Henry Leverage

“ At least there is nothing that we can do for them. For ourselves, we have chosen the right road. It leads into the open sea!"
It was midnight by the ship's clock in the cabin when Stirling climbed up the companion steps, glanced down at Helen Marr with an assuring nod, then strode out upon the deck and swung four-square to the task ahead of him.
The sun rimmed the world toward the true west, and through the opal haze, its glow brought out the details of the drifting ice which was being driven through Barrow Strait by the south wind. ”

“ The seething of the water told him that they were still hurtling through the lane of ice, and floes grated alongside. A shout echoed backward from the engine room, and the clank of steam-driven rods rose to a crescendo of effort. The Pole Star was striking out to open sea and the unknown waters to the north and east of Point Barrow.
The cutter cruiser had been distanced, and the Bear was a slow third in the chase. There was no way to tell where the pursuit would lead. Stirling thought dimly of the northeast passage and the way to Baffin Bay. Only madmen could effect such an enterprise. ”

“ The icy coolness in the man's tones steeled Stirling. He lay back as Eagan went across the cabin, opened the door, and stepped swiftly out upon the deck. A lock clicked.
An impending silence lay over the Pole Star. The shuffling of men on deck, the creak of blocks, the straining of falls, told of boats being lowered. Voices were muffled as a light anchor was dropped at the end of a whale line, serving to swing the ship and hold it toward the shelving shore. ”

“ The aurora played and flickered and surged upward toward the zenith, while through it the pale stars shone. A moon rose and rolled along the lowland which lay between Lisburne and Icy Cape. The Barren Country stood revealed in cold splendour, stretching to the ramparts of the Mackenzie River and the mountains at Fort Yukon.
A sense of motion came to Stirling, for he knew the waters. Never before, however, had he found the sea so open. The aged and grounded floes were well to the northwest, and had not been driven above the seven-fathom line. ”

“ Lulled by the swaying and throbbing of the ship, he sensed a progression of true adventure. He had come North to whale. The whaling voyage had turned into an illicit sealing expedition. Now the revolutionists closely followed by the Bear, held the deck.
The low Arctic sun swung closer to the horizon. Within the purple haze astern came flashes of crimson light which died to lavender, and the lavender into velvet dusk. Night was falling upon the wild sea. It was well past ten o'clock. The revolutionists, busy at the fires and the gin, gave scant attention to the ship's bells. ”

“ Whitehouse sat at the head of the table, and about the mate was gathered all of the afterguard and three of the crew. They had been drinking from square faces of gin. The empty bottles and glasses littered the sea racks; sour limes were scattered about.
The two engineers sat in one corner of the cabin with their feet sprawled along the deck and their eyes bleared and baleful. They had been loudest in calling for the death of Stirling, since the seal pelts within the forehold of the Pole Star constituted a king's ransom. Each man's share would be well up in the thousands. ”

“ The whale lay alongside with only a slight hump to mark its bulk, and in the centre of this hump a harpoon had been thrust. The stout iron, of Swedish construction, was bent and twisted, and to it was fastened a bight of inch hemp which had held throughout the struggle.
Purple night was falling when Stirling had the whale's body in a position for cutting in. More irons had been driven home, lines were brought aboard and fastened to cleats, a strong hawser was passed about the giant flukes.
Cutting in a whale to Stirling was like peeling an apple. ”

“ Its explosion racked the morning air and sent showers of splinters as high aloft as the crow's-nest.
Stirling watched the fight which followed. The revolutionists had one advantage: their number was sufficient to overcome any resistance, provided they were well led. They seemed, however, to lack a leader.
The Russian who had stood by the after hatch and directed operations had been struck by a splinter of ash from a whaleboat. He was carried below to the forecastle. The man who took his place crouched behind the mainmast and shouted his orders in a weak, squeaking voice. ”

“ Cushner led the way forward to the ornate forecastle and Stirling glanced down through the open booby hatch, to where a row of bunks lined each side of the ship. In these bunks seamen slept with their arms over their faces and their legs extended. A molasses barrel was lashed to the heel of the foremast, and on top of this barrel stood a large pan of white bread. The entire forecastle struck Stirling as far too clean and too large for a whaler's. It was more like an expensive yacht's.
"Them's picked men!" said Cushner. "Some has been picked from the gutter and some from the boarding houses. ”

