The course of the Jetta was accordingly set in that direction. On account of the increasing amount of ice, it was deemed safest to run at a moderate rate of speed so that three hours elapsed before the old sailor announced that they had reached approximately the locality sought for. Meanwhile Walter continued to sweep the sea with the glasses and discovered a large iceberg off to the southwest and several smaller ones to the east and northeast.
“That’s a whopper off there,” declared Det, as he gazed through the glasses at the largest one. “I think we’d better make toward it. The wireless messages mentioned a big iceberg near the wreck, you say.”
“Do you think that’s the one?” inquired Tony.
“More’n likely. You see, the wreck happened about here, and the wind is from the north. So it couldn’t ’a’ been any of those to the east or northeast.”
“But what’s the use following the iceberg?” Tony asked. “The wind wouldn’t blow them in that direction unless they had a sail.”
“That’s true; but what’s to have prevented them from rigging up a sail? Anyway, it’s the most likely direction for them to take as it’s toward home. I’ve got an idea that if we find anybody at all, we’ll find ’em on the other side o’ that berg.”
The element of doubt in Det’s words, made Walter gloomy. The vision of so much sea with nothing else in sight but ice and icebergs and a birdless sky rendered him the more susceptible of hopelessness.
“If we find anything—” he began, and then stopped. He had had in mind to conclude the sentence, “it’ll be dead bodies,” but a lump came up in his throat, and he could go no further.
And before they had proceeded much farther, his fear was realized. Presently Walter’s glasses brought to his vision numerous small dark objects on the water, and in less than half an hour they were moving among half a hundred human bodies buoyed up with life jackets.
There was little conversation now on board the Jetta. Tony, utterly discouraged, remained in the engine room most of the time. Walter and Det looked at each other with dull, heavy eyes. Must they examine all those bodies, or many of them, until they discovered the one whom they had come to rescue?