The Frozen Crew Of The Ice-Bound Ship; Or, Terrors Of The Arctic Region — page 58: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

48 THE FROZEN CREW AND ICE-BOUND SHIP. His rapid flight, which had overcome all opposing — was in the combat, could not, in the moment, make any reply to the cool and characteristic remark of the intruder, whom he at once recognised as Van- derdecken, the Flying Dutchman. “J am an unbidden guest to your frugal banquet,’ he exclaimed, ‘“‘ but the tide, from whose spray my footsteps are forbid seldom to separate, 1s on the fall, and I am permitted for a time to visit earth.” ““ How have you discovered us?’? asked the In- dian, after a pause, still. doubting the speaker’s supernatural attributes. ¢ ‘‘ A power which you scorn, and which will as- suredly in the end punish you, contumely summons me hither ;.but I come not to bandy words with an untutored savage—'my business is with: Fergus Blake.” 5; The seaman, upon perceiving Vanderdecken, ad- vanced towards him. “You come,” said Fergus, ‘‘I see, in fulfilment of your promise.”’ ““T see you are inclined to do me the justice I deserve,’ replied Vanderdecken, ‘‘and I will not throw away my friendship on you, who hold it not lightly. “In a word,” he continued, “you, unlike your companion, have faith in me.” ““T have heard,” answered Fergus, “that human Wisdom is worse than folly when it is applied to mysteries beyond its comprehension, and that if we believed no more than we could understand, we should resist the evidences of our senses, which present to us, at every turn, circumstances as cer- tain as they are unintelligible.” “Were I to treat you with the want of that con- fidence you now show towards me, I should be worthy of the stigma with which mankind, in the ignorance of their hearts, brand me. “Therefore,” added the Flying Dutchman, “I must curb your adventurous spirit, which would urge you to the brink of a precipice more dangerous than was ever washed by a spring tide.” ““ What mean you ?’’ asked Miamas, “This : that through the omission of the tribute of your tribe to the Dragon of the Northern seas, he will once more ravage this frozen land for the prey which you have failed to provide for him, and a few short moments will serve to bring him hither.” As Vanderdecken spoke, a dwarf, having only one eye, rushed wildly into his presence. He bore on his shoulders a huge white elk, whose blood still flowed profusely. The long track of gore at once attracted the terrible Kracken—the dragon of the Polar regions —to its desired victims. A wild scream of terror burst from their lips as they beheld the monster, with gaping jaws, advance to seize its prey. Sumach would have fallen at once a victim, but the charmed chain which she had received from Vanderdecken preserved her. The dragon scowled at the gift as if at once in- censed and overawed, and then, coiling himself up mM a thick sulphurous cloud, disappeared from the place. The effect of the stifling vapour upon Miamas was most extraordinary. . The whole region seemed to dance around him. *Ghastly figures assumed more hideous forms, then changed again into those of ferocious monsters of the deep. Fragments of the loadstone rock withered and shot forth like hissing serpents. A maddening feeling of excitement suddenly took possession of him, and he seemed carried swiftly to a distance from Sumach and Fergus. impediments, at length ended, and as he plunged into a stupendous chasm he fell exhausted and in- sensible. How long he remained thus he could never tell; he could only remember that he was aroused by a finger coming in contact with his frame. A pang like death shot through his heart as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, Miamas discovered the pallid fea- tures of the one-eyed dwarf who had attended the dragon. The Indian endeavoured to creep away, but the dwarf, with a great effort, detained him. “ Why do you wish to avoid me ?” said the dwarf, retaining Miamas in his grasp, while his single eye glowed like fiery coals. ‘If you endeavour ta es- cape from the toils of him who brought you to the loadstone rock, you will of a necessity meet a ter- rible doom.” Miamas, after a pause, recovered his speech, but his words were faintly uttered, and with difficulty he demanded— “ Who art thou >” “The enemy of thy enemy—therefore I am thy friend.”’ ‘‘ Art thou not the servant of the wizard, and—” ‘“‘ A servant, I grant, you,’’ interrupted the dwarf, ‘‘but an unwilling one, nevertheless; my destiny is not to be averted; yours, on the contrary, rests in your own hands.”’ ‘“ What am [I to believe ?” “That you may avenge yourself and me, too, by destroying a fiend over whom I have no power, save by the assistance of one constituted like yourself.” “You say I can defy my fate ?” “ Assuredly, if you are wise enough to be guided by my counsel. Your sorrows are not unknown to me, and though I have been constrained to watch over them I have felt that a time would come when I might alleviate your misery, and satisfy myself by a trifling repayment of the injuries I have received from the tyrant whose rod is law to me.” “JT do not want vengeance, I want to be with her —with Sumach.” ““T may probably rescue the maiden from the artful snares of her persecutor,”’ replied the dwarf, “ but as Iam only secondary to a superior evil being, my purpose of rendering you assistance is somewhat hazardous. “‘ Vanderdecken,” he continued, “ has seen the maid whom you love, and being captivated, as yourself, has resolved to possess her.” ; ‘: But Sumach despises him, does she not ?” asked Miamas, “Yes,” replied the dwarf; “she has resisted his importunities with the utmost scorn, and her firmness had brought on her a terrible punishment.”’ “Punishment ?”’ “She had been conveyed to the cavern of the winds beneath the loadstone-rock, and converted into a statue of ice.” ‘Horrible doom, but I will not abandon her,” said Miamas in frenzied tones. “She is held by an arm of iron, and can be released by your aid alone,” continued the dwarf. “Say, then, are you willing to brave the dangers that must attend your undertaking in this good work ?” “Instruct me how I am to perform the task,” he answered, “and I here promise to fulfil my mission or perish in the attempt.” ‘“‘Bravely resolvel,’ exclaimed Hans Hinckman, whom the reader may have recognised in the one- eyed dwarf, “ and I also pledge myself to aid you by every means at my command.”’ ~