"Save yourselves if you can. The channel is closing and the ship is lost." I looked up, and as I did so, the lofty ice-mountains between which we lay, seemed to be falling directly down upon us, and at the same time a violent shock threw me upon the deck with a force that must have rendered me unconscious for a few seconds. CHAPTER III. IN THE DARK--ALL IS STILL--CAPTAIN GANOE'S NARROW ESCAPE--IMPRISONED IN THE ICE--DISTRESSING SITUATION--HOW TO PRESERVE THE HEALTH AND EFFICIENCY OF THE CREW--A NEW DANGER--THE ICE IS MOVING--THE COMMON SAILOR TO THE RESCUE--LIEF AND ERIC SAVE THE SHIP--THE TUNNEL TO THE SURFACE--EXPLORING THE ICE-FIELD. [Illustration] THE first thing I remember after being thrown to the deck, was the profound quiet, and the consciousness that some mighty change had taken place in our surroundings. I opened my eyes. The deck was wrapped in semi-darkness, and instead of the thundering reverberations of the breaking ice and the waves dashing into foam upon their icy barriers, there was a gentle, swish, swish, of the sea as it lashed the sides of the ship. I felt dazed, and the memory of the awful scenes through which we had passed impressed me like the vivid imagery and fantastic pictures of some horrible dream. At the moment of the shock, fully impressed with the conviction that all was lost, I was turning to grasp Raphael in my arms, so that we might die together, and on recovering consciousness, my first thought was of him. I sprang to my feet and in the dim light I saw something gliding away from me towards the edge of the deck, and I instinctively grasped it, as it was about to drop overboard. It was Captain Ganoe. He was living but unconscious. With my insecure footing, I feared for a moment that we should both go overboard together, when there was a flash of light and Battell seized my arm, exclaiming: "Thank God, you are both alive! I called to you and as you did not reply, I feared that you were both killed by the falling ice. It was lucky that you were able to grasp the Captain just when you did, or he would surely have been lost." I was holding Captain Ganoe in my arms, while Battell was briskly chafing his hands. In a moment he aroused, as if suddenly awaking out of a deep sleep, and straightening himself up in a dazed sort of way, he exclaimed: "Good God, Jack, what is the matter? Where are we? Have I been asleep?" "Oh, we are only imprisoned in the ice," said Battell. "I feared that you were crushed by that huge block of ice which came so near carrying away the part of the deck where you were standing. If Jack had not caught you and drawn you back at the imminent risk of his own life, you would now be at the bottom of the sea." Captain Ganoe, now fully aroused, took in the situation at a glance, and exclaimed as he grasped me by the hand: