The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-08-31
ICE N D,
BY W. CLARK RUSSELL.
Author Of "7he Wreck Of tie GroSpenor,'
"Jacks C~oartship," NY Ha,ea Be
lo,U, +" The Lady Maud y Etc.

loW, >" The Lady Maud y Etc.
The posture of tho ice inclined the schoon-
IS starboard bow TO the pillows, and in a
Fery short time she was trembling in every
one to the blows Of the surges which rolled
So,ling over the ice there and struck her,
,;nSing dim clouds Of spunle in the air, which
ION set the scuppers gushing. My case was
nat of a stranded ship, with this difference
My; that a vessel ashore lies solid to the
beating of the waves, whereas the ice was
~luoyant; it rose and fell, sluggishly, it is true,
aud SO somewhat mitigated the severity of
the shocks of water. But, spite of this, / was
perfectly sure that unless the bed broke UNI
der her or she slipped off it, she would be In
pieces before the morning. It was not in any
hull put together by human hands to resist
the pounding of those seas. The weight Of
the mighty ocean, along whose breast they
raced, was in thep, and though the wind was
no more than a brisk gale, each billow by it's
stature showed itself the child of a giantess.
The ice bed was like a whirlpool with the
leap and fash and play of the froth upon it.
The black air of the night was whitened by
the storms of foam flakes which few over the
vessel. The roaring of the broken waters in
creased the horrors of tho scene. l firmly
believed my time was come. God had been
merciful, but / was to die now. AS to max
ing any shift to keep myself alive after the
ship should be broken up, the thought never
entered my head. What could | dol There
was no boat. I might have contrived some
arrangement of booms and casks to serve as a
raft, but to what purpose! How long would
it take the wind and sea to freeze met
l crouched in the companion way, hearken-
ing to the uproar around, feeling the convul-
lions of the schooner, fully prepared for
death, dogged and hopeless.
On a sudden-in a BREATH felt the vessel
rise. She was swung up with the giddy
velocity of a hunter clearing a tall gate; she
sank again, and there was a mighty concus-
sion forward, then a pauS of steadiness while
YOU might nave counted five, then a wild up
ward heave, a sort of sharp floating fall, a
harsh grating along her keel and sides, as
though she was being smartly warped over
rocks, followed by an unmistakable free
pitching and rolling motion.
1 had sprung TO my feet and stood waiting;
but the instant / gathered by the movements
of her that she was released l sprang like a
mailman up the companion steps. The sea,
breaking on her bow, flew in heavy showers
along the deck and half blinded me. But l
was scmi-delirious, and having sat so long
with deaths hand in mine, was in a passion
ately defiant mood, with a perfect rage of
scorn of peril in me, and / walked right on to
the forecastle, giving the flying sheets Of
water there no heed. In a minute a block of
sea tumbled upon me and left me breathless;
the iciness of it cooled my minds heat, but
not my resolution. Twas determined to judge
as best I could by the light of the foam of
what had happened, and holding on tena-
ciously to whatever came to my hand, and
progressing step by step, l got to the fore
castle and looked ahead.
Where the ice was the water tumbled in
milk; twas four or five ships lengths distant,
and l could distinguish no more than that. !
peered over the lee bow, but could see no ice.
The vessel had gone clear; how, l knew not,
and can never know; but my own fancy is
that she split the bed with her own weight
when the sea rose and threw the ice up, for
she had hoated on a sudden, and the noises
which attended her release indicated that she
had been forced through a channel.
returned aft, barely escaping a second
deluge, and looked over the quarter; no ice
was there visible to me. The vessel rolled
horribly, and 1 perceived that she had a de-
cided list to s~tarboard, the result of the shift
ing of what was in her when the ice came
away from the main with her; and it was
this heel that brought the sea washing over
the bow. took hold Of the tiller to try it,
but either the helm was frozen immovable,
or the rudder jammed in its g~udgeons, or in
some other fashion fixed.
Had she been damaged below? was she
taking in watera knew her to be so thickly
sheathed with ice that, unless it had been
scaled off in places by the breaking of her
bed, I had little fear until this covering
melted or dropped off by the working of the
frame) of the hull not proving tight. !
should AVE been coated with ice myself had
I stayed but a little longer in my wet clothes
in that piercing wind; so I ran below, and
bringing an armful of clothes from my cabin
to the cook room, was very soon in dry at
tire, and making an extraordinary figure, ]
don't question, in the buttons, lace, and "trip
peries of the old fashioned garments.
Meanwhile, l was crazy to ascertain if the
schooner was taking in water. If there was
a sounding rod in the ship / did not know
where to lay my hands upon it. But he is a
poor sailor who is slow at substitutes. There
were several spears in the arms room (pirati-
cal plumber, no doubt with mere spikes for
heads, like those weapons used by the CATERS
and other tribes in that country; they were
formed of a hard heavy wood. l took a
length of ratline line and secured it to one of
these spears, and carried it on deck with the
powder room bulls eye lamp; but when I
probed the sounding pipe I found it full of
ice, and as it was impossible to draw the
pumps l flung my ingenious sounding rod
down in a passion of grief and modification.
Yet was ] not to be beaten. Such was my
temper, had the devil himself confronted me
l should have defied him to do his worst, for
/ had made up my mind to weather him out.
/ entered the fo~recastle, lantern in hand,
pried open the hatch, and dropped into the
hold. 1t needed an experienced ear to detect
the sobbing Of internal waters amid the
yearning gushes, the long gurgling washings,
the thunderous blows, and shrewd rain like
hissings of the seas outside. I listened with
strained hearing for some minutes, but dis
tinguished no sounds to alarm me with as
surance Of water in the hold. I could not
mistake. I hearkened with all my might,
but the noise was outside. I thanked God
very heartily, and got out of the bold and
put the hatch on. There was no need to 20
aft and listen. The schooner was by the
AAN~SAf AAAN NAOAO Jul 10 LO ndlCI IH LH6 ID
that would not be forward too.
Being treasured in respect Of the stanch-
ness of the hull, 1 returned to the fire and
proceeded to equip myself for a prolonged
watch on deck. While 1 was drawing on a
great pair Of boots l heard a knocking in the
after part of the vessel. I supposed she had
drifted into a little field of broken ice, and
that she would go clear presently, and l fin
ished arming myself for the weather; but the
knocking continuing ! went into the cabin,
where l heard it very plain, and walked as
far as the lazarette hatch, where I stood lis
tening. The noises were a kind of irregular
humping, accompanied by a peculiar grind
ing sound. In a moment / guessed the truth,
rushed on deck, Inc by the dim light in the
air saw the long tiller moving to and frol
The beat of the beam seas had unlocked the
frozen bonds of the rudder, and there swung
the tiller, as though like a dog the ship was
wagging her tail for ioyl
The vessel lay along, rolling so as to bring
her starboard rail to alevel with the sea; her
main deck was full of water, and the froth
OF 1t, combined with the ice that glazed her,
made her look like a fabric of marble as she
swung on the black fold ere it broke into
snow about her. I seized the tiller and ran
1t over hard a starboard, and I had not held
1t In that posture half a minute when, to nv
indispensable delight, / observed that she was
paying of. Her head fell slowly from the
sea; she lurched drunkenly, and some tons
of black water rolled over the bulwarks: she
reeled consumedly to larboard, and rose
squarelv and ponderously to the height of
the surge that was now abaft the beam. In