Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Irving

Seventy degrees five minutes north latitude, ninety-eight degrees twenty-three minutes west longitude November 13, 1847 Lady Silence was gone, and it was 3rd Lieutenant John Irwin's job to find her. The captain hadn't ordered him to do it, but that wasn't accurate either.In June, that is, about six months ago, when Captain Crozier decided to leave the Eskimo woman on the HMS Terror, the captain once told Irwin to take care of her. Captain Crozier has not rescinded the order so far, so Erwin Wen believes that he is responsible for her whereabouts.Besides, the young man was in love with her.He knew it was stupid, crazy even, to fall in love with a savage, a woman who didn't even believe in Christianity, and an uneducated native who didn't speak a word of English (any language, anyway, she had her tongue cut off), but Irwin fell in love with her anyway.There was something about her that made it hard for tall, strong John Irwin not to bow down to her pomegranate skirt.

But now she is gone. On Thursday, two days ago, they found her not where she was supposed to be - behind a pile of crates in a cluttered area in front of the bed area in the main cabin.But the crew were so used to the erratic comings and goings of the Silent Lady that she was not on board as much as she was on board, even at night.On the afternoon of Thursday, November 11th, Irwin reported to Captain Crozier that the Silence had disappeared, although the captain, Irwin, and the rest of the crew had met two days earlier (the day when the bodies of Strong and Evans were found) At night, she was also seen outside on the ice.The captain said not to worry, she would show up by herself.

But she didn't. The blizzard arrived Thursday morning, bringing lots of snow and strong winds.The engineering teams toiling by lantern lights to repair the waypoints (four-foot-tall conical columns of ice bricks stacked every thirty paces) between the Terror and the Erebus were forced to withdraw in the afternoon, and have since You can no longer work on the ice.The last emissary from the Erebus arrived late in the day on Thursday, and had to stay overnight on the Terror because of the snowstorm outside.He said that Silence was not on Lieutenant Colonel Fitzjian's boat either.By Saturday morning, the guards on the deck had changed to an hourly shift, but the crew who came down to the cabin after the shift were still covered in ice and shivering.Every three hours, a team of engineering teams had to go to the deck with axes and brave the strong wind to cut off the ice on the unremoved yards and cables to prevent the ship from capsizing due to the weight of the upper end.Falling ice is a great threat to those on duty on the deck, as well as damage to the deck itself.More crew members had to painstakingly shovel off the Terror's ice and snow from the forward-sloping decks before the snow piled up enough to open the hatch.

After dinner on Saturday night, Lieutenant Irving reported again to Captain Crozier, but again no sign of Silence.The captain replied, "If she's out on a day like today, she probably won't come back, John. However, I give you permission to search the entire ship tonight after the crew goes to bed, even if in the end it's just to make sure she's not there." Not on board." Even though Irwin's watch as deck officer had ended hours earlier this evening, the lieutenant put on his winter clothing, lit an oil lamp, and climbed up the stairway again. The situation still hasn't improved.If there was a difference, it was worse than when Irwin went down to dinner five hours ago.The wind howled from the northwest and brought so much snow that visibility dropped to ten feet or less.The surface of everything was re-frozen, although the five-man service team still shouted and worked hard to chop the ice in front of the canvas tent with the covered hatch dented by snow.Irwin, who was under the pyramid-shaped canvas tent, struggled out of the snow foam about a foot high, the lantern in his hand being blown into his face by the wind.What he was looking for was the one who didn't have an ax in his hand among those who worked in the dark.

The nacelle squad leader, Ruben Meyer, was a non-commissioned officer who served as a guard during this time and supervised the labor force by the way.Irwin found him by the dim light of his lantern on the port side. Mel was like a snow-covered pile of wool, his face wrapped in layers and layers of thick wool warmers as if hidden in a hoodie, and the surface of the shotgun resting in the crook of his thick arm icy.They both had to yell for the other to hear them. "See something, Mr. Mell?" cried Lieutenant Irving, leaning closer to the woolen turban that was the forecastle's head.

