Read Online The Invisible Hero by Elizabeth Fensham - Free Book Online Page A

Shackleton was furious and tried to scare the living daylights out of Perce by whispering into his ear, ‘...we often get very hungry. If there is a stowaway available, he is first to be eaten.’ But Perce answered, ‘They’d get a lot more meat off you, sir.’ That got a smile out of Shackleton and he put Perce to work helping the cook.
    Back to Elephant Island, though – Shackleton knew he had to try to get a rescue ship. He left twenty-two of the men on Elephant Island and took five men with him. With just a sextant and a compass to guide them, they sailed off in the third open boat (22 1/2 feet long) trying to get to a whaling station on South Georgia Island which is down the bottom of South America.
    Eight hundred miles of some of the roughest seas on earth and seventeen days later, Shackleton’s crew got to South Georgia, but to the wrong side. High snow-bound mountains came between the five men and the whaling station where they knew they could get help.
    Now here’s the sort of mountaineering that I cheer for. Shackleton chose two of the men to climb those mountains with him – Crean and Worsely. He had never in his life done any mountaineering. They hammered nails into the bottom of their boots to make climbing spikes. The only gear they had was one carpenter’s adze and fifteen metres of rope. They had three days’ food and they walked thirty-six hours without stopping ‘til they got over those mountains. When they reached the whaling station, the tough station manager broke down in tears to seesuch haggard, worn-out men. This is what Shackleton wrote about the experience of having crossed those mountains:
    â€˜We had pierced the veneer of outside things. We had suffered, starved and triumphed, grovelled down yet grasped at glory, grown bigger in the bigness of the whole. We had seen God in His splendours, heard the text that nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man.’
    Almost the next day, Shackleton got a rescue ship happening and on its way. The twenty-two men back at Elephant Island were saved.
    Mrs Wilgard gave me a book on Shackleton’s expedition. You should see the photos. This Aussie guy called Frank Hurley took awesome photos of the whole adventure. He even climbed up to the top of the icy mast of the strangled ship to get some of his shots.
Macca MacKinnon: Tuesday
    Well didn’t we have some entertainment in SOSE yesterday! Our Dill Dugan has found himself a hero. Here’s Quayle walking round the class like a police inspector, hands behind his back, peering over at our journals to check that we have kept up with writing in them. He stops at Dill’s desk and says, ‘Well miracles will never cease, Dugan. You’ve written more than a page for the second time.’ Then he leans over to read what Dill has written. But Dill covers the open book with his hands.
    â€˜You said you wouldn’t read it, Sir.’
    â€˜But this is exceptional for you, Dugan. And an exceptional effort deserves an exceptional response from me,’ says Quayle.
    â€˜No, Sir,’ says Dill and he leans his body over his book.
    â€˜Don’t you speak to a teacher like that,’ says Quayle and he snatches the book from under Dill’s hands.
    â€˜Don’t you dare, Sir!’ yells Dill who is red faced and in a panic.
    Well, the whole class – okay, most of the class – are dead keen to know what Dill has been writing. Ruth (aka Waterworks – because she’s been a weepy little sop since primary) objects and says, ‘It’s not ethical, Mr Quayle. You shouldn’t.’
    My mate, Sam de Grekh, turns and snarls, ‘Shut the effen up, Waterworks.’
    Waterworks starts crying. Predictably.
    Quayle does what’s expected of him and yells, ‘Language, de Grekh!’
    Then it’s back to the fun and games. Quayle starts reading Dill’s book. The class is silent as the tomb. We watch