But, if the propeller no longer urged the ship on, the force of the wind sent it ahead at a fearful pace. The gale careened the Monarch from side to side. Now the bow would be elevated, and, again, the stern. It was like a ship on a rough sea, and the occupants of the craft were tossed from side to side, receiving many bruises.
Old Andy was tied into his bunk, or he never could have stayed there, so violent was the motion.
"Where is Dirola?" asked Mr. Henderson suddenly.
"She was out on the stern a while ago," answered Bill. "She was saying something about it being too hot for her inside. That was before the storm came up."
"We must see to her," said the captain. "She must come inside. The motion of the ship may toss her off!"
Bill volunteered to go out and bring the Esquimaux woman in. It was all he could do to open the door, so strong was the pressure of wind on it.
When he did swing it back such a cloud of snow entered that it seemed as if some one had emptied a feather bed in the cabin.
"She don't want to come in," Bill reported when, after much exertion, he had made his way back again. "She is laughing at this storm, and says it's like what they have where she came from. She is braced against the cabin, and is wrapped up in furs. I guess she is all right."
"I suppose we must let her have her way," remarked Amos Henderson.
"After all she may be used to it."
In anxiousness and apprehension the voyagers waited for the storm to cease. But it showed no signs of abating. More and more violently rocked the Monarch.