The Norseman answered the hail, and came quickly aft, after laying down his pole.
“Can you get up to the crow’s-nest, and make a few observations?”
The man looked up at the ice-hardened rigging, and his eyebrows contracted a little.
“Yes,” he said. “Shall I take a glass?”
“There!” cried Steve quickly.
“You shall go,” said the captain. “I will send him instead, Johannes.”
The man’s quiet, stolid manner passed away in an instant.
“It is dangerous for the boy, sir,” he said. “The rigging is all ice.”
“Yes, but I’m going to be very careful, Johannes,” cried Steve. “Let me see; can’t I sling the glass somehow?”
“Don’t take that,” said the captain. “Go to the cabin and fetch my large binocular in its case. You can sling that over your shoulder.”