"Now," said he to himself, "all the time that I was looking into
that apparent hole, never thinking that in order to see down into
it I was obliged to project a portion of myself into the line of
the Artesian ray, that portion of me was transparent, invisible.
If Bryce had come in! and then"--as the thought came into his
mind his heart stopped beating--"if Margaret had been there!"

For an hour he sat in his chair, racking his brain.

"She must see the working of the ray," he said.  "I must tell her
of my success.  She must see it as soon as possible.  It is cruel
to keep her waiting.  But how shall I manage it?  How shall I
shield her from the slightest possibility of what happened to me?
Heavens!" he exclaimed, "if she had been there!"

After a time he determined that before any further experiments
should take place he would build a circular screen, a little
room, which should entirely surround the space on which the
Artesian ray was operated.  Only one person at a time should be
allowed to enter this screened apartment, which should then be
closed.  It would make no difference if one should become
invisible, provided there was no one else to know it.

It was on the evening of the next day that Margaret beheld the
action of the Artesian ray.  She greatly objected at first to
going inside of the screened space by herself, and urged Roland
to accompany her; but this he stoutly refused to do, assuring her
that it was essential for but one person at a time to view the
action of the ray.  She demurred a good deal, but at last
consented to allow herself to be shut up within the screen.

What Margaret saw was different from the gradual excavation which
had revealed itself before the eyes of Roland. She looked
immediately into a hole nearly ten feet deep. The action of the
apparatus was such that the power of penetration gained by the ray
during its operation at any time was retained, so that when the
current was shut off the photic boring ceased, and recommenced when
the batteries were again put into action at the point where it had
left off. The moment Margaret looked down she gave a little cry,
and started back against the screen. She was afraid she would fall
in.

"Roland," she exclaimed, "you don't mean to say that this is not
really an opening into the earth?"

He was near her on the other side of the screen, and he explained
to her the action of the light.  Over and over she asked him to
come inside and tell her what it was she saw, but he always
refused.

"The bottom is beautifully smooth and gray," she exclaimed; "what
is that?"

"Sand," said Roland.

"And now it is white, like a piece of pottery," she exclaimed.

"That is white clay," said he.

"Don't you want to take my place," said she, "if you will not
come with me?"

"No," said Roland.  "Look down as long as you wish; I know pretty
well what you will see for some time to come.  Has there been any
change?"

"The bottom is still white," she replied, "but it is glittering."

"That is white sand," said he.  "The Artesian well which supplies
the works revealed to me long ago the character of the soil at
this spot, so that for a hundred feet or more I know what we may
expect to see."

She came out hurriedly.  "When you begin to speak of wells," she
said, "I am frightened.  If I should see water, I should lose my
head."  She sat down and put her hand before her eyes.  "My brain
is dazzled," she said.  "I don't feel strong enough to believe
what I have seen."

Roland shut off the current and opened the screen.  "Come here,
Margaret," he said; "this is the spot upon which the light was
shining.  I think it will do you good to look at it.  Tread upon
it; it will help to reassure you that the things about us are
real."

Margaret was silent for a few moments, and then, approaching
Roland, she took him by both hands.  "You have succeeded," said
she; "you are the greatest discoverer of this age!"

"My dear Margaret," he interrupted, quickly, "do not let us talk
in that way; we have only just begun to work.  Above all things,
do not let us get excited.  If everything works properly, it will
not be long before I can send the Artesian ray down into depths
with which I am not acquainted--how far I do not know--but we
must wait and see what is the utmost we can do.  When we have
reached that point, it will be in order to hoist our flags and
blow our trumpets.  I hope it will not be long before the light
descends so deep that we shall be obliged to use a telescope."

"And will it not be possible, Roland," Margaret said, earnestly,
"that we shall ever look down into the earth together?  When the
light gets beyond the depth to which people have dug and bored, I
shall never want to stand there alone behind the screen and see
what next shall show itself."

"That screen is an awkward affair," said Roland.  "Perhaps I may
think of a method by which it can be done away with, and by which
we can stand side by side and look down as far into the depths of
the earth as our Artesian ray can be induced to bore."




CHAPTER X

"LAKE SHIVER"


Steadily the Dipsey worked her way northward, and as she moved on
her course her progress became somewhat slower than it had been
at first.  This decrease in speed was due partially to extreme
caution on the part of Mr. Gibbs, the Master Electrician.

The attenuated cable, which continually stretched itself out
behind the little vessel, was of the most recent and improved
pattern for deep-sea cables.  The conducting wires in the centre
of it were scarcely thicker than hairs, while the wires forming
the surrounding envelope, although they were so small as to make
the whole cable not more than an eighth of an inch in diameter,
were far stronger than the thick submarine cables which were used
in the early days of ocean telegraphy.  These outer wires were
made of the Swedish toughened steel fibre, and in 1939, with one
of them a little over a sixteenth of an inch in diameter, a
freight-ship of eleven thousand tons had been towed through the
Great New Jersey Canal, which had then just been opened, and
which connected Philadelphia with the ocean.

But notwithstanding his faith in the strength of the cable, Mr.
Gibbs felt more and more, the farther he progressed from the
habitable world, the importance of preserving it from accident.
He had gone so far that it would be a grievous thing to be
obliged to turn back.

