"Either a rain-storm, or a smart gale from the north'ard: both, perhaps.

We're in a tight place." "What's to be done ?" Raed asked.
"Hadn't we better try to beat out of the straits into the open sea again, clear of the land and ice ?" said Kit.
"Can't do it.

It would take all night to do that, if there were no ice to hinder.

The gale will come before morning, if it comes at all; and the entrance of the straits would be the worst possible place to weather it." "But, captain, what can we do ?" Wade demanded, looking a little pale.
"Well, not much.

We must keep on,--get as far up the straits as we can; and then trust to good luck to escape being smashed or jammed.
The farther we get up the channel, the less we shall feel the violence of a gale from the seaward." It was a rather gloomy prospect.