The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-06-03
Ice Bound.
BY w. CLARK RUSSELL.
AxtAor ef"TM Wreck Of the Gro'%n"r'
"Jaeks CotDrtship," Ny WdtA be
k,p," "TM Lady lKasd,' hf.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE ICE BREAKS AWAY.

Il was not yet O'Clock. was restless Ii
NY mind, under great surprise, and wa
not sleepy. ! filled pipe made me LITTLE
pannikin Of punch, and sat down before tho
Ane tn think. II ever / had suspected thu
accuracy of my conjecture that the French
mans Sudden astonishing indisposition was
the effect of his extreme age coming upon
him and breaking down the artificial vitality
With which he had bristled into life under
NV hands, | must have found fifty signs to
cot nv miscivings at rest in his drowsiness,
noddng, bowed form, weakness, his tottcrins
and trembling, and other features OF hIs
latest behavior If / was right, then | had
reason to bo thankful to Almighty God for
this UNPARALLELED and most happy dispense
ton: for now should have nothing to fear
from the old rogues vindictiveness and hor'
rid greed.
Thus I sat for an hour smoking and wet
ting nv lips with the punch, while the fire
burned low, so exulting in the thought OF my
escape from the treacherous villain had re-
covered from the grave, and in the feeling
that might now he able TO so to rest, 10
move here and there, to act as / pleased
without being haunted and terrified by the
shadow of his foul intent, that hardly gave
nv mind for moment TO the situation OF
the schooner nor TO the barren consequences
of my fine scheme Of mines.
The wind blew strong / could hear the
humming Of it in every fiber OF the vessel
The bed on which she rested trembled 10 the
blows OF the seas upon the rocks. From
time to time, in the midst Of my musing, l
started to the sharp clafs of parted ice. Still
feeling sleepless threw n few Goals on tho
fire, and, catching sight Of the pirate flag,
opened il on the deck as wide as the space
would permit, and sat down 10 contemplate
the hideous insignia embroidered on 1t. My
mind filled with a hundred fances as my
gaze went from the skull on the black field
to the deaths head pipe that had fallen from
the grasp of TaSard and lay on the deck ,
and was sitting lost in a deep dream like
contemplation, when ] was startled and
shocked into instantaneous activity by u
blast of noise, louder than any thunder clap
that ever / heard, ringing and booming
through the schooner. This was followed by
q second and then third, at intervals dur
ing which You might have counted ten, and
! became sensible Of a strange, sicSening
motion, which lasted about twenty or thirty
moments, such as might be experienced by
one swiftly descending i'll balloon, or IN
falling from height while pent up in
coach.
For little while the schooner hecled over
30 violently that the benches and all things
movable in the cook room slid as far as they
could 60, and | heard n great CHATTER and
commoton among the freight in the hold
She then came upright again, and simultane-
ously with this a vast mass of water tum-
bled on TO the deck and washed over my
head, and then fell another and then an
other, all in such a way as 10 make me know
that the ice had broken and slipped the
schooner close to the ocean, where she lay ex-
posed TO its s,Irges-but not free Of the ice,
for she did not toss or roll.
seized the lantern and spranG 10 the
cabin, where hung it up, and mounted the
steps But as Il put my hand to
the door to thrust il open a sea broke over
the side and filled the decks, bubbling and
laundering past the companion hatch in such
a way as TO advise me that | need but open
the door to drown the cabin. ] waited, my
heart beating very hard, mad TO see what
had happened, but not daring to trust myself
on deck lest should he Immediately swept
into the sea.
Half an hour must have passed, during
which time the decks were necessarily swept
by the seas, insomuch that / never once
burst open the door, even TO look out. But
nothing having happened TO increase my
Al. liz Al 81.
movement in the schooner was that Of very
ponderous and majestical rolling and heav-
ing, showing her bed To be afloat | began 10
find my spirits, and to listen and wait with
some buildings of hope and confidence. At
the expiration of this time the seas began 10
fall less heavily and regularly on to the deck,
and presently | could only hear them break
ing forward, but without quarter OF their
former weight, and nothing worse came aft
than large. brisk showers Of spray.
rhe w1nG blew from the southwest out inc
trend of the island coast was northeast and
q the mass of ice ! was upon, in parting
from the main, had floated to u cables
length from the cliffs there was not much
danger, W lille the wind and sea held, Of tho
berg tif may so term III being thrown upon
the island That the ice under the schooner
WIS moving and if SO at what rate, 1t was
too dark TO enable me TO know 10y observing
the marks on the coast. There was TO be no
sleep for me that night, and, knowing this,
stepped below and built up good fire, and
then went with the lantern 10 see how Tas-
sard did, and TO give him the news; but no
was in so deep a sleep That after pulling him
q little without awakening him let him lie,
nothing but the sound of his breathing per-
suading me that he had not lapSed into his
old frozen state again.
OF all long nights this was the longest
ever passed through. l did truly believe
that the day was never to break again over
the ocean.
All night kept the fire going, and on sey-
eral occasions visited the Frcnchnan, but
found him motionleSS i'll sleep.
At last the day broke, went on deck and
found the dawn frightening into morning.
The wind had fallen, and with it the sea; but
there still ran midding strong surge, and
the breeze was such as, in sailors language,
you would have shown your topgallantsails
tn I conld now take measure of Our Sltua-