She wouldn't skirt the edge of this and she wouldn't go through it.

There was nothing to do but to stop and bank fires.

How do we stand ?--Any day or hour the floes may open up, leaving a road to further open water to the south, but there is no guarantee that one would not be hung up again and again in this manner as long as these great floes exist.

In a fortnight's time the floes will have crumbled somewhat, and in many places the ship will be able to penetrate them.
What to do under these circumstances calls for the most difficult decision.
If one lets fires out it means a dead loss of over 2 tons, when the boiler has to be heated again.

But this 2 tons would only cover a day under banked fires, so that for anything longer than twenty-four hours it is economy to put the fires out.