The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-05-18
MANKATo FREE PRESS.
FRIDAY. MAY lS 1885
ICE BOUND.
CHAPTER X.
ANOTHER STARTLING DISCOVERY.

his nllcn IOTnlcu Inc tliItdltCS VI tne
cabin, and there was no other road TO it that
I could see. II wanted TO use it | must first
scrape away the snow; but uuhappily had
left my knife in the boat, and was without
any instrument that would serve me to scrape
with. thought of breaking the beer bottle
that was in my pocket ard scratching with
piece of the glass; but before doing this it
occurred TO me TO search the body on the
starboard side.
approached him rs ii he were alive and
murderouSly fierce and l own did not like
to touch him. He resemhlcd the figure Of q
giant nodded in snow In life he must hav.
been six feet and half tail. TIL snow rad
bloated him, and though he lcarCi lie stood as
high as |, who was of Il tolerGbio Gaature. The
snow was ON his beard and muStachc and On
his hair; but these features We're merged an
compacted into the SNOW on his coat, and as
his cap came low and was covered with snow
too, he, with the little fragment of counte
nance that remainCd-thH flesh whereof had
the color and toughncSS IF the skin of drum
that has been well beatcn-submitted as ter.
rible an object as mortal sight ever rested
ON. l say did not like TO touch him, and
one reason was l feared hc would tumh'e:
and though | know not way l should have
dreaded this, yet the apprehension of it so
worked in mo that for some time it held me
idly staring at him.
But l could not enter the cabin without
first scraping the snow from the companion
door; and the cold, after had stood a few
moments inactive, was so bitter IS TO set me
craving for shelter. So put my hand upon
the body, and discovered 1t, as l might have
foreSeen, frozen to the hardness of steel. His
coat-if may call that coat which reSem-
blcd n robe of snow-fell to within a few
inches of the deck Steadying the body with
ono hand, heartily twCa!ed the coat with
tho other, hoping thus II rupture the ice upon
tin doing which slipped and fell on my
back, and in falling gave convulsive kick,
whic,, striking the feet of the figure, dis
lodged them from their frozen hold of tho
deck, and down it fell with a mighty bang
alongside Of me, and with loud cracking
noise like the rending of a sheet of silk.
was not hurt, and sprang to my feet with
the alacrity of fright, AMI looking ut the body
saw tina: it had managed by its fall mucL
better ;..Nl my hands could have compasSod
Tor the 5lnw shroud was cracked and crum-
bled, slabs of it had broken away, laavin !;
the cloth of the coat visible; and what bes :
pleased M was the sight of the end of
Yet 20 come at it so as to draw the blad ,
from it's scabbard required an intolerablc c&-
ertion of strength Tn" clothes on his body
were indeed like IA suit of mail. | never
could have believed that frost served cloth
So \; last l managed to pull the coat clear
of the hilt of the hanger; the blade wa
stuck, tat after had tu"gcd a bit it slipped
our, and found it Il good piccc of steel
n, h.,l, toll in i,pl
coas of coarse, thic'; cloth lined with flannel;
under this a kind of blouse or dOubIct of rel
cloth, confined by a belt with leathcrn loops
rpistolS. His apparel gave me no clew to
the age he belonged 10; it was no better, in
deed, than sort of disappearing attire-as
though the fashions of more than one coun-
| try, and perhaps of more than one age. had
gone to the habiting of him. He looked n
| burly, immense creature, as he lay upon tho
deck in the same bent attitude in which he
| had stood at the rail; and So dreadful was his
face, with a singular diabolical expression of
| leering malice, caused by the lids of his eyes
being half closed, that having taken one peep
| l had no mind TO repeat it, though | was
above ten minutes wrestling with his cloak
and hanger before had the weapon fair in
my hand
l walked to the companion, and fell to
scraping the snow away from it. Twas like
scratching at mortar between bricks. But
worked hard, and presently, with the point
| of the hanger felt the crcviCe twixt the door
and the jamb, after which it was not long be-
| fore bad carved the door out of its plate of
| ice and SHOW
toilcd on, and having cleared the door of
the snow that bound it, pricd it apart with
tine hanger and then dragged at it; but the
snow on the deck would not let it open far,
and as there was room for me to squeeze
through did not stop to scrape the obStruc-
| ton away.
| A flight of steps sank into the darkness of
the interior, and "A cold, strange smell floated
up, with something of a dry earthiness of
flavor and u mingling of leather and timber.
fell back a pace to let as much of this smell
sxhale as would before | ventured into an at
mosphere that had been Theoretically bottled
by the leo in that cabin since the hour when
| this little door was last closed. Superstition
was active in me again, and, when peered
into the blackness at the bottom of the hatch,
I felt as might a schoolboy on the threshold
| of a haunted room in which he is to be locked
up as punishment.
/ put my foot on tho ladder and descended
very slowly indeed.
On reaching the bottom l remained stand
ing close against the ladder, striving to see
into what manner of place l was arrived.
The glare of the wilderness of the decks and
rocks hung upon my eyes like kind OF
blindness charged with fires of several colors,
and could not obtain the faintest glimpse of
any part of this interior outside the sphere of
the little square of hay light which lay upon
the deck at the foot of the steps. The dark
ness, indeed, was so deep that 1 concluded
this was no more than narrow well, formed
of bulkheads, and that the cabin was beyond,
and led to by door in the bulkhead.
To test this conjecture extended my arms
in cropping posture and stepped a pace for
ward, feeling to right and left, till, having
gone five or six PAGES from the ladder, my
fingers touched something cold, and feeling
1t, passed my hand down what instantly
knew, by the projection of the nose and the
roughness of hair on the upper lip, to be a
human face.
A little reflection might have prepared me
for this, but l had not reflected, at least in
this direction, and was therefore not pre-
pared; and the horrible thrill of that black
chill contact went in an agony through my
nerves, and burst into n violent perspiration.
backed away with all my hair astir, and
then shot up the ladder as if the devil had
been behind me; and when reached the deck
I trembled so violently that l had to lean
against the companion lest my knees should
give way.
The companion door was small, and being
scarce moro than ajar, was not surprised
that only a very faint light entered by it.
IL the top were removed l doubted not
| should be able to get a view of the cabin
| enough to show me where the windows or
port holes were. So l went to work with
the hanger again, insensibly obtaining a
little stock of courage from the mere BRAN
dishing of it. In half an hour / had Clipped
and cut away the ice round the companion,
and then found it to be one of those old fash
toned clumsy hatch covers, formerly used in
certain kinds of Dutch ships-namely, a box
with n shoulder shaped lid This lid, though
heavy and fitting with tongue, managed
to unship, on which the full square of the
hatch lay open to the sky.
The light gave mo heart. Once more de-
scended. After a few moments the bewil-
dering dazzle of the snow faded OFF my sight,
and could see very distinctly.
Tho cabin was n small room The forward
part lay in shadow, but / could distinguish
the outline of the mainmast amidships of the
bulkhead there. In tho center of this cabin
was a small square table, supported by iron
pins, that pierced through stanchions in such
O manner that the table could at will be
raised to the ceiling, and there left for the
convenience of space.
At this table, seated upon short, quantity
| wrought benches, and Immediately facing
each other, were two men. They were in
1 i / 4
/ q AIlI