human
How melancholy is this gloom, said I,
gpt
Yes, said he,
human
I have been surveying the ice, said I, drawing to the furnace,
gpt
Good!
human
But after?
gpt
What?
human
As much of this bed as may be dislodged will not be deep: icebergs, as of course you know, capsize in consequence of their becoming top-heavy by the wasting of the bulk that is submerged. This block will make but a small berg should we liberate it, and I very much fear that the weight of the schooner will overset it the instant we are launched.
gpt
Body of Moses! he cried angrily, knitting his brows, whereby he stretched the scar to half its usual width,
human
She is a full ship, said I,
gpt
Why? he exclaimed.
human
She took the ice smoothly; she has not been strained; she was as tight as a bottle before she stranded; the coating of ice will have cherished her; and a stout ship like this does not suffer from six months of lying up!
gpt
Well, it may be as you say; but if she leaks it will not be in our four arms to keep her free.
human
Mr. Rodney, if we are to escape, we must venture something. To stay here means death in the end. I am persuaded that this ice is joined with some vast main body far south and that it does not move. What is there, then, to wait for? There is promise in your gunpowder proposal. If she capsizes then the devil will get his own.