“ Stirling laughed defiantly. He feared the croaking sound of his own voice, so parched and dry was his throat. He pocketed the revolver, grasped the edge of the hatch, swinging out and into the sheer. His feet crushed a box as he landed in the hold. He straightened himself, raised his arms, and, blinking in the sudden darkness, stumbled aft toward the lazaret, and the way to the cabin where the girl was quartered. ”

“ Eagan stepped out from the rail a half step, and stood partly between Stirling and the little skipper. There was that written in the seaman's face which held every man upon the ship. His eyes glittered with high light, and his body rested on the balls of his feet as if to spring.
"A moment!" Eagan snapped in steeled tones. "This layout will lead to murder. Murder leads to swingin'. I don't want to swing. I'm with the skipper in every way. Get that?"
The crew glanced at each face before them—Stirling's strong, but uncertain; Eagan's masterful; Marr's openly sneering. ”

“ South, by the glint on the horizon haze, ice was gathered for the closing in of winter. Northward, bergs and floes showed, marshalled in squadrons and companies like soldiers preparing for a charge. The sky, seen through the falling snow, was leaden.
With some slight trepidation, Stirling awaited the coming of Helen Marr. She had acted strangely of late. They were to be thrown together during the ten months of winter at Upernivik; there would be no possible escape to a more civilized community.
Slim, the Frisco dock rat, appeared at the railing of the engine-room companion. ”

“ The dock rat, catapulted through the air, crashed against the sheathing of the starboard wall. He managed to rise, but Stirling was over the planks and upon him with a vicious outthrust of his jaw. The madness of the struggle had completely mastered the Ice Pilot, who fought furiously.
Soon Slim lay still. Stirling, looking about for a cord or line, saw a tassel protruding from a curtain which covered the alleyway leading aft. Jerking this loose, he lunged swiftly to Slim's side, drew his arms behind him, and completed a sailor's job of tying and splicing from which no man could escape. ”

“ Another followed from the revenue cutter's bow gun, and this burst in the whaleboats that lined the starboard rail.
A roar of fright and defiance rolled upward to Stirling. The leader sprang from the galley house and dashed up the poop steps. A horde of his followers swarmed from the forecastle hatch and the forehold, and some leaped down the engine-room companion. The funnel belched big clouds of smoke and the fire doors clanged. The Pole Star swerved toward the west and the open sea. This manoeuvre saved the revolutionists from certain capture. ”

“ The girl, bareheaded and with ribbons flying, was sitting in a deck chair; near by were the Russian leader and two other revolutionists. They turned as she laughed buoyantly, but the leader frowned and reached for his pocket. Stirling raised the rifle and swung it under his arm.
"Good morning, Mr. Stirling," called the girl. "Come aft with me. These poor men are not our enemies. They're lost and want a pilot." ”

“ Helen Marr brushed the hair from her forehead and turned with the silver coffeepot in her hand. She pointed over the taper jib boom of the Pole Star. "I remember," she said, "a painting in an old book, of Lady Franklin and Sir John Franklin sitting together in an old London room. The painting was called 'The Northwest Passage.'"
"He died down there," said Stirling, pointing toward the magnetic north. "See the glint of ice? The sun won't sink to-day, it will rim the world to the west and slowly rise." ”

“ The running rigging was of new hemp. It all struck him as a dream as he turned and strode to the rail by the port-anchor davit.
"See here," he said to Cushner. "I doubt if there's a finer sea boat afloat, but how about the ice? She's sheathed, but with wood. She ought to have a steel plate forward."
The big second mate grinned. "She's a good ice ship, Stirling," he said, leaning over the rail and pointing downward. "That's teakwood and yew. There's nothing better, and it don't impede her speed to any extent. ”

“ Walruses and seals were distributed by the wash of the ship; lone wolves howled from the shore; a polar bear lumbered over the ice as the Pole Star crashed through, staggered, and resumed its eastward course. The Russians on deck surged aft for fear of catastrophe. Surrounding the wheelman and the leader, they peered anxiously toward the after companion which was barricaded on the inside. ”