The Dipsey sailed at a much lower depth than when she had first
started upon her submarine way.  After they had become accustomed
to the feeling of being surrounded by water, her inmates seemed
to feel a greater sense of security when they were well down
below all possible disturbing influence.  When they looked
forward in the line of the search-light, or through any of the
windows in various parts of the vessel, they never saw anything
but water--no fish, nothing floating.  They were too far below
the ice above them to see it, and too far from what might be on
either side of them to catch a glimpse of it.  The bottom was
deep below them, and it was as though they were moving through an
aqueous atmosphere.

They were comfortable, and beginning to be accustomed to their
surrounding circumstances.  The air came in regularly and
steadily through the electric gills, and when deteriorated air
had collected in the expiration-chamber in the upper part of the
vessel, it was forced out by a great piston, which sent it by a
hundred little valves into the surrounding water.  Thus the pure
air came in and the refuse air went out just as if the little
Dipsey had been healthfully breathing as it pushed its way
through the depths.

Mrs. Block was gaining flesh.  The narrow accommodations, the
everlasting electric light, the sameness of food, and a total
absence of incident had become quite natural to her, and she had
ceased to depend upon the companionship of the dust-brush and the
almanac to carry her mind back to what she considered the real
things of life.

Sarah had something better now to take her mind back to Sardis
and the people and things on dry land.  The engagement and
probably early marriage of Mr. Clewe and Mrs. Raleigh had made a
great impression upon her, and there were days when she never
thought of the pole, so busy was she in making plans based upon
the future connection of the life of herself and Sammy and that
of Mr. and Mrs. Clewe.

Sammy and his wife had very good quarters within the boundaries
of the works, but Sarah had never been quite satisfied with them,
and when the new household of Clewe should be set up, and all the
new domestic arrangements should be made, she hoped for better
things.  Mr. Clewe's little cottage would then be vacant, for of
course he and his wife would not live in such a place as that,
and she thought that she and Sammy should have it.  Hour by hour
and day by day she planned the furnishing, the fitting, and the
management of this cottage.

She was determined to have a servant, a woman thoroughly capable
of doing general house-work; and then there were times when she
believed that if Sammy should succeed in finding the pole his
salary would be increased, and they might be able to afford two
servants.  Over and over again did she consider the question
whether, in this latter case, these women should both be general
house-work servants, or one of them a cook and the other a
chamber-maid and laundress.  There was much to be considered on
each side.  In the latter case more efficient work could be
obtained; but in the former, in case one of them should suddenly
leave, or go away for a day out, the other could do all the work.
It was very pleasant to Mrs. Block to sit in a comfortable arm-chair
and gaze thus into the future.  Sometimes she looked up into the
water above, and sometimes out into the water ahead, but she
could see nothing.  But in the alluring expanse of her fancied
future she could see anything which she chose to put there.

Sammy, however, did not increase in flesh; in fact, he grew
thinner.  Nothing important in regard to the Pole, Rovinski, had
occurred, but of course something would occur; otherwise why did
the Pole come on board the Dipsey?  Endless conjectures as to
what Rovinski would do when he did anything, and when he would
begin to do it, kept the good Samuel awake during many hours when
he should have been soundly sleeping.  He had said nothing yet to
Mr. Gibbs in regard to the matter.  Every day he made a report to
Roland Clewe about Rovinski, but Clewe's instructions were that
so long as the Pole behaved himself properly there was no reason
to trouble the minds of the party on board with fears of
rascality on his part.  They had enough to occupy their minds
without any disturbing influence of that sort.

Clewe's own opinion on the subject was that Rovinski could do
nothing but act as a spy, and afterwards make dishonest use of
the knowledge he should acquire; but the man had put himself into
Clewe's power, and he could not possibly get away from him until
he should return to Cape Tariff, and even there it would be
difficult.  The proper and only thing to do was to keep him in
custody as long as possible.  When he should be brought back to a
region of law and justice, it might be that the Pole could be
prevented, for a time, at least, from using the results of his
knavish observations.

There was another person on board whose mind was disturbed by
Rovinski.  This was Mr. Marcy, the Assistant Engineer, an active,
energetic fellow, filled with ambition and love of adventure, and
one of the most hopeful and cheerful persons on board.  He had
never heard of Rovinski, and did not know that there was anybody
in the world who was trying to benefit himself by fraudulent
knowledge of Mr. Clewe's discoveries and inventions, but he hated
the Pole on his own account.

The man's countenance was so villainous that it was enough of
itself to arouse the dislike of a healthy-minded young fellow
such as Marcy; but, moreover, the Pole had habits of sneaking
about the vessel, and afterwards retiring to quiet corners, where
he would scribble in a pocket notebook.  Such conduct as this in
a man whose position corresponded with that of a common seaman on
an ordinary vessel, seemed contrary to discipline and good
conduct, and he mentioned the matter to Mr. Gibbs.

"I suppose the man is writing a letter to his wife," said the
latter.  "You would not want to hinder him from doing that, would
you?"

And to this no good answer could be made.

The Pole never took notes when Sammy was anywhere where he could
see him, and if Mr. Marcy had reported this conduct to the old
man, it is likely that Rovinski would speedily have been deprived
of pencils and paper, and his real character made known to the
officers.

