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twg_000012588800 | in the band, and the thin cord to the head of the main stick. While this was being done, the corners were held down by Leo, Benjy, Anders, and Butterface. "How about a tail, father?" asked Benjy, with sudden animation. "Ha! I forgot the tail. I've got several tails. It's well you reminded me." "It is indeed," responded... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588801 | "for I remember well that when my kites lost their tails they used to whirl wildly about until they dashed their heads on the ground. This kite would be little better than a mad elephant without its tail!" A short tail, made of the strongest cat-gut, was now fixed to the lower extremity of the kite. It had a bag | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588802 | at the end, to be weighted with stones as required. "Now, then, Alf, do you carry the reel away fifty yards or so, and pay out the line as you go. Make a dozen of the Eskimos hold on with you till I come and regulate the pull. I must remain here to set it off." Alf did as he | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588803 | was ordered. When he was far enough out, the Captain and Leo raised the aerial monster with caution, grasping it by the shoulders, while Benjy held on to the tail. Their great care was to keep it flat, so that it presented nothing but its thin head to the wind, but this was a difficulty, for it kept fluttering as | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588804 | if anxious to get away, catching a slant of wind underneath now and then, which caused both Leo and the Captain to stagger. "Don't hold down the tail, Benjy," cried the Captain, looking anxiously over his shoulder. Unfortunately Ben did not hear the "don't." Not only did he hold on with increased vigour, but he gave th... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588805 | pull downwards. The result was that the wind got fairly underneath, and the head was jerked upward. Leo, fearing to tear the silk, let go, and the Captain was thrown violently off. Benjy alone stood to his guns--or to his tail--with loyal heroism for a moment, but when he felt himself lifted off the ground a few inches... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588806 | of horror seized him. He let go, and came down with a whack. Free at last, the huge kite shot upwards like a rocket, and a terrible howl from the Eskimo showed that all was not right at their end of the line. The truth was that none of them were impressed with the importance of the duty required of | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588807 | them. The sudden strain jerked the line out of the hands of some, and threw others to the ground, and Alf, who had for greater security taken a turn of the line round his right arm, was dragged forward at full racing speed. Indeed he was beginning to take those tremendous bounds called "giant strides," which were sure ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588808 | in his being dragged along the ground. Captain Vane saw the danger, and was equal to the occasion. There was little time for thought or action. Another moment and Alf would be off the beach into the sea. "Let go! Alf; let go!" cried Leo, in an agony of alarm. "No, no! hold on!" shouted the Captain. Poor Alf could | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588809 | not help holding on. The turns of the line round his arm held him fast. Another moment, and he was abreast of the Captain who sprang at him as he passed like a leopard on his prey and held on. But the pace was little checked with this additional weight. It was beyond the Captain's running powers, and both he | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588810 | and Alf would have been thrown violently to the ground had it not happened that they had reached the water, into which they plunged with a tremendous splash. They were dragged through it, however, only for a few seconds, for by that time the Captain had succeeded in getting hold of the red line and pulling it separatel... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588811 | was immediate and satisfactory. The head of the kite was thrown forward, acting somewhat as a sail does when a ship is thrown into the wind, and the two unfortunates came to an anchor in four feet of water. "We must not let it into the water, Alf," gasped the Captain, clearing the water from his eyes. "How can we | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588812 | prevent it?" spluttered Alf, shaking the wet hair off his face. "Ease your fingers a bit. There; hold on." As he spoke the Captain gave a slight pull on the regulating line. The kite at once caught the wind and soared, giving the two operators an awful tug, which nearly overturned them again. "Too much," growled the Ca... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588813 | it takes some experience to regulate the excitable thing properly. There, now, haul away for the shore." By this time they were joined by Leo and Chingatok, who ran into the water and aided them in dragging the refractory machine ashore. "That's a vigorous beginning, father," remarked Benjy as they came to land. "It is... