Chapter 45 Four Days After Chapter 22

It was a peaceful night.Lieutenant Hobson rose in the morning to order all men to board rafts for the day, so he made his way to the edge of the lagoon. The fog remains the same.But above the mist, people have seen the rays of the sun.Yesterday's storm swept away the fog aloft, heralding warm days ahead. Lieutenant Hobson walked to the edge of the lagoon, but he couldn't see the lake clearly, because the whole lake was still shrouded in thick fog. At this time, Mrs. Barnet, March and several others also came to the shore. The mist has begun to dissipate, and it is receding to the depths of the lagoon, gradually revealing the surface of the lagoon.However, people still cannot see the raft on the water.

Finally, a breeze finally blows the fog away... The raft is gone!The lake is gone.What you see in front of you is the endless sea. Lieutenant Hobson could not help a long sigh of despair.When he and his companions went back, their eyes swept across the horizon, and people couldn't help but shout!Their little island has become an islet! It turned out that during the previous night the land which formerly occupied six-sevenths of Bathurst Point had quietly left and been swallowed up by the waves.The raft drifted to an exit and then drifted out to sea.The raft on which the last hope was once pinned is nowhere to be seen in the vast expanse of sea!

The victims were suddenly suspended above the abyss that was about to engulf them, helpless, helpless, and completely plunged into a desperate situation.Some soldiers seemed to have gone crazy and wanted to jump into the sea.Mrs Barnet rushed forward to stop them.They just came back and stayed there crying loudly. The situation of the victims is so precarious, what hope can they have!Among these unfortunate people who have become half mad, one can imagine the situation of Lieutenant Hobson.This small island carrying 21 people supported by the ice shell will soon sink!The original tree-lined hills have long since sunk into the sea with most of the island.Now there is not a single tree left, and the only thing that can be used as wood is a few old planks of the house. It is absolutely impossible to build a new raft with this poor old wood, so that everyone can board it.The lives of the victims can only be with Xiaoyu, and there are still a few days at most, because it has entered June at this time, and the daily average temperature has exceeded 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius above zero).

On this day, Lieutenant Hobson thought it necessary to conduct another exploration of the island.Perhaps they should move to the other side of the islet, where the ice might be thicker and last longer.Mrs Polina Barnett and March accompanied him on this expedition. "Have you been holding out hope?" asked Mrs. Barnett of her faithful companion. "Yes, always hope!" March replied. Mrs Barnet made no answer.She and Lieutenant Jasper Hobson walked briskly along the shore.Eight miles of coast still exist from Bathurst Point to Cape Eskimo.From Cape Eskimo followed a curve to the top of the lagoon, deep into the interior of the island where a break occurred.From the top of the lagoon, now the coast of the lagoon has become a coast where the sea water beats directly.At the height of the lagoon, from there yet another fissure was opening towards the area between Bathurst Point and old Barnet Harbour.The islets are rectangular in shape, with an average width of only 1 mile.

What used to be an island of 140 square miles is now less than 20 square miles! Lieutenant Hobson inspected the islet very carefully, and found that the thickest part of the ice was where the old trading post stood.It seems that the place currently occupied cannot be abandoned, and the instinct of the animals makes them all gather there. It was noted, however, that most of the ruminants and rodents, and most of the wandering dogs, had disappeared along with the part of the island that had drifted away.Some animals, mainly rodents, remain.The bear was running wildly, circling back and forth, like a caged beast.

At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Lieutenant Hobson and his two companions returned to the station.All the men and women gathered there, saying nothing, neither wanting to see nor hear anything.Only Joliv's wife was preparing dinner for everyone.Sabine the hunter was not as depressed as his companions. He was walking around and wanted to get some fresh game for everyone.And the astronomer, sitting by himself, staring blankly at the sea, still looks almost like an outsider!It's like nothing can move him! Jasper Hobson tells everyone about the results of his scouting trip.He told everyone that the current camp was relatively the safest, and he warned everyone not to leave here, because a new rupture would soon occur between the camp and Cape Eskimo.It is likely that the size of the islet will soon be greatly reduced.And there is nothing one can do about it!

