying dartings by the
rocks, made him bawl out with the sting of
it, and for some moments he could think of
nothing but the cold, stamping the deck in
his boots and beating his hands,
cha" cried he, grinning to the smart of
his cheeks, ''this is not the cook room, ehs
Great thunder! you will not have it that this
ice has been drifting north: Why, man, It's
icier by 20 dogs. than when we were first
locked up"
II hope not" said I, land l think not.
Your blood doesn't course strong yet and
you are fresh from the furnace Besides it
is blowing bitter cold gale Look at that
sky, and listen to the thunder of the sear
The commotion was indeed terribly up
roarious. The rending noises of the ice in all
directions were distinct and fearful. The
Frenchman looked about him with conster-
nation, and to my surprise crossed himself
''May the blessed Virgin preserve us!n he
said. "Do you say we have drifted north?
If this is not the very heart of the South
Pole, you shall persuade me we are on the
equator
ut cannot storm too terribly for us, as
met coiH ioI i.
island to go to pieces"
As l said this solid pillar of ice just be
You'd the brow of the hill on the starboard
side was dislodged or blown down; it fell
with mighty crash, and filled the air with
crystal splinters. Tassard started back with
a faint cry of "Bon Dieu!'
"Judge for yourself how the ship lies"
said 1 ''this is freezing work"
He went aft and looked over the stern.
then walked to the larboard rail and peered
over the side.
as there ice beyond that opening?' he
asked, pointing over the taffrail
"No,n answered; ''that goes to the sea.
There is a low cliff beyond. Mark that cloud
of white; it is the spray hurled athwart the
mouth of this hollow
''Good," he mumbled, with his teeth chat
tering. "The change is marvellous There
was ice for quarter of a mile where that
slope ends. IT'S too cold to converse here.n
There are your companions said I,
pointing to the two bodies lying little dis
tance before the mainmast.
He marched up to them and exclaimed,
eyes, this is Trentanove and that is Barros.
Both were blind, but they are binder now.
Would they thank you to arouse them out
of their comfortable sleep, and force them to
feel as do-this cold, to which they are now
as insensible as was' BY heaven, for my
part can stand it no longer!" and with that
he ran briskly to the hatch.
followed him to the cook room, and he
crept so close to the furnace that l thought
he had mind to roast himself
The heat comforted him presently, and he
put lump of wine into the oven to melt,
and this comforted him also
II can converse now.n said he PERHAPS
after all the danger lies more in the magma
ton than in the fact But it is a hideous
naked scene, and needs no such coloring as the
roaring of wind, the rushing of seas, and the
crashing falls of masses of ice to render il
frightful."
"You tell me-" said I, ''that when you fell
asleep would sometimes express his frozen
state thus-"there was quarter of a mile of
ice beyond the schooners stern.n
SAT least quarter of a mile," he answered.
''Day after day it would be built uu till il
came to a face of that extent
l thought to myself if it had taken forty.
eight years of the wear and tear of storm and
surge to extinguish quarter of mile, how
long a time must elapse before this island
splits upl But then l reflected that during
the greater part of these years, this seat of
ice had been stuck very low south, where
the cold was so extreme as to make it defy
diSsolution that since then it was come away
from the main and stealing north, so that
what might have taken thirty years to ac-
complish in 20 dogs. of south latitude might
be performed in day on the parallel Of co
degs. in the summer season in these seas.
Tassard continued speaking with the pam
nikin in his hand, and his eyes shut as il to