Steve Young Part 66

"She dinna ken onything apoot the roarer. Will she mak' it licht?"

"Yes, beautifully."

"Hey, but caud as it is the noo?"

"Much colder," cried Steve.

"Then she'll chust lie doon and dee," said Watty piteously, "for she canna bear to thenk upo' it. Cauder than it is the noo, an' her han's and foots like they are. Why, she'd be a' one creat chilplain ivery wha'! What wad her mither say if she knew?"

The lads were out on the trampled snow about a hundred yards from the _Hvalross_, which looked, with its snow-covered roofing, like some long, low house, out of which three tall masts had grown. And as they were talking a hail came from the canvas-covered doorway at the top of the gangway.

The resemblance to a low, long house was increased by the iron chimneys rising out through the snow and the big funnel of the boiler, from all of which black smoke was issuing; for, the ample supply of coal being so near, Captain Marsham had the engine furnace kept going for the sake of the heat given by the boilers, as well as from the fire itself. In fact, the engine-room and stoke-hole became favourite places with the men of an evening before bed, or after a long tramp round somewhere through the snow; for, now that they were fairly started in their battle with the arctic winter, the weather had to be very bad, and the wind very keen, for the crew to be kept out of their daily exercise.

The loud hail came from the doorway, and a curious-looking figure like a diver in a fur suit came down the well-made flight of ice steps, and advanced to join the two lads. The resemblance to a diver increased as it drew nearer, for the face was almost completely hidden by the visor-like arrangement of the round, helmet-shaped cap, and in place of a visor's bars there were two large, round green-gla.s.s goggles which glistened in a peculiar manner when the object advanced, as if he were not only a diver, but a steam diver who was moved by some internal machinery which caused him to emit little puffs of steam at breathing intervals.

"Morning, Mr Hands...o...b..," cried Steve as he drew near.

"Morning, my lad; but look here, you are doing a very foolish thing.

We're below zero, and yet you're standing about here talking as if it were summer."

"We haven't felt the cold, sir."

"The more likely for the cold to be dangerous for you, my lad. A frost-bite comes on without the sufferer knowing about it, the cold making the part quite insensible to pain, and a bad bite may mean utter destruction of the tissue and the loss of even hands and feet."

"Phwat!" cried Watty, forgetting his awe of the doctor in the horror of the announcement; "wad a man who was frost-bit lose her han's or her foots?"

"Yes, if it were a bad case of freezing."

"An' wad her han's or foots tummle off?"

"More likely the patient's medical attendant would have to cut them off."

"Coot her han's an foots off? What wi'--chopper?"

"No," said the doctor, smiling at the lad's horrified looks; "they would be carefully taken off with a knife and saw. Surgeons are very careful."

Watty groaned.

"It's a' ower wi' her, Meester Stevey, an' she's ferry sorry she's iver fote and ca'd her, for she'll nivver see bonnie Scotland more."

"Why not? What's the matter with you, my lad?" said the doctor.

"She's ferry pad, sir. Poth her foots an' poth her han's is frost-pitten."

"What! and you did not tell me? Here, come back to the s.h.i.+p, and let me have a look."

"Na, na, na; she'll na gang wi' ye!" cried Watty.

"But if they are frost-bitten I can perhaps do them good, and save you from a very bad injury. Come along."

"Na, na; she'll keep her han's an' foots on as lang as she can," groaned the lad. "She winna let her tooch them."

"Don't be absurd!" said the doctor angrily. "Steve, did you know of this?"

"No, sir," said the boy, fighting hard to conceal his mirth.

"I ought to have been told. Here, come along. Stop!"

"Ay, she'll stop; she winna gang wi' ye."

"Are your feet really bad?"

"Ay, sir; but she shanna tooch them."

"You have no business to walk," said the doctor. "I must have you carried, sir."

"Na, na; she'll stay here."

"Bah! don't be absurd, boy. I know what is best for you. Here, Steve, my lad, go and fetch two of the men to carry him in. I'm glad I heard of this in time."

"Dinna gang, Meester Stevey; oh, dinna gang!" cried Watty.

"I must; I'm ordered to go," cried Steve quickly, as he ran back to the s.h.i.+p, and then hunted out Andrew and Hamish from the forecastle to come and bear the lad to the deck.

"She wa.s.s ferry well at breakfast," said Andrew. "She must ha' been eating something since then," for Andrew's ideas of illness were always in connection with eating or drinking too much. "Phwat will she say's the matter?"

"He told the doctor he was very bad," replied Steve, "and you're to carry him."

"She wa.s.s ferry sorry for the puir laddie, and she'll carry her on her pack."

But Andrew was not allowed to carry Watty in on his "pack," but under the doctor's instructions, and, in spite of the lad's remonstrances, they pa.s.sed hands under him, made him throw his arms over their shoulders, and prepared to start.

"She winna go!" cried Watty, struggling faintly.

"Take no notice of him," said the doctor; "he must be carried in at once. Now off!"

Poor Watty was borne to the snow steps which rose right up to the gangway, carried in, and no sooner were they upon the gloomy deck, where they had to depend now for light upon a couple of swinging lanthorns, than the captain met them.

The place was quite misty with the men's breath, which hung about like steam, in spite of the efforts made to keep the place warm; and things looked quite indistinct, especially about Watty, who had had to resign himself to his fate, and lay where he was placed upon the deck.

"What is it--a fall?" cried the captain; "broken leg?"

"No, frost-bitten," said the doctor laconically. "Take off that fur coat, my lads."

The huge sheep-skin coat was opened and drawn from Watty's shoulders, leaving visible one of the blankets from his bunk doubled and rolled round him tightly, and held by a stout piece of cord that looked wonderfully like a portion of a walrus line.

"Watty laddie," said Hamish, "she meant to keep hersel' wairm," and the men about laughed, all but Johannes and his companions, who were perfectly serious.