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588814 | me dry clothes while we haul in the kite and make her snug." "When do you mean to start?" asked Leo, as he coiled away the slack of the line on the reel. "The first steady fair wind that blows from the south," answered the Captain, "but we must have one or two experimental trials of the kites and boats | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588815 | together, before we set out on the real voyage." "It's a capital idea," returned Leo enthusiastically. "There's a sort of neck-or-nothing dash about it that quite suits me. But, uncle, what of the Eskimos? The three boats won't carry the half of them." "I know that, lad, and shall get over the difficulty by leaving som... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588816 | says they are quite able to take care of themselves; can easily regain the Greenland shore, find their canoes, or make new ones, and return to their own land if they choose." "But, uncle," said Alf, who was by no means as reckless as his brother, "don't you think it's rather risky to go off into an unknown sea in | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588817 | open boats, for no one knows how long, to go no one knows exactly where?" "Why, Alf," returned the Captain with a laugh, "if you were as stupid about your scientific pursuits as you are about geographical affairs, you would not be worth your salt. A sea's a sea, isn't it, whether known or unknown, and the laws that aff... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588818 | all seas are pretty much alike. Of course it is risky. So is going on a forlorn hope. So is shooting with a set of fellows who don't know how to manage their guns. So is getting on a horse, for it may kick you off or run away. So is eating fish, for you may choke yourself. Everything, almost, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588819 | is more or less risky. You _must_ risk something if you'd discover the North Pole, which has baffled adventurers from the days of Adam till now. And you are wrong in saying that we shall go off for no one knows how long. The distance from this island to the Pole is pretty nearly miles. If our kites carry us | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588820 | along at the rate of ten miles an hour, we shall cover the distance in hours. If we have calms or contrary winds we may take days. If storms come, we have not much to fear, for the weather is warm,--so, too,--is the water. Then, our boats are lifeboats--they cannot sink. As to not knowing where exactly we are going, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588821 | why, man, we're going to the North Pole. Everybody knows where that is, and we are going to the home of Chingatok, which cannot be very far from it." "There, Alf, I hope you are sufficiently answered," said Leo, as he undid the locking-gear of the kite, which by that time lay prone on its face, as peaceful as a | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588822 | lamb. The next three days were spent in flying the other kites, tying them on the boats, acquiring experience, and making preparations for the voyage. It was found that, with a moderate breeze, the kites towed the boats at the rate of ten miles an hour, which was beyond the most sanguine hopes of the Captain. Of course... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588823 | not beat to windward with them, but they could sail with a considerable slant, and they prevented the boats, while thus advancing, from making much leeway by means of deep _leeboards_, such as are used even at the present day by Dutch ships. "But I can't understand," said Benjy, after several trials had been made, "why... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588824 | fitted sails to the boats, instead of kites." "Because a sail only a quarter the size of a kite would upset the boat," said the Captain, "and one small enough to suit it would be little better than a pair of oars. This kite system is like fitting a gigantic sail to a lilliputian boat, d'ye see?" "I see, father. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588825 | But I wish it had been a balloon. It would have been greater fun to have gone to the Pole in a balloon!" "A balloon will never go there, nor anywhere else, Benjy, except where the wind carries it, for a balloon cannot be steered. It's impossible in the nature of things--as much so as that dream of the visionary, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588826 | perpetual motion." On the fourth day after their arrival at Great Hope Island the wind blew strong and steady from the south, and the explorers prepared to start. The Eskimos had been told that they were to remain behind and shift for themselves--a piece of news which did not seem to affect them at all, one way or othe... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588827 | who were selected to go with the explorers were perfectly willing to do so. Chingatok, of course, was particularly ready. So were his corpulent mother and Tekkona and Oblooria; so also were Oolichuk, Ivitchuk, and Akeetolik. It was a splendid sunny afternoon when the kites were finally flown and attached to the three b... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588828 | Captain Leo, and Alf. These three sat at the bow of each boat manipulating the regulators, and keeping the kites fluttering, while the goods and provisions were put on board. Then the Eskimo women and crews stepped in, and the stern ropes were cast loose. "Let go the check-strings!" shouted the Captain. This was done. ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588829 | strain at once, and the india-rubber boats went rushing out to sea, leaving the remainder of the Eskimo band speechless on the shore. They stood there motionless, with open mouths and eyes, the very embodiment of unbelieving wonder, till the boats had disappeared on the horizon. CHAPTER TWELVE. THE OPEN POLAR BASIN AT ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588830 | can imagine or describe the feelings of Captain Vane and his young relatives on finding themselves sweeping at such a magnificent rate over the great Polar basin?--that mysterious sea, which some believe to be a sea of thick-ribbed ice, and others suppose to be no sea at all, but dry land covered with eternal snows. On... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588831 | length of saying that the region immediately around the Pole is absolutely nothing at all!--only empty space caused by the whirling of the earth,--a space which extends through its centre from pole to pole! Much amusement did the Captain derive from the contemplation of these theories as he crossed over the grand and b... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588832 | son, or Chingatok, or Toolooha, who formed the crew of his little boat. The party consisted of thirteen, all told. These were distributed as follows:-- In the Captain's boat were the three just mentioned. In Leo's boat were Butterface, Oolichuk, and Oblooria. How it came to pass that Oolichuk and Oblooria were put into... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588833 | to know, or indeed to care, except Oolichuk himself, who, to judge from the expression of his fat face, was much pleased. As for Oblooria, her mild visage always betokened contentment or resignation-- save when overshadowed by timidity. In Alf's boat were Anders, Ivitchuk, Akeetolik, and Tekkona. The interpreter had be... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588834 | muscular or energetic as the Captain or his brother, while Anders was eminently strong and practical. The Eskimo women counted as men, being as expert with oar and paddle as they, and very nearly as strong as most ordinary men. What added to the romance of the first day's experience was the fact that, a few hours after... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588835 | a dead calm settled down over the sea, which soon became like a great sheet of undulating glass, in which the rich, white clouds, the clear sky, and the boats with their crews, were reflected as in a moving, oily mirror; yet, strange to say, the kites kept steady, and the pace of ten or twelve miles an hour did | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588836 | not abate for a considerable time. This, of course, was owing to the fact that there was a continuous current blowing northward in the higher regions of the atmosphere. The sun, meantime, glowed overhead with four mock-suns around him, nevertheless the heat was not oppressive, partly because the voyagers were sitting a... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588837 | cool air, the creation of their own progress, fanned their cheeks. Still further to add to the charm, flocks of sea-birds circling in the air or dipping in the water, a berg or two floating in the distance, a porpoise showing its back fin now and then, a seal or a walrus coming up to stare in surprise and going | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588838 | down to meditate, perhaps in wonder, with an occasional puff from a lazy whale,--all this tended to prevent monotony, and gave life to the lovely scene. "Is it not the most glorious and altogether astonishing state of things you ever heard or dreamed of, father?" asked Benjy, breaking a prolonged silence. "Out o' sight... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588839 | the Captain. "Never heard nor saw nor dreamed of anything like it before." "P'raps it _is_ a dream!" said Benjy, with a slightly distressed look. "How are we ever to know that we're _not_ dreaming?" The boy finished his question with a sharp cry and leaped up. "Steady, boy, steady! Have a care, or you'll upset the boat... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588840 | Captain. "What did you do _that_ for, father?" "What, my boy?" "Pinch me so hard! Surely you didn't do it on purpose?" "Indeed I did, Ben," replied the Captain with a laugh. "You asked how you were to know you were not dreaming. If you had been dreaming that would have wakened you--wouldn't it?" "I dare say it would, f... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588841 | returned the boy, resuming his seat, "but I'm convinced now. Don't do it again, please. I wish I knew what Chingatok thinks of it. Try to ask him, father. I'm sure you've had considerable experience in his lingo by this time." Benjy referred here, not only to the numerous conversations which his father had of late carr... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588842 | giant through the interpreter, but to the fact that, having been a whaler in years past, Captain Vane had previously picked up a smattering of various Eskimo dialects. Up to that day he had conversed entirely through the medium of Anders, but as that useful man was now in Alf's boat, the Captain was left to his own res... