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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6973.txt b/6973.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bc36695 --- /dev/null +++ b/6973.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7948 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Boy Aviators' Polar Dash, by John Henry Goldfrap + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Boy Aviators' Polar Dash + or, Facing Death in the Antarctic + +Author: John Henry Goldfrap + +Posting Date: January 11, 2015 [EBook #6973] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 19, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH *** + + + + +Produced by Paul Hollander, Juliet Sutherland, Ben Byer, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + + +THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH + +OR + +FACING DEATH IN THE ANTARCTIC + + + +BY + +CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON +(pseudonym for John Henry Goldfrap) + + + + +Boy Aviators' Series + +By Captain Wilbur Lawton + +1 THE BOY AVIATORS IN NICARAGUA; +or, In League with the Insurgents. + +2 THE BOY AVIATORS ON SECRET SERVICE; +or, Working with Wireless. + +3 THE BOY AVIATORS IN AFRICA; +or, An Aerial Ivory Trail. + +4 THE BOY AVIATORS' TREASURE QUEST; +or, The Golden Galleon. + +5 THE BOY AVIATORS IN RECORD FLIGHT; +or, The Rival Aeroplane. + +6 THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH; +or, Facing Death in the Antarctic. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER +I. The Polar Ship +II. A Mysterious Robbery +III. Off for the South Pole +IV. A Message from the Air +V. A Tragedy of the Skies +VI. A Strange Collision +VII. Adrift on a Floating Island +VIII. Caught in the Flames +IX. A Queer Accident +X. The Professor is Kidnapped +XI. A Battle in the Air +XII. Adrift +XIII. The Ship of Olaf the Viking +XIV. Marooned on an Ice Floe +XV. Dynamiting the Reef +XVI. A Polar Storm +XVII. The Great Barrier +XVIII. The Professor Takes a Cold Bath +XIX. Facing the Polar Night +XX. A Mysterious Light +XXI. A Penguin Hunt +XXII. The Flaming Mountain +XXIII. Adrift Above the Snows +XXIV. Swallowed by a Crevasse +XXV. The Viking's Ship +XXVI. Caught in a Trap +XXVII. The Fate of the Dirigible +XXVIII. The Heart of the Antarctic + + + + +THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH + +OR + +FACING DEATH IN THE ANTARCTIC + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE POLAR SHIP. + + +"Oh, it's southward ho, where the breezes blow; we're off for the +pole, yo, ho! heave ho!" + +"Is that you, Harry?" asked a lad of about seventeen, without looking +up from some curious-looking frames and apparatus over which he was +working in the garage workshop back of his New York home on Madison +Avenue. + +"Ay! ay! my hearty," responded his brother, giving his trousers a +nautical hitch; "you seem to have forgotten that to-day is the day we +are to see the polar ship." + +"Not likely," exclaimed Frank Chester, flinging down his wrench and +passing his hand through a mop of curly hair; "what time is it?" + +"Almost noon; we must be at the Eric Basin at two o'clock." + +"As late as that? Well, building a motor sledge and fixing up the +Golden Eagle certainly occupies time." + +"Come on; wash up and then we'll get dinner and start over." + +"Will Captain Hazzard be there?" + +"Yes, they are getting the supplies on board now." + +"Say, that sounds good, doesn't it? Mighty few boys get such a chance. +The South Pole,--ice-bergs--sea-lions,--and--and--oh, heaps of +things." + +Arm in arm the two boys left the garage on the upper floor of which +they had fitted up their aeronautical workshop. There the Golden +Eagle, their big twin-screw aeroplane, had been planned and partially +built, and here, too, they were now working on a motor-sledge for the +expedition which now occupied most of their waking--and +sleeping--thoughts. + +The Erie Basin is an enclosed body of water which forms at once a +repair shop and a graveyard for every conceivable variety of vessel, +steam and sail, and is not the warmest place in the world on a chill +day in late November, yet to the two lads, as they hurried along a +narrow string-piece in the direction of a big three-masted steamer, +which lay at a small pier projecting in an L-shaped formation, from +the main wharf, the bitter blasts that swept round warehouse corners +appeared to be of not the slightest consequence--at least to judge by +their earnest conversation. + +"What a muss!" exclaimed Harry, the younger of the two lads. + +"Well," commented the other, "you'd hardly expect to find a wharf, +alongside which a south polar ship is fitting up, on rush orders, to +be as clean swept as a drawing-room, would you?" + +As Harry Chester had said, the wharf was "a muss." Everywhere were +cases and barrels all stenciled "Ship Southern Cross, U. S. South +Polar Expedition." As fast as a gang of stevedores, their laboring +bodies steaming in the sharp air, could handle the muddle, the +numerous cases and crates were hauled aboard the vessel we have +noticed and lowered into her capacious holds by a rattling, fussy +cargo winch. The shouts of the freight handlers and the sharp shrieks +of the whistle of the boss stevedore, as he started or stopped the +hoisting engine, all combined to form a picture as confused as could +well be imagined, and yet one which was in reality merely an orderly +loading of a ship of whose existence, much less her destination, few +were aware. + +As the readers of The Boy Aviators in Record Flight; or, The Rival +Aeroplane, will recall, the Chester boys, in their overland trip for +the big newspaper prize, encountered Captain Robert Hazzard, a young +army officer in pursuit of a band of renegade Indians. On that +occasion he displayed much interest in the aeroplane in which they +were voyaging over plains, mountains and rivers on their remarkable +trip. They in turn were equally absorbed in what he had to tell them +about his hopes of being selected for the post of commander of the +expedition to the South Pole, which the government was then +considering fitting out for the purpose of obtaining meteorological +and geographical data. The actual attainment of the pole was, of +course, the main object of the dash southward, but the expedition was +likewise to do all in its power to add to the slender stock of the +world's knowledge concerning the great silences south of the 80th +parallel. About a month before this story opens the young captain had +realized his wish and the Southern Cross--formerly a stanch +bark-rigged whaler--had been purchased for uses of the expedition. + +Their friend had not forgotten the boys and their aeroplane and in +fact had lost no time in communicating with them, and a series of +consultations and councils of war had ended in the boys being signed +on as the aviators of the expedition. They also had had assigned to +their care the mechanical details of the equipment, including a motor +sledge, which latter will be more fully described later. + +That the consent of the boys' parents to their long and hazardous trip +had not been gained without a lot of coaxing and persuasion goes +without saying. Mrs. Chester had held out till the last against what +she termed "a hare-brained project," but the boys with learned +discourses on the inestimable benefits that would redound to +humanity's benefit from the discovery of the South Pole, had overborne +even her rather bewildered opposition, and the day before they stood +on the wharf in the Erie Basin, watching the Southern Cross swallowing +her cargo, like a mighty sea monster demolishing a gigantic meal, they +had received their duly signed and witnessed commissions as aviators +to the expedition--documents of which they were not a little proud. + +"Well, boys, here you are, I see. Come aboard." + +The two boys gazed upward at the high side of the ship from whence the +hail had proceeded. In the figure that had addressed them they had at +first no little difficulty in recognizing Captain Hazzard. In grimy +overalls, with a battered woolen cap of the Tam o' Shanter variety on +his head, and his face liberally smudged with grime and dust,--for on +the opposite side of the Southern Cross three lighters were at work +coaling her,--a figure more unlike that of the usually trim and trig +officer could scarcely be imagined. + +The lads' confusion was only momentary, however, and ended in a hearty +laugh as they nimbly ascended the narrow gangway and gained the deck +by