hat it may not keep on from the north, but
veer about and change. We want more sea room."

"But we have come miles away from the ice already."

"Yes; but I should like to be another fifty. Hark!" The command was
not needed, for those he addressed listened awe-stricken to a deep,
crashing roar which now came from astern.

"Thunder?" asked Steve.

"Wind, and breaking up of the ice," said the captain quietly. "If we
had stopped in one of the bays of Spitzbergen, we should have had
shelter, found the way open after the gale is over, and been able to get
round the north of the great island."

"Here it comes!" cried Steve, as there was another of the fierce rushes
of wind, this time so heavy that the air smote him in the face, and he
had to turn away, panting, to breathe.

"Yes, we have it now!" cried the captain. "Stand fast there, you two by
the wheel!"

"Ay, ay, sir!" came in a deep growl from Johannes, as he and Andrew
grasped the spokes side by side.

"And now," said the captain to his companions in a low voice, "you two
had better go below."

"No!" cried the doctor and Steve at one and the same moment.

"Very well. Get under shelter of the bulwarks, then. The fight has
begun."

He was right, for the storm was upon them with a wild, shrieking,
hissing, deafening roar that nearly took Steve off his legs, and sent
the doctor staggering forward to clutch at the nearest object that would
offer a hold. In an instant the deck was white with a fine, powdery
dust that bit and stung and filled the hair, penetrating to the skin.
Voices were inaudible, but there was a weird chorus from the ropes and
stays, and then a loud report as one of the storm sails burst into
ribbons and was torn piecemeal out of the bolt ropes.

Steve turned to see what effect this had upon the captain, and to learn
whether it meant danger; but the blinding snow hid him from sight, as
well as the men at the wheel; and all he knew was that no one stirred
save the doctor, who had crawled to the shelter of the bulwark, and
crouched down by his side, to grasp his arm, and place his lips close to
his ear and shout:

"What do you think of this?"

Steve made no answer, for the noise, the rush of the snow, the swaying
motion of the ship, and the darkness combined to stun his senses. All
he could do was to struggle for his breath, gasping, glad to get his
hands over his mouth and nostrils as he realised how easily any one
might be suffocat