Then he looked again, and exclaimed:
"By gum!"
The harbour was clear of ice and nowhere on the horizon was the _Maid
of the North_ to be seen. The gale had swept the ice to sea and
carried with it the _Maid of the North_ and all her valuable cargo.
The cook, asleep in his bunk in the shack, was quite unconscious of
the calamity when the skipper roused him to demand explanations.
But there were no explanations to be given. The schooner was gone,
that was all, and Captain Sam Hanks and his crew were stranded upon
the coast of Labrador.
XXIII
THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE
Bob and his companions were indeed in a most desperate situation, and
even they, accustomed and inured as they were to the vicissitudes and
rigours of the North, could see no possible way of escape. Men of less
courage or experience would probably have resigned themselves to their
fate at once, without one further effort to preserve their lives, and
in an hour or two have succumbed to the bitter cold of the storm. But
these men had learned to take events as they came largely as a matter
of course, and they did not for a moment lose heart or self-control.
The dogs were driven a little farther towards the interior of the ice,
for if the pack were to break up the outer edge would be the first to
go.
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