You do not know me. No matter; I know you, and that is enough. I offer you the position of mate on board of the brig _Forward_, for a voyage which may be long and perilous.
If you decline, well and good. If you accept, five hundred pounds will be a.s.signed you as salary, and at the end of each year of the voyage your pay will be increased one tenth.
The brig _Forward_ does not exist. You will be obliged to have it built so that it will be possible to set to sea in the beginning of April, 1860, at the latest. Enclosed is a drawing with estimates. You will follow them exactly. The ship will be built in the stocks of Scott & Co., who will arrange everything with you.
I beg of you to be specially cautious in selecting the crew of the _Forward_; it will consist of a captain (myself), a mate (you), a second mate, a boatswain, two engineers, an ice-master, eight sailors, two stokers, in all eighteen men, including Dr. Clawbonny of this city, who will join you at the proper time.
Those who are shipped on board of the _Forward_ must be Englishmen, independent, with no family ties, single and temperate; for the use of spirits, and even of beer, will be strictly forbidden on shipboard: the men must be ready to undertake and endure everything.
In your selection you will prefer those of a sanguine temperament, and so inclined to maintain a higher degree of animal heat.
You will offer the crew five times their usual pay, to be increased one tenth at the end of each year. At the end of the voyage each one shall receive five hundred pounds, and you yourself two thousand. The requisite sum shall be deposited with the above-named Messrs. Marcuart & Co.
The voyage will be long and difficult, but one sure to bring renown.
You need not hesitate, then, Mr. Shandon.
Send your answer to the initials K. Z., at Gottenburg, Sweden, _poste restante_.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
P. S. On the 15th of February next you will receive a large Danish dog, with hanging lips, of a dark tawny color, with black stripes running crosswise. You will find place for him on board, and you will feed him on barley bread mixed with a broth of lard. You will acknowledge the receipt of this dog by a letter to the same initials at Leghorn, Italy.
The captain of the _Forward_ will appear and make himself known at the proper time. As you are about setting sail you will receive new instructions.
K. Z., _Captain of the Forward_.
CHAPTER III.
DR. CLAWBONNY.
Richard Shandon was a good sailor; for a long time he had commanded whalers in the Arctic seas, with a well-deserved reputation throughout all Lancaster. Such a letter was well calculated to astonish him; he was astonished, it is true, but with the calmness of a man who is accustomed to surprises.
He suited all the required conditions; no wife, child, nor relatives.
He was as independent as man could be. There being no one whose opinion he needed to consult, he betook himself to Messrs. Marcuart & Co.
"If the money is there," he said to himself, "the rest is all right."
At the banking-house he was received with the respect due to a man who has sixteen thousand pounds deposited to his credit; having made that point sure, Shandon asked for a sheet of white paper, and in his large sailor"s handwriting he sent his acceptance of the plan to the address given above.
That very day he made the necessary arrangements with the builders at Birkenhead, and within twenty-four hours the keel of the _Forward_ was laid on the stocks.
Richard Shandon was a man about forty years old, strong, energetic, and fearless, three qualities most necessary for a sailor, for they give him confidence, vigor, and coolness. He was known to be severe and very hard to please; hence he was more feared than loved by his men. But this reputation was not calculated to interfere with his selection of a crew, for he was known to be skilful in avoiding trouble.
Shandon feared that the mysterious nature of the expedition might stand in his way.
"In that case," he said, "it"s best not to say anything about it; there will always be plenty of men who will want to know the why and the wherefore of the whole matter, and, since I don"t know anything about it myself, I should find it hard to answer them. This K. Z. is certainly an odd stick; but, after all, he knows me, he depends on me, and that is enough. As for his ship, it will be a good one, and if it"s not going to the Arctic Ocean, my name is not Richard Shandon.
But I shall keep that fact for myself and my officers."
Thereupon Shandon began to choose his crew, bearing in mind the captain"s wishes about the independence and health of the men.
He knew a very capital fellow, and a good sailor, James Wall by name.
Wall might have been about thirty years old, and had already made some voyages in the northern seas. Shandon offered him the place of second mate, and Wall accepted it at once; all he cared for was to be at sea.
Shandon confided all the details of the affair to him and to a certain Johnson, whom he took as boatswain.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
"All right," answered James Wall, "that"s as good as anything. Even if it"s to seek the Northwest Pa.s.sage, some have come back from that."
"Not all," said Johnson, "but that"s no reason that we should not try it."
