登陆注册
5192200000010

第10章

"To hear old Gaffett tell about it was something awful," he said, going on with his story quite steadily after the moment of excitement had passed."'Twas first a tale of dogs and sledges, and cold and wind and snow.Then they begun to find the ice grow rotten; they had been frozen in, and got into a current flowing north, far up beyond Fox Channel, and they took to their boats when the ship got crushed, and this warm current took them out of sight of the ice, and into a great open sea; and they still followed it due north, just the very way they had planned to go.Then they struck a coast that wasn't laid down or charted, but the cliffs were such that no boat could land until they found a bay and struck across under sail to the other side where the shore looked lower;they were scant of provisions and out of water, but they got sight of something that looked like a great town.'For God's sake, Gaffett!' said I, the first time he told me.'You don't mean a town two degrees farther north than ships had ever been?' for he'd got their course marked on an old chart that he'd pieced out at the top; but he insisted upon it, and told it over and over again, to be sure I had it straight to carry to those who would be interested.There was no snow and ice, he said, after they had sailed some days with that warm current, which seemed to come right from under the ice that they'd been pinched up in and had been crossing on foot for weeks.""But what about the town?" I asked."Did they get to the town?""They did," said the captain, "and found inhabitants; 'twas an awful condition of things.It appeared, as near as Gaffett could express it, like a place where there was neither living nor dead.

They could see the place when they were approaching it by sea pretty near like any town, and thick with habitations; but all at once they lost sight of it altogether, and when they got close inshore they could see the shapes of folks, but they never could get near them,--all blowing gray figures that would pass along alone, or sometimes gathered in companies as if they were watching.

The men were frightened at first, but the shapes never came near them,--it was as if they blew back; and at last they all got bold and went ashore, and found birds' eggs and sea fowl, like any wild northern spot where creatures were tame and folks had never been, and there was good water.Gaffett said that he and another man came near one o' the fog-shaped men that was going along slow with the look of a pack on his back, among the rocks, an' they chased him; but, Lord! he flittered away out o' sight like a leaf the wind takes with it, or a piece of cobweb.They would make as if they talked together, but there was no sound of voices, and 'they acted as if they didn't see us, but only felt us coming towards them,'

says Gaffett one day, trying to tell the particulars.They couldn't see the town when they were ashore.One day the captain and the doctor were gone till night up across the high land where the town had seemed to be, and they came back at night beat out and white as ashes, and wrote and wrote all next day in their notebooks, and whispered together full of excitement, and they were sharp-spoken with the men when they offered to ask any questions.

"Then there came a day," said Captain Littlepage, leaning toward me with a strange look in his eyes, and whispering quickly.

"The men all swore they wouldn't stay any longer; the man on watch early in the morning gave the alarm, and they all put off in the boat and got a little way out to sea.Those folks, or whatever they were, come about 'em like bats; all at once they raised incessant armies, and come as if to drive 'em back to sea.They stood thick at the edge o' the water like the ridges o' grim war;no thought o' flight, none of retreat.Sometimes a standing fight, then soaring on main wing tormented all the air.And when they'd got the boat out o' reach o' danger, Gaffett said they looked back, and there was the town again, standing up just as they'd seen it first, comin' on the coast.Say what you might, they all believed 'twas a kind of waiting-place between this world an' the next."The captain had sprung to his feet in his excitement, and made excited gestures, but he still whispered huskily.

"Sit down, sir," I said as quietly as I could, and he sank into his chair quite spent.

"Gaffett thought the officers were hurrying home to report and to fit out a new expedition when they were all lost.At the time, the men got orders not to talk over what they had seen," the old man explained presently in a more natural tone.

"Weren't they all starving, and wasn't it a mirage or something of that sort?" I ventured to ask.But he looked at me blankly.

"Gaffett had got so that his mind ran on nothing else," he went on."The ship's surgeon let fall an opinion to the captain, one day, that 'twas some condition o' the light and the magnetic currents that let them see those folks.'Twa'n't a right-feeling part of the world, anyway; they had to battle with the compass to make it serve, an' everything seemed to go wrong.Gaffett had worked it out in his own mind that they was all common ghosts, but the conditions were unusual favorable for seeing them.He was always talking about the Ge'graphical Society, but he never took proper steps, as I viewed it now, and stayed right there at the mission.He was a good deal crippled, and thought they'd confine him in some jail of a hospital.He said he was waiting to find the right men to tell, somebody bound north.Once in a while they stopped there to leave a mail or something.He was set in his notions, and let two or three proper explorin' expeditions go by him because he didn't like their looks; but when I was there he had got restless, fearin' he might be taken away or something.He had all his directions written out straight as a string to give the right ones.I wanted him to trust 'em to me, so I might have something to show, but he wouldn't.I suppose he's dead now.Iwrote to him an' I done all I could.'Twill be a great exploit some o' these days."I assented absent-mindedly, thinking more just then of my companion's alert, determined look and the seafaring, ready aspect that had come to his face; but at this moment there fell a sudden change, and the old, pathetic, scholarly look returned.Behind me hung a map of North America, and I saw, as I turned a little, that his eyes were fixed upon the northernmost regions and their careful recent outlines with a look of bewilderment.

