He was a favorite with the crew and brave as a lion.
But his face now was a trifle pale. He realized the danger of their position quite as well as did Captain Hardy.
He was not thinking of his own safety, but of those aboard the ship and their prospective fate as well as the peril of a certain very charming young lady on board. No other than Lucille Hardy, the captain’s daughter.
The captain had yielded against his will to Lucille’s pleadings to be allowed to come on the voyage.
He knew better than she did the mighty risk involved.
But he had finally yielded, it was true that Lucille was the light of the ship. The crew to a man worshipped and revered her.
Two years under the Southern Cross was a long while to remain away from home.
But Lucille had been happy even in the monotonous routine of ship life.
Now, however, when the prospect of being compelled to spend another winter in frozen latitudes confronted him Captain Hardy wished devoutly that he had left her at home.
All this prospect, so dreadful, might have been averted had they started a month earlier for home.