Edward Stratemeyer

“ There was general rejoicing, and when Andy saw the sun once more he threw up his cap in his delight, and fairly danced a jig.
“It’s grand, Chet!” he cried.
“Grand doesn’t express it,” was Chet’s answer. “It’s sublime! Andy, I don’t know how you feel, but I don’t want to go through another such spell of darkness.”
“Nor I,—not for a hundred thousand dollars! Oh, a fellow doesn’t know how good sunshine is until he can’t have it!” ”

“ Leaving the village behind him, Andy struck out bravely for the Storburgh lumber camp, three miles up the river. The thermometer was low but there was no wind, and he did not mind the cold, for he had plenty of good red blood in his veins. All he was worried about was the question of getting work. He knew that he must have money, and that it could not very well be obtained without employment. ”

“ The new repeating rifle made his eyes sparkle with pleasure.
“Indeed you are kind!” cried Andy. “We didn’t expect half so much.”
“I want you to go away completely equipped,” answered Barwell Dawson. “Half of the failures of exploring expeditions is due to the lack of proper equipment. It’s like going hunting with a gun that won’t shoot straight. Sometimes you hit your game, but more times you don’t.”
The hunter and explorer also went over the scientific instruments with Professor Jeffer, to see that nothing should be lacking to take all manner of observations and measurements. ”

“ CHAPTER XIV—THE FIRE ON THE STEAMER
“She is doomed! There goes our chance to reach the North Pole!”
Such were the words that escaped from Chet’s lips, as he and Andy came out on the dock where the Ice King was tied up.
Before them lay the two-masted steamer, with a thick volume of smoke rolling up from her main hatchway. The fire alarm was sounding, and men and boys were running to the scene of action.
“What a catastrophe!” The words came from Professor Jeffer. He was almost out of breath from running. “I hope they can save her!” ”

“ Both Chet and Andy heard the words, but paid no attention. Their guns were raised, and each was aiming at the bear nearest to him. Crack! went Andy’s firearm, and the polar bear was halted by a wound in the forepaw.
Chet was not so fortunate, as his gun failed to go off. The next instant the polar bear leaped on him and bore him to the ice. As boy and beast went down, Barwell Dawson opened fire, and the bear was hit in the side, a wound that made him more savage than ever. ”

“ We may not reach the Pole, and we may not even get back alive. Arctic explorations have, in the past, cost many hundreds of lives.”
“Don’t discourage the lads,” broke in Professor Jeffer, briskly. “We shall succeed—I know it, I feel it. And when we stand on the apex of the world,—where there is no east, no west, no north, only south—ah, what a glorious prospect!” And he waved his arms enthusiastically.
“That’s the talk!” shouted Andy. “We’ll get there somehow, and don’t you forget it!”
“It’s North Pole or bust!” repeated Chet, “North Pole or bust!” ”

“ With such heavy clothing a record run was impossible, yet he covered the distance in good time.
He found the Esquimaux outside of their igloos, listening to the roaring of the walruses, which could be heard far away over the ice. He soon made them acquainted with what was wanted, and with a glad shout they started off with their spears and bows and arrows. Then he aroused Mr. Camdal, and the latter got his shotgun and an ax.
“An ax is sometimes better than a gun,” explained Mr. Camdal. “You can sometimes crush a walrus’s skull with one well-aimed blow from an ax.” ”

“ Once Andy had said that he could hear the lights, and that they sounded like the low hissing of steam.
It grew colder that night, and it was all the explorers could do to keep from freezing. They had a small quantity of tea left—a quarter of a pound—and after melting some snow over their alcohol stove, drank the beverage boiling hot. Then they made themselves a hot stew of pemmican and ground-up peas. Each of the dogs received a chunk of frozen walrus meat, something they gnawed on savagely, so great was their hunger. ”

“ The hunter and explorer could not help but smile at Upham Jeffer’s enthusiasm.
“Well, if you are on their side too, I’ll surely have to take them,” he said at length. “But it is a risky thing to do—they are not men, remember.”
“They will stand the trip as well as though they were men,” was the professor’s answer. “They are in the best of health, and full of vigor. Besides, it is well to have the enthusiasm of youth with us. It may help to cheer up many a lonely hour.” ”

