CHAPTER XXI
THE ICE HUT
When the breaking up of the ice occurred there were three parties who were imperiled by that occurrence besides the boys.
Those on board the Arctic had due warning, and, although the ship was badly shattered, the crew got it in order to run the dangerous course the chopping sea opened to it.
The seven sailors who had left the sled also saw their danger. They hurried towards the ship, and not one moment too soon reached its deck.
Then, driven rapidly forward, the Arctic sped on its way, unable to stop and aid those who had been left behind.
To the crew of the ship, as to Will Bertram and his companions, the fate of the two sailors, Jack and Hugo, was a mystery.
The old tars, however, had not been caught in the broken ice but had reached a place of safety before extreme peril had come.
They had been engaged in conversing and had not noticed the movements of the party searching for the bear, nor that the boys had wandered out of sight.
Engrossed in discussing some complex marine question, it was not until the break-up had reached the ship that they aroused to a sense of their peril.
Jack’s first thought was of the missing members of his party.
“The boys!” he ejaculated, starting to his feet and eagerly scanning the scene.
Like Will and his companions, they saw the ship’s dilemma and the sailors rushing towards it.
An instinct of self-preservation bade them believe that they themselves might reach the Arctic, but the brave old sailors were true to their duty.
“The boys have gone beyond the field here,” said Hugo.
“We must find them,” replied Jack. “Quick, mate, let us get the sled out of this!”
The oncoming ice warned them to act quickly.
There was no way, however, to drag the sled up the ascent to the place where the boys had gone.
They kept dragging it along the ice for quite a distance, hoping to find an opening.
“It’s no use,” said Jack at last, with an anxious look at the ice plain. “The break-up will overtake us in a few moments.”
“Shall we abandon the sled?” asked Hugo.
“Yes; but not the things on it. We may need them yet.”
A large tarpaulin covered the sled, and they gathered it and its contents up.
Among them was an axe.
Seizing this, Jack began cutting steps in the icy wall, and then, by means of these, they gained the upper ice.
The sled was borne upwards and crushed to pieces a few minutes later.
They had escaped certain death, and just in time.
Each seizing an end of the tarpaulin, they started inland, seeking for the boys everywhere.
Jack was terribly anxious when darkness came down.
They shouted themselves hoarse for nearly an hour and wandered aimlessly over the place.
“We must find them,” remarked Hugo.
“They will be lost in this terrible cold. Look, mate.”
“What is it?”
“A light.”
A dull glow, some distance away, met their vision.
“It’s the Aurora,” remarked Hugo.
“Not in the south, mate.”
“What, then?”
“Some kind of a fire.”
They struggled on heroically, tired as they were, towards the distant light.
The jagged, irregular ice caused several detours, and the light had become a vague reflection when at length they reached the vicinity of the spot whence it emanated.
“It was a fire,” said Jack, as, looking beyond them, he caught sight of some glowing cinders.
They dropped the tarpaulin and its contents, and Jack ran forward.
A moment later his waiting companion heard him call:
“Ahoy, mate, we’ve found them.”
“The boys?” cried Hugo, dragging the tarpaulin towards the ice cave.
“Yes, and asleep.”
“They are lost, then, in this cold and exposed to the open air?”
“No, but they soon would be. To work, Hugo. They must be awakened.”
It was a lively scene that ensued. The two stalwart sailors dragged the boys to and fro, put on their overcoats, beat their hands and feet, and finally had them wide awake.
Jack bathed their hands and faces with alcohol, a can of which was found in the outfit of the sled.
The sight of friends made the boys more hopeful and courageous, and they listened with attention to Jack’s directions.
It was not safe to sleep, he told them and managed to keep them moving until Hugo and he had improvised a warm shelter.
They took the articles from the tarpaulin and spread the latter over the entrance to the ice cave.
They then cut a round, circular hole in the ice and pouring some alcohol into it set it on fire.
It was remarkable how the brief but fierce heat of the burning spirits warmed the temperature of the place.
The long night was uncomfortable, but old Jack was quite satisfied when morning came to find none of them frost-bitten or sick from the cold.
His first work of the morning was to take an inventory of the things from the sled.
They consisted of the articles the sailors had taken from the ship in case of exigency and consisted of a can of alcohol, two guns, a hatchet, a package of powder, caps, and lead bullets, a package of food, some ropes, and several large knives.