The shorter man pushed the scarf down a little.His nose was as white as icicles. "You mean the snowplow team, sir? I can't see them once they've climbed the first yard. I can only listen by ear, and take the port guard for young Kinnard for a while, sir. He Part of the snowplow team on the third night shift, sir, but they haven't fully thawed yet." "No, I'm referring to the situation on the ice field!" Irwin yelled. Mel laughed.His voice was indeed muffled. "None of us has been able to see the Ice Field for forty-eight hours, Lieutenant. You know that, sir. You've only been to the Ice Field before."

Irving nodded, wrapping his own thermal wrap around his forehead and the lower part of his face a little tighter. "No one saw Silence... Ms. Silence?" "What, sir?" Mr. Mel leaned closer to him, the shotgun an ice-framed column of metal and wood between them. "Ms. Silence?" Irving called. "No, sir. I know no one has seen the Eskimo woman for days. She must have left, Lieutenant, dead out there somewhere. We got rid of her at last." Irwin nodded, patted Mel's fat shoulders with his fat gloves, and then avoided the underside of the mainmast and circled around the stern, because in the blowing wind and snow, huge ice blocks would fall from the sky, Hitting the deck like a cannonball.He went to speak to John Bates, who was standing watch on the starboard side.

Betsy saw nothing, not even the five snowplows who came out to work with axes. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not slacking off. There's chopping, falling, wind blowing, and ice slamming all together, and I'm afraid I won't hear the ship's bell, sir. I've got a long shift to go. Will it end?" "You'll hear Mr. Mel when he rings the bell," Irwin shouted.He leaned closer to the ice-covered ball of wool that was the twenty-six-year-old's head. "And he's going to come around here to make sure you know you're going to be sent down before going down. I'm going first, Betsy."

"Yes, sir." Lieutenant Irving went around to the front of the canvas tent, and there, waiting for the break in the wind and snow, he heard the curses and shouts of the crew crawling on the mainyard and the humming rigging - the wind kept trying to blow the He blows down.Then he dashed as fast as he could through the two feet of fresh snow on the deck, dove into the frozen canvas tent, climbed on all fours into the hatch, and down the stairway to the cabin. He had searched the cabin many times, especially behind the remaining crates in front of the bed area where the woman had previously made her den.Now, however, Irving was heading for the stern.It was very late, and the ship was quite quiet, except for the stamping of the guards on deck, the sound of ice hitting the deck, the snoring of the exhausted crew in the hammock in the forward cabin, and Mr. There was the clinking and swearing of bowls, and the constant sound of wind and ice.

Irwin groped his way through the dark, narrow passage.There were people in every dormitory in the officer quarters except Mr. Mel's room.In this regard, HMS Terror was lucky.Several officers of the Erebus had been killed by the thing on the ice field, including Sir John and Lieutenant Gore.No officer, Master Chief, or Petty Officer aboard the Terror had died, except young Furnace Squad Torrunton, who had died of natural disease a year and a half earlier on Beech Island. There is no one in the conference room.It's rarely warm enough to linger here for long now, and even the leather-bound books on the shelves look cold, and the wooden instruments that spin music discs are quiet these days.Before Irwin returned to the stairway through the deserted officer's and adjutant's dining room, he noticed that the light in Captain Crozier's cabin was still on.

