THE RESCUE 93 



They watched with anxious eyes as the ships manoeuvred 

 through a group of icebergs. Then suddenly from the 

 leading ship came a puff of smoke and in a few seconds 

 they heard the sound of a cannon rumbling through the 

 crisp air. 



'They have seen us!' cried one and at once a hoarse 

 cheer went up from the ragged little group. 



The commodore of the fleet now bore in their direction 

 followed by three other ships from the line. 



Soon boats were seen being lowered from the sterns of 

 the vessels which now lay to the wind while their craft 

 approached the ice. 



'Haul away on the boat, lads,' cried Macy, 'for we'll 

 never make the edge of this cursed ice without it. Rope 

 yourselves together in two lines on either side. You 

 Oakley, jump into the boat.' 



'With your permission, Mr. Macy. I'll join with the 

 others,' said Jonathan. 



'Have it your way, son, but don't let go of the gunwale 

 of that boat because if you fall into this water it'll freeze 

 your blood solid in a few minutes.' 



Jonathan roped himself between Joseph and Chimoo 

 and slung his canvas bag into the boat. They pulled 

 the boat over the floes and when they came to gaps 

 between them they launched it, paddled it across still on 

 its sledge runners and hauled it up on to the next one. 

 Never had the lightness of the American whaleboat been 

 so appreciated as it was then by the men of the Pilgrim. 



They reached the edge of the ice without losing another 

 single man. 



As he tumbled into one of the waiting Dutch boats 

 Jonathan heard words spoken in a foreign tongue and 

 felt strong arms enclose him. A beaker touched his lips 

 and a fiery liquid trickled down his throat and set his 

 stomach on fire. His head touched the hard boards on 

 the floor of a boat and then he knew no more. 



