Crusoes of the Frozen North/chapter3
CHAPTER III
Two little girls, one little boy, and one little dog, all as black as chimney-sweeps, the girls with their arms in the air, now came wildly racing aft.
Tom himself, come back to life, was standing on the capstan waving his cap in the air, and cheering and laughing like a mad thing.
Aralia and Pansy reached the quarter-deck before anyone could say "knife", and, black as they were, sprang right into Captain Staysail's arms, hugging him and kissing him.
"What!—what!—what!—" He tried to get out a sentence, but failed.
"Oh, I was so frightened, Unky dear, but I is so happy now!" cried Pansy.
"Bless my soul and body," cried Staysail at last, "how did all this happen?"
Then he went forward a few paces, the little ones clinging to him all the time, and Veevee racing round the deck like a live muff.
"Tom, you young rascal, jump down here at once. This is all your work. Now, give a full account of it, sir."
"Oh, I do hope, Uncle, you'll forgive me, but Frank and little Pansy and Aralia did want to come with us so much, that—that—!"
"That you took them as stowaways, eh?"
"I'm afraid that's it, sir."
The captain pretended to be awfully angry, and said he would put about and land the lot at Aberdeen.
"In the meantime, go below, children, and get yourselves washed; the steward will see to you. Steward!"
"Ay, ay, sir, I'se heah, sah."
"Let Miss Aralia and Pansy have that spare cabin near mine. I'll talk to you afterwards, Tom."
Tom hung his head in sorrow—so it seemed,—but it really was to hide a smile.
He got near enough to his sisters to say: "Keep up your pecker, Pansy, for there won't be any Aberdeen about it."
In the spare cabin stood a big box that nobody had noticed before. Tom had smuggled it on board, and it contained his sisters' best things, and a full rig-out for them for the Arctic regions.
Sly old Tom!
He now stole into their cabin and gave them their clothes, and when Staysail came down to dinner at twelve, with his spy-glass under his arm, no wonder he cried: "Hillo! Hillo!"
For here were the three children, all mirth and smiles, seated beside Pete, and Tom, with head bowed down, waiting to take his seat.
"Hillo! Hillo! But what will your father and mother think, my dears?"
"Oh," cried Tom, "we made that all right! Father gave his consent, and he'll easily manage Mother."
"Steward!" shouted the captain, and Jake came running. "Put the other half-leaf in the table to-night, and lay covers for three more, for these young ragamuffins must mess with us in future."
There was no more word about ghosts now, and the kind professor forgave the Finlander. He was set free and sent to duty, and now for weeks and weeks there wasn't a much happier vessel afloat than the brave ship Valhalla bound for the Frozen North.
The two dogs became great friends, but, strangely enough, both disliked Broomberg, and kept out of his way whenever they could. Once, indeed, when the man bent down to stroke Veevee, Briton stood guard over his little friend and growled.
"Hands off!" the mastiff seemed to say, "hands off till we know more about you!"
Of course Uncle was chief favourite with the children, but all the three of them came to like the little professor very much indeed. He was with them nearly all day long. Tom was usually very busy; so, too, was Uncle Staysail; and though it must not be thought that Pete was an idle man, for he had much to study, still he always found time to romp and play with Aralia, Pansy, and the two dogs.
Though the weather grew colder for a time, it was all one long, long summer's day. For in the Arctic regions the sun never sets for at least three months, but just goes round and round, blazing high in the south at mid-day, and lower in the north at midnight. Indeed, in these seas, if you were not to look at the clock, you could not really tell whether it was night or day.
Every evening now the little party gathered round the large stove, on which a copper urn of coffee was always gently simmering. Then the professor told his strangest stories, with perhaps Pansy on his knee, and Aralia lying on the hearth-rug with the dogs. Most of his yarns were about the Frozen North, its dangers and perils, its joys and pleasures.
"And shall we see all these strange sights?" Pansy used to ask.
"Yes, dear, and many more than these, because I mean to give you a treat if you are good and don't get your fingers frozen."
One day great lumps of white snow-clad ice came floating by, and that same evening the crow's-nest was hoisted high, high up at the very top of the main-mast. The crow's-nest was like a big barrel with a lid at the bottom, Pansy said, and Tom, or the mate, used to climb and crawl through the bottom, and stand, spy-glass in hand, and look all about them.
