CHAPTER V.

BARNEY AND THE BEAR.

“Pomp, we are going down into the sea!”

“Golly! Marse Frank, am de machinery bruck?”

“No; but ice is forming around the gyroscopes so they can’t revolve.”

“Fo’ de Lawd’s sake, hist up Barney, den, or he drop in de sea!”

They pulled the imperiled Irishman up to the deck, and he heaved a great sigh of relief when he had a firm footing once more.

Shaking off the broken backstay that saved him, he exclaimed:

“Faith, I’d rather froze ter death up here than doy be fallin’ into ther say!”

“There really isn’t much choice in the matter,” said Frank; “for we are going down anyway. Hey, Dr. Vaneyke!”

“Well?” asked the old scientist.

“Put every volt of force into the stern screw.”

“What for?”

“To try and reach land, sir.”

The professor pulled the screw lever over, and with increased speed the flying ice ship darted through the snowflakes to the eastward.

Vaneyke had got his bearings before the blinding storm began, and although the Ranger was swiftly descending, she kept going to the landward at terrific velocity.

Frank saw that the sails no longer interfered with the movements of the ice ship, and as he and his companions were very cold, they passed into the pilot house.

A shout suddenly pealed from Barney.

“Land ahead! Port yer hullum!”

“A mountain!” gasped the doctor, obeying.

“We won’t land in the sea, at any rate,” said Frank.

“Yo’ know whar yo’ am, sah?” asked the coon.

“No,” answered the professor, shaking his head. “But once we alight we will soon find Matotchkin Shar, and as most of the whalers winter there at the Norwegian fishing stations, we will be very apt to find the Red Eric there later, if not now.”

“We must have passed her,” said Frank.

“Howly floy!” gasped Barney, looking out of the window, “there’s ther say beneath us again!”

It was a broad sheet of water, sure enough, but the inventor turned the electric current into the searchlight.

As the bright glare pierced the falling flakes he saw that it was a stream of water over which they were flying.

In a moment the truth of the matter dawned upon his mind.

“It is the Matotchkin Shar, the strait that cuts this island in two!” he exclaimed. “See, we approach a shore.”

He pointed ahead.

The Ranger was then dangerously close to the water.

But she was going ahead like a thunderbolt.

It was fair to presume that she would soon reach land, and as this place was covered with ice, they rightly concluded that it was the northern side of the stream.

In a few moments more Frank stopped the driving wheel.

The Ranger was then but ten yards above the water, and still falling fast; but she was close to the shore.

By the time she alighted she had left the stream astern.

Her runners and side wheels acted like flanges in holding her bolt upright, and the impetus given her by her flight sent her gliding on her runners over the sparkling ice.

It moderated the shock of her descent.

Frank had taken entire charge of her now.

He at once dropped the gyroscopes.

Grasping the lever which raised or lowered the side wheels, he gave it a sudden pull, for he saw the boat swiftly gliding toward an immense crevice in the ice.

Down went the spiked wheels with a crash, and acting like a brake, as they were rigid, they scratched over the surface for some distance, and finally stopped the boat.

This occurred only just in time, for the Ranger had reached the edge of the chasm as she paused.

The place was dangerous.

Frank saw this, and turning a switch, he put an electric current in the side-wheel motor, reversing it, and she backed away, the wheels digging into the ice, and moving the Ranger very easily.

They were then upon an immense glacier running down a valley embowered between two mountains.

Having brought the ship to a pause, Frank went up the masts and examined the gyroscope pivots.

It was utterly impossible to keep them clear of the ice without resorting to some artificial means of keeping the spars warm.

This he explained to his friends on his return.

Various plans were suggested until at length Frank thought of running platinum wires into all the hollow tubes and connecting them with the electric heating apparatus in the engine-room.

To carry out this would require time, and as they had plenty of it to spare, they began to try the experiment.

The following day had dawned before the wires were arranged according to Frank’s plans, and the snow-storm had stopped.