The lower deck was as usual, very cold and very dark.As the ship's doctors found that many cans were rotten, the food ration was extremely reduced, so fewer and fewer food porters came here; Fewer coal sack porters walk around here.Irwin realized that he was alone in the entire icehouse-like space at this time.He walked a short distance forward, black beams and frozen iron brackets whimpering all around him as he turned back toward the stern.The lantern seemed to be swallowed by the thick darkness, and the ice crystal mist formed by his own breath also made it difficult for him to see the dim light. The Lady of Silence was not in the bow area either--not in the carpenter's store, nor in the bosun's store, nor in the almost empty provisions room aft of the two enclosed cabins.When the Terror set sail, the middle section of the lower deck was filled with crates, barrels, and bags of supplies, but now the cabin space is mostly empty.Lady Silence was not amidships either. Lieutenant Irwin entered the spirits room with a key lent to him by Captain Crozier.By the dim light of the lantern, he could see that there was still some brandy and wine inside, but the rum in the huge main storage barrel was running out.When the rum ran out, the crew would no longer have their daily ration at noon, and Lieutenant Irwin knew, and every officer in the Royal Navy knew, that they would have to worry about mutiny.The Captain's Comptroller, Mr. Hapman, and the Holder, Mr. Gerd, recently reported that, according to their estimate, the rum would last about six weeks, and that was at standard strength - a quarter of a pint. Estimates for the case where the rum is diluted with three-quarters of a pint of water to a decanter and then halved.And the crew is already complaining. Irving didn't think it was possible for the Silent Lady to sneak into the locked spirits room, even if she did have witch powers, as the crew whispered.But he still searched the room carefully, every table and under the table.Rows of cutlasses, bayonets, and muskets on racks overhead gleamed grimly in the lantern lights. He walked back to the ammunition storeroom, where there was still a good supply of powder and bullets.He also poked his head into the captain's private storeroom, where only Crozier's little whiskey was still on the shelf, and his food had been taken out for the other officers in recent weeks.Then he also went to the sail room, the wet room, the stern haws locker, and the mate's store room.If Lieutenant John Irwin had been an Eskimo woman looking for a place to hide on board, he thought he might have chosen the sailroom, which contained piles and bales of spare canvas, sheet rigging, and long-unused rigging . But she wasn't there.Irwin first searched for the warm clothes room, and through the light of the lantern, he saw a tall, silent figure standing at the back of the room, leaning his shoulders on the dark bulkhead, but later he found that it was just a few woolen coats. Great coat and a Welsh wig hanging on a wooden peg. After locking up these rooms, the lieutenant climbed down the ladder to the bottom cabin. 3rd Lieutenant John Irwin, although he looks younger than his age because of his blond hair, baby face, and easy blush, does not fall in love with Eskimo women because he is a virgin who is worried about love.In fact, Irwin had a lot more experience with women than any of the forecastle braggarts who talked about sex greatness.When he was fourteen, Irving's uncle took him to the Bristol docks, introduced him to a clean, likeable dock whore, and paid him to learn more than knee jerks in dark alleys For a while, but evenings, late nights, and mornings spent in style in a clean room under the eaves of some old hotel overlooking the quay.This gave young Irving a certain taste for this kind of physical activity, and he did it many times afterwards.The prostitute's name was Moer. It's not that Irwin has nothing to do with the ladies in the social circle.He was also involved with the youngest daughter of the Donwitt Harrison family, the third most prestigious in Bristol.The girl's name was Emily, and she even took the initiative to facilitate a private contact between the two.Most young men are willing to sell their left ball if they have this experience at this age.When Irving arrived in London to receive his naval artillery education on the gunner training ship HMS Excellence, he dated, courted and enjoyed the company of several attractive upper-class young ladies almost every weekend, including the enthusiastic Miss Sarah, the shy but Miss Linda, who turns out to be amazing often, and Miss Abeka Elizabeth Lindro Hydeberry, who is truly incredible in private.The third lieutenant, who had just met her, soon found out that he was engaged to her and was about to get married. John Irving had no intention of marrying, at least not when he was still in his twenties.Both his father and uncle told him that when he