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588843 | got on much better than he had expected. Chingatok turned his eyes from the horizon on which they had been fixed, and looked dreamily at the Captain when asked what he was thinking about. "I have been thinking," said he, "of home, _my_ home over there." He lifted his huge right arm and pointed to the north. "And I have | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588844 | been thinking," he continued, "that there must be another home up there." He raised his hand and pointed to the sky. "Why do you think so?" asked the Captain in some surprise. "Because it is so beautiful, so wonderful, so full of light and peace," replied the Eskimo. "Sometimes the clouds, and the wind, and the rain, c... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588845 | it; but they pass away, and there it is, just the same, always calm, and bright, and beautiful. Could such a place have been made for nothing? Is there no one up there? not even the Maker of it? and if there is, does he stay there alone? Men and women die, but surely there is something in us that | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588846 | does not die. If there is no spirit in us that lives, of what use was it to make us at all? I think we shall have a home up there." Chingatok had again turned his eyes to the horizon, and spoke the concluding words as if he were thinking aloud. The Captain looked at him earnestly for some time | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588847 | in silence. "You are right, Chingatok," he said at length, or at least attempted to say as best he could--"you are right. My religion teaches me that we have spirits; that God--your God and mine--dwells up there in what we call heaven, and that His people shall dwell with him after death." "His people!" repeated the Es... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588848 | look. "Are some men his people and some not?" "Undoubtedly," replied the Captain, "men who obey a chief's commands are _his_ men--his friends. Those who refuse to obey, and do every kind of wickedness, are _not_ his friends, but his enemies. God has given us free-wills, and we may reject him--we may choose to be his en... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588849 | be supposed that Captain Vane expressed himself thus clearly, but the above is the substance of what he attempted by many a strange and complicated sentence to convey. That he had made his meaning to some extent plain, was proved by Chingatok's reply. "But I do not know God's commands; how then can I obey them?" "You m... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588850 | them by book," replied the Captain promptly; "for you have no books, but there is such a thing as the commands or law of God written in the heart, and it strikes me, Chingatok, that you both know and obey more of your Maker's laws than many men who have His word." To this the Eskimo made no answer, for | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588851 | he did not rightly understand it, and as the Captain found extreme difficulty in expressing his meaning on such questions, he was quite willing to drop the conversation. Nevertheless his respect for Chingatok was immensely increased from that day forward. He tried to explain what had been said to Benjy, and as that you... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588852 | he listened with great interest, but at last was forced to confess that it was too deep for him. Thereafter he fell into a mood of unusual silence, and pondered the matter for a long time. Awaking from his reverie at last, he said, abruptly, "How's her head, father?" "Due north, Benjy." He pulled out a pocket-compass a... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588853 | of an ordinary watch, which instrument it was his habit to guard with the most anxious care. "North!" repeated the boy, glancing at the instrument with a look of surprise, "why, we're steering almost due east!" "Ah! Ben, that comes of your judging from appearances without knowledge, not an uncommon state of mind in man... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588854 | of woman. Don't you know what variation of the compass is?" "No, father." "What! have you been so long at sea with me and never heard yet about the magnetic pole?" "Never a word, father. It seems to me that poles are multiplying as we get further north." "Oh, Benjy, for shame--fie! fie!" "Maybe if you had told me about | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588855 | it I might have had less to be shamed of, and you too, father." "That's true, Benjy. That's true. You're a sharp boy for your age. But don't be disrespectful to your father, Ben; no good can ever come o' that. Whatever you are, be respectful to your old father. Come, I'll tell you about it now." It will have | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588856 | been observed by this time that little Benjamin Vane was somewhat free in his converse with his father, but it must not therefore be supposed that he was really insolent. All his freedom of speech was vented in good humour, and the Captain knew that. There was, indeed, a powerful bond not only of affection but of sympa... