“Pipe down there, Lee!” ordered the captain sharply. “Don’t go screaming that way to all hands like a scared old woman. You’re an experienced seaman; if you’ve got any report to make, make it to me as if you were one! Come up here!”
Lee, white and shaking, climbed up the bridge ladder, his wound-weakened hips threatening to collapse under him. The captain beckoned me, then faced Lee.
“What is it now, Lee?”
“Her seams are opening below, sir! The sides are giving way!”
“Is that all?” asked De Long bruskly. “What are you frightened at then? Here, Melville; lay below with him and find out what’s wrong!”
With the reluctant Lee following, I climbed down into the fireroom. There was no water there.
“What in hell’s the matter with you, Lee?” I asked angrily. “Do you want to shame me and the whole black gang for cowards? What set you off?”
“Look there, chief!” cried the agitated machinist. He led me into the starboard side bunker. We were well below the waterline. The air there was so full of flying coal dust it was difficult to breathe, and as the ship thumped against the ice outside, new clouds of dust continuously rose from our panting sides. “Look at that! She’s going fast!” yelled Lee, indicating with his torch. I looked.
The closely-fitted seams in the thick layer of planking forming our inner skin had sprung apart an inch or more, and as we watched, these cracks opened and closed like an accordion with startling frequency; but outboard of that layer we had a double thickness of heavy planking which constituted our outer shell, and though I could see traces of oakum squeezing out of the seams there, that outer planking, pressed by the ice hard in against the massive timbers of our ribs and trusses, was holding beautifully and there were no leaks.
“Keep your head next time, Lee,” I advised gruffly as I came out of the bunker. “We’re doing fine! Now mind that distiller, and don’t salt up the water!” Blinking my eyes rapidly to clear them of coal dust, I climbed on deck to inform the captain that there was no cause for alarm—yet.