was in his twenties, he should see more of the world and indulge his lust, and it was better not to get married in his thirties.Nor did he see any reason to marry in his forties.Although Irwin never considered joining the Royal Expedition, he never liked the cold, and the thought of being frozen in the Antarctic or the North Pole seemed ridiculous and terrifying to him, but when he woke up to find that he was engaged to Last week, the third lieutenant listened to the instigation of two older friends, George Hudgson and Fred Hornby, to interview the Royal Navy Terror and apply for transfer to this ship. On that fine Saturday spring morning, Captain Crozier, visibly hungover and in a bad mood, teased them with glaring, frowning, disapproving faces.He laughed at their artillery training in a mastless ship, and asked them to tell him what use they could be in a scouting schooner armed only with light weapons.Then he pointedly asked them if they would "do your duty as Englishmen?" and quickly let them know they had been accepted.Owen suddenly recalled this sentence now.Whatever that phrase means, he's referring to Englishmen who are now trapped in a sea of ​​ice a thousand miles from home. Miss Abika Elizabeth Lindroy Hydebury was of course going crazy when she found out, and it was hard to accept that their engagement would last for months or even years, but Lieutenant Irving comforted her first by saying, The extra money from the Royal Expedition was absolutely necessary to them, and he went on to explain that the expedition and the book he wrote on his return would bring fame and glory and were important to his future development.His family knew the priorities, even if Miss Abecca didn't.Then, when they were alone, he coaxed her to stop crying and anger with hugs, kisses and professional stroking techniques.His stroking moves had grown to a point of considerable passion, and Lieutenant Irwin knew that it had been two and a half years since that stroking, and that he was likely to be a father by now. But a few weeks later, when the Terror's mooring rope slipped and was carried away by two steam-powered tugboats, he waved to Abecca without any unpleasantness.The mournful young lady stood on the pier in Greenheather, wearing a green and pink silk dress, holding a parasol, waving the silk handkerchief she wore to match the dress, and wiping her constant flow with a more ordinary handkerchief. out of tears. Knowing that Sir John expected short stops in Russia and China after the passage of the North-West Passage, Lieutenant Irwin had planned to transfer to a Royal Navy ship stationed in local waters, or even to leave the Royal Navy, writing his Adventure travels, and then help take care of his uncle's silk and millinery business in Shanghai. The hold is darker and colder than the lower hold. Irwin hated the hold.The hold reminded him more of a grave than his own icy cabin and dimly lit icy main cabin.He came down only when absolutely necessary, mostly to supervise the crew's placing of dead bodies - or parts of dead bodies - wrapped in shrouds, into the locked death chamber.Each time he wondered if it would be a while before someone else oversaw the crew putting his body in.He raised his lantern and walked to the rear of the ship through the half-thawed ice and muddy air. The boiler room appeared to be empty, and then Lieutenant Irwin saw the body on the bed near the aft bulkhead.There was no lantern light here, only small tongues of red flame now and then protruding from the four closed grates, and in the dim light the sprawled body on the bed looked dead.The man stared at the low ceiling without blinking.The man did not turn his head when Irwin entered the room and hung the lantern on a hook near the coal scuttle. "What's your business here, Lieutenant?" James Thompson asked.Still the engineer didn't turn his head or blink.Since a certain day last month, he has stopped shoveling coal, and now he has a beard growing on his thin and white face, his eyes are sunken in dark sockets, and his hair is uneven due to coal dust and sweat. Chaotic length.The fire had grown weak, and the temperature in the boiler room was near freezing, but Thompson lay in bed wearing nothing but pants, an undershirt, and suspenders. "I'm looking for silence," Irving said. The man on the bed continued to stare at the deck above. "Ms. Silence." The young lieutenant explained. "The Eskimo witch," said the engineer. Irving cleared his throat.The concentration of coal dust in the air is so high that it is difficult to breathe. "Did you see her, Mr. Thompson? Or heard something unusual?" Still, Thompson didn't blink or turn his head. He laughed softly, sounding uncomfortable, like a pile of pebbles shaking in a jar.His laugh ended with a cough. "Listen carefully," said the engineer. Irving turned around.There are only ordinary sounds here, but in this dark hold, the sound is louder than other places: the slow