They were empty!
The boats were gone!
In a flash he realized what had occurred. The crushing of the Polly Ann had happened in the night. Knowing that she was doomed the crew had taken to the boats, which could push a way through the drift ice and left the ship.
“Oh, the cowards! the cowards!� cried Raynor, in an agony of anger and apprehension.
The schooner was sinking under his feet and he had no means of escape. He was doomed to go to the bottom of the Arctic Sea in her without the chance to make a struggle for his life. For a few minutes he almost went mad. He rushed up and down the decks shouting and raving like a lunatic. Then he suddenly came to his senses.
He must be calm. There was nothing to be gained by losing his head. Never had he needed the cool use of all his faculties so urgently as he did now. He sat down on one of the knightheads forward and concentrated his mind on his situation.
Suddenly he sprang to his feet with a shout.
“What a blind idiot I’ve been!� he cried aloud, “the dories. I never thought of them.�
It was curious but true, that in his excitement the lad had entirely forgotten, for the time being, the half dozen dories “nested� on the after deck. Now, however, the recollection of them affected him like a tonic. He began bustling about making his preparations to leave the Polly Ann to her ocean grave.