同类推荐
  • 医说

    医说

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 原善

    原善

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 青色大金刚药叉辟鬼魔法

    青色大金刚药叉辟鬼魔法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上十二上品飞天法轮劝戒妙经

    太上十二上品飞天法轮劝戒妙经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 元遺山先生集

    元遺山先生集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • The Hunting of the Snark

    The Hunting of the Snark

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 中国佛教哲学要义(第五卷)(方立天文集)

    中国佛教哲学要义(第五卷)(方立天文集)

    “佛教的哲学”是一个非常后起的概念,但佛教思惟无疑是作为宗教的佛教进入人类的精神生活领域的结果。方立天教授的这本《中国佛教哲学要义》描述了自古以来中国社会所特有的中国气派、中国风格的佛教精神生活内容,勾勒了中国佛教哲学体系,是作者对于中国传统文化的肯定以及一份期待先进文化产生的热情。
  • 搁浅

    搁浅

    我们八驿镇紧靠松花江,曾是北方驿道上的一个站馆。镇上很多人都是站人的后代,可许建来却不是,他家是后来从外地搬来的。离开八驿镇三里多地,有一座省属监狱,他老爸就在那儿上班,管后勤伙食一类,也穿警服,来回骑车子,从街上日日地驰过,那也是很抖精神的。监狱系统的人归省里统一调动,忽而这忽而那,自己说了不算,一纸调令,许老爸就来了。还在小学三年级的时候,许建来的妈妈就病故了。我们都记得当时出殡的场面,许建来手上撅着一根雪白而琐碎的灵头幡,哗哗啦啦地飘拂在劲飕的秋风里,走着很规范也很僵硬的步子,就像仪仗队里的新旗手。
  • 你在高原1:家族

    你在高原1:家族

    《你在高原》讲述的是一批上世纪50年代出生的人的经历。围绕主人公宁伽不断探究父辈及家族的兴衰、苦乐、得失和荣辱,在广阔的背景上展示当代人的生活状态和心理特质。全书分三十九卷,归为十个单元,包罗万象、精彩纷呈,是一部足踏大地之书,一部行走之书,一部“时代的伟大记录”。各种人物和传奇、各种隐秘的艺术与生命的密码悉数囊括其中。
  • 狂暴升级系统

    狂暴升级系统

    沧澜大陆,万灵修武.成道者,碎星河,破苍穹,动乾坤。地球的游戏天才秦霜因怒摔键盘而被电死,魂穿异界,获升级系统辅助,千百万部小说主角的技能任挑选。自此,搅风云,弑天骄,战万族,傲视天地。这是一条狂暴的升级之路……
  • 佛说大坚固婆罗门缘起经

    佛说大坚固婆罗门缘起经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 丑女无敌

    丑女无敌

    从女孩的性格、气质、品位、社交、心理、才智、处世、财商、爱情、婚姻、职场等角度,全方位地讲述现代女孩获取成功的必备要素。希望本书能让所有女孩有机会重新评估自己的生活方式,修炼出一个美丽的自己!也希望它能给读者带来一丝美丽的灵感,一份成功的自信,一把安身的钥匙,一道立命的光环!
  • 打造高效能团队的93个经典故事

    打造高效能团队的93个经典故事

    《打造高效能团队的93个经典故事》一书的编写,对组织和团队成员的主要需求给予了特别的关注,全书精选93个精彩团队故事,读来生动有趣,而人深思。同时,每个故事后的智慧点拨,将团队管理的深邃思想以浅显易懂的总结方式,一语道破,使各篇章内容的故事和理论相互结合,互动互融,别有新意。
  • 王妃不逊

    王妃不逊

    “混蛋王爷啊,说实话,你挺帅的。”“大胆,你叫本王什么?”“混蛋王爷啊,怎么了,有什么问题吗?”“你......。”“你要是不喜欢的话,我可以换个称呼,叫花心王爷老公,好不好?”某男直接被气晕过去。********************************************************“帅哥,我呢叫凤乐乐,你叫什么名字?”“咳咳......美人,我叫浅苍晨。”“什么美人啊,听着怎么就怪怪的,你还是叫我美女吧。”“美女,我很喜欢你。”“喜欢我?”“是啊,很喜欢。”“真的吗?”“当然是真的。”“可是很遗憾,我已经嫁人了,你这可是在勾引有妇之夫哦。”“嫁人了?”“对啊,人家现在是荣王府的王妃,帅哥你晚了一步了,我这朵花已经被采了。”“那我可以等你被荣王爷休了再娶你。”
  • 没有转正的皇帝

    没有转正的皇帝

    公元前662年八月鲁庄公薨,季友辅助公子斑即位,庆父从中作梗,不让公子斑住进宫廷,让公子斑住在舅舅家里,十月己末庆父派人杀公子斑······《左传》云:庆父不去,鲁难未已,故事就从今晚开始······