One day it was observed by those who looked out of the window in
the upper deck that the water above them was clearer than they
usually saw it, and when the electric lights in the room
immediately under the window were turned out it was almost
possible to discern objects in the room.  Instantly there was a
great stir on board the Dipsey, and observations soon disclosed
the fact that there was nothing above the vessel but water and
air.

At first, like an electric flash, the thought ran through the
vessel that they had reached the open sea which is supposed to
surround the pole, but reflection soon showed those who were cool
enough to reflect that if this were the case that sea must be
much larger than they had supposed, for they were still a long
way from the pole.  Upon one thing, however, everybody was
agreed: they must ascend without loss of time to the surface of
the water above them.

Up went the Dipsey, and it was not long before the great glass in
the upper deck admitted pure light from the outer world.  Then
the vessel rose boldly and floated upon the surface of the open
sea.

The hatchways were thrown open, and in a few moments nearly
everybody on board stood upon the upper deck, breathing the outer
air and gazing about them in the pure sunlight.  The deck was
almost flat, and surrounded by a rail.  The flooring was wet, and
somewhat slippery, but nobody thought of that; they thought of
nothing but the wonderful place in which they found themselves.

They were in a small lake surrounded by lofty and precipitous
icebergs.  On every side these glittering crags rose high into
the air; nowhere was there a break or an opening.  They seemed to
be in a great icy prison.  It might be supposed that it would be
exhilarating to a party who had long been submerged beneath the
sea to stand once more in the open air and in the light of day;
but this was not the case.  The air they breathed was sharp and
cold, and cut into throats and lungs now accustomed to the softer
air within their vessel.  Scarcely any of them, hurrying out of
the warm cabins, had thought of the necessity of heavy wraps, and
the bitter cold of the outer air perceptibly chilled their blood.
Involuntarily, even while they were staring about them, they
hurried up and down the deck to keep themselves warm.

The officers puzzled their brains over the peculiar formation of
this ice-encompassed lake.  It seemed as if a great ice mountain
had sunk down from the midst of its companions, and had left this
awful hole.  This, however, was impossible.  No law of nature
would account for such a disappearance of an ice mountain.  Mr.
Gibbs thought, under some peculiar circumstances, a mass of ice
might have broken away and floated from its surroundings, and
that afterwards, increased in size, it had floated back again,
and, too large to re-enter the opening it had made, had closed up
the frozen walls of this lonely lake, accessible only to those
who should rise up into it from the sea.  Suddenly Mrs. Block
stopped.

"What is that?" she cried, pointing to a spot in the icy wall
which was nearest to the vessel.  Instantly every eye was turned
that way.  They saw a very distinct, irregular blotch, surrounded
by almost transparent ice.

Several glasses were now levelled upon this spot, and it was
discovered to be the body of a polar bear, lying naturally upon
its side, as if asleep, and entirely incased in ice.

"It must have lain down to die, on the surface of the ice," said
Mr. Gibbs, "and gradually the ice has formed above it, until it
now rests in that vast funeral casket."

"How long since he laid down there to die, Mr. Gibbs?" asked
Sarah, as she took the glass from her eye.  "He looks as natural
as if he was asleep."

"I cannot say," he answered.  "It may have been hundreds, even
thousands, of years ago."

"Oh, horrible!" said Sarah.  "All that makes me shiver, and I am
sure I don't need anything to make me do that.  I wish we would
go down, Sammy; I would like to get out of this awful place, with
those dreadful glitterin' walls that nobody could get up or over,
and things lyin' frozen for a thousand years; and, besides, it's
so cold!"

It seemed as if Sarah's words had struck the key-note to the
feelings of the whole company.  In the heart of every one arose a
strong desire to sink out of this cold, bleak, terrifying open
air into the comfortable motherly arms of the encircling waters.
For a few minutes Captain Jim Hubbell had experienced a sense of
satisfaction at finding himself once more upon the deck of a
vessel floating upon the open sea.  He felt that he was in his
element, and that the time had come for him to assume his proper
position as a sailor; but this feeling soon passed, and he
declared that his spine was like a long icicle.

"Don't you think we had better go down again?" said Sammy.  "I
think we have all seen enough of this, and it isn't anything that
any use can be made of."

"You are right," said Mr. Gibbs; "let everybody go below."

But it was not easy for everybody to obey this command.  The wet
decks were now covered with a thin surface of ice, and those who
had been standing still for a few moments found it difficult to
release their shoes from the flooring of the deck, while several
of the men slipped down as they made their way to the forward
hatch.  As for Sarah Block, she found it impossible to move at
all.  Her shoes were of a peculiar kind, the soles being formed
of thick felt, and these, having been soaked with water, had
frozen firmly to the deck.  She tried to make a step and almost
fell over.

"Heavens and earth!" she screamed; "don't let this boat go down
and leave me standing outside!"

Her husband and two men tried to release her, but they could not
disengage her shoes from the deck; so Sammy was obliged to loosen
her shoe-strings, and then he and another man lifted her out of
her shoes and carried her to the hatchway, whence she very
speedily hurried below.

