The Explorer’s ram was a powerful one, and well calculated to cut its way through any field of ice.
The darky, in his desperate state of mind, failed to foresee any disastrous consequences.
It only seemed to him as extremely necessary to get out of the ice trap.
Accordingly he selected a wall of ice beyond which he believed lay the open sea.
Then drawing the Explorer back full forty feet, Pomp set the ram for the ice wall.
The next moment the impact came.
It was tremendous, considering the distance allowed for momentum.
For a moment Pomp thought the world was coming to an end.
The ram drove a great hole into the ice wall, and gave the berg a shock, which seemed for a moment terrible in its results.
Tons of ice fell to the bed of the sea, the berg shifted its position full five feet, tearing up the bed of the ocean.