But old Treacle, I remember, who had stood looking
at it in awed solemnity, said:
"Well, I'm d----!"
After that we got on famously until we reached Winter Quarters, where we
found everybody well and everything in order, but received one piece of
alarming intelligence--that the attempt to get into wireless
communication with our ship had failed, with the result that we should
have to wait for her until the time originally appointed for her return.
That did not seem to matter much to my shipmates, who, being snugly
housed from blinding blizzards, settled down to amuse themselves with
sing-songs and story-tellings and readings.
But, do what I would, to me the delay was dreadful, and every day, in
the fever of my anxiety to get away as soon as the ice permitted, I
climbed the slopes of old Erebus with O'Sullivan, to look through
powerful glasses for what the good chap called the "open wather."
Thank God, our wooden house was large enough to admit of my having a
cabin to myself, for I should have been ashamed of my comrades hearing
the cries that sometimes burst from me in the night.
Pages:
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856