Everybody was now inside the vessel, the hatches were tightly
closed, and the Dipsey began to sink.  When she had descended to
the comparatively temperate depths of the sea, and her people
found themselves in her warm and well-lighted compartments, there
was a general disposition to go about and shake hands with each
other.  Some of them even sang little snatches of songs, so
relieved were they to get down out of that horrible upper air.

"Of course I shall never see my shoes again," said Mrs. Block;
"and they were mighty comfortable ones, too.  I suppose, when
they have been down here awhile in this water, which must be
almost lukewarmish compared to what it is on top, they will melt
loose and float up; and then, Sammy, suppose they lodge on some
of that ice and get frozen for a thousand years!  Good gracious!
It sets me all of a creep to think of that happenin' to my shoes,
that I have been wearin' every day!  Don't you want a cup of
tea?"

"It's a great pity," thought Sammy to himself, "that it wasn't
that Pole that had his feet frozen to the deck.  The rest of us
might have been lucky enough not to have noticed him as the boat
went down."

"We ought to get a name for that body of water up there," said
Mr. Gibbs, as he was writing out his report of the day's
adventures.  "Shall we call it 'Lake Clewe'?"

"Oh, don't do that!" exclaimed Sammy Block.  "Mr. Clewe's too
good a man to have his name tacked on to that hole.  If you want
to name it, why don't you call it 'Lake Shiver'?"

"That is a good name," answered Mr. Gibbs; and so it was called.




CHAPTER XI

THEY BELIEVE IT IS THE POLAR SEA


With no intention of ascending again into any accidental holes in
the ice above them, the voyagers on the Dipsey kept on their
uneventful way, until, upon the third day after their discovery
of the lake, the electric bell attached to the heavy lead which
always hung suspended below the vessel, rang violently,
indicating that it had touched the bottom.  This sound startled
everybody on board.  In all their submarine experiences they had
not yet sunk down low enough to be anywhere near the bottom of
the sea.

Of course orders were given to ascend immediately, and at the
same time a minor search-light was directed upward through the
deck skylight.  To the horror of the observers, ice could plainly
be seen stretching above them like an irregular, gray sky.

Here was a condition of things which had not been anticipated.
The bottom below and the ice above were approaching each other.
Of course it might have been some promontory of the rocks under
the sea against which their telltale lead had struck; but there
was an instrument on board for taking soundings by means of a
lead suspended outside and a wire running through a water-proof
hole in the bottom of the vessel, and when the Dipsey had risen a
few fathoms, and was progressing very slowly, this instrument was
used at frequent intervals, and it was found that the electric
lead had not touched a rock projecting upward, and that the
bottom was almost level.

Mr. Gibbs's instrument gave him an approximate idea of the
vessel's depth in the water, and the dial connected with the
sounding apparatus told him hour by hour that the distance from
the bottom, as the vessel kept forward on the same plane, was
becoming less and less.  Consequently he determined, so long as
he was able to proceed, to keep the Dipsey as near as possible at
a median distance between the ice and the bottom.

This was an anxious time.  So long as they had felt that they had
plenty of sea-room the little party of adventurers had not yet
recognized any danger which they thought sufficient to deter them
from farther progress; but if the ice and the bottom were coming
together, what could they do?  It was possible, by means of
explosives they carried, to shatter the ice above them; but
action of this kind had not been contemplated unless they should
find themselves at the pole and still shut in by ice.  They did
not wish to get out into the open air at the point where they
found themselves; and, moreover, it would not have been safe to
explode their great bombs in such shallow water.  A consultation
was held, and it was agreed that the best thing to do was to
diverge from the course they had steadily maintained, and try to
find a deeper channel leading to the north.  Accordingly they
steered eastward.

It was not long before they found that they had judged wisely;
the bottom descended far out of the reach of their electric lead,
and they were enabled to keep a safe distance below the
overhanging ice.

"I feel sure," said Mr. Gibbs, "that we came near running against
some outreaching portion of the main Western Continent, and now
we have got to look out for the foundations of Greenland's icy
mountains."  He spoke cheerily, for he wished to encourage his
companions, but there was a very anxious look upon his face when
he was not speaking to any one.

The next day every one was anxious, whether he spoke or was
silent.  The bottom was rising again, and the Dipsey was obliged
to sail nearer and nearer to the ice above.  Between two dangers,
constricted and trammelled as they were, none of them could help
feeling the terrors of their position, and if it had not been for
the encouraging messages which continually came to them from
Sardis, they might not have been able to keep up brave hearts.

After two days of most cautious progress, during which the water
became steadily shallower and shallower, it was discovered that
the ice above, which they were now obliged to approach much more
closely than they had ever done before, was comparatively thin,
and broken in many places.  Great cracks could be seen in it here
and there, and movements could be discerned indicating that it
was a floe, or floating mass of ice.  If that were the case, it
was not impossible that they were now nearing the edge of the ice
under which they had so long been sailing, and that beyond them
was the open water.  If they could reach that, and find it the
unobstructed sea which was supposed to exist at this end of the
earth's axis, their expedition was a success.  At that moment
they were less than one hundred miles from the pole.

