“Maybe it will sink us,” said another, with a serious shake of his head. Then they muttered among themselves, and cast ugly glances at Andy and Chet.
“Too bad,” whispered Chet to his chum. “If I had known the sailors would take it so seriously, I’d not have shot those geese.”
“Oh, the affair will soon blow over,” was Andy’s answer. But his surmise did not prove correct.
In the morning the boys heard that the Ice King had sprung several leaks. The captain had had the well-hole sounded, and had ordered the pumps started.
“The icebergs and the floating cakes did it,” said Barwell Dawson. “I was hopeful we would escape, but it seems not.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Andy.
“I don’t know yet—we’ll see how bad the leaks are.”
The ship’s carpenter was below, examining the seams, and now Captain Williamson and Barwell Dawson joined him. A thorough examination was effected, and when the party came on deck again they were talking earnestly.
“It’s pretty bad, I guess,” said Andy to Chet.
A consultation took place in the cabin, between the captain and the explorer, and at the conclusion the course of the vessel was changed.