CHAPTER X
THE WHITE FOG
Caught in the fog, they remained ten days in succession without being
able to see anything. The fishing went on handsomely the while, and
with so much to do there was no time for weariness. At regular
intervals one of them blew a long fog-horn, whence issued a sound like
the howling of a wild beast.
Sometimes, out of the depths of white fog, another bellowing answered
their call. Then a sharper watch was kept. If the blasts were
approaching, all ears were turned in the direction of that unknown
neighbour, whom they might perhaps never see, but whose presence was
nevertheless a danger. Conjectures were made about the strange vessel;
it became a subject of conversation, a sort of company for them; all
longing to see her, strained their eyes in vain efforts to pierce
those impalpable white shrouds.
Then the mysterious consort would depart, the bellowing of her trumpet
fading away in the distance, and they would remain again in the deep
hush, amid the infinity of stagnant vapour. Everything was drenched
with salt water; the cold became more penetrating; each day the sun
took longer to sink below the horizon; there were now real nights one
or two hours long, and their gray gloaming was chilly and weird.
Every morning they heaved the lead, through fear that the /Marie/
might have run too near the Icelandic coast. But all the lines on
board, fastened end to end, were paid out in vain--the bottom could
not be touched. So they knew that they were well out in blue water.
Life on board was rough and wholesome; the comfort in the snug strong
oaken cabin below was enhanced by the impression of the piercing cold
outside, when they went down to supper or for rest.
In the daytime, these men, who were as secluded as monks, spoke but
little among themselves. Each held his line, remaining for hours and
hours in the same immovable position. They were separated by some
three yards of space, but it ended in not even seeing one another.
The calm of the fog dulled the mind. Fishing so lonely, they hummed
home songs, so as not to scare the fish away. Ideas came more slowly
and seldom; they seemed to expand, filling in the space of time,
without leaving any vacuum. They dreamed of incoherent and mysterious
things, as if in slumber, and the woof of their dreams was as airy as
fog itself.
This misty month of August usually terminated the Iceland season, in a
quiet, mournful way. Otherwise the full physical life was the same,
filling the sailors' lungs with rustling air and hardening their
already strong muscles.
Yann's usual manner had returned, as if his great grief had not
continued; watchful and active, quick at his fishing work, a happy-go-
lucky temper, like one who had no troubles; communicative at times,
but very rarely--and always carrying his head up high, with his old
indifferent, domineering look.
At supper in the rough retreat, when they were all seated at table,
with their knives busy on their hot plates, he occasionally laughed
out as he used to do at droll remarks of his mates. In his inner self
he perhaps thought of Gaud, to whom, doubtless, Sylvestre had plighted
him in his last hours; and she had become a poor girl now, alone in
the world. And above all, perhaps, the mourning for his beloved
brother still preyed upon his heart. But this heart of his was a
virgin wilderness, difficult to explore and little known, where many
things took place unrevealed on the exterior.
