CHAPTER VI. VOICES FROM THE POLAR SEAS
Although Sammy Block and his companions were not only far up among themysteries of the region of everlasting ice, and were sunk out of sight,so that their vessel had become one of these mysteries, it was stillperfectly possible for them to communicate, by means of the telegraphicwire which was continually unrolling astern, with people all over theworld. But this communication was a matter which required great judgmentand caution, and it had been a subject of very careful consideration byRoland Clewe.
When he had returned to Cape Tariff, after parting with the Dipsey, hehad received several messages from Sammy, which assured him that thesubmarine voyage was proceeding satisfactorily. But when he went onboard the Go Lightly and started homeward, he would be able to hearnothing more from the submarine voyagers until he reached St. John's,Newfoundland--the first place at which his vessel would touch. Ofcourse constant communication with Sardis would be kept up, but thiscommunication might be the source of great danger to the plans of RolandClewe. Whatever messages of importance came from the depths of thearctic regions he wished to come only to him or to Mrs. Raleigh. He hadcontrived a telegraphic cipher, known only to Mrs. Raleigh, Sammy,and two officers of the Dipsey, and, to insure secrecy, Sammy had beenstrictly enjoined to send no information in any other way than in thiscipher.
For years there had been men, both in America and in Europe, who hadbeen watching with jealous scrutiny the inventions and researches ofRoland Clewe, and he well understood that if they should discover hisprocesses and plans before they were brought to successful completion hemust expect to be robbed of many of the results of his labors. The firstnews that came to him on his recent return to America had been the taletold by Sammy Block, of the man in the air who had been endeavoring topeer down into his lens-house, and he had heard of other attempts ofthis kind. Therefore it was that the telegraphic instrument on theDipsey had been given into the sole charge of Samuel Block, who hadbecome a very capable operator, and who could be relied upon to sendno news over his wire which could give serviceable information to theoperators along the line from Cape Tariff to Sardis, New Jersey.
But Clewe did not in the least desire that Margaret Raleigh should bekept waiting until he came back from the arctic regions for news fromthe expedition, which she as well as himself had sent out into theunknown North. Consequently Samuel Block had been told that he mightcommunicate with Mrs. Raleigh as soon and as often as he pleased,remembering always to be careful never to send any word which mightreveal anything to the detriment of his employers. When a message shouldbe received on board the Dipsey that Mr. Clewe was ready to communicatewith her, frequent reports were expected from the Master Electrician,but it would be Sammy who would unlock the cover which had been placedover the instrument.
Before he retired to his bunk on the first night on board the Dipsey,Sammy thought it proper to send a message to Mrs. Raleigh. He had nottelegraphed before because he knew that Mr. Clewe would communicatefully before he left Cape Tariff.
Margaret Raleigh had gone to bed late, and had been lying for an houror two unable to sleep, so busy was her mind with the wonderful thingswhich were happening in the far-away polar regions--strange and awfulthings--in which she had such a direct and lively interest. She hadheard, from Roland Clewe, of the successful beginning of the Dipsey'svoyage, and before she had gone to her chamber she had received a lastmessage from him on leaving Cape Tariff; and now, as she lay there inher bed, her whole soul was occupied with thoughts of that little partyof people--some of them so well known to her--all of them sent out uponthis perilous and frightful expedition by her consent and assistance,and now left alone to work their way through the dread and silent watersthat underlie the awful ice regions of the pole. She felt that so longas she had a mind she could not help thinking of them, and so long asshe thought of them she could not sleep.
Suddenly there was a ring at the door, which made her start and springfrom her bed, and shortly a telegraphic message was brought to her by amaid. It was from the depths of the Arctic Ocean, and read as follows:
"Getting on very well. No motion. Not cold. Slight rheumatism in Sarah'sshoulder. Wants to know which side of plasters you gave her goes nextskin,
"SAMUEL BLOCK."
An hour afterwards there flashed farther northward than ever currentfrom a battery had gone before an earnest, cordial, almost affectionatemessage from Margaret Raleigh to Sarah Block, and it concluded with theinformation that it was the rough side of the plasters which should gonext to the skin. After that Mrs. Raleigh went to bed with a peacefulmind and slept soundly.
Frequent communications, always of a friendly or domestic nature, passedbetween the polar sea and Sardis during the next few days. Mrs. Raleighwould have telegraphed a good deal more than she did had it not been forthe great expense from Sardis to Cape Tariff, and Sarah Block was heldin restraint, not by pecuniary considerations, but by Sammy's sense ofthe fitness of things. He nearly always edited her messages, even whenhe consented to send them. One communication he positively refused totransmit. She came to him in a great flurry.
"Sammy," said she, "I have just found out something, and I can't restuntil I have told Mrs. Raleigh. I won't mention it here, because itmight frighten some people into fits and spasms. Sammy, do you knowthere are thirteen people on board this boat?"
"Sarah Block!" ejaculated her husband, "what in the name of common-senseare you talkin' about? What earthly difference can it make whether thereare thirteen people on this vessel or twelve? And if it did make anydifference, what are you goin' to do about it? Do you expect anybody toget out?"
