Page:A Wild-Goose Chase - Balmer - 1915.djvu/85



HE next morning the Viborg arrived. Plainly the ship had been built for strength, and not for either beauty or accommodations. As the party on the yacht watched the little arctic vessel come up and anchor Geoff closely observed his sister.

The Viborg, as it measured itself beside the Inca, was not half the yacht's length. A long bowsprit only aggravated the stubbiness of the bruised and battered hull; a single stout mast with brown sails bent upon it composed the visible means of propulsion. The auxiliary engine, driven by gasoline, required no stack that showed. There was a large hatch for the hold amidships, a hatch to the forward cabins and another to the engine room and cabins aft.

Heavy anchors and chains and other gear encumbered the forward deck, and appearances had not been helped by the circumstance that 71