Through the Air to the North Pole Part 18

"Which way are we headed?" asked Mark, making his way back to the tower where Jack was.

"Almost due west," was the reply. "About two points to the south, too."

"Then we are being driven away from the north pole," said Mark.

"We're as helpless as kittens tied up in a sack," said Andy. "If only I could do something I'd feel better. But I've got to sit here and take what comes."

The sick man stirred uneasily. Then he muttered in his delirium something about the tornado that was tossing him from side to side of the bunk.

Strangely enough there was nothing to the storm but wind. There was no rain or snow, and the air was remarkably clear, excepting for the darkness of the clouds. Aside from the way in which the ship was blown along there was nothing to indicate that the breeze was rushing along at tempest speed. There were no trees bent to the earth, and no clouds of dust. The sky clouds kept pace with the airship.

"I wonder where we are?" asked Jack, who with Mark had come back from the tower.

"We'll have to guess at it," replied Andy. "It would be as much as a man's life is worth to go outside and take an observation."

"Don't hab to do dat," broke in Washington. "See here!"

He stooped over and pulled on an iron ring that was fastened in the floor of the dining-room cabin. A section of a board came up.

"Look!" exclaimed the negro pointing down. All leaned forward and saw that a heavy plate gla.s.s had been set over a hole cut through the floor of the ship. By means of this strange window one could look directly down toward the earth. Jack kneeled and peered through the gla.s.s. He rose to his feet with a cry of fear.

"What's the matter?" asked Andy.

"We are right over the ocean!" exclaimed the boy. "I can see immense waves not three hundred feet below! The airship must be falling and we'll be dashed into the sea!"

At these words Washington ran to the engine room. He looked at the height indicator.

"We's four hundred feet in de air, an' a--we's agoin' down!" he muttered.

Jack, who had followed him, saw by the instrument what the dreadful truth was. Blown from her course, the _Monarch_ was now over an open polar sea, into which she might be dashed at any moment. The tornado still howled and roared outside, making it impossible to inflate the gas bag, so strong was the pressure of wind on it. And without a fresh supply of gas, the ship must fall.

There was no abatement to the tornado. The ship was tossed more violently than ever. Jack peered through the floor-window again.

"We are nearer the water!" he exclaimed as he arose. "The sea is covered with icebergs. They are crashing together in the big waves. If we fall the ship will be ground to pieces in the floes!"

"Try the gas machine again!" urged Andy. "Maybe the wind has lessened."

Washington started the machine. He kept one eye on the needle of the indicator that told the gas pressure in the bag, and the other on the height register. The black pointer of the latter went lower and lower.

It was now at one hundred, and kept on going down slowly, until it stood at seventy-five. Soon only sixty-five feet stood between the airship and her pa.s.sengers, and the angry, swirling water beneath, where the icebergs crashed and ground together.

Then Washington, who was ready to faint with fear and despair, gave a cry of joy. He had noticed that the height indicator stopped. At the same time the gas register showed that the vapor from the machine was entering the bag.

"Glory! Glory!" cried the negro. "We's saved now. De ship is goin' up, and the gas is workin' in. De wind must be goin' down!"

Then, while all save Professor Henderson, who was still unconscious, crowded into the engine room, they saw that what Washington said was true. The pressure of the wind had lessened, permitting the bag to fill with the gas. This served to lift the ship, and the pointer on the height indicator began to move upward. Higher and higher went the craft, until in a few minutes the register showed six hundred feet. They had been saved from death in the sea.

"Hurrah!" cried Jack. "I believe the tornado has left us!"

Indeed the roaring of the wind was less now. The ship was no longer violently tossed. In a few minutes the wind died away almost completely, and, aside from the rising motion, and a slight swaying, the _Monarch_ rode on an even keel. The danger was over.

"Is the ship safe?" called Professor Henderson from his bunk.

"All safe!" exclaimed the hunter cheerfully. "We had a little blow, but it is all over, and the _Monarch_ behaved like the King she is--or, perhaps I ought to say Queen, seeing that all ships are ladies. But how do you feel, professor?"

"I am much better," was the answer, showing that the medicine had done its work. "I feel hungry," he went on. "What time is it?"

"Six o'clock," answered Jack, looking at the dial.

"Night or morning?"

"Morning, I guess."

"Then we'll have breakfast," said the professor with a smile.

He stepped from the bunk. As he did so there was a sudden lurch to the ship. Then it began to sink suddenly.

"We are going down!" cried the captain. "What has happened?"

"The gas bag is leaking again!" shouted Washington from the engine room.

CHAPTER XV

PRISONERS OF THE ESQUIMAUX

The hearts of all were filled with new terror. They had just come safely through one danger only to fall into another.

The professor limped to the engine room. A glance confirmed his fears.

The gas was escaping from the bag in large quant.i.ties.

"I am afraid the patch we put on has come loose," he said. "The tornado must have unfastened it. Are we over land or sea?" he asked anxiously.

Jack hurried to where the sheet of thick gla.s.s was set into the floor of the cabin. He peered down toward the ground.

"We are over land, or, at least, a big ice field," he said, looking up."

We must have crossed some arm of the sea, or, perhaps, a bay." Then, as he looked down through the window again, he gave a frightened start.

"There are people below us!" he cried. "I can see hundreds of them! They are waiting for us to land!"

The ship was fast settling, and, because of that fact, and for the reason that the propeller was sending it ahead, the _Monarch_ was approaching the ice at a sharp angle.

"Stop the engines!" commanded the professor. "Our only hope is in coming down easily. If we strike the ice hard we are lost!"

Lower and lower sank the _Monarch_, like a bird with a broken wing. In a few minutes there came a sudden jar that told the ship had struck the ice. Then, with a swish and rustle the silk bag, emptied of gas fell on the roof of the cabins. The _Monarch_ had come down between two big hummocks of ice, and rested almost in a level position.

The adventurers peered from the windows. At first they could see nothing but a vast expanse of frozen whiteness. Then the ship, in an instant, seemed to be surrounded by men, women and children, all dressed in furs, only their faces showing.