They had been hard at work all day, making openings in the ice; and now the groaning and whistling among the blocks and ropes, that were increasing every minute, gave little promise of rest for the night.
The captain stood upon the poop in his thick overcoat and drenched fur cap, with his trumpet under his arm, looking anxiously through the night-glass from time to time, and his voice sounded unusually stern.
There lay before him in the dark, blustering, winter night a veritable David's choice.

The strong southerly current, aided by the gale, was fast carrying him in under the Norwegian coast; while on the other hand, if he tried to beat to windward, he risked coming into collision with the ice-floes.

Added to that, he was not very clear as to his position; and as the gale increased, he began to pace restlessly backwards and forwards, addressing, every now and then, a word down to one of the helmsmen, whose forms could be seen by the gleam from the binnacle.
"How's her head, Jens ?" "Sou'-west, sir; she'll lay no higher." "H'm! more and more on land!" he muttered, the perspiration coming out upon his forehead under his fur cap, which, in spite of the rain, he had to push back to get air.

Both life and ship would soon be at stake.
"What says the look-out-man, mate ?" he asked of the latter, who came up the steps at this moment from taking a turn forward.
"Black as pitch.

If we stuck a lantern out on the flying jib-boom, we should see that far at any rate.