Chapter 35 Chapter 12 A Chance

These brave people, they already knew!But in order not to increase the burden on the boss, they pretended not to know anything, and just did the work of preparing for the winter with great enthusiasm! Hot tears suddenly blurred Hobson's eyes, and he made no effort to hide his feelings, and stepped forward to hold Marbor's hand tightly. Yes, these brave soldiers knew everything, because Marbor had already guessed what was going on!That time the reindeer trap was filled with salt water, the expected arrival of the Relinesburg detachment, taking latitude and longitude daily which is unnecessary on solid land, Hobson The lieutenant's careful observation, the surrounding animals should have left before winter but did not leave, and finally the change of position in the past few days, all these signs have already let the residents of Fort Hope know the truth.Only the arrival of Karuma could not be explained. They could only guess, and they guessed correctly, that the storm brought the Eskimo girl suddenly to the island.

It was Marbor who first discovered the situation mentioned above, and then he told Mike Knapp and Ray the blacksmith what he thought.The three calmly analyzed the situation and agreed that they must tell the situation not only to their companions but to the women as well.And all the people promised to pretend that nothing happened in front of the boss, and to carry out the boss's orders 100% as in the past. "My friends, you are brave men," said Mrs. Barnet, after hearing Marbor's words, and she too was deeply moved by their gesture. "You are true, brave soldiers!"

"Our lieutenant," said Mac Knapp, "trust us, you've done your part. We'll do ours." "Yes, I believe you, comrades," Hobson said, "God has not abandoned us, let us save ourselves with God!" And so Jasper Hobson related all that had happened since the earthquake turned Bathurst Point into an island.After the spring thaw, how the island was brought to a distance of more than 200 miles from the coast by unknown currents; how the storm blew the island to the place where the mainland could be seen, and then blew the island away on the night of August 31 land; and how brave Kalyma risked her life to rescue her European friends.Then he noticed what had happened to the island as the ice sheet thawed in warmer waters and what he had already feared: the island would either drift out to the Pacific or be caught in the Kamchatka Current.At last he informed his companions that the island had been immobilized by the ice on September 27th.

Someone brought a map of the Arctic Ocean, Hobson opened it, and indicated the current position of the island on the map, which was more than 600 miles away from any land. He finally said that the situation is extremely dangerous, and the island will definitely be shattered when the ice thaws next year, and the newly built ships cannot be used, so they should take the cold winter to cross the ice sheet and return to the American continent. "We had to walk 600 miles in the cold and in the dark. It was tough, my friends, but you, like me, knew there was no other way." "When will you order to go, Lieutenant," said Mike Knapp, "we will follow you!"

All was thus decided, and from that day on the preparations for this perilous journey began swiftly.Everyone was determined to cover the 600-mile journey under these conditions.Sergeant Long led the preparations, while Hobson led the two hunters and Mrs. Barnett to check the ice field frequently.Karuma often accompanied them to observe, she was very experienced, and her opinions were very beneficial to the lieutenant.If there is no accident, the departure date is set on November 20, and the time is imminent. As Hobson expected, the wind picked up again and the temperature dropped again, with the mercury pointing at 24 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 4.44 degrees Celsius).The rain of the previous days had been replaced by snowflakes, which froze immediately when they hit the ground.A few more days of cold like this, and the sleds will be ready to run on it.The cracks in front of Cape Mitchell have been partly filled with snow and ice, but it should not be forgotten that calm waters tend to freeze, which is no problem, while sea water is not.

The wind kept blowing, and it was getting stronger and stronger.Large waves affect the normal freezing and freezing hardness of the water surface.Wide puddles are still separating the ice in many places, and it is still difficult to find passage through the ice sheet. "It's starting to get very cold," Mrs. Barnett said to Lieutenant Hobson one day—the 15th of November, when they were observing the southern part of the island—"the temperature has dropped markedly, and those waters It will freeze soon." "I think so too, ma'am," replied Hobson, "but it is a pity that this method of freezing is not conducive to our plans. The ice is too small and has too many edges and corners. Even if the sledge could slide on it, it would be very difficult."

