--a long and tedious
task under the circumstances.

Very little was said, very little heard but the roar of the furnace; but
every now and then the pieces of spar creaked and groaned with the
pressure upon them, and twice over there was a sharp splitting sound and
a splash as a huge piece of the floe fell away, raising such a wave that
the _Hvalross_ swayed over as she rose and fell.

Captain Marsham paced the deck anxiously, and Steve had the doctor for
companion, but they only spoke in whispers of the risk they ran.

"What I fear is," said the latter, "that with this grinding together a
great piece may split off and fall over upon our deck."

"Not high enough," said Steve decisively. "If a piece did break away,
it could only give us a heavy push, and might do good."

But, all the same, as he spoke he felt that he would rather that good
were not done, and contrived that in their walks about the deck they
should be able to peer down into the engine-room, where the men were
stoking and raking the fire to make it roar more fiercely, knowing, as
they did, that once they could get up steam a very few turns of the
screw would back them away from their icy enemy and make all safe.

"The first taste of the perils of the arctic sea, Steve," said the
doctor quietly. "What would it have been if we had been going full
speed and struck on this mass of ice!"

"We shouldn't have been going full speed," replied Steve
confidently,--"not in a fog; and I suppose we should have had some
warning, as we did a little while ago."

"Little while ago!" said the doctor; "it was hours!"

The intense excitement of the time had made it seem so short.

And all the while the roar of the fire kept on, the great tree of smoke
spread more and more over the cold mist and darkened the air, till it
appeared as if they were going to have real night once more instead of
the light into which they had sailed. But still the steam was not
available, and after one long grinding crash Captain Marsham gave orders
which resulted in bags of biscuit, tins of meat, and casks of water
being placed in the two largest boats; after which, as if from a sudden
thought, he ordered some blankets to be added.

"I say," whispered Steve to the doctor, after watching these proceedings
for some time, "how long will it take us to row to the nearest port?"

"To Hammerfest, my lad? Don't ask me."

There was another grinding, rending noise, as the great ice-floe
revo