Whether the voyagers on the Dipsey were more excited when the
probable condition of their situation became known to them, or
whether Roland Clewe and Margaret Raleigh in the office of the
Works at Sardis were the more greatly moved when they received
that day's report from the arctic regions, it would be hard to
say.  If there should be room enough for the little submarine
vessel to safely navigate beneath the ice which there was such
good reason to believe was floating on the edge of the body of
water they had come in search of, and on whose surface they might
freely sail, what then was likely to hinder them from reaching
the pole?  The presence of ice in the vicinity of that extreme
northern point was feared by no one concerned in the expedition,
for it was believed that the rotary motion of the earth would
have a tendency to drive it away from the pole by centrifugal
force.

The little thermometer-boat which during the submarine voyage of
the Dipsey had constantly preceded her to give warning of the
sunken base of some great iceberg, was now drawn in close to the
bow; there was so much ice so near that its warnings were
constant, and therefore unneeded.

The electric lead-line was shortened to the length of a few
fathoms, and even then it sometimes suddenly rang out its alarm.
After a time the bottom of the sea became visible through the
stout glass of a protected window near the bow, and a man was
placed there to report what he could see below them.

It had now become so light that in some parts of the vessel the
electric lamps were turned out.  Fissures of considerable size
appeared in the ice above, and then, to the great excitement of
every one, the vessel slowly moved under a wide space of open
water; but the ice could be seen ahead, and she did not rise.
The bottom came no nearer, and the Dipsey moved cautiously on.
Nobody thought of eating; they did not talk much, but at every
one of the outlooks there were eager faces.

At last they saw nothing above them but floating fragments of
ice.  Still they kept on, until they were plainly moving below
the surface of open water.  Then Mr. Gibbs looked at Sammy.

"I think it is time to rise," said he; and Sammy passed the word
that the Dipsey was going up into the upper air.

When the little craft, so long submerged in the quiet depths of
the Arctic Sea, had risen until she rested on the surface of the
water, there was no general desire, as there had been when she
emerged into Lake Shiver, to rush upon the upper deck.  Instead
of that, the occupants gathered together and looked at each other
in a hesitating way, as if they were afraid to go out and see
whether they were really in an open sea, or lying in some small
ice-locked body of water.

Mr. Gibbs was very pale.

"My friends," said he, "we are going on deck to find out whether
or not we have reached the open polar sea, but we must not be
excited, and we must not jump to hurried conclusions; we may have
found what we are in search of, and we may not have found it yet.
But we will go up and look out upon the polar world as far as we
can see it, and we shall not decide upon this thing or that until
we have thoroughly studied the whole situation.  The engines are
stopped, and every one may go up, but I advise you all to put on
your warmest clothes.  We should remember our experience at Lake
Shiver."

"It wouldn't be a bad idea," said Sammy Block, "to throw out a
lot of tarpaulins to stand on, so that none of us will get frozen
to the wet deck, as happened before."

When the hatch was opened a man with a black beard pushed himself
forward towards the companionway.

"Keep back here, sir," said Mr. Marcy, clapping his hand upon the
man's shoulder.

"I want to be ready to spread the tarpaulins, sir," said he, with
a wriggling motion, as if he would free himself.

"You want to be the first to see the polar sea, that is my
opinion," said Mr. Marcy; "but you keep back there where you
belong."  And with that he gave the eager Rovinski a staggering
push to the rear.

Five minutes afterwards Margaret Raleigh and Roland Clewe,
sitting close together by the telegraph instrument in the Works
at Sardis, received the following message:

"We have risen to the surface of what we believe to be the open
polar sea.  Everybody is on deck but me.  It is very cold, and a
wind is blowing.  Off to our left there are high mountains,
stretching westward as far as we can see.  They are all snow and
ice, but they look blue and green and beautiful.  From these
mountains there comes this way a long cape, with a little
mountain at the end of it.  Mr. Gibbs says this mountain, which
is about twenty miles away, must be just about between us and the
pole, but it does not cut us off.  Far out to the right, as far
as we can see, there is open water shining in the sun, so that we
can sail around the cape.  On the right and behind us, southward,
are everlasting plains of snow and ice, which we have just come
from under.  They are so white that it dazzles our eyes to look
at them.  In some places they are smooth, and in some places they
are tumbled up.  On the very edge of the sky, in that direction,
there are more mountains.  There are no animals or people
anywhere.  It is very cold, even inside the vessel.  My fingers
are stiff.  Now that we are out on the water, in regular
shipshape, Captain Jim Hubbell has taken command.  We are going
to cruise northward as soon as we can get things regulated for
outside sailing.

                                       "SAMUEL BLOCK."




CHAPTER XII

CAPTAIN HUBBELL TAKES COMMAND


It was a high-spirited and joyous party that the Dipsey now
carried; not one of them doubted that they had emerged from under
the ice into the polar sea.  To the northeast they could see its
waves shining and glistening all the way to the horizon, and they
believed that beyond the cape in front of them these waters shone
and glistened to the very north.  They breathed the polar air,
which, as they became used to it, was exhilarating and
enlivening, and they basked in the sunshine, which, although it
did not warm their bodies very much, cheered and brightened their
souls.  But what made them happier than anything else was the
thought that they would soon start direct for the pole, on top of
the water, and with nothing in the way.

