The colossal bergs, which stretched like well-known land-marks over the
sea, were their guides at first; but after travelling ten hours without
halting, they had passed the greater number of those with which they
were familiar, and entered upon an unknown region. Here it became
necessary to use the utmost caution. They knew that the lost men must
be within twenty miles of them, but they had no means of knowing the
exact spot, and any footprints that had been made were now obliterated.
In these circumstances Captain Guy had to depend very much on his own
sagacity.
Clambering to the top of a hummock, he observed a long stretch of level
floe to the northward.
"I think it likely," he remarked to Saunders, who had accompanied him,
"that they may have gone in that direction. It seems an attractive road
among this chaos of ice-heaps."
"I'm no sure o' that," objected Saunders; "yonder's a pretty clear road
away to the west, maybe they took that."
"Perhaps they did, but as Fred said they had gone far out on the ice _to
the north_, I think it likely they've gone in _that_ direction."
"Maybe ye're right, sir, and maybe ye're wrang," answered Saunders, as
they returned to the party. As this was the second mate's method of
intimating that he _felt_ that he ought to give in (though he didn't
give in, and never would give in _absolutely_), the captain felt more
confidence in his own opinion.
Pages:
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273