"Man the capstan! The Norwegians know what they are doing."
With remarkable celerity, the new cable was made fast and the men began turning the capstan. This was not a moment too soon, as the first cable, unable to stand the strain, showed unmistakable signs of breaking. The motion of the vessel toward the starboard and under the ice was stopped. But the Norwegians now called for a boat and more cables. Their orders were promptly obeyed. Captain Ganoe, Battell and myself were the first to respond. For the moment, our Norwegian sailors were in command, and all obeyed their orders with alacrity. The boat was manned and the Ice King was lashed to the larboard wall of our prison at a number of different points. The ship was saved from the impending disaster, but still was slightly careened and the masts were bent almost to the point of breaking.
Returning to the ship, Captain Ganoe and Battell began figuring on getting the masts clear of the ice and the ship righted. The pressure of the water on the larboard side was immense, but the cables held her fast and there was no especial need of haste. The first thought suggested was to remove the upper splice of the mainmast, which would relieve the pressure, but the Norwegians had evolved a more simple plan. They motioned the engineer to set the screws in motion, slowly. As soon as the ship began to move forward the masts began to bend toward the stern, and the cables which held the ship firmly on the larboard, being relatively shortened by the forward motion, the vessel was drawn in that direction and righted herself. We now moved the vessel to the center of the enclosure in which she floated, and cables were made fast to the ice on every quarter, and thus secured from contact with it, the Ice King had the appearance of a huge spider with its web spread out in every direction.
The danger was past, the ship was safe, and we had time to inquire into the particulars concerning the important part that had been enacted by our two Norwegian sailors. We now learned that while the entire crew, except themselves, were resting from their recent fatigue in a feeling of security, Lief and Eric were far from believing that our winter quarters were entirely safe until the ship was securely tied up to the walls of our prison. Their especial charge was to keep the cables, capstans and anchors ready for use at a moment's notice, and they were satisfied that this was a time when they were needed. Hence, instead of retiring to their hammocks to sleep, they determined to carefully examine our surroundings for themselves. They observed that the larboard wall was nearly perpendicular to a point several feet above the top of the masts, while on the starboard, the sloping roof extended far out to the water's edge. They further observed that along the larboard was a low lying bench upon which the falling ice had formed a number of hummocks. This was a safe place to tie to.