groan of ice squeezing the hull, the wailing of iron water tanks and reinforced structures at the front and rear of the boiler room, The distant groan of the wind blowing on the first deck, the vibration of the wooden beams caused by falling ice hitting the ship, the monotonous thump of the mast shaking in the foundation, the occasional scraping of the hull, and There was a constant hissing, screeching and scratching from the boiler and surrounding hot water pipes. "There's another person or thing breathing down here in the hold," Thompson continued. "Did you hear it?" Irwin pricked up his ears to listen, and although he heard the boiler sound like a huge thing panting loudly, he didn't hear the sound of breathing. "Where are Smith and Johnson?" asked the lieutenant.The two men were furnace workers who worked here at Twenty-Four and Thompson. The engineer on his back shrugged. "There's not much coal to shovel these days, I only need them a few hours a day. Most of the time I'm here alone, crawling between hot water lines and control valves, Lieutenant. Mending, tape , replace parts. Try to get this... thing... working, sending hot water to the main cabin for a few hours a day. Within two months, three months at the most, it's going to be a machine just for viewing. We don't have any Coal has come to run the steam engine, and soon there will be no coal to produce heat. Irwin had heard such reports in the officers' mess, but he didn't have much interest in the matter.Three months seemed more distant to him than a lifetime.All he wanted to do now was to make sure Silence was on board and report to the captain. If she wasn't on the Terror, he had to go find her.Then he has to make sure that he can live for another three months before he encounters the problem of running out of coal.He planned to worry about it later. "Did you hear the rumor, Lieutenant?" asked the engineer.The long figure on the bed still didn't blink or turn to look at Irwin. "No, Mr. Thompson, what rumor?" "It's that... thing on the ice field, that ghost, that demon... that can come into the ship at will and walk on the deck of the hold at night," Thompson said. "No," said Lieutenant Irving. "I haven't heard about it." "If you're alone in the bilge with enough hours of watch," said the man in the bed, "everything will escape your eyes and ears." "Good night, Mr. Thompson." Irwin picked up his crackling lantern and walked back into the cabin, and then walked towards the bow. There was not much left to search in the bilge, and Irwin had already decided to complete the work as soon as possible.The chamber of the dead is locked.The lieutenant did not borrow the key from the captain, but after making sure that the heavy lock was still strong and well locked, he went on.He didn't want to see those guys making scratching and chewing noises.Through the thick oak doors he could hear them. The twenty-one huge iron water tanks lined along the hull gave no room for the Eskimo to hide, so Irving went straight to the coal bunker, his lantern glowing faintly in the thick, soot-blackened air. Light.Coal sacks once filled every storeroom and were stacked from the bottom of the hull to the beams of the deck above, and now the remaining coal sacks are only placed on the edge of each soot-blackened storeroom, like piles of sandbags. raised low barriers.He couldn't imagine the Silent Lady's new sanctuary in the dark, stinking, unhealthy pit of hell.The deck was covered in filth and there were rats running around, but he had to check anyway. After searching the coal locker and the cargo amidships, Lieutenant Irving went to the remaining crates and barrels in the bow, the same spot two decks above the crew quarters and the Mr. Ge's big stove.A narrow ladder led down from the lower deck to the storage area, and tons of wood hung from heavy beams overhead, creating a labyrinth in which the lieutenant had to walk half bent.However, compared to two and a half years ago, there are far fewer crates, barrels, and piles of goods here. But there were more rats, and there were a lot more of them. Irving searched among several of the larger crates and looked around to make sure that the barrels floating in the snowmelt were either empty or sealed.As he rounded the vertical bow ladder he saw a white flash, heard rapid breathing and panting, and he also noticed the rustling of something hurriedly moving outside the dim circle of the lantern lights.The thing was big and moving, and it wasn't the woman. Irwin has no weapons.His intuitive thought was to drop the lantern and run back to the stairway in the middle of the ship in the dark.But he didn't, and the idea was dismissed before it took shape.He took a step forward and shouted, "Who's there? Name it!" in a voice stronger and more authoritative than he thought he could. Then, see them in the light of the lantern.The idiot, Magna Munsen, the tallest man on the expedition, was in a hurry to