First at the North Pole Part 34

"Beats moose hunting, doesn't it, Andy?"

"Rather. By the way, Chet, I'd like to know how my Uncle Si is making out."

"He ought to be up here. Phew! wouldn't he complain of the cold! It was 38 below zero this morning!"

"I know it, and Professor Jeffer says it will be colder than that before long."

They had to guard carefully against the cold, for it would have been an easy matter to have an ear or one's nose frostbitten. As it was, one of the sailors had a big toe "nipped" by the frost, and suffered greatly because of it. The boys found it unwise even to touch anything metallic with a bare hand, for fear the member would get "burnt" or cling fast.

It was late in November that something happened which disturbed the party not a little. Late in the day, while Andy and Chet were dozing in their bunks, they not having anything to do, there came a curious grinding sound from the sides of the _Ice King_.

"What is that?" asked Andy, as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Bless me if I know," responded Chet. "Let us go on deck and see."

They donned their fur coats and mitts, and ran out on the deck just as the grinding increased. They found Captain Williamson and Barwell Dawson engaged in earnest conversation.

"It's the ice pack," explained the explorer. "It is closing in on us."

"Closing in!" cried Andy. "Why, it's as close in now as it can get!"

"Not quite," was the grim reply.

"Why, do you mean----" Andy stopped short.

"Isn't the _Ice King_ strong enough to stand the pressure?" questioned Chet.

"The steamer is braced to stand a great deal. But this ice has an enormous power," replied Captain Williamson. "If it comes against us too strongly, it may crush the ship like an eggsh.e.l.l."

At first the commander could think of nothing to do to relieve the vessel, but presently it was suggested that the ice be chopped away from the bow and one side in a slanting direction. All hands, including the boys, went at the work, with picks, and crowbars, and spades.

It was a fight against nature and the elements, and never did men and boys work harder. As they labored, the ice of the vast pack continued to move closer to the ship, causing the _Ice King_ to groan and crack in every timber.

"If she breaks, jump for your lives!" cried Captain Williamson. He was more anxious than words can describe, yet he managed to keep cool, and directed the work as well as he was able.

By night the ice had been chopped away to the depth of a foot and a half the entire length of the vessel. Then the wind, which had been blowing strongly from one direction, shifted to another, and the pressure on the vessel let up a little.

"I think we are safe for the present," said the captain. "All hands can rest for a few hours. But come in a hurry if I blow the whistle."

Utterly exhausted by their labors, the boys went to their stateroom and threw themselves down to rest. Both fell asleep instantly, and it seemed to Andy that he had not slept more than five minutes when Chet shook him.

"On deck!" cried the former. "The whistle is blowing!"

They had been asleep five hours, and the rest had refreshed them greatly. They hurried again to the deck, and as they did so they felt the _Ice King_ tremble from stem to stern.

"I'd rather be outside than in--if she is going to be crushed," said Andy, in a voice he tried in vain to steady. He well knew what it would mean to be cast away in the Arctic regions without a ship.

Again everybody was set to work to cut away the ice at the side and the bow of the _Ice King_. Small holes were drilled, and cartridges exploded in them to help the work along. In the meantime the crashing of the ice pack continued, as the wind, having changed to its former course, drove the great white ma.s.s tighter and tighter against the vessel.

"I am afraid the ship is doomed!" cried Professor Jeffer. He was laboring as well as his years permitted.

"A little deeper!" cried Captain Williamson. "And throw all the coal on deck overboard!"

The coal added considerable to the weight of the ship, and when this was deposited on the ice, the vessel's draught was lessened by several inches. With a straining and cracking she came up, and then the work of cutting the ice at her side continued.

By noon, the prospect of clearing the _Ice King_ was almost hopeless.

The interior timbers were cracking, and one had snapped in twain. To prevent a conflagration, the fires were put out, and the lamps also extinguished.

"Another hour will tell the tale," said Barwell Dawson, almost sadly. "A little more pressure, and if she doesn't come up she will be smashed as flat as a pancake!"

Captain Williamson was now trying to raise the vessel by means of steel cables slipped under the bow and stern. The cable ends on the ice pack side were fastened down by crowbars set in deep holes, and the other ends were hauled as near taut as possible by means of temporary windla.s.ses.

"I believe we'll make it!" cried the captain, presently. "Now then, one more turn on the cables!"

The windla.s.ses groaned and twisted, and then, of a sudden, one broke from its fastenings and hit the side of the ship, letting the steel cable slip down into the water. This allowed the bow to rise and the stern to go down.

"The ice pack is moving!" yelled one man. "It's coming in for all it is worth! The _Ice King_ is doomed!"

CHAPTER XXII

THROUGH THE LONG NIGHT

The crashing and cracking sounds which rent the air seemed to justify the man's cry. It was true the ice pack was being driven in sharply by the wind, which had greatly increased during the past hour. It pressed on the side of the ship with telling force, and all those outside heard several timbers give way inside and collapse.

But just at the crucial moment the work the men had been doing proved its worth. The ice began to crack and split a little deeper down, and suddenly the _Ice King_ gave a start upward.

"I think she is coming up!" cried Dr. Slade, and even as he spoke the steamer rose up higher as part of the ice pack got under the hull. Then came a swishing sound, some water spurted up into the air, and the vessel came up still higher, while the ice appeared to close in solidly under the keel.

"Saved!" roared Captain Williamson, and his face showed his relief.

"Are you sure?" asked Andy, anxiously.

"Yes, my lad. The _Ice King_ is now riding on top of the ice instead of between it. Any additional move of the ice pack will simply force us upward."

"She may tip over on her side!" cried Chet.

"We can easily guard against that, Chet. Yes, we are saved, and I am mighty glad of it."

"And so am I," added Barwell Dawson.

The grinding of the ice pack continued for several days, and the vessel was squeezed several inches higher. But the pressure on the side was gone completely, and the ship's carpenter was set to work to repair the damage done. One of the timbers running across the boys' stateroom had been snapped in twain, and the lads viewed the wreckage in deep concern.

"If we had been sleeping in here when that happened, we might have been killed," said Chet, and his chum agreed with him.