Disaster on the Ice

N1: The Endurance cuts through the sparkling ocean.

Captain Worsley: I hear the ice is thick this year.

Ernest Shackleton: Don’t worry. The Endurance was built to smash through it.

N2: Frank Wild drags Perce Blackborow in by the collar.

Frank Wild: Look what we found hiding in a locker.

Worsley: Why, he’s just a boy!

N3: Shackleton looks at Perce.

Shackleton: How old are you?

Perce Blackborow: I’m 18, sir. I work hard and learn fast!

Shackleton: Foolish boy! We may not survive this journey. We could freeze or starve or drown.

Perce: A life without adventure is no kind of life.

N1: Shackleton hides a smile.

Shackleton: I suppose you can work in the kitchen.

Perce: You won’t regret it, Boss!

N2: The ship makes its way through the Weddell Sea.

N3: It is filled with ice floes—large pieces of floating ice.

N1: Perce whistles as he cooks for 28 hungry men.

Charlie Green: I’ve never seen someone so happy to peel potatoes.

Perce: I’m just thrilled to be here, mate!

N2: Up on the boat’s deck, Shackleton and Worsley look out at the sea.

N3: Ice surrounds the ship.

Shackleton: We must plow through it!

Worsley: The ice is too thick, sir. We’re trapped.

Shackleton: Then we’ll break free.

Wild (shouting): We need all hands!

N1: Men hop down onto the ice. For several days, they attack the ice with axes.

N2: Perce climbs up the mast of the ship. Shackleton calls out to him.

Shackleton: Do you see any open water from up there?

Perce: No, sir. Nothing but ice, ice, and more ice.

N3: The ice drifts with the wind and water. It takes the Endurance with it.  

N1: Each day, the men float away from their dream.

N1: The men set up camp on the floating ice.

N2: For months, they shiver inside their tents.

N3: They live through terrible storms and freezing rain.

N1: Finally, in April, the ice starts to melt.

Shackleton: It’s time! Let’s put the lifeboats in the water and row for our lives.

N2: The three lifeboats toss about in the rough ocean.

N3: The men are in really bad shape. Their lips are cracked. Their beards are crusted with ice.

Green: We’ve been rowing for days. I can’t go on.

Shackleton (to Worsley): I’m afraid some of the men won’t survive one more night.

Worsley: The nearest land is Elephant Island. It’s small, but we must try to find it.

N1: Waves crash into the boats.  

N2: Perce tugs on McIlroy’s sleeve.

Perce: Doc, I can’t feel my feet. I think it’s frostbite.

McIlroy: Hold on, lad. Try to hold on.

N3: The next morning, the men see Elephant Island.

N1: They row over and drag the boats onto the beach.

N2: Perce, his feet frozen, has to be carried. Shackleton gathers the crew.

Shackleton: This is our first land in 18 months.

All Crew: Hooray!

Shackleton: But no ships come here. No one knows we’re here.

Perce: What can we do?

Shackleton: Six of us will sail a lifeboat to South Georgia Island to get help.

Wild: How far is that?

Worsley: About 800 miles.

Green: Are you leaving the rest of us here?

Shackleton: I will get a ship and come back for you.

Green: If you make it.

Shackleton: I will make it or die trying.  

McIlroy: Take Perce, Boss. His frostbite needs treatment.

Shackleton: Sorry. We can only take the strongest men.

N3: Four months have passed since Shackleton left.

N1: The crew lies in a small hut they have built on Elephant Island.

N2: Perce’s left foot is wrapped in bandages. McIlroy has amputated his toes to keep the frostbite from spreading.

Green: Will they ever come back?

Perce: Boss won’t give up!

Green: If he dies, so will we.

N3: They sit silently.

Perce: Hey, what’s the first thing you’re going to eat when you get home?

McIlroy: Apple pudding.

Perce: A fresh peach.

Green: I’d give a foot for some eggs.

N1: The men look at Green.

Green: Oh! Sorry, Perce.

Perce (smiling): It’s OK.

N2: Just then, Wild bursts into the hut.

Wild: A ship! I see a ship!

N3: Out on the water, Shackleton looks through binoculars at Elephant Island.

Worsley: How many men do you see?

Shackleton: Six. No, eight! More are coming!

Worsley: How many, Boss?

Shackleton: 18 . . . 19 . . .

N1: McIlroy and Green carry Perce out of the hut.

Shackleton: 22! They’re all there! Alive!

N2: In a small boat, Shackleton rows toward shore.

Shackleton (shouting): Are you all well?

All Crew (shouting): All well!

N3: Shackleton reaches the beach. The men surround him, laughing and hugging.

Shackleton: Still glad you stowed away, Perce?

Perce: Still glad. And I never doubted you’d come back.

H1: Shackleton and his men made it back to South America. And Perce was eventually able to walk again.

H2: But Shackleton never did cross Antarctica.

H1: Five years later, he tried again. But his heart gave out on South Georgia Island, and he was buried there.

H2: Today he is remembered as a hero.

Perce: They say our journey is one of history’s greatest survival stories. And we only survived because of our Boss.