Page:The white czar; a story of a polar bear (IA whiteczarstoryof00hawk).pdf/170

 was having her troubles. The man at the wheel did not try to make any particular direction, but simply kept her headed towards the regularly rolling waves. He knew if she once got in the trough she might be capsized. So all the power was used to keep her facing the sea. Every time she rose on the top of a high wave, the propeller would be out of water and would spin like a top.

Then she would come down into the water again and the engine would resume its labored panting.

The men talked but little. No one knew what the outcome of this disaster might be. Eiseeyou sat in the stern of the boat with Oumauk in his arms, listening for the regular resounding slap of each succeeding wave on the bows of the little craft.

As the hours wore wearily on, he noted that the swells were getting higher and higher and the sound when they struck the boat louder. Their plight was certainly desperate.

It was just a gamble whether they would be picked up before the seas engulfed them.