their friend's side. After a warm handshake, Frank exclaimed +merrily: + +"I suppose we are now another part of the miscellaneous cargo, sir. If +we are in the way tell us and we'll go ashore again." + +"No, I've got you here now and I don't mean to let you escape," +laughed the other in response; "in my cabin--its aft there under the +break in the poop, you'll find some more overalls, put them on and +then I'll set you both to work as tallyers." + +Harry looked blank at this. He had counted on rambling over the ship +and examining her at his leisure. It seemed, however, that they were +to be allowed no time for skylarking. Frank, however, obeyed with +alacrity. + +"Ay, ay, sir!" he exclaimed, with a sailor-like hitch at his trousers; +"come, Harry, my hearty, tumble aft, we might as well begin to take +orders now as any other time." + +"That's the spirit, my boy," exclaimed the captain warmly, as Harry, +looking a bit shamefaced at his temporary desire to protest, followed +his brother to the stern of the ship. + +Once on board there was no room to doubt that the Southern Cross had +once been a whaler under the prosaic name of Eben A. Thayer. In fact +if there had been any indecision about the matter the strong smell of +oil and blubber which still clung to her, despite new coats of paint +and a thorough cleaning, would have dispelled it. + +The engine-room, as is usual in vessels of the type of the converted +whaler, was as far aft as it could be placed, and the boys noticed +with satisfaction as they entered the officers' quarters aft, that the +radiators had been connected with the boilers and had warmed the place +up to a comfortable temperature. A Japanese steward showed them into +Captain Hazzard's cabin, and they selected a suit of overalls each +from a higgledy-piggledy collection of oil-skins, rough pilot-cloth +suits and all manner of headgear hanging on one of the cabin +bulkheads. + +They had encased themselves in them, and were laughing at the +whimsical appearance they made in the clumsy garments, when the +captain himself entered the cabin. + +"The stevedores have knocked off for a rest spell and a smoke and the +lighters are emptied," he announced, "so I might as well show you boys +round a bit. Would you care to?" + +Would they care to? Two hearty shouts of assent left the young +commander no doubt on this score. + +The former Eben A. Thayer had been a beamy ship, and the living +quarters of her officers astern left nothing to be desired in the way +of room. On one side of the cabin, extending beneath the poop deck, +with a row of lights in the circular wall formed by the stern, were +the four cabins to be occupied by Captain Hazzard, the chief engineer, +a middle-aged Scotchman named Gavin MacKenzie, Professor Simeon +Sandburr, the scientist of the expedition, and the surgeon, a Doctor +Watson Gregg. + +The four staterooms on the other side were to be occupied by the boys, +whom the lieutenant assigned to the one nearest the stern, the second +engineer and the mate were berthed next to them. Then came the cabin +of Captain Pent Barrington, the navigating officer of the ship, and +his first mate, a New Englander, as dry as salt cod, named Darius +Green. The fourth stateroom was empty. The steward bunked forward in a +little cabin rigged up in the same deck-house as the galley which +snuggled up to the foot of the foremast. + +Summing up what the boys saw as they followed their conductor over the +ship they found her to be a three-masted, bark-rigged vessel with a +cro' nest, like a small barrel, perched atop of her mainmast. Her +already large coal bunkers had been added to until she was enabled to +carry enough coal to give her a tremendous cruising radius. It was in +order to economize on fuel she was rigged for the carrying of sail +when she encountered a good slant of wind. Her forecastle, originally +the dark, wet hole common to whalers, had been built up till it was a +commodious chamber fitted with bunks at the sides and a swinging table +in the center, which could be hoisted up out of the way when not in +use. Like the officers' cabins, it was warmed by radiators fed from +the main boilers when under way and from the donkey, or auxiliary, +boiler when hove to. + +Besides the provisions, which the stevedores, having completed their +"spell," were now tumbling into the hold with renewed ardor, the deck +was piled high with a strange miscellany of articles. There were +sledges, bales of canvas, which on investigation proved to be tents, +coils of rope, pick-axes, shovels, five portable houses in knock-down +form, a couple of specially constructed whale boats, so made as to +resist any ordinary pressure that might be brought to bear on them in +the polar drift, and nail-kegs and tool-chests everywhere. + +Peeping into the hold the boys saw that each side of it had been built +up with big partitions, something like the pigeon-holes in which bolts +of cloth are stored in dry-goods shops--only much larger. Each of +these spaces was labeled in plain letters with the nature of the +stores to be placed there so that those in charge of the supplies +would have no difficulty in laying their hands at once on whatever +happened to be needed. Each space was provided with a swiveled bar of +stout timber which could be pulled across the front of the opening in +heavy weather, and which prevented anything plunging out. + +Captain Hazzard explained that the heavy stores were stowed forward +and the provisions aft. A gallery ran between the shelves from stem to +stern and provided ready access to any part of the holds. A system of +hot steam-pipes had been rigged in the holds so that in the antarctic +an equable temperature could be maintained. The great water tanks were +forward immediately below the forecastle. The inspection of the +engines came last. The Southern Cross had been fitted with new +water-tube boilers--two of them--that steamed readily on small fuel +consumption. Her engine was triple expansion, especially installed, as +the boilers had been, to take the place of the antiquated machinery +boasted by the old Thayer. + +"Hoot, mon, she's as fine as a liner," commented old MacKenzie, the +"chief," who had taken charge of the boys on this part of their +expedition over the vessel, which was destined to be their home for +many months. + +"Some day," said Frank, "every vessel will be equipped with gasoline +motors and all this clumsy arrangement of boilers and complicated +piping will be done away with." + +The old Scotch engineer looked at him queerly. + +"Oh, ay," he sniffed, "and some day we'll all go to sea in pea-soup +bowls nae doot." + +"Well, a man in Connecticut has built a schooner out of cement," +declared Harry. + +The engineer looked at him and slowly wiped his hands on a bit of +waste. + +"I ken his head must be a muckle thicker nor that," was his comment, +at which both the boys laughed as they climbed the steel ladders that +led from the warm and oily regions to the deck. The engineer, with a +"dour" Scot's grin, gazed after them. + +"Hoots-toots," he muttered to his gauges and levers, "the great ice +has a wonderful way with lads as cocksure as them twa." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A MYSTERIOUS ROBBERY. + + +Their inspection of the Southern Cross completed, the delighted boys +accompanied Captain Hazzard back to the main cabin, where he unfolded +before them a huge chart of the polar regions. + +The chart was traced over in many places with tiny red lines which +made zig-zags and curves over the blankness of the region south of the +eightieth parallel. + +"These lines mark the points reached by different explorers," +explained the captain. "See, here is Scott's furthest south, and here +the most recent advance into south polar regions, that of Sir Ernest +Shackleton. In my opinion Shackleton might have reached his goal if he +had used a motor sledge, capable of carrying heavy weights, and not +placed his sole dependence on ponies." + +The boys nodded; Frank had read the explorer's narrative and realized +that what Captain Hazzard said was in all probability correct. + +"It remains for your expedition to carry the Stars and Stripes further +to the southward yet," exclaimed Frank, enthusiastically, as Captain +Hazzard rolled up the map. + +"Not only for us," smiled the captain; "we have a rival in the field." + +"A rival expedition?" exclaimed Frank. + +"Exactly. Some time this month a Japanese expedition under Lieutenant +Saki is to set out from Yokahama for Wilkes Land. + +"They