John Ranworth was standing with Captain Stormleigh under the break of the poop. His arm was in a sling, his face was pale and pinched, but the resolute look in his eyes was the same as ever. His indomitable spirit rose above bodily injuries. Rightly or wrongly, he was firmly resolved to take charge of the Bird of Freedom in her second dash to Observation Camp.
"Good morning, lads," he exclaimed cheerily. "I thought you would raise no objection to accompanying me. We're taking a strong crew this time. There's Symonds, Purvis, Johnson, and Wilson."
The lads knew the men by name. They were all deck hands. Ranworth, out of consideration for the good service already performed by the lads, had refused the eager requests of some of the ship's officers to take part in the second rescue expedition.
If the next attempt were completely successful, the Bird of Freedom would have to carry fifteen on the return journey; for, in addition to her new crew, numbering seven, there were five Russians, two members of Claude Ranworth's party, and O'Donovan.
Before the sleigh set out on its errand, glasses were brought to bear upon the seaward end of the glacier.
It was found that, following the breaking away of of the ice, which had all but sealed the fate of the Bird of Freedom, a comparatively easy gradient had been formed about eighty yards to the left of the spot where the sleigh had taken the water. Moreover, the ice appeared of a bluish tint, which meant that it was stronger and not so liable to break as the white ice.
Ranworth, in order to save his arm from additional injury, had taken his place in the cabin of the sleigh when the Bird of Freedom was lowered over the side by means of the derrick.
Leslie and Guy and the four seamen promptly clambered on board, and since there was very little motion, the task of disengaging the span hooks was a simple matter.
Amidst the good wishes of the rest of the Polarity's crew, expressed in the old-fashioned way of giving three rousing cheers, the sleigh gathered speed and steered for the selected landing-place on the glacier.
Although the wind was still blowing freshly from the nor'-west, the Bird of Freedom made rapid progress. Without a hitch she surmounted the glacier and gained the open ground beyond.