put on his trousers, buttoning them clumsily with his thick, dirty fingers.A few feet away from him, Cornelius Hedge, the caulker's mate--he was only about five feet tall, with bright eyes and a sable face--was adjusting his suspenders. John Irving's mouth dropped momentarily, jaw dropped, and it took several seconds to figure out and accept what he was seeing - sodomy.Of course, he had heard of such things on board before, and joked about them with his companions, and had seen an ensign of the Excellence being led around the entire fleet to be whipped after admitting to such behavior, But Irwin never imagined that the ship he was on... would have someone who would do something like this... Big Menson took a step towards him threateningly.The fellow was of such a size that he had to stoop wherever he went in the cabin to avoid hitting the beams, and he developed a habit of hunchbacking and shuffling, even in open spaces.Now, his huge hands glowing in the lantern lamp, it looks like the executioner is going to punish the criminal. "Magnar," Hedge said, "no." Irwin's jaw dropped even lower.Are these two... sodomites... threatening him?On Her Majesty's Royal Navy ships the statutory penalty for sodomy is hanging, which can be commuted to circumnavigating the entire fleet (one ship after another in port) and two hundred lashes with the nine-tailed whip, even if It's an extrajudicial favor. "You're so brave!" said Irwin, though he didn't know whether he was referring to Mensen's threatening attitude or the two of them. "Lieutenant," said Hedge, words scurrying out of the mate's caulker and flute-high Liverpool accent, "I'm sorry, sir, Mr Digger sent us down for some flour, sir. There's a damn one The rat got into Sailor Monson's trouser leg and we were about to get it out. These dirty little things, these rats." Irving knew Diggle hadn't started roasting his biscuits for the night, and there was still plenty of flour on the chef's shelf in the main cabin.Hickey didn't make up the lie at all.The diminutive man's staring eyes reminded Irwin of rats running around in the dark. "We'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else about it, sir," continued the mate, the caulker. "Magna doesn't want to be laughed at, saying he's afraid of a little mouse crawling up his leg. .” The words were both defiance and defiance, almost like an order.Waves of disdain appeared on the face of this short man, while Mensen just stood there with blank eyes, speechless like a beast carrying a heavy load, and his big hands were still bent, waiting passively His little sweetheart gave the next order. Silence spread among the three of them.There was a groan as the ice crushed the boat, the bones creaked, and mice ran around. "You two get the hell out of here," said Irving finally. "Now!" "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," Hedge said.He lifted the shade of the lantern that lay on the deck near him. "Come on, Magna." The two squeezed up the narrow bow ladder to the dark lower cabin. Lieutenant Irving still stood there for several minutes, listening to the whining and crackling of the ship, but he didn't take it into his heart.This terrible roar was like a dirge from afar. If he reported to Captain Crozier, there would be a trial.Mensen, the bumpkin idiot of the expedition, was well liked by the crew, though they often made fun of him for being afraid of ghosts and goblins.He did the heavy work of his three companions.While Hedge wasn't particularly popular with the NCS or the rank and file, he was well respected by the rank and file for helping his friends get extra tobacco, an extra gin of rum, or a A piece of clothing they lacked. Crozier would not hang them both, John Irwin thought, but the captain had been in a particularly bad mood the last few weeks, so their punishment might be very severe.Everyone on board knew that a few weeks ago, the captain had threatened Mensen that if he dared not obey orders to move coal to the bottom cabin, he would lock him into the dead man's room and let him and his good friend Walker be killed by rats. The gnawed carcasses stay together.It will surprise no one if he decides to enforce the punishment now. On the other hand, Lieutenant Irwin wondered, what the hell did he just see?If there is a trial, can he testify by laying his hands on the Bible?He didn't see anything unethical.He didn't catch two sodomites fucking, or... in an unnatural position.Irving heard breathing, panting, and the sound of an alert from one of them, apparently, as he spotted a lantern approaching, and saw them both scrambling to pull on their trousers and tuck their shirts into them. Under normal circumstances, this would be enough to get one or both of them hanged.But now they are trapped in the sea of ​​ice, and they don't know how many months or years they will have to wait before they are rescued? For the first time in years, Irving wanted to sit down and cry.Since