are to be towed by a man-of-war until they are in the polar +regions so as to save the supply of coal on the small steamer they are +using," went on the captain. "Everything has been conducted with the +utmost secrecy and it is their intention to beat us there if +possible--hence all this haste." + +"How did our government get wind of the fact that the Japs are getting +ready another expedition?" inquired Frank, somewhat puzzled. + +"By means of our secret service men. I don't doubt that the Japanese +secret service men in this country have also notified their government +of our expedition. England also is in the race but the Scott +expedition will not be ready for some time yet." + +"You think, then, that the Japs have secret agents keeping track of +us?" was Frank's next question. + +The captain's reply was cut short by a loud crash. They all started up +at the interruption. So intent had they been in their conversation +that they had not noticed the Jap steward standing close behind them +and his soft slippers had prevented them hearing his approach. The +crash had been caused by a metal tray he had let drop. He now stood +with as much vexation on his impassive countenance as it ever was +possible for it to betray. + +"What on earth are you doing, Oyama?" sharply questioned Captain +Hazzard. + +"I was but about to inquire if the cap-it-an and the boys would not +have some refreshments," rejoined the Jap. + +"Not now, we are busy," replied Captain Hazzard, with what was for him +some show of irritation. "Be off to your pantry now. I will ring if I +want you." + +With an obsequious bow the Jap withdrew; but if they could have seen +his face as he turned into his small pantry, a cubby-hole for dishes +and glasses, they would have noticed that it bore a most singular +expression. + +"It seems curious that while we were talking of Jap secret service men +that your man should have been right behind us," commented Frank. "I +don't know that I ought to ask such a question--but can you trust +him?" + +The captain laughed. + +"Oh, implicitly," he said easily, "Oyama was with me in the +Philippines, and has always been a model of all that a good servant +should be." + +Soon after this the conference broke up, the boys having promised to +have their aeroplane on board early the next day. Frank explained that +the machine was all ready and in shape for shipping and all that +remained to do was to "knock it down," encase it in its boxes and get +a wagon to haul it to the pier. + +"Say, Harry," said Frank earnestly, as the boys, having bade their +leave of Captain Hazzard, who remained on board owing to press of +business on the ship, made their way along the maze of wharves and +toward a street car. + +"Say it," responded Harry cheerfully, his spirits at the tip-top of +excitement at the idea of an almost immediate start for the polar +regions. + +"Well, it's about that Jap." + +"Oh that yellow-faced bit of soft-footed putty--well, what about him?" + +"Well, that 'yellow-faced bit of putty,' as you call him, is not so +easily dismissed from my mind as all that. I'm pretty sure that he had +some stronger reason than the one he gave for coming up behind us as +silently as a cat while we were talking." + +"But Captain Hazzard says that he has had him for years. That he can +trust him implicitly," protested Harry. + +"Just the same I can't get it out of my mind that there is something +wrong about the fellow. I wish he hadn't seen that map and the +proposed route of our expedition." + +"Oh bosh, you are thinking of what Captain Hazzard said about the Jap +secret service. Our friend Oyama is much too thick to be a secret +service man." + +"He simply looks unimpressive," rejoined Frank. "For that reason alone +he would make a good man for any such purpose." + +"Well, here comes a car," interrupted Harry, "so let's board it and +forget our Japanese friend. Depend upon it you'll find out that he is +all O. K. long before we sight an iceberg." + +"I hope so, I'm sure," agreed Frank; but there was a troubled look on +his face as he spoke. + +However, not later than the next morning, as they were screwing up the +last of the big blue cases that contained the various parts of the +Golden Eagle, Billy Barnes, the young reporter who had accompanied the +two boys in all of their expeditions, including the one to Nicaragua, +where, with their aeroplane they helped make Central American history, +as related in The Boy Aviators in Nicaragua; or, Leagued with the +Insurgents,--Billy Barnes, the irrepressible, bounced into the garage +which they used as a workshop, and which was situated in the rear of +their house on Madison Avenue, with what proved to be important news +of the Jap. + +"Aha, my young Scotts and Shackletons, I behold you on the verge of +your departure for the land of perpetual ice, polar bears and +Esquimaux," exclaimed the reporter, striking an attitude like that +assumed by Commander Peary in some of his pictures. + +"Hullo, Billy Barnes," exclaimed both boys, continuing their work, as +they were pretty well used to the young reporter's unceremonious +calls, "What brings you out so early?" + +"Oh, a little story to cover in the Yorkville Court and I thought as I +was up this way I'd drop off and pay my respects. Say, bring me back a +polar bear skin, will you?" + +"A polar bear skin?" laughed Frank, "why there aren't any polar bears +at the South Pole." + +"No polar bears," repeated Billy lugubriously, "what's the good of a +pole without polar bears. Me for the frozen north then. I suppose +you'll tell me next there are no natives at the South Pole either." + +"Well, there are not," rejoined Frank. + +"But there are sea-elephants and ice-leopards and--" began Harry. + +"And sea-cats, I suppose," interrupted Billy. + +"No," exclaimed Harry, rather nettled at the young reporter's joking +tone, "but there is the ship of Olaf--" + +Frank was up like a shot. + +"Didn't we give our word to the Captain not to mention a word about +that?" he demanded. + +"That's so," assented Harry, abashed, "but I just wanted to show this +young person here that he can't treat our expedition with levity." + +"The ship of Olaf, eh?" mused the young reporter, "sounds like a +story. Who was Olaf, if I may ask?" + +"You may not ask," was Frank's rejoinder. "As you know, Billy, we have +been frank with you, of course under the pledge of secrecy which we +know you too well to dream of your breaking. You know we are bound for +the South Polar regions. You know also that the object of Captain +Hazzard is to discover the pole, if possible; in any event to bring +back scientific data of inestimable value; but there's one thing you +don't know and of which we ourselves know very little, and that is the +thing that Harry let slip." + +"All right, Frank," said the young reporter, readily, "I won't say any +more about it, only it did sound as if it had possibilities. Hullo! +ten o'clock; I've got to be jogging along." + +"What are you going to court about?" inquired Frank. + +"Oh, a small case. Doesn't look as if it would amount to a row of +pins. A Jap who was arrested last night, more for safe-keeping than +anything else, I guess. He was found near the consulate of his country +and appeared to be under the influence of some drug. Anyhow, he +couldn't look after himself, so a policeman took him to a +station-house. Of course, there might be a story back of it and that's +why I'm on the job." + +"A Jap, eh?" mused Frank curiously. + +"Yes; do you number any among your acquaintance?" inquired Billy. + +"Well, we do number one; don't we, Harry?" laughed Frank. + +At that moment the telephone bell rang sharply in the booth erected in +the workshop in order to keep out noise when anyone was conversing +over the wire. + +"Wait a second, I'll see what that call is," exclaimed Frank, bolting +into the booth. He was in it several seconds and when he came out his +face was flushed and he seemed excited. + +"What's the matter--trouble?" inquired Billy, noting his apparent +perturbation. + +"Yes, it is trouble in a way," assented Frank, "I guess we'll take a +run to court with you and look over this Jap of yours, Billy." + +"Think you know him?" + +"That's just what I want to see." + +"You seem very anxious about it. Anything wrong?" + +"Yes, very wrong. That was Captain Hazzard on the wire, and a +mysterious theft has occurred on the Southern Cross." