The Ice Master by Jennifer Niven Read Free Book Online Page A

agitated that he threatened and intended to quit, and Dr. Anderson, of the Southern Party, even went so far as to hand in his resignation.
    The following morning, Murray called a meeting of the Northern Party to discuss this possible loss of the Karluk . If Stefansson was to be believed, and if the Karluk really did have a chance of being crushed in the ice, Murray and the others felt they should plan ahead and know what was in store for them.
    Murray and Dr. Mackay wrote a letter to Stefansson requesting the absolute assurance that there would be a base onshore, but their leader’s reply to them was indefinite and vague.
    After the disturbing and disheartening meeting with their leader, several of the men began to call him “His Lordship” behind his back. Chipman wrote: “Capt. Bartlett says 39 he ‘gave his best to Peary.’ That is the spirit for Arctic work and to be able to give it to any man is inspiring. I wonder to what extent Stefansson is the man to whom I want to give mine.”
    T HE K ARLUK RAN AGROUND on August 10 in seventeen feet of water. McKinlay was in his cabin, typing some letters, when he heard a commotion from above and felt the Karluk lurch. He ran up to the deck to find her stalled, her engines still going full speed. They were about ten miles from the mouth of the Colville River, the bottom of which was covered in a glutinous mud. Twice she ran aground, and each time Bartlett reversed and re-reversed the engines until he managed to free her. But the ice thickened about her in the meantime, and once free from the shallows, she was trapped by the pack. For some time, she pushed the ice ahead of her, but was unable to break it. She would need more momentum than she was capable of to break through. As Mamen observed, the Karluk was a “poor ice breaker 40 ,” and the ice was a “bad enemy.”
    Bartlett stood in the barrel for the entire day and cursed Stefansson and the ship. Mamen, as usual, kept him company. The two had become fast friends, despite the difference in their ages and backgrounds. In Mamen, Bartlett recognized a young man with great ambition and strength—bold, honest, and seemingly unafraid of anything.
    Mamen, in return, admired the captain and his brilliant career, as well as his robust character. He was, thought Mamen, the only real man on board, unlike all of the crewmen, who were crass, and the scientists, who were lazy and useless. Beuchat did nothing but sleep all day. McConnell seemed capable of doing nothing but typing. According to Mamen, most of his colleagues “do indeed not 41 know how to sew a button on their pants, much less how to darn a sock. It is disgusting to see such ignorant persons who can do only what they have been trained to do.. . . It is maddening to see people who always must have other people do everything for them.”
    It was rare for Bartlett to confide his frustrations or feelings in anyone, but as he cursed a blue streak, damning the broken-down ship that carried them and the leader who had purchased her and gotten them into this mess, Mamen was there to hear it. And he had to agree with him. Stefansson, for all his past glory and honors, was a rotten leader, from what he could see, and one needed look no further than his choice of vessel for proof. The Karluk was an old, weak ship. She should never have been made to do the work she was doing.
    T HE STAFF AND OFFICERS gathered nightly in the saloon for Victrola concerts. Each mess room—that of the scientists and of the crewmen—had a gramophone and there were over two hundred records aboard. They were mostly classical with some ragtime thrown in for variety. The Prologue from Pagliacci and Bach’s “Air for G String” were special favorites with everyone, but they soon discovered that Bartlett had no patience for ragtime.
    The members of the staff very quickly discovered that Mackay got an enormous kick out of singer Harry