He knew the business of a sailor right well, and was the only man on board who could compete with Hunt in handiness and zeal.
"Well, Holt," said I to him one day when he was talking with the boatswain, "what terms are you on with that queer fellow Hunt now?
Since the salvage affair, is he a little more communicative ?" "No, Mr.Jeorling, and I think he even tries to avoid me." "To avoid you ?" "Well, he did so before, for that matter." "Yes, indeed, that is true," added Hurliguerly; "I have made the same remark more than once." "Then he keeps aloof from you, Holt, as from the others ?" "From me more than from the others." "What is the meaning of that ?" "I don't know, Mr.Jeorling." I was surprised at what the two men had said, but a little observation convinced me that Hunt actually did avoid every occasion of coming in contact with Martin Holt.

Did he not think that he had a right to Holt's gratitude although the latter owed his life to him?
This man's conduct was certainly very strange.
In the early morning of the 9th the wind showed a tendency to change in the direction of the east, which would mean more manageable weather for us.

And, in fact, although the sea still remained rough, at about two in the morning it became feasible to put on more sail without risk, and thus the _Halbrane_ regained the course from which she had been driven by the prolonged tempest.
In that portion of the Antarctic sea the ice-packs were more numerous, and there was reason to believe that the tempest, by hastening the smash-up, had broken the barrier of the iceberg wall towards the east..