“These will be valuable to us if we have to stay here any length of time,” remarked Jack.
“You don’t think the Arctic will return, do you?” inquired Will.
“It may. Anyway, we seem to be on solid ground, and, as you observe, the sea is quite open beyond. We will remain here for a few days.”
“And freeze to death, as we came very nearly doing last night?”
“No; we must provide for that.”
“How?”
“By building a house.”
“There is no wood,” suggested Tom.
“We don’t need any.”
“What will you build the house of then?”
“Ice and snow, like the Eskimo.”
While Jack imparted his plan to his fellow exiles they helped themselves to what provisions had been saved from the sled.
They found enough canned meat and biscuits to last them for a day or two, and the food revived them considerably.
The day was much warmer than the night, and they did not suffer from the cold to any extent.
After breakfast, Jack selected a spot where they could safely build the ice house.
He secured a firm foundation on the ice, and then, with the hatchet, began to cut blocks of ice and shape them as he wished them.
It was an interesting day for the boys. They were so engrossed in watching and helping Jack and Hugo that when the ice hut was completed they were amazed to find that the day had nearly passed.
The hut was built in a circular shape, with a very small aperture at the top. The cracks were filled with snow, and water was thrown over it to form a complete casing.
In front a single block was left open, which, removed, allowed of entrance to the hut.
The boys were compelled to crawl through this aperture and found quite a cozy interior, around which packed-down banks of snow indicated the couches they were to lie on.
The tarpaulin was cut up and distributed around. Out of a powder flask, with a wick made of cloth, Jack improvised an alcohol lamp to afford light.
After supper, the entire party rolled up in their overcoats. Jack closed the aperture or door tightly and then saturated a piece of cloth with alcohol several times and set it on fire.
This heated the air of the hut quite comfortably, and the experiment was repeated several times throughout the night.
The next day Jack gave the boys various bits of advice tending to show them how to avoid the cold.
The provision stock was getting low, and he and Hugo started out with loaded guns to find what game they could.
They returned successfully before nightfall. They had found a large bird resembling a duck and quite a quantity of a species of moss.
“We will fare better to go farther to the interior,” said Jack that night.
“And leave this place where the Arctic may return!” asked Hugo.
“I have watched the movement of the ice,” said Jack in reply, “and I believe that the Arctic, borne before it, will be carried too far to come back readily. At any rate, we will take a tramp back from the coast tomorrow.”
The next morning they packed up their traps and left the open water behind them.
The sun was quite warm, and in some places, the snow was melting. At any event, they scarcely felt the cold.
The tracks of various animals were observed, but none were seen or captured.
After traveling for many miles they came to a broad, open waterway similar to the one they had left behind.
“We are on an island,” remarked Jack, after surveying the country. “Yonder across the water is probably the mainland. The question is, shall we decide to remain here or attempt to cross over to what is undoubtedly a much larger scope of territory?”
“How can we do it?” inquired Hugo.
“We must devise some way. For the night we will stay here.”
“And build another ice house?” inquired Tom.
“No; we will secure temporary quarters and make a rough snow house.”
Ready hands soon constructed a hut. The weather was much colder than the preceding night, but with the alcohol and some moss, they managed to pass a comfortable night.
When they awoke they found a thin sheet of ice covering the water, evidently an arm of the sea. Large cakes of ice were held in the field, and after breakfast, Jack imparted his plan to his companions.
“We must ferry across on the cakes of ice,” he said. “The new ice is thin and can be broken through easily. It is not more than half a mile across.”
Jack selected a large cake of ice near the shore and they all got on it.
Then Jack took a rope from the sled and, attaching the hatchet, flung it to the nearest large cake of ice, when he would pull on the rope and slowly progress forward.
It took several hours to cross the water. When they at length reached the opposite shore they saw that the new ice had melted and the floating cakes were speeding along to the sea.
The mainland they believed they had reached was in character like the island they had left, a vast field of ice and snow.
While Hugo and Will were exploring for a place for a camp for the night the latter became very much excited as he observed what seemed to be an ice hut.
It was covered with the snow of many storms, but its shape was plainly defined.
“Is it a hut?” Hugo asked Will, eagerly.
“Yes, lad, and it has been occupied at some time or other. Run for Jack. This may prove an important discovery.”
Comments