THE STORMY RETURN CRUISE 



gone to the bottom and the motor in consequence 

 had been racing hard. We were now at the mercy 

 of the wind. Peary soon came back and quietly 

 took up his hand in the game as though nothing had 

 happened. 



There were other serious sides of this accident. 

 Our supply of water was quite limited and Cap- 

 tain Bob at once issued orders that the amount of 

 water for each washing must be strictly limited to 

 a small cupful. 



Before breakfast next morning all hands were 

 called on deck to hoist the mainsail in a light north- 

 erly wind. Our course is set to the southwest to- 

 ward the coast of Labrador, where during the 

 month of September the winds are prevailingly 

 westerly. With winds off shore it should be 

 possible for us to make headway in our crippled 

 condition. 



Two days after the propeller was lost we ran into 

 a full gale, and the barometer dropped from 30.01 

 to 29.36 inches. Seas came aboard and several of 

 us received duckings when going up the forecastle 

 gangway. Two of the crew, Jim and Ralph, had 

 to jump into the shrouds to escape a particularly 

 heavy sea. Church was thrown down near the 

 pantry and received a cut on his head. Toward 

 morning of the eleventh of September the storm 



97 