“ Chet was right—there were all of a hundred foxes outside, sitting in a bunch, with their heads thrown back barking lustily. They had followed the blood-stained trail of the polar bear, and wanted to get at the game.
“This is very unpleasant,” said the explorer, gravely. “I didn’t think we’d meet foxes so far north. They can’t get much to eat up here, and they must be very hungry.”
“Do you fancy they will attack us?” questioned Andy.
“I don’t know what they will do. They want the bear, that’s certain.” ”

“ We don’t want any pay, or any reward. All we want is our food, and some ammunition, and we are perfectly willing to rough it along with the rest. We are both practically alone in the world, so nobody will be worried over us, even if we don’t come back alive.”
“Yes, but you want to come back, don’t you?” asked Barwell Dawson, quizzically.
“Of course. But we realize the danger, and we are ready to face it.”
“We’ll go wherever you go,” broke in Chet. “And we’ll do just whatever you want us to do. As Andy says, we are used to roughing it, and I think both of us can stand as much as anybody. ”

“ Both the captain and the explorer leaped up, scattering the checkers in all directions. Each ran for his fur coat and mitts, and each caught up a gun, and Chet did the same. Then they scrambled up on deck in double-quick haste, and leaped over the side of the steamer on to the uneven ice below.
“Where is he?” asked Barwell Dawson.
“Up at the storehouse. He yelled——Look, the place is on fire!”
Both men gazed in the direction, and then Captain Williamson let out a yell that could be heard throughout the entire ship: “All hands turn out to fight fire!” ”

“ Go away!” he shrieked.
“Loggermore, you mustn’t set anything on fire.”
“I want light! I must have light! I hate the darkness!” growled the crazed sailor.
“You’ll burn up all our stores. If you do that, we’ll starve to death!” continued Andy, as he drew closer.
“I want light!” went on Loggermore, doggedly. “The darkness hurts my head—I can’t think straight. Stand back and see what a fine light I’ll soon have!” And so speaking, he lit another match, for the other had fallen in the snow and gone out.
“Help! help!” yelled Andy, at the top of his lungs. He could think of nothing else to do. “Help! ”

“ It may cost you your life.”
“I shall be as careful in my plans as possible,” answered Barwell Dawson. His eyes lit up, and he arose to his feet. “I don’t mind telling you that to reach the North Pole has been my ambition ever since I first went hunting in the Arctic regions.”
“It has been the dream of many men,” said Professor Jeffer. “I once had the dream myself—I presume all those who go to the north have it.”
“It’s a good long journey from Maine,” said Andy.
“How do you expect to get there?” asked Chet. “You can’t take a ship that far, no matter how strongly she is built.” ”

“ The two boys moved on, keeping their eyes on the alert for the possible appearance of the hunter who had fired the two shots.
“Look! look!” cried Andy, suddenly, and pointing over the top of a small tree that stood between them and the big cliff ahead.
“What did you see?”
“Maybe I was mistaken, but I thought I saw a man tumble off the cliff!”
“A man? Perhaps it was a deer, or a moose.”
“No, it looked like a man to me. Come on! If he fell to the bottom he may be killed!”
Andy set off as rapidly as the depth of the snow permitted, and Chet followed in his footsteps. ”

“ Remember, this is going to be no child’s play—trying to get to the North Pole. And we won’t try to reach that point at all unless, when we get into the Arctic regions, we find the conditions more or less favorable. You must remember that many brave and vigorous men have tried to reach the Pole and have failed. There are immense fields of ice and snow to cross, and ‘leads’ or rivers of icy water. And if you lose your supplies, there remains nothing to do but to starve. ”

“ He was a tall, thin individual, who rejoiced in the name of Pep Loggermore.
“What do you mean?” demanded Chet, stiffly.
“You know well enough what I mean,” growled the tar. “If we go to the bottom, there won’t be nobody to blame but you!”
“That’s nonsense,” broke in Andy. “The ice started the ship’s seams—we had nothing to do with it.”
“You shot them geese, and——”
“Oh, that’s foolishness!” cried Chet. “We don’t want to hear it. A man with sense ought to know better than to talk that way.” ”