"Besides, if our guesses are right," said Shandon, "it must be said that we start with a fair chance of success. The _Forward_ will be a stanch ship and she will carry good engines. She can go a great distance. We want a crew of only eighteen men."
"Eighteen men," answered Johnson; "that"s the number the American, Kane, took with him on his famous voyage towards the North Pole."
"It"s strange," said Wall, "that a private person should try to make his way from Davis Strait to Behring Strait. The expeditions in search of Sir John Franklin have already cost England more than seven hundred and sixty thousand pounds, without producing any practical good. Who in the world wants to throw away his money for such a purpose?"
"In the first place, James," answered Shandon, "we are in the dark about it all. I don"t know whether we are going to the northern or the southern seas. Perhaps there"s some new discovery to be tried. At any rate, some day or other a Dr. Clawbonny is to come aboard who will probably know more about it and will be able to tell us. We shall see."
"Let us wait, then," said Johnson; "as for me, I"m going to look after some good men, and I"ll answer now for their animal heat, as the captain calls it. You can depend on me."
Johnson was an invaluable man; he was familiar with high lat.i.tudes. He had been quartermaster aboard of the _Phoenix_, which belonged to one of the expeditions sent out in 1853 in search of Franklin; he had been an eye-witness of the death of the French lieutenant Bellot, whom he had accompanied in his expedition across the ice. Johnson knew all the sailors in Liverpool, and immediately set about engaging a crew.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "Johnson knew all the sailors in Liverpool, and immediately set about engaging a crew."]
Shandon, Wall, and he succeeded in filling the number by the middle of December, but they met with considerable difficulty; many who were attracted by the high pay were alarmed by the danger, and more than one who had boldly enlisted came later to say that he had changed his mind on account of the dissuasion of his friends. They all tried to pierce the mystery, and pursued Shandon with their questions. He used to refer them to Johnson.
"What can I say, my man?" the boatswain used to answer; "I don"t know any more about it than you do. At any rate you will be in good company, with men who won"t shirk their work; that"s something! So don"t be thinking about it all day: take it or leave it!" And the greater number took it.
"You understand," added Johnson, sometimes, "my only trouble is in making my choice. High pay, such as no sailor ever had before, with the certainty of finding a round sum when we get back. That"s very tempting."
"The fact is," answered the sailors, "that it is hard to refuse. It will support a man all the rest of his life."
"I won"t hide from you," continued Johnson, "that the voyage will be long, difficult, and dangerous; that"s all stated in our instructions; it"s well to know beforehand what one undertakes to do; probably it"s to try all that men can possibly do, and perhaps even more. So, if you haven"t got a bold heart and a strong body, if you can"t say you have more than twenty chances to one of staying there, if, in short, you are particular about leaving your body in one place more than another, here rather than there, get away from here and let some bolder man have your place!"
"But, at least," said the confused sailor,--"at least, you know the captain?"
"The captain is Richard Shandon, my friend, until we receive another."
Now it must be said that was what the commander thought; he allowed himself to think that at the last moment he would receive definite instructions as to the object of the voyage, and that he would remain in command of the _Forward_. He was fond of spreading this opinion about, either in conversation with his officers or in superintending the building of the brig, of which the timbers were now rising in the Birkenhead ship-yard like the sides of a huge whale.
Shandon and Johnson conformed strictly with the recommendation about the health of the crew; they all looked hardy and possessed enough animal heat to run the engines of the _Forward_; their elastic limbs, their clear and ruddy skin, showed that they were fit to encounter intense cold. They were bold, determined men, energetic and stoutly built; they were not all equally vigorous. Shandon had even hesitated about accepting some of them; for instance, the sailors Gripper and Garry, and the harpooner Simpson, who seemed to him too thin; but, on the other hand, they were well built, they were earnest about it, and they were shipped.
All the crew were members of the same church; in their long voyage their prayers and the reading of the Bible would call them together and console them in the hours of depression; so that it was advisable that there should be no diversity on this score. Shandon knew from experience the usefulness of this practice and its good influence on the men, so valuable that it is never neglected on board of ships which winter in the polar seas.
When all the crew had been engaged, Shandon and his two officers busied themselves with the provisions; they followed closely the captain"s instructions, which were definite, precise, and detailed, in which the quality and quant.i.ty of the smallest articles were clearly set down. Thanks to the drafts placed at the commander"s order, every article was paid for, cash down, with a discount of eight per cent, which Richard carefully placed to the credit of K. Z.