The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-06-17
Ice Bound.
BY w. CLARK RUSSELL.
AUTHOR f"TM Wreck Of The Gro~snor'
"Jaeks Courtslip," NY Watch b.
lor," "7hs LAZY Maud Ete.
CHAPTER xxx.
VALUE THE LADIhC.

Tho day had been so full Of business, there
had been so mucli' 10 engage my mind, That
IL was not until was seated at supper IN the
old cook room. in which | had passed so
many melancholy hours, that found myself
able 20 take "A calm survey of my situation,
and 10 compare the various motions OF my
fortunes / could scarcely indeed believe
that was not in a dream, from which
should awaken presently, and discover my
self still securely imprisoned III the ice, ana
all those passages of the powder blasts, tns
liberation of the schooner, my lonely days III
her afloat, my encounter with The whaier' as
visionary and vanishing as those dusSy Torn"
of yapor which had swarrncd IN giant shapo
. over my little open boat.
But even if confirmation had been wanting
i'm the sable visagc of Billy Pitt, who sat near
the furnace munching away with prodigiouS
endowment of his food, and bringing ms can
of hot spiced wine from his vast blubber lips
with n mighty sigh of deep delight, riuSt
have found IL in each kissing leap and roar
ing plunge Of the old Jirat.cai bucket, so iui!
of the vitality of the wind swollen canvas 80
quick with all the life instincts of vessel
storrning through the deep with buoyant Keel
and under full control. Oh heaven! how dii-
fercnt from the dull ambling Of the morning,
the sluggish pitching and rolling to the weak
pulling of the spritsail'
Twas up and down a good deal during tho
night. But for the treasure l should havo
been less anxious, / dare say. had como so
successfully 10 this point that was resolved
il NV hopes were to miscarry, the mis'ort
une should not be owing to want of vigilance
on my part; and there happened an incident
which inevitably tended to sharpen my
watchfulness, though was perfectly con
scious it was n million to one against its oc.
curing n second time.
came on deck To relieve Wilkinson at
midnight after a half hours nodding dozo
by the furnace below. H. went 90 his cabin,
stood under the lee Of cloth seized IN tho
weather main rigging Pitt arrived and !
told him he could return 10 the cook house
and stay there till / called him. The helm
being dashed and the schooner doing very
well, nothing wanted watching in particular,
yet would not have the deck abandoned,
and meant to keep a lookout turn and turn
about with Pitt, as Wilkinson and Cromwell
had. She snow had ceased, but 10 was very
dark and thick, the ocean a roaring. weller
ing shadow, palpitating upon the eyes inroll-
ing folds of tlacknesS, with the quick eXp!r-
ing fash OF foam 10 windward. On a sud
den, looking over the weather quarter, me
thought discovered a deeper shade IN the
night there than was elsewhere perceptibc.
II was like a great blot Of ink upon the dark
ness Even while ! speculatcd it drew out in
the shape Of a ship running before the gale.
She seemed to be heading directly for us.
The roof Of my mouth turned dry as
desert sand; my tongue and limbs re-
fused their office; ] could neither cry nor
stir, being indeed paralyzed by the ter
rible suddenncss Of That apparitiOn and
the imminence of our peril. 1t all happened
while you could have told thirty. The great
black mass surged up with the water boiling
about the bows; she brought a thunder along
with her in her rigging and sails as she
scared TO the crowns of the seas she was
sweeping before | could not tell what can
vas she was under, but her speed was full
ten knots, and as / did not see her till she
was close she looked TO come upon US with a
single bound She passed US 70 windward
within a stones throw and vanished like "A
dark cloud melting into the surrounding
blackness Not CLEAN of light broke from
her; you heard nothing but the boiling at
her bows and the thundcrous pealing of the
gale i'll her canvas \ quarter turn of the
wheel would have sent us To the bottom, and
her, no doubt on top of Us. Whether she
was the Susan Tucker or some other whaler,
or big South sea man driven low and get
ting what casting she could out of the gale,
i know not. She was as complete q mystery
OF the ocean night as any spectral fabric,
and a heavier terror to me than phantasm
worked by ghosts could have proved
i lnew such thing could not happen
again, yet when | called Pitt talked TO him
about it as though we must certainly be run
down if he aid not keep a sharp lookout;
and when my watch below came round at
O'Clock, was so agitated that ] was up and
down till daybreak, as though my duty did
not end till then.
The gale moderated at sunrise; and though
it was gloomy, true Cape Horn morning,
with dark driving clouds, the sea a dusky
olive, very hollow, and frequent small quick
squalls of sleet, which brought the wind TO
us in sharp guns, yet as we could sec where
we were going, got the schooner before il,
heading her east northeast, and under a
reefed topsail, mainsail and staySal the old
bucket stormed through II with the sputter
and rage of n line-of-battle ship. There was
q logreel and line on deck, and / found a
sand glass in the chest in my cabin in which
had met with the quadrants, perspective
glass and the like and j kept this log rcSl-
larly going, making a point Of departure on
the chart the American captain had given
me, which ! afterwards found 10 be within
two leagues and half of the true position.
But for three days the weather continued so
heavy that there was nothing to he done in
the shape of gratifying the mems cxpccta-
lions by overhauling what was left Of tho
cargo Indeed, we had no leisure for such
work; all our waking hours had to be strictly
dedicated TO the schooner, and in keeping a
lookout for ice. But the morning of tho
fourth day broke with fine sky and brisk
breeze from q little TO the east of south, to
which we showed every cloth the schooner
had to throw abroad, and being now by dead
reckoning within a few leagues of the mer-
idian Of 70 dogs, shaped course north by
east by my compass, with the design of get
ting a view Of Staten Island that ! might