“ At the end of four miles they passed through one of the lumber settlements, and then, leaving the wagon road, took to a trail running in the neighborhood of Moose Ridge.
“I met a man yesterday who was coming out to the Ridge to hunt,” said Andy. “Wonder if he’ll have any success.”
“Hunting is not as good as it might be,” answered his chum. “The best of the game was killed off at the very beginning of the season. Still, he may get some deer, or a moose, if he’s a good hunter.”
“I’d like to get a moose myself, Chet.” ”

“ There will be many days when you boys will have little to do, and it will be an excellent opportunity to improve your minds.”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind a little more education,” said Chet, bluntly.
“I’ll be pleased to teach you, my boy. I was once a schoolmaster—although that was years ago.”
“Professor, do you really think we’ll reach the Pole?” asked Andy, earnestly.
“I do not think; I hope. Many have tried and failed, but I believe the Pole will be gained some day, and we’ll have an excellent chance of success. Mr. Dawson is a wonderful man—he seems more wonderful every time I talk to him. ”

“ He took a lively interest in all they had to tell, and knew how to “draw them out,” so that, almost before he knew it, Andy had related the details of his troubles with his shiftless Uncle Si and with the mysterious Mr. A. Q. Hopton.
“More than likely that fellow, Hopton, will bear close watching,” said Barwell Dawson. “If he is a sharper—and it looks as if he might be—he will try to swindle both you and your uncle. It was very unwise for your uncle to try to do business with him without seeing a lawyer.” ”

“ Rather loaf around the woods than work, any time.”
“Uncle Si, if you say another word——” began the youth, and then he stopped short, turned on his heel, and walked from the cabin, closing the door none too gently behind him.
It was certainly a trying situation, and as he stepped out into the snow Andy felt as if he never wanted to go back and never wanted to see his Uncle Si again.
“It’s his laziness, nothing else,” murmured the boy to himself, as he trudged off. “He’s as able to work as I am. He always was lazy—father said so. Oh, dear; I wish he had never come to Pine Run!” ”

“ We can’t afford to quarrel, and all over nothing. Come on, we’ll get through somehow,” said Andy.
“Guess I said too much,” murmured Chet, and began to haul on the load as if his life depended upon it. “I thought——Oh, Andy, there’s a shot for us!”
The quick-tempered lad, who was equally quick-eyed, stopped and pointed to a tree some distance on their right. Andy saw something move, but could not make out what it was.
“Partridge,” announced his companion, and swung his gun around. “I’m going to take a shot when they go up.”
He glided over the snow, and Andy came behind him. ”

“ All I want is a good smoke to cure me,” and he lit his briar-root pipe.
“I’ll be glad to hear it,” answered Andy.
“Nevertheless, don’t imagine that I don’t appreciate what you two lads have done for me,” went on Mr. Dawson, earnestly. “It was a fine thing to do, and I’ll not forget it in a hurry.”
It had begun to snow again, and all three were glad that they had exchanged the temporary shelter in the woods for the large and comfortable cabin of the old professor. The cabin was well furnished, and on the walls hung horns and skins of various wild animals. ”

“ All waited impatiently and watched the sky. When it was a quarter to twelve the clouds rolled away to the eastward, and the sun burst forth with dazzling brightness.
“Now is our chance!” cried Chet.
All assisted the professor in his preparations to take the all-important observation. The old scientist’s chronometer was compared with that of Barwell Dawson.
“A difference of but three seconds,” said the former. “We will split the difference when I take the observation,” and this was done.
The sextant was raised, and the old scientist looked through it with great care. ”

“ To clear the propeller a man had to be hoisted over the stern in a sling. He carried with him a pickpole, and with this dug out the cake which had become caught in the blades of the propeller.
This work had hardly been accomplished when another grinding sound came from the big iceberg, and a shower of small ice came down on the forecastle, knocking out several lights of glass. Andy was struck on the head and hurled flat.
“Oh, Andy, are you hurt?” cried Chet, in alarm, as he rushed to his chum’s assistance. ”