IN THE ICE 



127 



and a bowline at the end of it was slipped over 

 a hummock of ice. With the inboard end 

 wound around the windlass^ all hands worked 

 like beavers to heave the brig out of her dan- 

 gerous position. It was all the crew could do 

 to swing the windlass bars up and down. The 

 ship went forward slowly, almost imperceptibly, 

 and all the time the great bergs swept closer 

 and closer. For a long time it looked as if we 

 were doomed. There was no doubt about the 

 ship's fate if the bergs struck it. But inch by 

 inch, heave by heave, we hauled her through. 

 Ten minutes later, the ice monsters came to- 

 gether with a force that would have crushed an 

 ironclad. 



Gradually patches of clear water began to 

 appear in the ice. It was as though the white 

 fields were opening great blue eyes. Little 

 lakes and zigzag lanes of water formed. Sails 

 were set. The brig began to work her way 

 along. Soon she was swinging on heavy bil- 

 lows — not white billows of ice but green billows 

 of water, thick with ice in stars and constella- 

 tions. 



