Very little was said, very little heard but the roar of the furnace; but every now and then the pieces of spar creaked and groaned with the pressure upon them, and twice over there was a sharp splitting sound and a splash as a huge piece of the floe fell away, raising such a wave that the Hvalross swayed over as she rose and fell.
Captain Marsham paced the deck anxiously, and Steve had the doctor for companion, but they only spoke in whispers of the risk they ran.
“What I fear is,” said the latter, “that with this grinding together a great piece may split off and fall over upon our deck.”
“Not high enough,” said Steve decisively. “If a piece did break away, it could only give us a heavy push, and might do good.”
But, all the same, as he spoke he felt that he would rather that good were not done, and contrived that in their walks about the deck they should be able to peer down into the engine-room, where the men were stoking and raking the fire to make it roar more fiercely, knowing, as they did, that once they could get up steam a very few turns of the screw would back them away from their icy enemy and make all safe.
“The first taste of the perils of the arctic sea, Steve,” said the doctor quietly. “What would it have been if we had been going full speed and struck on this mass of ice!”
“We shouldn’t have been going full speed,” replied Steve confidently,—“not in a fog; and I suppose we should have had some warning, as we did a little while ago.”
“Little while ago!” said the doctor; “it was hours!”
The intense excitement of the time had made it seem so short.
And all the while the roar of the fire kept on, the great tree of smoke spread more and more over the cold mist and darkened the air, till it appeared as if they were going to have real night once more instead of the light into which they had sailed. But still the steam was not available, and after one long grinding crash Captain Marsham gave orders which resulted in bags of biscuit, tins of meat, and casks of water being placed in the two largest boats; after which, as if from a sudden thought, he ordered some blankets to be added.