When the current was turned into them, the ice soon began to melt on the spars and the gyroscopes spun freely.

The experiment was a perfect success.

“We can go up in the sky without fear now,” said Frank, smilingly, as they sat down to breakfast.

“Suppose we run for the Norwegian fishing station and consult its inhabitants about the Red Eric?” asked Vaneyke.

“Is it on this soide av ther strame?” asked Barney.

“Yes—on the eastern side of the island near the strait.”

“Gwine up in de frozen sky?” asked Pomp.

“No,” answered Frank. “We’ll use the boat’s skates, as there is plenty of ice all around here, and we can save trouble by staying down.”

Accordingly, after the meal, he ascended to the turret and started the ice wheels, when the ship glided smoothly along.

The stern runner steered her the same as on any ice-boat, and was automatically lowered to the ice level.

Along sped the Ranger to the eastward, keeping as close to the stream as possible, so as not to miss any ships that might be at anchor in the ice-covered water.

As the sun only appeared for a few hours at a time, the days were of very short duration, and they had to keep the electric lights lit.

The storm had left a mantle of snow upon the ice-covered ground, through which the Ranger’s runners cut like huge knives, and her crew observed a range of lofty mountains at the left.

They were clad with snow.

Scarcely any vegetation was seen, but as they glided along, view was caught of a few vagrant birds, some lemmings, ice-fox, and several immigrant reindeer.

Oil along the coast, though, countless numbers of ducks, geese and swan were flying about the rocks, making the air resonant with their cries and the ceaseless flapping of their wings.

Several miles from the glacier Frank observed a mass of beetling ice blocks strewn across their path.

There were several openings among them, though, through which he saw he could steer the ship to clearer ice beyond.

“How in the world could these immense blocks of ice have got there?” asked Dr. Vaneyke in surprise, when he saw them.

Frank pointed to a mountain cliff half a mile away.

“If they fell from there” said he, “wouldn’t they have been propelled along over this glassy surface to the very strait?”

“Sure enough, if they came from enough height to project them a great distance, for they would certainly slide freely.”

“Do you notice how much warmer it is here than it was in the sky, doctor?” asked the young inventor.

“Quite a difference in the temperature.”

“Pshaw! there goes one of those staysails shaking loose!”

“I’ll go out an’ boind it down, me laddy!” said Barney.

He hastened from the turret, and going out on deck, made his way out to the end of the long bowsprit.

Barney caught hold of the refractory sail just as the Ranger ran into the icy pass, and secured it where it belonged.

He then started to make his way back to the deck, when one of the forward runners struck against an icy hummock.

It made the ship bounce, and flung Barney from his perch.

The Irishman gave a yell and landed upon his back upon the ice.

He barely had time to roll aside when the grinding runners flew by within an inch of his body, for Frank had seen what had befallen him, and swiftly steered the Ranger aside.

Had the steel blade hit the Irishman, it would have cut him in two, for the weight of the boat was considerable, as it was very large.

“Be heavens! I’ve broke me neck!” roared Barney.

“Man oberboa’d!” shouted Pomp, seeing the mishap. “Man oberboa’d!”

The coon rushed out on the deck, and when the Ranger passed Barney, he scrambled to his feet.

Running after the ship, he yelled:

“Shtop her! Don’t lave me behoind!”

Frank had to keep her going a few moments, though, for there was a bend around which she was dashing.

The Ranger quickly distanced him.

As he started to rush around the bend after her a huge brown bear darted out from behind an icy projection in front of him.

Before the startled Irishman could stop himself, he struck the beast, fell over it and landed on the ice again.

The bear uttered a savage growl, and turned upon Barney.

Up jumped Barney, very much startled.

He wanted to run after the Ranger again, but could not do so, as the bear was between him and the boat.

Seeing the ugly brute coming for him, he clapped his hand to his belt in search of a weapon to defend himself.

He was not armed.

A cold chill went over him upon finding this out.

He realized that he could not do anything with the beast now, and taking to his heels, ran away, hotly pursued by the animal.