a few minutes ago, his life has become more complicated than expected.If he denounced the two sodomites, none of his fellow shipmates—officers, friends, subordinates—would see him the same way again. If he didn't report those two, he was going to be prepared to suffer all the rudeness Hickey would treat him thereafter.Not daring to speak out about Hickey's cowardice will have him blackmailed by Hickey in the weeks and months to come.He could no longer sleep well afterward.Nor was he able to relax completely when he was on duty in the dark outside or in his cabin—meaning as much as he could with a white monster trying to kill them one by one— —Because he has to be on guard against Mensen's white hand pinching his throat at any time. "Oh, fuck me!" Irwin yelled at the creaking cold in the bilge.Noticing his words, he laughed, a laugh that was weirder, weaker, and more foreboding than his words. He had searched everywhere except for a few large wooden barrels and the anchor cable storage room in the bow. He was ready to give up the search, but he wanted to wait until he could no longer see Hickey and Mensen before going up to the main cabin. . The water here was higher than his ankles, and Irving walked past a few floating crates, getting close to the downward-sloping bow.His soaked boots cut through the thin ice.A few more minutes and the toes will surely be frostbitten. The mooring room is the forwardmost part of the bow compartment, just where the two hulls meet at the bow.It wasn't really a room, the two doors were only three feet high, and the interior was less than four feet high, but a small space for the thick heavy cables for the bow anchor.The mooring room always smells bad due to the mud at the bottom of the river or at the bend of the river. Even if the ship has left anchor months or even years ago, the stench never completely disappears. Fill this low, dark, sinister space. Lieutenant Irwin pried open the two reluctant doors of the anchor cable locker and moved the lantern closer to the opening.Here, the bow and bowsprit are directly squeezed by the moving ice, so the grinding noise is particularly loud. Then Lady Silence's head suddenly lifted up, and her black eyes reflected light like cat's eyes. She was completely naked, except for a few strips of white and brown fur that were spread out like a carpet underneath, and another thick fur—perhaps her sweater—draped over her shoulders and naked body. The floor of the anchor cable locker was more than a foot higher than the water-filled deck outside.She had adjusted the placement of the anchor cable, pushing it side to side, creating a low, fur-lined cave in the great tangle of twine.A small food jar filled with oil or subcutaneous fat glowed from a flame, providing light and warmth.The Eskimo woman was about to eat a red, fishy, ​​bloody haunch.With a short, sharp knife, she quickly cuts a small piece off the flesh and puts it straight into her mouth.The knife had a bone or horn hilt with a pattern on it.Ms. Silence knelt on the ground, leaning against the flames and flesh, with her two small breasts drooping downwards, which reminded Lieutenant Irving, who is well-educated in literature and art, of the statue of "a she-wolf raising a baby" he had seen (Note: a statue in Rome, the capital of Italy Famous bronze sculpture: a she-wolf feeding two baby boys. According to legend, these two baby boys are Romulus and Remus, the founders of the city of Rome.). "I'm so sorry, ma'am," Irving said.He touched the hat with his hand, and closed the door. The lieutenant staggered back in the slush, causing the rats to scurry for another moment, and for the second time in five minutes he tried to analyze his shock. He should have shown the captain where the silence lay.Just the fact that she let the tongue of flame burn out of the lamp, a dangerous action that could start a fire, should be dealt with immediately. But where did she get that knife?Appears to be made by Eskimos rather than weapons or tools from the ship.Of course, in June, about five months ago, they had searched her body.Had she been hiding? What else could she be hiding? And this fresh meat. There was no fresh meat on board, Irwin was sure of that. It was possible that she would go hunting by herself?In winter, in strong winds, in the dark?And what are you going to hunt? Outside, on or under the ice, was Ice Bear and that thing that was always ready to sneak up on the crew of the Erebus and the Terror. John Irving had a terrible idea.For a moment he was tempted to go back and check the lock on the dead man's chamber again. Then he had an even more terrifying thought. Only half of the bodies of William Strong and Thomas Evans have been recovered. Lieutenant John Irving stumbled forward.He bumped and groped towards the central stairway, his feet slipping in the ice and slush, and then he struggled to climb up, desperately rushing towards the lighted main cabin.