"Oh," cried Pansy one day, "shouldn't I like to get up just once! Wouldn't you, Ara?"
"But we could never climb up," sighed her sister.
The clever professor heard them, and lo and behold! the very next day he had a kind of easy-chair ready for them to go up in. He himself sat down in it with the children, and up they were hoisted, up and up. It was so fearsome that the girls shut their eyes and clung to Pete, but when they did open them what a sight they saw!
They were not far off the main pack, and as far as the eye could see was one vast field of snow-covered ice. Their eyes were dazzled in looking at it.
They were not in the crow's-nest, but close beside it, and Pete made them look through the spy-glass. This was wonderful, for away yonder to the north, and near to the edge of the pack, where the sea looked as black as ink, they could see four great ships, with their crews on the ice, shooting seals and dragging skins. But in two hours' time the Valhalla herself got north as far as these ships, and was stopped.
Neither of the girls felt cold, for they wore great mits and hoods, and were altogether as snug as mice.
Then a boat was lowered, and when they looked down they could see Tom himself get in with shooting-clothes on and a great rifle in his hand. He waved his cap to them, and Pansy cried: "Hoo-lay!" The boat pulled away and soon touched the ice; Tom sprang nimbly on shore, and before long he could be seen only as a little black dot on that dazzling plain of snow. Then he was observed to stop and kneel down while some huge monster, yellowish-white in colour, came rushing towards him.
Aralia must have the glass now.
"Oh, the bear! the bear!" she cried in grief. "It is going to kill Tom. Oh! oh! oh! my brother Tom!"
"Let me see! let me see!" screamed Pansy.
"Look now!" said Aralia with a smile. "Isn't Tom brave?"
Tom was indeed. For Pansy could now see the monster lying dead, and Tom leaning on his gun, and once more waving his cap. Then men came up and skinned the bear, and dragged the head and hide and paws to the ship.
Tom was a splendid shot, and this was his first bear. When he came aboard, his sisters met him with pleasure, although with tears in their eyes, for he had run a great risk.
A day or two after this, when still farther north, the children had had their first run upon the ice. It was all so strange, and the ice was so white, that they felt very giddy for a time. But the professor held Pansy, and Tom walked by Aralia.
The whole ice-pack seemed one vast plain, like a bleak moorland in winter, only with little hillocks of ice here and there called hummocks, for the flat pieces of ice were all frozen hard together, and Ara wondered where "Greenland's icy mountains" had all got to.
There were no bears about to-day, and no seals, only the sea-birds that went wheeling and screaming about them in thousands. When they got back to the ship it was dinner-time, and both were snow-blind. The black steward carried them down and seated them at table, but it was quite half an hour before they could see.
Although the ship was now kept well away from the ice-pack, they could often see vessels far in through frozen ice, but busy, busy at their terrible work. Sometimes Tom and the mate would have a boat lowered, and would set off bear-hunting. One day Tom brought home a young seal. It was such a beauty, with soft eyes and long, warm, fluffy hair. It was so small that even Pansy could carry it a little way in her arms.
"Oh, do let us have it for a pet!" cried Aralia, and her uncle consented. So they called the seal "Flossy", and warmed frozen milk for it—great stores of which had been taken on board,—and fed it with a spoon, and soon the wee thing knew Pansy, and used to crawl and waddle after her.
The dogs didn't know what to make of Flossy at first, and Briton used to roll it all round the deck with his big nose; but Flossy rather liked this. But one day, when Briton tried to lift it up by the tail, it struck him a slap with its flipper that could be heard from stem to stern.
"Take that," Flossy seemed to say, "and leave my tail alone!"
The vessel was now kept farther to the east, and every day they passed between great patches of ice, big pieces of which kept striking the ship with such a noise that when anyone wanted to be heard he had to shout aloud.
The professor was very busy now, taking soundings almost every day, and doing all kinds of clever work that even Tom, smart as he was, couldn't understand. But in the evenings he still played with the children, or amused them by showing them, through magnifying-glasses, some of the wonderful things he had brought up from the bottom of the ocean.
It was all very strange and beautiful, and the children were enchanted. But their greatest treat was when he brought some little glass tanks containing forms of animal life they had never seen before, and were never tired of watching. Only Professor Pete didn't—because he said he couldn't—bring them out every night.