“ Again Stirling watched the effect of his words. Marr had many barrels of cheap trade whisky aboard the Pole Star, and already had sent some ashore.
"That will be all," said the skipper with a quick frown. "You are too confounded personal! Haven't I a right to ask you a few questions? Who's captain of this ship?"
"Captains are not immune from certain laws. One law applies to all men. You cannot trade rotten whisky with natives. You cannot rob them of their bone for a barrel of water and alcohol. You cannot raid rookeries and get away with it. That cruiser is the answer. ”

“ The girl hesitated and glanced at Stirling, who was consulting the binnacle, reaching an arm through the spokes of the wheel and wiping the glass with his bare fingers. A tiny light showed over the compass as the wheel moved with a slow lifting of the starboard rope.
The ship steadied, a halo of smoke and flame crowning the single funnel. Slim, the Frisco dock rat, was redeeming himself, and his voice rolled up through the ventilators as he urged the Russians in the stokehold to renewed efforts. ”

“ The stern swung, almost touching a narrow shelf, up from which an agile man could climb, or down to which he might lower himself.
A jubilant voice rolled throughout the sheltered ship. It came from Whitehouse, who had danced upon the quarter-deck planks in his glee. "All 'ands aft to spice the main brace!"
Stirling understood this last order. The crew, the engine-room force, the stokehold gang, and the steerage crowd were invited to empty a case of whisky.
Marr's toast to his fellow conspirators was given with a bold attempt to hold their confidence. "Drink hearty, mates!" he exclaimed. ”

“ Here they turned and watched the ship as if loath to give it up.
The girl climbed swiftly to the quarter-deck to Stirling's side.
"Seven stayed," she said, breathlessly. "Seven, and the man from San Francisco. Didn't I do well?"
Stirling smiled down upon her and touched his cap. "Yes, little captain," he said, gallantly. "You did fine! Tell Slim and four of the squad—I guess you can make the Russians understand—to jump below and get steam on in the boilers. Tell the men to bank the fires when they get well started." ”

“ You ought to have been aboard coming up from Sandy Point—eleven point five for days at a stretch. She'll do thirteen under forced draft. She'll do two more knots with the wind abeam. That's six-day boat speed!"
Stirling shook his head. He had been accustomed to blunt-bowed whalers with solid planking forward and steel sheathing aft to the waist. It was the only construction he knew of which would stand the grind of the Northern ice floes.
"Take a look at the whaleboats!" said Cushner. "Simpkins, of Dundee, built them. They're mahogany trimmed. You don't often see that." ”

“ The wind had veered to the south and west, and canted the whaler ever so slightly, as all yards were braced fore and aft.
"What is the exact position?" asked Stirling, turning toward Whitehouse, who had shot the sun and finished his figuring.
"I make it 49-52 and 179-58! We're near the Aleutians and close to the one hundred and eightieth meridian!"
Cushner glanced at the sun. "We're about that!" he said with Yankee shrewdness. "I can smell my position in these waters. I smell shore stuff—fish and moss."
"It comes down the wind!" snorted the cockney with a burst of disgust. ”

“ Whaling's a man's game! Many an old bowhead has fought back. Many a boat's been smashed by a bull whale—up here or in the South Pacific."
Stirling nodded his head in complete understanding, for he realized the call which was in the big mate's blood. He watched him disappear into the galley-house, then followed, after a glance about the deck. Many of the crew were still out upon the ice.
His cabin seemed strangely small and constricted, and he opened a porthole which overlooked the deck and rail and sea to the south. ”

“ The Ice Pilot turned and strode across the cabin, brushed aside the curtain, and passed into the alleyway. Voices sounded as Helen Marr waited, then Slim appeared with one hand grasping the wrist of the other.
He leered through the half light of the cabin, and glanced up at the deck opening. "It's a fine way to——" he began, but Stirling silenced him with a glance.
"Get on deck!" the Ice Pilot commanded. "Get up and forward! The Russians won't kill you, they're too busy deciding whether to abandon the ship or not. You'll find food in the galley. Go now!" ”