{"id":"01KG8AKXGV72BBFX6HY6NVP7VF","cid":"bafkreihxnzzjy3i6mry4xe72r72wet62in2wkk72s3oo2lzpszszeuawa4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1638,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.534Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","start_line":1571,"text":"CHAPTER XIV.\r\nJarl’s Misgivings\r\n\r\n\r\nAbout this time an event took place. My good Viking opened his mouth,\r\nand spoke. The prodigy occurred, as, jacknife in hand, he was bending\r\nover the midship oar; on the loom, or handle, of which he kept our\r\nalmanac; making a notch for every set sun. For some forty-eight hours\r\npast, the wind had been light and variable. It was more than suspected\r\nthat a current was sweeping us northward.\r\n\r\nNow, marking these things, Jarl threw out the thought, that the more\r\nwind, and the less current, the better; and if a long calm came on, of\r\nwhich there was some prospect, we had better take to our oars.\r\n\r\nTake to our oars! as if we were crossing a ferry, and no ocean leagues\r\nto traverse. The idea indirectly suggested all possible horrors. To be\r\nrid of them forthwith, I proceeded to dole out our morning meal. For to\r\nmake away with such things, there is nothing better than bolting\r\nsomething down on top of them; albeit, oft repeated, the plan is very\r\napt to beget dyspepsia; and the dyspepsia the blues.\r\n\r\nBut what of our store of provisions? So far as enough to eat was\r\nconcerned, we felt not the slightest apprehension; our supplies proving\r\nmore abundant than we had anticipated. But, curious to tell, we felt\r\nbut little inclination for food. It was water, bright water, cool,\r\nsparkling water, alone, that we craved. And of this, also, our store at\r\nfirst seemed ample. But as our voyage lengthened, and breezes blew\r\nfaint, and calms fell fast, the idea of being deprived of the precious\r\nfluid grew into something little short of a mono- mania; especially\r\nwith Jarl.\r\n\r\nEvery hour or two with the hammer and chisel belonging to the tinder\r\nbox keg, he tinkered away at the invaluable breaker; driving down the\r\nhoops, till in his over solicitude, I thought he would burst them\r\noutright.\r\n\r\nNow the breaker lay on its bilge, in the middle of the boat, where more\r\nor less sea-water always collected. And ever and anon, dipping his\r\nfinger therein, my Viking was troubled with the thought, that this\r\nsea-water tasted less brackish than that alongside. Of course the\r\nbreaker must be leaking. So, he would turn it over, till its wet side\r\ncame uppermost; when it would quickly become dry as a bone. But now,\r\nwith his knife, he would gently probe the joints of the staves; shake\r\nhis head; look up; look down; taste of the water in the bottom of the\r\nboat; then that of the sea; then lift one end of the breaker; going\r\nthrough with every test of leakage he could dream of. Nor was he ever\r\nfully satisfied, that the breaker was in all respects sound. But in\r\nreality it was tight as the drum-heads that beat at Cerro- Gordo. Oh!\r\nJarl, Jarl: to me in the boat’s quiet stern, steering and\r\nphilosophizing at one time and the same, thou and thy breaker were a\r\nstudy.\r\n\r\nBesides the breaker, we had, full of water, the two boat-kegs,\r\npreviously alluded to. These were first used. We drank from them by\r\ntheir leaden spouts; so many swallows three times in the day; having no\r\nother means of measuring an allowance. But when we came to the breaker,\r\nwhich had only a bung-hole, though a very large one, dog- like, it was\r\nso many laps apiece; jealously counted by the observer. This plan,\r\nhowever, was only good for a single day; the water then getting beyond\r\nthe reach of the tongue. We therefore daily poured from the breaker\r\ninto one of the kegs; and drank from its spout. But to obviate the\r\nabsorption inseparable from decanting, we at last hit upon something\r\nbetter,—my comrade’s shoe, which, deprived of its quarters, narrowed at\r\nthe heel, and diligently rinsed out in the sea, was converted into a\r\nhandy but rather limber ladle. This we kept suspended in the bung-hole\r\nof the breaker, that it might never twice absorb the water.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQ682W1XHHRFR7NV3FD6","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKXGVVF5FAVHK3P5JX125","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.995Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:26.581Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}