It was warm all day long.Ice cubes collected for fresh water melt quickly without a fire.On the steep shore, the ice shell was melting and falling into the sea in pieces.One can clearly see that the average height of the islets is decreasing.Warm sea water is constantly eroding the bottom of the island. No one slept in the house at night.Except for the child who kept smiling in his mother's arms at that moment, who can sleep while thinking that he will fall into the abyss at any time? The second day, June 4th, was cloudless and the sun was rising in the east again.The night passed without incident.The situation on Xiaoyu has not deteriorated.

On this day, a blue fox hid in the shed in terror, never wanting to come out again.Mink, ferrets, arctic hares, muskrats and beavers gather on the site of the old trading station.They are now like a herd of livestock, just without the wolves.When the islet broke off, the wolves were at the other end, apparently sinking into the sea with them.The bear, on the other hand, refused to leave Bathurst Point by instinct.The fur beasts seemed too terrified to notice the bear now.The victims were already familiar with this gigantic monster, and let it walk around without caring about it.There is a common sense of danger, a common premonition that draws man and animal together.

Towards noon, the victims suddenly became excited for a while, and then fell into despair. The hunter Sabine climbed to the highest point of the small island, observed the sea for a long time, and suddenly shouted: "A boat! A boat!" Everyone ran towards the hunter together as if they had been electrocuted.Lieutenant Hobson looked at him suspiciously. Sabine pointed east, where a wisp of white smoke appeared on the horizon.Everyone looked there and did not dare to make a sound.Everyone could see clearly that the figure of a ship was becoming more and more distinct.People still dare not take a breath!

It was indeed a ship, possibly a whaler.People were not mistaken, after an hour, even the hull of the ship could not be seen clearly. Unfortunately the boat appeared to the east, opposite to the direction the raft was drifting.The whaler must have come to this area by chance, and as she would not have encountered a raft, she could not have known that there were victims in the vicinity, and would have intentionally come to their aid. Now, has the ship spotted this small floating island?Will it sail in a direction close to the islet?Can it discern the signals given to it?On this sunny day, the odds were slim.If a fire is lit at night with planks, it can be seen from far away.But will the ship go away before the night comes?Regardless, people gave the signal and shot into the sky.

Now, the ship is getting closer!It was seen to be a long three-masted schooner, and there was no doubt that it was a New Arcangil whaler, sailing in the direction of the Bering Strait after rounding the Alaska peninsula.The boat was on windward of the island, and she was sailing three full sails, heading north with a starboard wind.A sailor saw by its course that the ship was not heading for the island.But maybe it has discovered the island? "If it sees us," Lieutenant Hobson whispered to Sergeant Long, "if it sees us, it might run away instead!" Jasper Hobson had a point in saying so.In this sea area, ships are not afraid of anything else, the most feared thing is encountering icebergs and ice islands!These reefs can smash ships, especially at night.As soon as a ship sees them, it changes course as soon as it sees them. Wouldn't the ship do that once it found the island?It will likely do the same. The people who died were sometimes hopeful and sometimes disappointed. Their emotional changes are beyond description.Until two o'clock in the afternoon, they all believed that God finally had mercy on them and sent someone to save them, and they were about to be saved!The boat was coming here on a sloping line, and the islet was less than six miles away.People kept sending out signals and shooting into the sky. People took out the wooden boards of their houses and set them on fire, and thick smoke rose up... The result was nothing but joy.Either the ship saw nothing, or it saw it and got away quickly. At half-past two in the afternoon, the boat turned slightly and headed northeast, farther and farther away from the island. An hour later, the boat was left with nothing but a wisp of white smoke, and then, very quickly, it disappeared completely over the horizon. One of the soldiers, Gloria, let out a wild laugh.Then he rolled on the ground.Everyone thought he was really crazy. Mrs Paulina Barnett looked at Madge in front of her, as if asking if she still had confidence! Madge turned away sadly! ... There was another pop on this disastrous night.This is the largest piece of ice on Xiaoyu, which has broken away from the island and sank into the sea.In the darkness, terrible roars from animals were heard.Now all that was left of the isle was the stretch from their sunken house to Bathurst Point! It's just a piece of ice!