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +OFF FOR THE SOUTH POLE. + + +The court-room was crowded as the boys entered it, but armed with +Billy's police card they soon made their way through a rail that +separated the main body of the place from the space within which the +magistrate was seated. On the way over Frank had related his +conversation over the wire with Captain Hazzard. It appeared that +Oyama, the Jap, was missing and that several papers bearing on the +objects of the expedition which were,--except in a general way,--a +mystery to the boys themselves, had been stolen. + +Putting two and two together, Frank had made up his mind that the Jap +whose case Billy had been assigned to investigate was none other than +Oyama himself, and as they entered the space described above his eyes +eagerly swept the row of prisoners seated in the "Pen." + +"I was sure of it," the boy exclaimed as his eyes encountered an +abject, huddled-up figure seated next a ragged, besotted-looking +tramp. + +"Sure of what?" demanded Harry. + +"Why, that Oyama was the man who stole the papers from the Southern +Cross." + +"Well?" + +"Well, there he is now." + +Frank indicated the abject object in the corner who at the same moment +raised a yellow face and bloodshot eyes and gazed blearily at him. +There was no sign of recognition in the face, however. In fact the Jap +appeared to be in a stupor of some sort. + +"Is that little Jap known to you?" + +Frank turned: a gray moustached man with a red face and keen eyes was +regarding him and had put the question. + +"He is--yes," replied the boy, "but----" + +"Oh, you need not hesitate to talk to me," replied the stranger, "I am +Dr. McGuire, the prison surgeon, and I take a professional interest in +his case. The man is stupefied with opium or some drug that seems to +have numbed his senses." + +"Do you think it was self-administered?" asked the boy. + +"Oh, undoubtedly. Those fellows go on regular opium debauches +sometimes. In this case perhaps it is very fortunate for some one that +he was imprudent enough to take such heavy doses of the drug that the +policeman picked him up, for a lot of papers were found on him. They +are meaningless to me, but perhaps you can throw some light on them." + +"The papers, we believe, are the property of Captain Hazzard, the head +of the government's South Polar expedition," exclaimed Frank, whose +suspicions had rapidly become convictions at the sight of the Jap. "We +have no right to examine into their contents, but I suppose there +would be no harm in our looking at them to make sure. I can then +notify the Captain." + +"You are friends of his?" + +"We are attached to the expedition," replied Frank, "but I must ask +you not to mention it, as I do not know but we are breaking our +promise of secrecy even in such an important matter as this." + +"You can depend that I shall not violate your confidence," promised +Dr. McGuire. + +It was the matter of few moments only to secure the papers from the +court clerk. There was quite a bundle of them, some of them sealed. +Apparently the thief, elated over his success in stealing them, had +indulged himself in his beloved drug before he had even taken the +trouble to examine fully into his finds. One paper, however, had been +opened and seemed to be, as Frank could not help noticing, a sort of +document containing "General Orders" to the expedition. + +It consisted of several closely typewritten pages, and on the first +one Frank lit on the magic words,--"--AND CONCERNING THE SHIP OF OLAF, +THE VIKING ROVER, YOU WILL PROCEED ACROSS THE BARRIER, USING ALL +DISCRETION, AS A RIVAL NATION HAS ALSO SOME INKLING OF THE PRESENCE OF +THE LONG-LOST VESSEL AND,--" + +Though the boy would have given a good deal to do so he felt that he +could not honorably read more. He resolutely, therefore, closed the +paper and restored it to its place in the mass of other documents. +There was, of course, no question that the papers were the property of +Captain Hazzard, and that the Jap had stolen them. The latter was +therefore sentenced to spend the next six weeks on Blackwell's Island, +by the expiration of which time the Southern Cross would be well on +her voyage toward The Great Barrier. + +As the boys left the court, having been told that Captain Hazzard's +papers would be sealed and restored him when he called for them and +made a formal demand for their delivery, they were deep in excited +talk. + +"Well, if this doesn't beat all," exclaimed Frank, "we always seem to +be getting snarled up with those chaps. You remember what a tussle +they gave us in the Everglades." + +"Not likely to forget it," was the brief rejoinder from Harry. + +"I'll never forget winging that submarine of Captain Bellman's," put +in Billy. + +"Well, boys, exciting as our experiences were down there, I think that +we are on the verge of adventures and perils that will make them look +insignificant," exclaimed Frank. + +"Don't," groaned Billy. + +"Don't what?" + +"Don't talk that way. Here am I a contented reporter working hard and +hoping that some day my opportunity will come and I shall be a great +writer or statesman or something and then you throw me off my base by +talking about adventure," was the indignant response. + +"Upon my word, Billy Barnes, I think you are hinting that you would +like to come along." + +"Well, would that be so very curious. Oh cracky! If I only could get a +chance." + +"You think you could get a leave of absence?" + +"Two of 'em. But what's the use," Billy broke off with a groan, +"Captain Hazzard wouldn't have me and that's all there is to it. No, +I'll be stuck here in New York while you fellows are shooting Polar +bears--oh, I forgot, there aren't any,--well, anyhow, while you're +having a fine time,--just my luck." + +"If you aren't the most contrary chap," laughed Frank. "Here a short +time ago you never even dreamed of coming and now you talk as if you'd +been expecting to go right along, and had been meanly deprived of your +rights." + +"I wonder if the Captain----," hesitated Harry. + +"Would take Billy along?" Frank finished for him, "well, we will do +this much. We have got to go over to the Erie Basin now and tell +Captain Hazzard about the recovery of his papers. Billy can come along +if he wants and we will state his case for him, it will take three +boys to manage that sledge anyway," went on Frank, warming up to the +new plan. "I think we can promise you to fix it somehow, Billy." + +"You think you can," burst out the delighted reporter, "oh, Frank, if +you do, I'll--I'll make you famous. I'll write you up as the +discoverer of the ship of Olaf and--" + +"That's enough," suddenly interrupted Frank, "if you want to do me a +favor, Billy, never mention any more about that till Captain Hazzard +himself decides to tell us about it. We only let what we know of the +secret slip out by accident and we have no right to speculate on what +Captain Hazzard evidently wishes kept a mystery till the time comes to +reveal it." + +"I'm sorry, Frank," contritely said Billy, "I won't speak any more +about it; but," he added to himself, "you can't keep me from thinking +about it." + +As Frank had anticipated, Captain Hazzard agreed to ship Billy Barnes +as a member of the expedition. He was to be a sort of general +secretary and assist the boys with the aeroplane and motor sledge when +the time came. The reporter's face, when after a brief conference it +was announced to him that he might consider himself one of the +Southern Cross's ship's company, was a study. It was all he could do +to keep from shouting at the top of his voice. The contrast between +the dignity he felt he ought to assume before Captain Hazzard and the +desire he felt to skip about and express his feelings in some active +way produced such a ludicrous mixture of emotions on Billy's face that +both the boys and the captain himself had to burst into uncontrollable +laughter at it. Laughter in which the good natured Billy, without +exactly understanding its cause, heartily joined. + +A week later the final good-byes were said and the Southern Cross was +ready for sea. She was to meet a coal-ship at Monte Video in the +Argentine Republic which would tow her as far as the Great Barrier. +This was to conserve her own coal supply. The other vessel would then +discharge her cargo of coal,--thus leaving the adventurers a plentiful +supply of fuel in case the worst came to worst, and they were frozen +in for a second winter. + +In case nothing was heard of them by the following fall a relief ship +was to be despatched which would reach them roughly about the +beginning of December, when the