ime for quarrelling here on board ship."

He hurried out, and left Steve in the cabin alone with his bitter
thoughts.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

NATURE IN THE NORTH.

"All this trouble about nothing," muttered Steve, as soon as he was
alone; and he mechanically went to the little washing-sink to remove the
traces of the fight.

His actions were slow for a few moments, but they soon grew quicker, for
he could hear Captain Marsham giving orders in a sharp, peremptory way.

There was an icy wind blowing through the open window and a peculiar
whistling sound in the air, and as he hurriedly washed he knew by the
rattling noises, faintly as they reached his ears, that the men were
getting the furnace going and shovelling on coals.

By the time he was fit to be seen he had heard order after order given,
and the men hurrying about, so that when he went on deck he was not
surprised to find that they had shortened sail and were reefing those
which were left. But the next instant he was startled by the change
which had taken place since he went below.

Away to the north beyond the ice cliffs all had been bright and
dazzling; now the sky was overcast, the sun had disappeared, and though
a little blue sky was visible to the south it was a dingy kind of blue,
fast becoming grey.

The whistling he had heard below had gone on increasing till the wind
sang through the cordage, and made the canvas tug and strain at the
ropes which held it. Then it died away to a faint whisper, like a sigh
of weariness at the exertion.

The ice to the north was only dimly seen after a few minutes, for a
thick haze appeared to be gathering in that direction, but high up, and
not in any way resembling the fog which had come down upon them twice
and appeared to be resting on the sea.

Steve had hardly grasped the state of affairs when Captain Marsham
caught sight of him.

"Here, Steve, my lad," he cried, quite in his old manner, "you had
better get on your fur cap and mackintosh if you are going to stay on
deck. Sharp! we shall have the storm upon us in a few minutes."

Those words were quite cheering, and the lad hurried down to make the
change suggested, noting, before he went into the cabin, that their
course was altered, and the _Hvalross's_ head lay to the south-east.

"He doesn't want to be near the ice in a storm," thought Steve; and,
strange enough as it appeared to him, he felt comparatively happy, a
big, real trouble making the pe