But striking a school of whales, the temptation to fill every barrel aboard had caused the captain to linger.
In an ordinary season, however, he would yet have succeeded in getting beyond the circle.
But it seemed as if the fates themselves held the north wind in their hands. It had grown in fury for weeks.
And now the cold had begun to set in.
Pack ice even showed itself, and the rigging was frozen at times, so that a block or stay could hardly be moved.
No wonder the captain was anxious.
“We must bend every sail!” he declared, “Unless we get out of here this week it is winter quarters, and——”
He did not finish the sentence.
Something like a groan escaped his lips.
But every day the wind grew stiffer and the Albatross labored harder.