"Of course I don't," replied Sarah; "although there are some of themthat would not have come in if I had had my say about it; but as Mrs.Raleigh is one of the owners, and such a good friend to you and me,Sammy, it is our duty to let her know what dreadful bad luck we arecarryin' with us."
"Don't you suppose she knows how many people are aboard?" said Sammy.
"Of course she knows; but she don't consider what it means, or wewouldn't all have been here. It is her right to know, Sammy. Perhaps shemight order us to go back to Cape Tariff and put somebody ashore."
In his heart Samuel Block believed that if this course were adoptedhe was pretty sure who would be put on shore, if a vote were taken byofficers and crew; but he was too wise to say anything upon this point,and contented himself with positively refusing to send southward anynews of the evil omen.
The next day Mrs. Block felt that she must speak upon the subject orperish, and she asked Mr. Gibbs what he thought of there being thirteenpeople on board.
"Madam," said he, "these signs lose all their powers above theseventieth parallel of latitude. In fact, none of them have ever beenknown to come true above sixty-eight degrees and forty minutes, and weare a good deal higher than that, you know."
Sarah made no answer, but she told her husband afterwards that shethought that Mr. Gibbs had his mind so full of electricity that it hadno room for old-fashioned common-sense. It did not do to sneer at signsand portents. Among the earliest things she remembered was a story whichhad been told her of her grandmother's brother, who was the thirteenthpassenger in an omnibus when he was a young man, and who died that verynight, having slipped off the back step, where he was obliged to stand,and fractured his skull.
At last there came a day when a message in cipher from Roland Clewedelivered itself on board the Dipsey, and from that moment a hithertounknown sense of security seemed to pervade the minds of officers andcrew. To be sure, there was no good reason for this, for if disastershould overtake them, or even threaten them, there was no submarine boatready to send to their rescue; and if there had been, it would be long,long before such aid could reach them; but still, they were comforted,encouraged, and cheered. Now, if anything happened, they could sendnews of it to the man in whom they all trusted, and through him to theirhomes, and whatever their far-away friends had to say to them could besaid wit
hout reserve.
There was nothing yet of definite scientific importance to report,but the messages of the Master Electrician were frequent and long,regardless of expense, and, so far as her husband would permit her,Sarah Block informed Mrs. Raleigh of the discouragements and dangerswhich awaited this expedition. It must be said, however, that Mrs. Blocknever proposed to send back one word which should indicate that she wasin favor of the abandonment of the expedition, or of her retirement fromit should opportunity allow. She had set out for the north pole becauseSammy was going there, and the longer she went "polin'" with him, thestronger became her curiosity to see the pole and to know what it lookedlike.
The Dipsey was not expected to be, under any circumstances, a swiftvessel, and now, retarded by her outside attachments, she moved butslowly under the waters. The telegraphic wire which she laid asshe proceeded was the thinnest and lightest submarine cable evermanufactured, but the mass of it was of great weight, and as it foundits way to the bottom it much retarded the progress of the vessel, whichmoved more slowly than was absolutely necessary, for fear of breakingthis connection with the living world.
Onward, but a few knots an hour, the Dipsey moved like a fish in themidst of the sea. The projectors of the enterprise had a firm beliefthat there was a channel from Baffin's Bay into an open polar sea, whichwould be navigable if its entrance were not blocked up by ice, and onthis belief were based all their hopes of success. So the explorerspressed steadily onward, always with an anxious lookout above them forfear of striking the overhanging ice, always with an anxious lookoutbelow for fear of dangers which might loom up from the bottom, alwayswith an anxious lookout starboard for fear of running against thefoundations of Greenland, always with an anxious lookout to port forfear of striking the groundwork of the unknown land to the west, andalways keeping a lookout in every direction for whatever revelationthese unknown waters might choose to make to them.
Captain Jim Hubbell had no sympathy with the methods of navigationpractised on board the Dipsey. So long as he could not go out on deckand take his noon observations, he did not believe it would be possiblefor him to know exactly where his vessel was; but he accepted thesituation, and objected to none of the methods of the scientificnavigators.
"It's a mighty simple way of sailin'," he said to Sammy. "As longas there's water to sail in, you have just got to git on a line oflongitude--it doesn't matter what line, so long as there's water aheadof you--and keep there; and so long as you steer due north, alwaystakin' care not to switch off to the magnetic pole, of course you willkeep there; and as all lines of longitude come to the same point atlast, and as that's the point you are sailin' for, of course, if you cankeep on that line of longitude as long as it lasts, it follows thatyou are bound to git there. If you come to any place on this line oflongitude where there's not enough water to sail her, you have got tostop her; and then, if you can't see any way of goin' ahead on anotherline of longitude, you can put her about and go out of this on the sameline of longitude that you came up into it on, and so you may expectto find a way clear. It's mighty simple sailin'--regular spellin' booknavigation--but it isn't the right thing."
"It seems that way, Cap'n Jim," said Sammy, "and I expect there's a longstretch of underwater business ahead of us yet, but still we can't tell.How do we know that we will not get up some mornin' soon and look out ofthe upper skylight and see nothin' but water over us and daylight beyondthat?"
"When we do that, Sammy," said Captain Jim, "then I'll truly believe I'mon a v'yage!"