The Captain of the Polestar | Page 8

What would be the first symptoms?"
"Pains in the head, noises in the ears flashes before the eyes,
delusions"----
"Ah! what about them?" he interrupted. "What would you call a
delusion?"
"Seeing a thing which is not there is a delusion."
"But she WAS there!" he groaned to himself. "She WAS there!" and
rising, he unbolted the door and walked with slow and uncertain steps
to his own cabin, where I have no doubt that he will remain until
to-morrow morning. His system seems to have received a terrible shock,
whatever it may have been that he imagined himself to have seen. The
man becomes a greater mystery every day, though I fear that the
solution which he has himself suggested is the correct one, and that his
reason is affected. I do not think that a guilty conscience has anything
to do with his behaviour. The idea is a popular one among the officers,
and, I believe, the crew; but I have seen nothing to support it. He has
not the air of a guilty man, but of one who has had terrible usage at the
hands of fortune, and who should be regarded as a martyr rather than a
criminal.
The wind is veering round to the south to-night. God help us if it blocks
that narrow pass which is our only road to safety! Situated as we are on
the edge of the main Arctic pack, or the "barrier" as it is called by the
whalers, any wind from the north has the effect of shredding out the ice
around us and allowing our escape, while a wind from the south blows

up all the loose ice behind us and hems us in between two packs. God
help us, I say again!
September 14th.--Sunday, and a day of rest. My fears have been
confirmed, and the thin strip of blue water has disappeared from the
southward. Nothing but the great motionless ice fields around us, with
their weird hummocks and fantastic pinnacles. There is a deathly
silence over their wide expanse which is horrible. No lapping of the
waves now, no cries of seagulls or straining of sails, but one deep
universal silence in which the murmurs of the seamen, and the creak of
their boots upon the white shining deck, seem discordant and out of
place. Our only visitor was an Arctic fox, a rare animal upon the pack,
though common enough upon the land. He did not come near the ship,
however, but after surveying us from a distance fled rapidly across the
ice. This was curious conduct, as they generally know nothing of man,
and being of an inquisitive nature, become so familiar that they are
easily captured. Incredible as it may seem, even this little incident
produced a bad effect upon the crew. "Yon puir beastie kens mair, ay,
an' sees mair nor you nor me!" was the comment of one of the leading
harpooners, and the others nodded their acquiescence. It is vain to
attempt to argue against such puerile superstition. They have made up
their minds that there is a curse upon the ship, and nothing will ever
persuade them to the contrary.
The Captain remained in seclusion all day except for about half an hour
in the afternoon, when he came out upon the quarterdeck. I observed
that he kept his eye fixed upon the spot where the vision of yesterday
had appeared, and was quite prepared for another outburst, but none
such came. He did not seem to see me although I was standing close
beside him. Divine service was read as usual by the chief engineer. It is
a curious thing that in whaling vessels the Church of England
Prayer-book is always employed, although there is never a member of
that Church among either officers or crew. Our men are all Roman
Catholics or Presbyterians, the former predominating. Since a ritual is
used which is foreign to both, neither can complain that the other is
preferred to them, and they listen with all attention and devotion, so
that the system has something to recommend it.

A glorious sunset, which made the great fields of ice look like a lake of
blood. I have never seen a finer and at the same time more weird effect.
Wind is veering round. If it will blow twenty-four hours from the north
all will yet be well.
September 15th.--To-day is Flora's birthday. Dear lass! it is well that
she cannot see her boy, as she used to call me, shut up among the ice
fields with a crazy captain and a few weeks' provisions. No doubt she
scans the shipping list in the Scotsman every morning to see if we are
reported from Shetland. I have to set an example to the men and