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588857 | little delicate boy and the big strong man. They thoroughly understood each other, and between those who understand each other there may be much freedom without offence, as everybody knows. "You must understand," began the Captain, "that although the needle of the mariner's compass is said to point to the north with it... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588858 | tail, it does not do so exactly, because the magnetic poles do not coincide exactly with the geographical poles. There are two magnetic poles just as there are two geographical poles, one in the southern hemisphere, the other in the northern. D'ye understand!" "Clear as daylight, father." "Well, Benjy, the famous Arcti... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588859 | the northern magnetic pole was situated in the island of Boothia Felix, in latitude degrees seconds and longitude degrees seconds West. It was discovered by means of an instrument called the dipping needle, which is just a magnetised needle made for dipping perpendicularly instead of going round horizontally like the m... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588860 | that the amount of dip at any place on the earth's surface can be ascertained. At the magnetic equator there is no dip at all, because the needle being equally distant from the north and south magnetic poles, remains horizontal. As you travel north the needle dips more and more until it reaches the region of the north ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588861 | when it is almost perpendicular--pointing straight down. "Now, it is only on a very few places of the earth's surface that the horizontal needle points to the true north and south, and its deviation from the _earth's_ pole in its determination to point to the _magnetic_ pole is called the variation of the compass. This... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588862 | of course at different places, and must be allowed for in estimating one's exact course. In our present explorations we have got so far beyond the beaten track of travel that greater allowance than usual has to be made. In fact we have got considerably to the north of the magnetic pole. At the same time we are a good | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588863 | way to the east'ard of it, so that when I see the compass with its letter N pointing to what I know to be the magnetic north, I take our geographical position into account and steer almost due east by _compass_, for the purpose of advancing due north. D'ye see?" "I'm not so sure that I do, father. It seems | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588864 | to me something like the Irishman's pig which you pull one way when you want him to go another. However, I'll take your word for it." "That's right, my boy; when a man can't understand, he must act on faith, if he _can_, for there's no forcing our beliefs, you know. Anyhow he must be content to follow till he | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588865 | does understand; always supposing that he can trust his leader." "I'm out of my depths altogether now, father. P'r'aps we'd better change the subject. What d'ye say to try a race with Leo? His boat seems to be overhauling us." "No, no, Ben; no racing. Let us advance into the great unknown north with suitable solemnity.... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588866 | rather better than you do, uncle," shouted Leo, as his boat drew near. "That's because you're not so heavily-laden," replied the Captain, looking back; "you haven't got giants aboard, you see; moreover there's one o' you rather light-headed." "Hallo! uncle; evil communications, eh? You'd better change Benjy for Obloori... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588867 | ahead of you?" "No, lad, you mayn't. Take a reef in your regulator, and drop into your proper place." Obedient to orders, Leo pulled the regulator or check-string until the kite's position was altered so as to present less resistance to the wind, and dropped astern of the _Faith_, which was the name given by Benjy to h... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588868 | the other two being named respectively the _Hope_ and the _Charity_. The prosperous advance did not, however, last very long. Towards evening the three kites suddenly, and without any previous warning, began to dive, soar, flutter, and tumble about in a manner that would have been highly diverting if it had not been da... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588869 | of various counter-currents of air into which they had flown. The order was at once given to haul on the regulators and coil up the towing lines. It was promptly obeyed, but before a few fathoms had been coiled in, the kites again became as steady as before, with this change, however, that they travelled in a north-wes... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588870 | value of the leeboards now became apparent. These were hinged down the middle so as to fold and become small enough to stow in the bottom of each boat when not in use. When unfolded and hung over the side, they presented a surface of resistance to the water much greater than that of an ordinary boat's keel, so that | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588871 | very little leeway indeed was made. By means of the steering-oar Captain Vane kept his boat advancing straight northward, while the kite was puffing in a north-westerly direction. The kite was thus compelled by the boat also to travel due north, though of course it did so in a sidelong manner. Thus far the advance cont... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588872 | but little checked and the course unaltered, but when, an hour or two later, the wind again shifted so as to carry the kites further to the west, the pace became much slower, and the leeway, or drift to leeward, considerable. Ultimately the wind blew straight to the west, and the boats ceased to advance. "This won't do... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588873 | Leo, who was close astern of the _Faith_, "I'm drifting bodily to leeward, and making no headway at all." "Down with the tops,--I mean, the kites," shouted the Captain. "Pass the word to Alf." Accordingly, the kites were reeled in, the regulators being so pulled and eased off that they were kept just fluttering without... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588874 | however, they passed out of the wind-stratum into the region of calm which still prevailed immediately above the sea, the kites descended in an alarming manner, swaying to and fro with occasional wild swoops, which rendered it necessary to haul in on the lines and reel up with the utmost speed. Captain Vane was very su... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588875 | operation. While he hauled in the line Benjy reeled it up with exemplary speed, and the kite was finally made to descend on the boat like a cloud. When secured the locking-cross was removed, the distending-rods were folded inwards, the restraining, or what we may term the waist-band was applied, and the whole affair wa... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588876 | Gamp umbrella. Being placed in the bow of the boat, projecting over the water, it formed a not ungraceful though peculiar bowsprit, and was well out of the way. Leo and Butterface were equally successful, but poor Alf was not so fortunate. The too eager pursuit of knowledge was the cause of Alf's failure as has often b... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588877 | with others! He took on himself, as chief of his boat, the difficult and responsible task of hauling in the line,--which involved also the occasional and judicious manipulation of the regulating cord, when a sudden puff of wind should tend to send the kite soaring upwards with six or eight horse-power into the sky. To ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588878 | task of gathering in the "slack" and holding on to Alf if a sudden jerk should threaten to pull him overboard. Anders reeled up. Just as the kite was passing out of the windy region above into the calm region below Alf beheld floating near the boat a beautiful, and to him entirely new, species of marine creature of the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588879 | jelly-fish kind. With a wild desire to possess it he leaned over the boat's edge to the uttermost and stretched out his left hand, while with his right he held on to the kite! Need we say that the kite assisted him?--assisted him overboard altogether, and sent him with a heavy plunge into the sea! Ivitchuk dropped his ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588880 | stretched out both arms towards the spot where the "Kablunet" had gone down. Akeetolik roared. Anders howled, and dropped his reel. Left to itself, the kite, with characteristic indecision, made an awful swoop towards the North Pole with its right shoulder. Changing its mind, it then made a stupendous rush with its lef... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588881 | it suddenly tossed up its tail, and, coming down head foremost, went with fatal facility into the deep sea. When Alf rose and was dragged panting into the boat, his first glance was upwards,--but not in thankfulness for his preservation! "Gone!" he groaned, rising to his feet. But the kite was not gone. The word had ba... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588882 | when it rose half its length out of the water, and then fell, in melancholy inaptitude for further mischief, flat upon the sea. "Anything damaged?" asked the Captain, as he and Leo rowed their boats towards the _Charity_. "Nothing," replied Alf with a guilty look, "the stick and things seem to be all right, but it has ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588883 | "No matter," said the Captain, laughing at Alf's forlorn look, "the sun will soon dry it. So long as nothing is broken or torn, we'll get on very well. But now, boys, we must go to work with oars. There must be no flagging in this dash for the Pole. It's a neck-or-nothing business. Now, mark my orders. Although we've | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588884 | got four oars apiece, we must only work two at a time. I know that young bloods like you are prone to go straining yourselves at first, an' then bein' fit for nothing afterwards. We must keep it up steadily. Two in each boat will pull at a time for one hour, while the other two rest or sleep, and | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588885 | so on, shift about; till another breeze springs up. Don't fold it up tight, Alf. Leave it pretty slack till it is dry, and then put on its belt." "Don't you think we might have supper before taking to the oars?" suggested Leo. "I second that motion," cried Benjy. "And I support it," said Alf. "Very good, get out the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588886 | prog; an' we'll lay ourselves alongside, three abreast, as Nelson did at the Battle o' the Nile," said the Captain. Their food was simple but sufficient. Pemmican--a solid greasy nutricious compound--was the foundation. Hard biscuit, chocolate, and sugar formed the superstructure. In default of fire, these articles cou... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588887 | a patent Vesuvian of the most complete and almost miraculous nature could provide a hot meal in ten minutes. Of fresh water they had a two-weeks' supply in casks, but this was economised by means of excellent water procured from a pond in a passing berg--from which also a lump of clear ice had been hewn, wrapped in a b... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588888 | and carried into the Captain's boat as a supply of fresh water in solid form. Laying the oars across the boats to keep them together, they floated thus pleasantly on the glassy sea, bathed in midnight sunshine. And while they feasted in comfort inexpressible--to the surprise, no doubt, of surrounding gulls and puffins-... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588889 | opinion that it was the most glorious and altogether astonishing state of things that he had ever heard or dreamed of since the world began! CHAPTER THIRTEEN. A GALE AND A NARROW ESCAPE. This is a world of alternations. We need not turn aside to prove that. The calm with which the voyage of our discoverers began lasted... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588890 | days and nights, during which period they advanced sometimes slowly under oars, sometimes more or less rapidly under kites--if we may so express it--according to the state of the wind. And, during all that time the discipline of two and two--at watch, or at sleep, if not at work--was rigidly kept up. For none knew bett... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588891 | benefit of discipline, and the demoralising effect of its absence, especially in trying circumstances. It is but just to add that he had no difficulty in enforcing his laws. It is right also to state that the women were not required to conform, even although they were accustomed to hard labour and willing to work as mu... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588892 | all three boats the bow was set apart as the women's quarters, and when Toolooha, Oblooria or Tekkona showed symptoms of a desire to go to sleep--(there was no retiring for the night in these latitudes)--a blanket stretched on two oars cut their quarters off from those of the men, and maintained the dignity of the sex.... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588893 | serene aspect of nature changed. Grey clouds overspread the hitherto sunny sky. Gusts of wind came sweeping over the sea from time to time, and signs of coming storm became so evident that the Captain gave orders to make all snug and prepare for dirty weather. "You see, lads," he said, when the three boats were abreast... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588894 | had been furled, "we don't know what may happen to us now. Nobody in the world has had any experience of these latitudes. It may come on to blow twenty-ton Armstrongs instead of great guns, for all we know to the contrary. The lightning may be sheet and fork mixed instead of separate for any light we've got on the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588895 | subject, and it may rain whales and walruses instead of cats and dogs; so it behoves us to be ready." "That's true, father," said Benjy, "but it matters little to me, for I've made my will. Only I forgot to leave the top with the broken peg and the rusty penknife to Rumty Swillpipe; so if you survive me and | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588896 | get home on a whale's back--or otherwise--you'll know what to do." "This is not a time for jesting, Ben," said Alf rather seriously. "Did I say it was?" inquired Ben, with a surprised look. Alf deigned no reply, and Butterface laughed, while he and the others set about executing the Captain's orders. The arrangements m... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588897 | bad weather were very simple and complete. After the lading in each had been snugly arranged, so as to present as flat a surface on the top as possible, a waterproof sheet was drawn over all, and its edges made fast to the sides of the boat, by means of tags and loops which were easily fastened and detached. As | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588898 | each sheet overhung its boat, any water that might fall upon it was at once run off. This, of course, was merely put on to protect the cargo and any one who chose to take shelter under it. The boat being filled with air required no such sheet, because if filled to overflowing it would still have floated. All round | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012588899 | this sheet ran a strong cord for the crew, who sat outside of it as on a raft, to lay hold of if the waves should threaten to wash them off. There were also various other ropes attached to it for the same purpose, and loops of rope served for rowlocks. When all had been arranged, those whose duty it | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
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