When Captain Jim Hubbell took command of the Dipsey the state of
affairs on that vessel underwent a great change.  He was sharp,
exact, and severe; he appreciated the dignity of his position,
and he wished to let everybody see that he did so.  The men on
board who had previously been workmen now became sailors--at
least in the eyes of Captain Hubbell.  He did not know much about
the work that they had been in the habit of doing, but he
intended to teach them the duties of sailors just as soon as he
could find any such duties for them to perform.  He walked about
the deck with an important air, and looked for something about
which he might give orders.  There were no masts or spars or
shrouds or sheets, but there were tarpaulins on the deck, and
these were soon arranged in seamanlike fashion.  A compass was
rigged up on deck, and Captain Hubbell put himself into
communication with the electric steersman.

It was morning when the Dipsey emerged from the sea, although day
and night were equally bright at that season, and at twelve
o'clock Captain Hubbell took an observation, assisted by Sammy.
The result was as follows: longitude, 69  30'; latitude, 88
42'.

"It strikes me," said Captain James Hubbell, "that that latitude
goes over anything ever set down by any skipper, ancient or
modern."

"I should say so," answered Sammy.  "But that record won't be
anything compared to what we are goin' to set down."

Work went on very rapidly, in order to get the Dipsey into
regular nautical condition, and although it was out of his line,
Captain Hubbell made it a point to direct as much of it as he
could.  The electric gills were packed as close to the side of
the vessel as possible, and the various contrivances for heating
and ventilation when sailing in the open air were put into
working order.  At four o'clock in the afternoon our party
started to round the icy promontory ahead of them, encouraged by
a most hearty and soul-inspiring message from the hills of New
Jersey.

"It's all very fine," said Sarah Block to her husband, "for
everybody on board to be talkin' about what a splendid thing it
is to be sailin' on the surface of the sea, in the bright and
beautiful air, but I must say that I like a ship to keep quiet
when I am on board of her.  I had a pretty bad time when I was
comin' up on the Go Lightly, but she was big and didn't wabble
like this little thing.  We went along beautifully when we were
under the water, with the floor just as level as if we were at
home, in a house, and now I am not feelin' anything like as well
as I have been.  For my part, I think it would be a great deal
better to sink down again and go the rest of the way under the
water.  I am sure we found it very comfortable, and a great deal
warmer."

Sammy laughed.

"Oh, that would not do at all," he said.  "You can't expect the
people on board this vessel to be willin' to scoop along under
the water when they have got a chance of sailin' like Christians
in the open air.  It's the sudden change that troubles you,
Sarah; you'll soon get over it."

But Sarah was not satisfied.  The Dipsey rolled a good deal, and
the good woman was frequently obliged to stop and steady herself
when crossing the little cabin.

"I feel," said she, "as if I had had a Christmas dinner yesterday
and somebody else had made the pies."

The dissatisfied condition of Mrs. Block had a cheering influence
upon Captain Hubbell when he heard of it.

"By George!" said he, "this seems like good old times.  When I
was young and there was women on board, they all got a little
sea-sick; but nowadays, with these ball-and-socket ships, you
never hear of that sort of thing.  A sea-sick woman is the most
natural thing I have struck yet on this cruise."

Mrs. Block's uneasiness, however, did not last very long.  A few
electric capsules of half an alterative volt each soon relieved
her; but her mind was still out of order; she was not satisfied.
She had accustomed herself to submerged conditions, and ordinary
voyaging was very different.

"It wouldn't surprise me," she said, "if we should find that
there wasn't any pole; that's about the way these things
generally turn out."

In a few hours the Dipsey had rounded the cape, keeping well off
shore.  In front was a clear sweep of unobstructed water.  With
their telescopes they could see nothing on the horizon which
indicated the presence of land.  If the sea should stretch out
before them, as they hoped and expected, a sail of about seventy
miles ought to bring them to the pole.  The Dipsey did not go at
full speed; there was no hurry, and as he was in absolutely
unknown waters, Captain Hubbell wished to take no risks of sunken
reefs or barely submerged islands.  Soundings were frequent, and
they found that the polar sea--at least that part over which they
were sailingwas a comparatively shallow body of water.

Before they left Sardis, preparations had been made for an
appropriate and permanent designation of the exact position of
the northern end of the earth's axis.  If this should be
discovered to be on solid land, there was a great iron standard,
or column, on board, in detached parts, with all appliances for
setting it up firmly in the rocks or earth or ice; but if the end
of the said axis should be found to be covered by water of not
too great depth, a buoy had been provided which should be
anchored upon the polar point.

This buoy was a large hollow, aluminium globe, from which a tall
steel flag-post projected upward to a considerable height,
bearing a light weather-vane, which, when the buoy should be in
its intended position, would always point southward, no matter
which way the wind might blow.  This great buoy contained various
appropriate articles, which
had been hermetically sealed up in it before it left
Sardis, where it was manufactured.  All the documents, books,
coins, and other articles which are usually placed
in the corner-stones of important buildings were put in this,
together with the names of the persons who had gone
on this perilous expedition and those who had been its projectors
and promoters.  More than this, there was an appropriate
inscription deeply cut into the metal on the upper part of the
buoy, with a space left for the date of the discovery, should it
ever take place.