Antarctic summer is beginning to draw +to a close. The commander of the Southern Cross expected to reach the +great southern ice-barrier in about the beginning of February, when +the winter, which reaches its climax in August, would be just closing +in. The winter months were to be devoted to establishing a camp, from +which in the following spring--answering to our fall--the expedition +would be sent out. + +"Hurray! a winter in the Polar ice," shouted the boys as the program +was explained to them. + +"And a dash for the pole to cap it off," shouted the usually +unemotional Frank, his face shining at the prospect. + +As has been said, the Southern Cross was an old whaler. Built rather +for staunchness than beauty, she was no ideal of a mariner's dream as +she unobtrusively cleared from her wharf one gray, chilly morning +which held a promise of snow in its leaden sky. There were few but the +stevedores, who always hang about "the Basin," and some idlers, to +watch her as she cast off her lines and a tug pulled her head round +till she pointed for the opening of the berth in which she had lain so +long. Of these onlookers not one had any more than a hazy idea of +where the vessel was bound and why. + +As the Southern Cross steamed steadily on down the bay, past the bleak +hills of Staten Island, on by Sandy Hook, reaching out its long, +desolate finger as if pointing ships out to the ocean beyond, the +three boys stood together in a delighted group in the lee of a pile of +steel drums, each containing twenty gallons of gasolene. + +"Well, old fellow, we're off at last," cried Frank, his eye kindling +as the Southern Cross altered her course a bit and stood due south +down the Jersey coast. + +"That's it," cried Billy, with a wave of his soft cap, "off at last; +we're the three luckiest boys on this globe, I say." + +"Same here," was Harry's rejoinder. + +The blunt bows of the Southern Cross began to lift to the long heave +of the ever restless Atlantic. She slid over the shoulder of one big +wave and into the trough of another with a steady rhythmic glide that +spoke well for her seaworthy qualities. Frank, snugly out of the +nipping wind in the shelter of the gasolene drums, was silent for +several minutes musing over the adventurous voyage on which they were +setting out. Thus he had not noticed a change coming over Harry and +Billy. Suddenly a groan fell on his ear. Startled, the boy looked +round. + +On the edge of the hatch sat Billy and beside him, his head sunk in +his hands, was Harry. + +"What's the matter with you fellows?" demanded Frank. + +At that instant an unusually large breaker came rolling towards the +Southern Cross and caught her fair and square on the side of the bow. +Deep laden as she was it broke over her and a wall of green water came +tumbling and sweeping along the decks. Frank avoided it by leaping +upward and seizing a stanchion used to secure the framework holding +down the deck load. + +But neither Harry nor Billy moved, except a few minutes later when +another heavy roll sent them sliding into the scuppers. + +"Come, you fellows, you'd better get up, and turn in aft," said Frank. + +"Oh, leave me alone," groaned Billy. + +"I'm going to die, I think," moaned Harry. + +At this moment the new steward, a raw boy from Vermont, who had been +at sea for several years, came up to where the two boys were +suffering. + +"Breakfast's ready," he announced, "there's some nice fat bacon and +fried eggs and jam and----" + +It was too much. With what strength they had left Billy and Harry +tumbled to their feet and aimed simultaneous blows at him. + +It was a final effort and as the Southern Cross plunged onward toward +her mysterious goal she carried with her two of the most sea-sick boys +ever recorded on a ship's manifest. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A MESSAGE FROM THE AIR. + + +It was a bright, sunshiny morning a week later. The Southern Cross was +now in sub-tropic waters, steaming steadily along under blue skies and +through smooth azure water flecked here and there with masses of +yellow gulf weed. + +The boys were in a group forward watching the flying fish that fled +like coveys of frightened birds as the bow of the polar ship cut +through the water. Under Dr. Gregg's care Billy and Harry had quite +recovered from their sea-sickness. + +"Off there to the southeast somewhere is the treasure galleon and the +Sargasso Sea," said Harry, indicating the purplish haze that hung on +the horizon. [Footnote: See Vol. 4 of this series, The Boy Aviators' +Treasure Quest; or, The Golden Galleon.] + +"Yes, and off there is the South Pole," rejoined Frank, pointing due +south, "I wish the old Southern Cross could make better speed, I'm +impatient to be there." + +"And I'm impatient to solve some of the mystery of this voyage," put +in Billy, "here we've been at sea a week and Captain Hazzard hasn't +told us yet anything about that--that,--well you know, that ship you +spoke about, Frank." + +"He will tell us all in good time," rejoined the other, "and now +instead of wasting speculation on something we are bound not to find +out till we do find it out, let's go aft to the wireless room and +polish up a bit." + +The Southern Cross carried a wireless apparatus which had been +specially installed for her polar voyage. The aerials stretched from +her main to mizzen mast and a small room, formerly a storeroom, below +the raised poop containing the cabins had been fitted up for a +wireless room. In this the boys had spent a good deal of time during +their convalescence from sea-sickness and had managed to "pick-up" +many vessels within their radius,--which was fifteen hundred miles +under favorable conditions. + +Frank was the first to clap on the head-receiver this morning and he +sat silently for a while absently clicking out calls, to none of which +he obtained an answer. Suddenly, however, his face grew excited. + +"Hullo," he cried, "here's something." + +"What?" demanded Harry. + +"I don't know yet," he held up his hand to demand silence. + +"That's queer," he exclaimed, after a pause, in which the receiver had +buzzed and purred its message into his ear. + +The others looked their questions. + +"There's something funny about this message," he went on. "I cannot +understand it. Whoever is calling has a very weak sending current. I +can hardly hear it. One thing is certain though, it's someone in +distress." + +The others leaned forward eagerly, but their curiosity was not +satisfied immediately by Frank. Instead his face became set in +concentration once more. After some moments of silence, broken only by +the slight noise of the receiver, he pressed his hand on the sending +apparatus and the Southern Cross's wireless began to crackle and spit +and emit a leaping blue flame. + +"What's he sending?" asked Billy, turning to Harry. + +"Wait a second," was the rejoinder. The wireless continued to crackle +and flash. + +"Cracky," suddenly cried Harry, "hark at that, Billy." + +"What," sputtered the reporter, "that stuff doesn't mean anything to +me. What's he done, picked up a ship or a land station or what?" + +"No," was the astounding response, "he's picked up an airship!" + +"Oh, get out," protested the amazed Billy. + +"That's right," snapped Frank, "as far as I can make out it's a +dirigible balloon that has been blown out to sea. They tried to give +me their position, and as near as I can comprehend their message, they +are between us and the shore somewhere within a radius of about twenty +miles." + +"Are they in distress?" demanded Billy. + +"Yes. The heat has expanded their gas and they fear that the bag of +the ship may explode at any moment. They cut off suddenly. The +accident may have occurred already." + +"Why don't they open the valve?" + +"I suppose because in that case they'd stand every chance of dropping +into the sea," responded Frank, disconnecting the instrument and +removing the head-piece. "I have sent word to them that we will try to +rescue them, but I'm afraid it's a slim chance. I must tell Captain +Hazzard at once." + +Followed by the other two, Frank dashed up the few steps leading to +the deck and unceremoniously burst into the captain's cabin where the +latter was busy with a mass of charts and documents in company with +Captain Barrington, the navigating commander. + +"I beg your pardon," exclaimed Frank, as Captain Hazzard looked up, +"but I have picked up a most important message by wireless,--two men, +in an airship, are in deadly peril not far from us." + +The two commanders instantly became interested. + +"An airship!" cried Captain Hazzard. + +"What's that!" exclaimed Captain Barrington. "Did they give you their +position?" he added quickly. + +"Yes," replied the boy, and rapidly repeated the latitude and +longitude as he had noted it. + +"That means they are to the west of us," exclaimed Captain Barrington +as the boy concluded. He hastily picked up a speaking tube and hailed +the wheel-house, giving instructions to change the course. He then +emerged on deck followed by Captain Hazzard and the boys. The next +hour was spent in anxiously scanning the surrounding sea. + +Suddenly a man who had been sent into the crow's nest on the main mast +gave a hail. + +"I see something, sir," he cried, pointing to the southwest. + +"What is it," demanded the captain. + +"Looks like a big bird," was the response. + +Slinging his binoculars round his neck by their strap, Captain +Barrington himself clambered into the main shrouds. When he had +climbed above the cross-trees he drew out his glasses and gazed in the +direction the lookout indicated. The next minute he gave a shout of +triumph. + +"There's your dirigible, boys," he exclaimed, and even Billy overcame +his dislike to clambering into the rigging for a chance to get a look +at the airship they hoped to save. + +Viewed even through the glasses she seemed a speck, no larger than a +shoe button, drifting aimlessly toward the south, but as the Southern +Cross drew nearer to her she stood out in more detail. The watchers +could then see that she was a large air craft for her type and carried +two men, who were running back and forth in apparent panic on her +suspended deck. Suddenly one of them swung himself into the rigging +and began climbing up the distended sides of the big cigar-shaped gas +bag. + +"What can he be going to do?" asked Captain Hazzard. + +"I think I know," said Frank. "The valve must be stuck and they have +decided now that as we are so near they will take a chance and open it +and risk a drop into the sea rather than have the over-distended bag +blow up." + +"Of course. I never thought of that," rejoined the captain, "that's +just what they are doing." + +"That man is taking a desperate chance," put in Professor Simeon +Sandburr, who had climbed up and joined the party and looked with his +long legs and big round glasses, like some queer sort of a bird +perched in the rigging. "Hydrogen gas is deadly and if he should +inhale any of it he would die like a bug in a camphor bottle." + +Interest on board the Southern Cross was now intense in the fate of +the dirigible. Even the old chief engineer had left his engines and +wiping his hands with a bit of waste, stood gazing at the distressed +cloud clipper. + +"The mon moost be daft," he exclaimed, "any mon that wud go tae sea in +sic a craft moost be daft. It's fair temptin' o' providence." + +At that instant there was a sharp and sudden collapse of the balloon +bag. It seemed to shrivel like a bit of burned paper, and the +structure below it fell like a stone into the ocean, carrying with it +the man who had remained on it. Of the other, the one who had climbed +the bag, not a trace could be seen. Even as the onlookers gazed +horror-stricken at the sudden blotting out of the dirigible before +their eyes the loud roar of the explosion of its superheated gas +reached their ears. + +"Every pound of steam you've got, chief," sharply commanded Captain +Barrington, almost before the dirigible vanished, "we must save them +yet." + +The old engineer dived into his engine room and the Southern Cross, +with her gauges registering every pound of steam her boilers could +carry, rushed through the water as she never had before in all her +plodding career. + +"Heaven grant we may not be too late," breathed Captain Hazzard, as, +followed by the boys, he clambered out of the rigging. "If only they +can swim we may save them." + +"Or perhaps they have on life-belts," suggested Billy. + +"Neither will do them much good," put in a voice at his elbow grimly. +It was Professor Sandburr. + +"Why?" demanded Frank, "we will be alongside in a few minutes now and +if they can only keep up we can save them." + +"The peril of drowning is not so imminent as another grave danger they +face," spoke the professor. + +"What's that?" + +"Sharks," was the reply, "these waters swarm with them." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A TRAGEDY OF THE SKIES. + + +It was soon evident that the two men were supporting themselves in the +water. Their heads made black dots on the surface beneath which the +heavy deck structure of the dirigible had vanished. Through the +glasses it could be seen that they were swimming about awaiting the +arrival of the vessel which was rushing at her top speed to their aid. + +Soon the Southern Cross was alongside and a dozen ropes and life buoys +were hastily cast over the side. But even as one of the men grasped a +rope's end he gave a scream of terror that long rang in the boys' +ears. + +At the same instant a huge, dark body shot through the water and then +there was a whitish gleam as the monster shark turned on its back with +its jaws open displaying a triple row of saw-like teeth. + +"Quick, shoot him," cried Captain Hazzard. + +But nobody had a rifle or revolver. Frank hastily darted into his +cabin for his magazine weapon but when he reappeared there was only a +crimson circle on the water to mark where the terrible, man-killing +shark had vanished with his prey. Attracted, no doubt, by the +mysterious sense that tells these sea tigers where they can snap up a +meal, other dark fins now began to cut through the water in all +directions. + +The second man, almost overcome by the horror of his companion's fate, +however, had presence of mind enough to grasp a rope's end. In a few +seconds he had been hauled to the vessel's side and several of the +crew were preparing to hoist him on board when two of the monsters +made a simultaneous rush at him, Frank's revolver cracked at the same +instant and the sea tigers, with savage snaps of their jaws, which, +however, fell short of their intended prey, rolled over and vanished. + +The rescued man when hauled on deck was a pitiable object. But even in +his half famished condition and with the great beard that he wore +there was something very familiar--strangely so--about him to the +boys. Frank was the first to solve the mystery. + +"Ben Stubbs," he exclaimed. + +"Who's that that called Ben Stubbs," exclaimed the man over whom a +dozen sailors and the doctor had been bending. + +"It's me," shouted Frank, regardless of grammar, "Frank Chester." + +The amazement on the face of the old salt who had accompanied the boys +in Africa and the Everglades and shared their perils in the Sargasso +Sea, was comical to behold. + +"Well, what in the name of the great horn-spoon air you boys doing +here," he gasped, for Harry and Billy had now come forward and were +warmly shaking his hand. + +"Well, answer us first: what are you doing here?" demanded Frank. + +"Coming mighty near my finish like my poor mate," was the reply. + +"Perhaps your friend had better come in the cabin and have something +to eat while he talks," suggested Captain Hazzard to the boys. + +All agreed that that would be a good idea and the castaway was +escorted to the cabin table on which Hiram Scroggs the Vermonter soon +spread a fine meal. + +"Wall, first and foremost," began Ben, the meal being dispatched, "I +'spose you want to know how I come to be out here skydoodling around +in a dirigible?" + +"That's it," cried Billy. + +"It's just this way," resumed the old sailor drawing out his aged +pipe. "Yer see, my pardner, James Melville,--that's the poor feller +that's dead,--and me was trying out his new air-craft when we got +blown out ter sea. We'd been goin' fer two days when you picked up the +wireless call for help he was sending out. I used ter say that +wireless was a fool thing ter have on an air-ship, but I owe my life +ter it all right. + +"Ter go back a bit, I met Melville soon after we got back from the +treasure hunt. He was a friend of my sister's husband and as full of +ideas as a bird dog of fleas. But he didn't have no money to carry out +his inventions and as I had a pocketful I couldn't exactly figure how +to use, I agreed to back him in his wireless dirigible. We tried her +out several times ashore and then shipped her to Floridy, meaning to +try to fly to Cuba. But day afore yesterday while we was up on a trial +flight the wind got up in a hurry