"However," said the traveler again, "if I'm not mistaken, it will only take a few days, or even a few hours, for a heavy snow to fill up such an ice surface!" "Perhaps, ma'am," replied Hobson, "but if it snows, the temperature will rise again, and the temperature will rise again, and the ice will melt again. It's not good for us!" "Yes, Mr. Jasper," said Mrs. Barnett, "we must admit that it would be a great misfortune if we had a mild winter in the polar seas." "We had foreseen this, ma'am, and I think you will remember how cold our winters were on the American Continent. It is often noted, however, that two winters seldom followed each other, cold and long. The polar whaling crews know this well. Yes, ma'am, we're just kidding! When we expect a warm winter, we get a severe cold, when we expect a cold winter, it's a mild winter! Admit it We've been so unlucky until now! Whenever I think about taking a woman, and a baby, it's 600 miles! Ugh..."

Jasper Hobson stretched out his hand to the south, and before his eyes was an endless snowfield, but it was cut off by the darkness not far away.Looking at the sea that is not frozen well can not help but make people feel melancholy, and there are occasional cracking sounds under the ice!The moon, half immersed in the wet mist, was quietly rising on the dark horizon, casting only a bleak light on this vast place.In the semi-darkness, due to some kind of refraction, all kinds of objects seem to be bigger.The few icebergs that were not so high suddenly became much larger, as terrifying as the devil in mythology.Birds flapped their wings and flew by with a loud noise, and even the smallest birds appeared to be larger than vultures and bearded vultures by an illusion of the eye.Looking forward, among the icebergs, it looks like there are many dark tunnels, which will discourage even the bravest people.Due to the movement of the iceberg, sometimes a huge cracking sound can be heard suddenly in all directions, and the echo lasts for a long time.The scene is constantly changing like this, and after a while it looks like a fairy descending to earth again!What do these unfortunate souls who are about to venture across the ice-field feel at this dreadful sight!

Although the female traveler has a brave and resolute character, she also feels the kind of terror that makes her hair stand on end.Her soul and body seemed frozen.She wanted to close her eyes, cover her ears, and stop listening.For a while the moon was completely lost in the mist, and the polar scene became still more terrifying.Mrs. Barnett imagined this scene: a group of men and women are walking alone on the vast ice field amidst storms, heavy snow, avalanches and endless polar nights! Mrs Barnet, however, kept forcing herself to watch.She had to accustom her eyes to these terrible sights, to be familiar with them.She watched and watched.Suddenly, she screamed involuntarily, held Lieutenant Hobson's hand tightly, and pointed to a huge wriggling creature a hundred paces away.

It was a gigantic, white monster, well over fifty feet tall.It walked slowly on the ice, jumped from one ice to another, and shook its claws that could hug ten oak trees.It is also like finding a way on the ice field, and escape from this terrible island as soon as possible.It kept trampling down the ice layer, and got up frantically to maintain its balance. The monster walked a quarter of a mile straight on the ice field.Then, probably because they could not find the way, they began to turn again, towards the place where Lieutenant Hobson and Mrs Barnett stood. At this time, Hobson took off the gun on his back, ready to shoot at the monster.

No sooner had he aimed at the monster than he lowered his weapon again and said: "It's a bear, ma'am, but it's just a bear. It's because of the refraction that it just magnified its figure!" This is indeed a polar bear. Mrs. Barnett woke up from the illusion she had just had, she gathered herself together, and suddenly had an idea: "That's the bear I was talking about!" cried Mrs. Barnett. "It must be the one I met in Newlands! It may be the only bear on the island!—but what is it doing?" "Ma'am, it's going to get out of here," said Lieutenant Hobson, nodding, "and it's going to get away from this wretched island! But it hasn't found its way yet, that is to say, it hasn't found its way yet, and we can't get away either." !" Jasper Hobson was right.The beast also wanted to leave the island to find land, but since it couldn't, it returned to the island.It shook its head, let out a low growl, and walked not far from the lieutenant and the others.Either it didn't see them, or it was too lazy to look at them, so it walked towards Cape Michel with heavy steps, and soon disappeared behind a small hill. On this day, Lieutenant Hobson and Mrs. Barnett quietly returned to the castle with some sadness. However, just as the ice field is already passable, preparations in the trading station have been in full swing.For the safety of traveling, you have to think about everything, and you must not forget any details. Not only must you consider the difficulties and fatigue on the road, but you must also be prepared for the polar weather to cause trouble at any time. The weather here is specially for those who like to fight against explorers. . The dogs are also given the best care.People let the dogs run outside the bunker so that they could recover quickly after a long rest.All in all, they are strong enough to travel long distances if they are put on the road. The sled was carefully inspected.Rugged ice surfaces subject them to constant knocking.In order to make it durable, the main parts of the sled, such as the frame, chassis and other components, have been reinforced.It was the job of Mike Knapp and his men to make the sledges as durable as possible. In addition, they also newly built two large sleds, one for food supplies and one for fur goods.The two sledges were for the reindeer to pull, and they were well suited for the job.These furs are luxuries, and it seems that they should not be thrown away.Jasper Hobson, in the interest of the Hudson's Bay Company, resolved to take the goods with him whenever he could, unless it was not too late to throw them away when they were a real drag on the road.If these furs are left in the trading station, they will definitely be lost. Food supplies are another matter.Sufficient, easy-to-carry food should be brought.Never live by hunting on the road.Once it is possible to pass, the edible prey should go first and return south as soon as possible.Therefore, there was not enough bacon, beef jerky, rabbit pate, dried fish, biscuits, but there was plenty of sorrel and horseradish dishes, as well as schnapps and alcohol for making hot drinks, etc. Pry on.Hobson also wanted to take wood fuel, as there was not a single tree to be found, not a single branch, not even moss to be found on the 600-mile journey, much less flotsam could be expected to be found at sea.But that would be overloading, and a trade-off would have to be made.Fortunately, there is no shortage of warm clothes for everyone.Cozy, warm clothes were available, and furs from the car could be substituted if need be. As for Thomas Blake, he had been reclusive since the failed observation, had not seen his companions, or attended the study parties of the lieutenants, sergeants, and female travelers, but he began to appear again as soon as the day of departure was fixed.But he still cared only for his sled, his instruments, and his observation book.He was silent all the time, and rarely uttered a word.He forgot everything, even that he was a scholar.Since he failed to observe the solar eclipse and missed the opportunity to explore the lunar prominence, he lost interest in observing various special phenomena in high latitude regions such as auroras, halos, and phantom moons. In the last few days, everyone worked at full capacity, and on November 18th, everything was ready to go. Unfortunately, the ice sheet is still impassable.Although the temperature has dropped again, it is still not cold enough to pass all the ice.Thin snowflakes fell intermittently.Every day Jasper Hobson, Marbor and Sabine walked along the coast from Point Michel to the corner of old Moss Bay.They even went as far as a mile-and-a-half mile radius from the island to look around.Everywhere they went were potholes and cracks.Not to mention the sled, it is difficult for people to walk on it.Hobson and his companions were so exhausted after such a short journey that they even thought several times that the capricious roads and ice floes might prevent them from returning to Victoria Island. God seems to be specially embarrassing these troubled people. On November 18 and 19, the temperature rose while the air pressure dropped.This change in weather has serious consequences.Temperatures climbed back to 34 degrees Fahrenheit (1.11 degrees Celsius), causing a surge in moisture in the atmosphere, which resulted in heavy rain instead of snow.The warm rain has melted the ice in some places and created cracks.It looks almost as if the ice and snow are about to melt, because there are traces of melting ice and snow everywhere on the ice.No matter how terrible the weather was, Hobson went to observe the south side of the island every day, but every day he returned disappointed. On November 20, a new storm arose on the island, like the one that had ravaged the poles a month earlier.People in the business station can't go out.

---

Notes: