“Straight down, I suppose?” said Steve.
“Straight down, sir? Any way,—side ways, and even upwards; for big, heavy creatures as they are, they can twist their heads round like a kitten. I daresay a walrus would get the worst of it on the ice, if the bear could once get a good hug; but when a bull has got a bear in the water, though he can swim splendidly, he is not at home there like a walrus, and this one must have had better luck than usual to get away.”
“And where is the herd now?” said Steve, looking curiously after the bear.
“Ah, gone far enough by this time, sir. The bear scared them, and they go on swimming away for miles till they forget all about the danger, and then get on the ice again.”
A hail from the captain took them to his side. He was examining the narrow rift which made its way amidst the piled-up ice, the rocks on either side having prevented its being filled up, and, following this, they made their way toward the boat, and wherever it was possible they managed to trace it pretty well, till, as Johannes had surmised, they came upon a place where the channel through the rocks was covered in, but fortunately not choked, being completely arched over for about a hundred yards.
“We must try and find our way to this in the boat to-morrow,” said Captain Marsham; “there must be a way, though we did not find it to-day.”
“It is hidden somewhere by the rocks, sir,” said Johannes: “shall we search?”
“No; they will be getting uneasy on board. I am satisfied with to-day’s work. We have found another road to the sea, one which is not blocked. But,” he added in a low voice to the doctor, “not a way out for the ship.”
They reached the boat a short time after, and plunged from the brilliant sunshine into the chill and gloom of the weird rift, along which they were rowed, listening to a good deal of splashing and echoing in the darkest part.
“Fish?” whispered Steve, for the strangeness of the gloomy chasm had an effect upon his spirits, and before he asked that question he had been busy with his imagination conjuring up all manner of strange-looking, dangerous creatures as being likely to inhabit the dark depths over which they were riding, so he turned to Johannes and said, “Fish?”