But the mere ceremony of anchoring a buoy at the exact position
of the pole was not enough to satisfy the conscientious ambition
of Mr. Gibbs.  He had come upon this perilous voyage with the
earnest intention of doing his duty in all respects, while
endeavoring to make the great discovery of the age; and if that
discovery should be made, he believed that his country should
share in the glory and in the material advantage, whatever that
might be, of the achievement.  Consequently it was his opinion
that if the pole should be discovered, the discoverers should
take possession of it in the name of their country.  Every one on
board--except Sarah Block, who had something to say about the old
proverb concerning the counting of chickens before they are
hatched--thought this a good idea, and when the plan was
submitted to Mr. Clewe and Mrs. Raleigh, they heartily approved.

Preparations were now made to take possession of the pole if they
should reach it on the water.  On the after-part of the deck a
ring about three feet in diameter was marked, and it was arranged
that when they had ascertained, by the most accurate observations
and calculations, the exact position of the pole, they would so
guide their vessel that this ring should be as nearly as possible
directly over it.  Then one of the party should step inside of
the ring and take possession of the pole.  After this the buoy
would be anchored, and their intended scientific observations and
explorations would proceed.

It was supposed both on the Dipsey and at Sardis that Mr. Gibbs
would assume the honor of this act of taking possession, but that
gentleman declined to do so.  He considered that he would no more
discover the pole, if they should reach it, than would his
companions; and he also believed that, from a broad point of
view, Mr. Roland Clewe was the real discoverer.  Consequently he
considered that the direct representative of the interests of Mr.
Clewe should take possession, and it was decided that Samuel Block
should add the north pole to the territory of his native land.

When this had been settled, a very great change came over the
mind of Sarah Block.  That her husband should be the man to do
this great thing filled her with pride and alert enthusiasm.

"Sammy," she exclaimed, "when you are doin' that, you will be the
greatest man in this world, and you will stand at the top of
everything."

"Suppose there should be a feller standin' on the south pole,"
said Sammy, "wouldn't he have the same right to say that he was
on top of everything?"

"No," said Sarah, sharply.  "The way I look at it, the north pole
is above and the south pole is below; but there ain't any other
feller down there, so we needn't talk about it.  And now, Sammy,
if you are goin' to take possession of the pole, you ought to put
on your best clothes.  For one thing, you should wear a pair of
those new red flannel socks that you haven't had on yet; it will
be a good way to christen 'em.  Everything on you ought to be
perfectly fresh and clean, and just as nice as you've got.  This
will be the first time that anybody ever took possession of a
pole, and you ought to look your very best.  I would ask you to
shave, because you would look better that way, but I suppose if
you took off your beard you would take cold in your jaws.  And I
want you to stand up straight, and talk as long about it as you
can.  You are too much given to cuttin' off ceremonies mighty
short, as I remember was the case when you were statin' your
'pinions about our weddin'; but I had my way then, and I want to
have it now.  You are goin' to be a big man, Sammy, and your name
will go all over the world, so you must screw yourself up to as
much eminence as you think you can stand."

Sammy laughed.  "Well, I will do what I can," said he; "that is,
providin' our chickens are hatched."

"Oh, they'll come out all right," said Sarah.  "I haven't the
least doubt of it, now that you are to be the chief figure in the
hatchin'."

Shortly after the ordinary hour for rising, an order was issued
by Captain Hubbell, and enforced by Samuel Block, that no one
should be allowed to come on deck who had not eaten breakfast.
There were those on board that vessel who would have stayed on
deck during all the hours which should have been devoted to
sleeping, had it not been so cold.  There would probably be
nothing to see when they reached the pole, but they wanted to be
on hand, that they might see for themselves that there was
nothing to see.




CHAPTER XIII

LONGITUDE EVERYTHING


The sun was as high in the polar heavens as it ever rises in that
part of the world.  Captain Hubbell stood on the deck of the
Dipsey.  with his quadrant in hand to take an observation.  The
engines had been stopped, and nearly everybody on the vessel now
surrounded him.

"Longitude everything," said Captain James Hubbell, "latitude
ninety, which is as near as I can make it out."

"My friends," said Mr. Gibbs, looking about him, "we have found
the pole."

And at these words every head was uncovered.

For some moments no one spoke; but there was a look upon the
faces of most of the party which expressed a feeling which was
voiced by Sarah Block.

"And yet," said she, speaking in a low tone, "there's nothing to
see, after all!"

Captain Hubbell's observations and calculations, although
accurate enough for all ordinary nautical purposes, were not
sufficiently precise to satisfy the demands of the present
occasion, and Mr. Gibbs and the electricians began a series of
experiments to determine the exact position of the true pole.

The vessel was now steered this way and that, sometimes backed,
and then sent forward again.  After about an hour of this zigzag
work Mr. Gibbs ordered the engine stopped.

"Now," said he, "the ring on the deck is exactly over the pole,
and we may prepare to take possession."

At these words Samuel Block disappeared below, followed by his
wife.

"That was an odd expression of yours, Captain Hubbell," said Mr.
Gibbs, "when you said we had reached longitude everything.  It is
correct, of course, but it had not struck me in that light."

"Of course it is correct," said Captain Hubbell.  "The end of
every line of longitude is right here in a bunch.  If you were a
bird, you could choose one of 'em and fly down along it to
Washington or Greenwich or any other point you pleased.
Longitude everything is what it is; we've got the whole of 'em
right under us."

