So there hung the stout little shipkeeper, kicking his legs, and vociferating in an excited manner, until at length he succeeded in turning himself and grasping the rope with both hands.
“You sarved me a bad trick, Marline, without knowing it,” he said, as soon as he had regained the top of the berg. “Blast me if I think my pigtail will ever recover from the effects of it.”
And he then proceeded to explain the predicament in which he had been placed. The harpooner expressed his sympathy and regret, after which Stump proceeded very carefully to fasten the rope to an icy projection near the mouth of the crevice.
Assured that the rope was perfectly secure, Harry clambered hand over hand, until he had gained the top of the berg, and then expressed his intention of continuing his search for the boats.
“As for you, Stump,” he added, “you had better make your way back to Alice, as speedily as possible, so as to calm her fears on my account.”
“Willingly enough will I do that,” replied the shipkeeper, gently smoothing his ruffled pigtail, “for I’m mightily tired of this ice-cruising business--I’ll give you my word for that.”
The two men separated, soon afterward, but not until Stump had presented the pocket-compass to his chum and delivered a long tirade upon its merits.
“You are sure you can find your way back--are you not?” shouted Harry, after he had gone a few paces.
“Ay, ay,” responded Stump, “there isn’t a doubt upon that p’int. All I have to do is to follow my nose, which won’t twist either to the right or the left, seeing as its parfectly flat.”
Each of the seamen then continued his course--the shipkeeper waddling along toward the spot where he had left Alice, which was not more than five hundred yards from the scene of his late adventure, and the young harpooner darting swiftly forward in the direction of the blowing horn.
Stump strained his eyes, as he neared the point of his destination, eager to get a glimpse of the captain’s fair niece. In order to relieve her anxiety as soon as possible, he kept up a continual shouting as he advanced.
“It’s all right, Miss Alice--bless your pretty eyes--it’s all right! I’ve seen him, I have, and he’s well and hearty! He was penned up in a sort of seal-hole, but I got him out of it in quick time, and he’s now started off again after the boats.”