Now Samuel Block came on deck, where everybody else on board soon
gathered.  With a furled flag in his hand, dressed in his best
and cleanest clothes, and with a large fur cloak thrown over his
shoulders, Mr Block advanced towards the ring on the deck, near
the compass.

But he was yet several yards from this point when a black figure,
crouching close to the deck, issued from among the men, a little
in the rear of the party, and made a dash towards the ring.  It
was the Pole, Rovinski, who had been standing quivering with
excitement, waiting for this supreme moment.  But almost at the
same instant there sprang from the side of Mr. Gibbs another
figure, with a face livid with agitation.  This was Mr. Marcy,
who had noticed the foreigner's excitement and had been watching
him.  Like a stone from a catapult, Mr. Marcy rushed towards
Rovinski, taking a course diagonal to that of the latter, and,
striking him with tremendous force just before he reached the
ring, he threw him against the rail with such violence that the
momentum given to his head and body carried them completely over
it, and his legs following, the man went headlong into the sea.

Instantly there was a shout of horror.  Sarah Block screamed
violently, and her husband exclaimed: "That infernal Pole!  He
has gone down to the pole, and I hope he may stay there!"

"What does all this mean, Mr. Marcy?" roared Captain Hubbell;
"and why did you throw him overboard?"

"Never mind now," cried Sammy, his voice rising above the
confusion.  "I will tell you all about it.  I see what he was up
to.  He wanted to take possession of the pole in his own beastly
name, most likely."

"I don't understand a word of all this," exclaimed Mr. Gibbs.
"But there is the man; he has risen to the surface."

"Shall we let him sink," cried Sammy, "or haul him aboard?"

"Let the man sink!" yelled Captain Hubbell.  "What do you mean,
sir?"

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't do," said Sammy, "and we must get
him aboard."

Captain Hubbell roared out orders to throw out life-preservers
and lower a boat; but, remembering that he was not on board a
vessel of the olden times, he changed the order and commanded
that a patent boat-hook be used upon the man in the water.

The end of this boat-hook, which could be shot out like a
fishing-rod, was hooked into Rovinski's clothes, and he was
pulled to the vessel.  Then a rope was lowered, and he was hauled
on board, shivering and shaking.

"Take him below and put him in irons," cried Sammy.

"Mr. Block," said Captain Hubbell, "I want you to understand that
I am skipper of this vessel, and that I am to give orders.  I
don't know anything about this man; but do you want him put in
irons?"

"I do," said Sammy, "for the present."

"Take that man below and put him in irons!" roared Captain
Hubbell.

"And give him some dry clothes," added Sarah Block.

When the confusion consequent upon the incident had subsided
there was a general desire not to delay for a moment the actual
act of taking legal possession of the pole they had discovered.

Sammy now advanced, his fur cap in one hand and his flag in the
other, and took his position in the centre of the circle.  For a
few moments he did not speak, but turned slowly around, as if
desirous of availing himself of the hitherto unknown privilege of
looking southward in every direction.

"I'm glad he remembers what I told him," said Sarah.  "He's
making it last as long as he can."

"As the representative of Roland Clewe, Esq.," said Samuel,
deliberately and distinctly, "I take possession of the north pole
of this earth in the name of United North America." With these
words he unfurled his flag, with its broad red and white stripes,
and its seven great stars in the field of blue, and stuck the
sharp end of the flagstaff into the deck in the centre of the
circle.*

[* It must be understood that at this time the seven great
countries of North America--Greenland, Norland (formerly British
America, British Columbia, and Alaska), Canada, the United
States, Mexico, Central America, and West Indies--were united
under one confederated government, and had one flag, a
modification of the banner of the dominant nation.]

"Now," said he to his companions, "this pole is ours, and if
anybody ever comes into this sea from Russia, or Iceland, or any
other place, they will find the north pole has been pre-empted."
At this three hearty cheers were given by the assembled company,
who thereupon put on their hats.

The rest of that day and part of the next were spent in taking
soundings, and very curious and surprising results were obtained.
The electric lead, which rang the instant it touched bottom,
showed that the sea immediately over the pole was comparatively
shallow, while in every direction from this point the depth
increased rapidly.  Many interesting experiments were made, which
determined the character of the bottom and the varied deposits
thereupon, but the most important result of the work of Mr. Gibbs
and his associates was the discovery of the formation of the
extreme northern portion of the earth.  The rock-bed of the sea
was found to be of the shape of a flattened cone, regularly
sloping off from the polar point.

This peculiar form of the solid portion of the earth at the pole
was occasioned, Mr. Gibbs believed, by the rotary motion of the
bottom of the sea, which moved much more rapidly than the water
above it, thus gradually wearing itself away, and giving to our
earth that depression at the poles which has been so long known
to geographers.

Day after day the experiments went on; but Mr. Gibbs and his
associates were extremely interested in what they were doing;
some of the rest of the party began to get a little tired of the
monotony.  There was absolutely nothing to see except water and
sky; and although the temperature was frequently some degrees
above freezing, and became sometimes quite pleasant as they
gradually grew accustomed to the outer arctic atmosphere, those
who had no particular occupation to divert their minds made
frequent complaints of the cold.  There were occasional
snow-storms, but these did not last long, and as a rule the
skies were clear.