and at the same moment something +busted on the engine and, before we knew where we was, we was out at +sea." + +"You must have been scared to death," put in Professor Sandburr who +was an interested listener. + +"Not at first we wasn't. Poor Melville in fact seemed to think it was +a fine chance to test his ship. He managed to tinker up the engine +after working all night and part of yesterday on it and as we had +plenty to eat and drink on board--for we had stocked the boat up +preparatory to flying to Cuba--we didn't worry much. + +"Howsomever, early this morning, after we'd had the engine going all +night we found we was still in the same position and for a mighty good +reason--one of the blades of the propeller had snapped off and there +we were,--practically just where we'd been the night before and with +no chance doing anything but drift about and wait for help. Melville +never lost his nerve though. + +"'We'll be all right, Ben,' says he to me, and though I didn't feel +near so confident, still I chirped up a little for I had been feeling +pretty blue, I tell you. + +"Right after we had had a bite to eat he starts in hammering away at +the wireless, sending out calls for help while I just sat around and +hoped something would turn up. Some observations we took showed that +we had not drifted very much further from land in the night on account +of there being no wind. This looked good for it meant that we were, or +should be, in the path of ships. The only thing that worried me was +that mighty few coasting vessels carry wireless, and I was surprised +when we got an answer from what I knew later was the Southern Cross. + +"It was just as Melville was getting your answer that I noticed the +bag. The air had grown hot as an oven as the sun rose higher and about +noon I looked up just to see if there wasn't a cloud in the sky that +might mean a storm, and perhaps a change of wind that maybe would blow +us back over land again. What I saw scared me. The bag was blown out +as tight as the skin of a sausage, and it didn't look to me as if it +could swell much more without busting. + +"I pointed it out to Melville and he went up in the air--worried to +death. + +"'The gas is expanding,' he explains, 'it's the sun that's doing it. +If we don't let some gas out we'll bust.' + +"And if we do we'll drop into the sea," says I. + +"'Yes, that's very likely,' he replied, as cool as a cucumber, 'when +the evening comes and the gas condenses, with what we've lost, if we +pull the valve open, we won't have enough to keep the ship in the +air.' + +"'There's only one thing to do,' he went on, 'we must wait till this +ship I've been speaking to by wireless comes in sight. Then we'll take +a chance. If the worst comes to worst we can float about till they +pick us up.' + +"That seemed a good plan to me and I never gave the sharks a thought. +But when you drew near and it seemed as if the bag was going to bust +in a second's time and we tried to open the valve--we couldn't. The +halliards that work it had got twisted in the gale that blew us out to +sea and they wouldn't come untangled. + +"Melville takes a look at the pressure gauge. Then he gave a long +whistle. + +"'If we don't do something she'll bust in five seconds,' he says. + +"Then I suddenly made up my mind. Without saying a word to him I +kicked off my boots and started to climb into the rigging. + +"'What are you going to do?' asked Melville. + +"Open that valve, says I. + +"We saw you climbing and could not imagine what you were doing," put +in Billy. + +"Wall," continued the old sailor, "I managed fine at first, although +that thar gas sausage was stretched as smooth and tight as a drum. The +network around it gave me a foothold though, and once I was half-way +round the lower bulge of the bag--where I was clinging on upside +down,--I was all right. + +"I had the valve lever in my hand and was just going to open it when I +felt everything cave in around me like something had been pulled from +under my feet--or as if I had been sitting on a cloud and it had +melted. + +"The dirigible had blown up. + +"Luckily I kept my wits about me and deliberately made a dive for the +sea. It was a good height but I struck it clean. Down and down I went +till I thought I'd never come up again. My ear-drums felt like they'd +bust and my head seemed to have been hit with an axe. But come up I +did eventually as you know, and found poor George Melville there, too. +Of the dirigible there was not so much of as a match-stick left. The +rest you know." + +Ben's voice shook a little as he reached the latter part of his +narrative. The rugged sailor's face grew soft and he winked back a +tear. The others said nothing for a few seconds and then Captain +Hazzard looked up. + +"Since you have become one of us in such a strange way, I presume you +would like to know where we are bound for?" + +"Wall, if it ain't askin' too much I would," rejoined the rugged +adventurer. + +"We are bound for the South Pole." + +Ben never flicked an eyelid. + +"Ay, ay, sir," was all he said. + +"I have a proposition to make to you," continued the captain. "We need +a bos'n, will you sign on? If you do not care to we will put you +ashore at the first convenient port or hail a homeward-bound ship and +have you transferred." + +The old sailor looked positively hurt. + +"What; me lose an opportunity to see the South Pole, to shoot Polar +bears--" + +"There aren't any," put in Billy. + +"Wall, whatever kind of critters there are there," went on the old +man, "no, sir; Ben Stubbs ain't the man to hold back on a venture like +this. Sign me on as bos'n, and if I don't help nail Uncle Sam's colors +to the South Pole call me a doodle-bug." + +"A doodle-bug," exclaimed Professor Sandburr, "What kind of a bug is +that? If you know where to find them I hope you will catch one and +forward it to me." + +Ben grinned. + +"I guess doodle-bugs is like South Polar bears," he said. + +"How is that, my dear sea-faring friend?" + +"There ain't any," laughed Ben, blotting his big, scrawling signature +on the ship's books. + +On and on toward the Pole plied the Southern Cross. One night when she +was about two hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the Amazon, the +boys, as it was one of the soft tropical nights peculiar to those +regions, were all grouped forward trying to keep cool and keeping a +sharp lookout for the real Southern Cross. This wonderful, heavenly +body might be expected to be visible almost any night now, Captain +Hazzard had told them. Old Ben shared their watch. + +The little group was seated right on the forefoot or "over-hang" of +the polar ship, their legs dangling over the bow above the water. +Beneath their feet they could see the bright phosphorous gleam as the +ship ploughed onward. They were rather silent. In fact, except for +desultory conversation, the throb of the engines and the regular +sounding of the ship's bell as it marked the hours were the only +sounds to be heard. + +It was past eight bells and everyone on the ship but the helmsman had +turned in, leaving the boys and Ben on watch, when there came a +terrific shock that caused the vessel to quiver and creak as if she +had run bow on into solid land. Captain Hazzard was thrown from his +bunk and all over the vessel there was the wildest confusion. + +Shouts and cries filled the air as Captain Hazzard, not able to +imagine what had happened rushed out on deck in his night clothes. The +sky had become overcast and it was terribly black. It was hardly +possible for one to see his hand before his face. A heavy sulphurous +smell was in the air. + +"What is it? What has happened? Did we hit another ship?" shouted +Captain Barrington, appearing from his cabin. + +The helmsman could give no explanation. There had been a sudden shock +and he had been knocked off his feet. What had struck the ship or what +she had struck he could not make out. Captain Barrington knew there +were no rocks so far out at sea and he also knew that he could not be +near land. The only explanation was a collision with another ship, but +had that been the case surely, he argued, they would have heard shouts +and cries on the other vessel. + +"Send forward for the boys and Ben Stubbs, they had the watch," he +commanded. + +A man hurried forward to execute his order but he was soon back with a +white scared face. + +"The young lads and Bos'n Stubbs aren't there," he exclaimed in a +frightened tone. + +"Not there," repeated Captain Hazzard. + +"No, sir. Not a trace of them. Beggin' your pardon, sir, I think it's +ghosts." + +"Don't talk nonsense," sharply commanded his superior. "Have the ship +searched for them." + +"Very good, sir," and the man, with a tug at his forelock, hastened +away to spread the word. + +But a search of every nook and cranny of the ship only added to the +mystery. + +Neither the boys nor Ben were to be found. + +Had ghosts indeed snatched them into aerial regions, as some of the +more superstitious men seemed inclined to believe they could not have +vanished more utterly. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A STRANGE COLLISION. + + +We must now turn back and ascertain what has become of our young +adventurers and their rugged old companion. We left them sitting on +the bow--or rather perched there in positions none too secure in case +of a sudden lurch of the ship. + +"I smell land," had been Ben's sudden exclamation after one of the +prolonged silences which, as has been said, possessed them that night. + +The boys laughed. + +"Laugh away," declared Ben, "but I do. Any old sailor can tell it." + +"But we are two hundred miles at sea," objected Frank. + +"Don't make no difference, I smell land," stubbornly repeated the old +sailor. + +"Maybe the wind is off shore and that's the reason," suggested Billy. + +"A sensible suggestion, youngster," approved Ben. "I guess that is the +reason for there is no island in this part of the world that I ever +heard tell of. But say," he broke off suddenly, "what's come over the +weather. It's getting black and the stars are blotted out. There's a +storm brewing and a bad one, or I'm mistaken." + +The boys agreed that there did seem to be every indication of an +approaching tropical disturbance of some kind. The air had suddenly +grown heavy and sulphurous. There was an oppressive quality in it. + +"I'm going aft to tell the captain that there's a bad blow coming on +or I'm a Dutchman," exclaimed Ben, starting to scramble to his feet. + +"Better hold onto that stay or you'll topple overboard," warned Frank, +as Ben, balancing himself, got into a standing posture. + +"What me, an old sailor topple over," shouted Ben, "Not much younker, +why I--" + +The sentence was never finished. At that instant the shock that had +aroused Captain Hazzard and terrified the whole ship's company hurled +him headlong into the night and the boys, balanced as they were on the +prow of the trembling ship, were shot after him into the darkness as +if they had been hurled out of catapults. + +Frank's feelings as he fell through the darkness he could not +afterward describe, still less his amazement when, instead of falling +into the sea, fully prepared to swim for his life, he found himself +instead plunged into a sticky ooze. For several seconds, in fact, he +was too amazed to utter a sound or move. It seemed he must be +dreaming. + +Then he extended his hands and almost gave a cry so great was his +amazement. + +He had encountered an unmistakable tree trunk! + +He was on land--not dry land--for the boy was mired to the knees in +sticky mud,--but nevertheless land. Land in midocean. + +Hardly had he recovered from his first shock of surprise when he heard +a voice exclaim: + +"Can anyone tell me am I awake or dreaming in my bunk?" + +"What's the matter, Billy?" hailed Frank, overjoyed to know that one +at least of his comrades was safe. + +Before Billy could reply Harry's voice hailed through the darkness. + +"I'm up to my neck in mud. Where are we, anyhow?" + +"We're on dry land in midocean, shiver my timbers if we ain't," came a +deep throated hail, which proceeded from Ben Stubbs. + +"Thank heaven we are all safe anyhow," cried Frank, "this mud is +mighty uncomfortable, though." + +"Well, if it hadn't been here we'd have been eaten by sharks by this +time," Billy assured them; an observation all felt to be true. + +"Where can the ship be?" exclaimed Harry's voice suddenly. + +"Miles off by this time," said Frank. "I don't suppose they have even +missed us and even if they have it's so black they could never find +us." + +"Let's see where we are," suggested Ben, "anyhow I'm going to try to +get out of this mud. It's like a pig-pen." + +His observation struck the boys as a good suggestion and they all +wallowed in a direction they deemed was forward and soon were rewarded +for their efforts by finding themselves on real dry land. By +stretching out their hands they could feel tree trunks and dense brush +all about them. + +"It's no dream," declared Frank, "we are really on land. But where?" + +"Maybe the ship was way off her course and we are stranded on the +coast of Brazil," suggested Harry. + +"Not likely," corrected Ben, "and besides if we'd hit land the ship +would be ashore." + +"Then what can we be on?" demanded Frank. + +"Give it up," said Billy. + +"Anybody got a match?" asked Frank. + +Luckily there were no lack of these and as the boys carried them in +the waterproof boxes they had used on their previous expeditions they +were dry. Some were soon struck and a bonfire built of the brush and +wood they found about them. + +It was a strange tropical scene the glare illuminated. All about were +palm trees and tropic growth of various kinds; many of the plants +bearing fruits unfamiliar to the boys. Some large birds, scared by the +light, flapped screaming out of the boughs above them as the bonfire +blazed up. They could now see that they had been pitched out of the +ship onto a muddy beach, the ooze of which stuck to their clothes like +clay. The spot in which they stood was a few feet above the sea level. + +"Well, there's no use trying to do anything till daylight," said +Frank, "we had better sleep as well as we can and start out to try and +find a house of some sort in the morning." + +All agreed this was a good plan and soon they were wrapped in slumber. +Frank's sleep was restless and broken, however, and once or twice he +had an uneasy feeling that something or somebody was prowling about +the "camp." Once he could have sworn he saw a pair of eyes, like two +flaming points of fire, glare at him out of the blackness; but as it +was not repeated, he assured himself that it was only his nervous +imagination and composed himself to sleep once more. + +A sharp thunder storm raged above them shortly before daybreak and +they were compelled to seek what shelter they could under a fallen +tree trunk. The storm was the one that had blackened the sky some +hours before. Luckily it was as short as it was sharp, and when the +sun rose it showed them a scene of glistening tropic beauty. + +But the boys had little eye for scenery. + +"What are we going to do for breakfast?" was Billy's manner of voicing +the general question that beset them all after they had washed off +some of the mud of the night before. + +"Tighten our belts," grinned Harry. + +"Not much; not while them oysters is there waiting to be picked," +exclaimed Ben pointing to some branches which dipped in the sea and to +which bunches of the bivalves were clinging. + +"I've got some biscuits in my pocket," said Frank, "I brought them on +deck with me last night in case I got hungry on watch." + +"Well, we'll do fine," cheerfully said Ben, as having heated some +stones he set the oysters to broil on them. + +Despite his cheerful tone, however, not one of the little party was +there that did not think with longing regrets of the snowy linen and +bountiful meals aboard the Southern Cross. + +Breakfast over, Ben announced that the first thing to do was to try to +find out where they could be. It was agreed for this purpose to +advance along the beach for five miles or so in opposite directions, +the group being formed into two parties for the purpose. Harry and +Frank paired off in one party and Ben Stubbs and Billy formed the +other. They were to meet at noon or as soon thereafter as possible and +compare notes. + +Frank and Harry tramped resolutely along the beach under a baking hot +sun till they felt as if they were going to drop, but they held +pluckily on, fortunately having found several springs along their line +of march. + +From time to time they eagerly scanned the expanse of sparkling sea +that stretched before them; but it was as empty of life as a desert. + +"Do you suppose the ship will make a search for us?" asked Frank. + +"How can we tell," rejoined his brother, "they will have found out we +are gone by this time and will naturally conclude that we fell +overboard and were drowned or eaten by sharks." + +Both agreed that such was probably likely to be the fact and that if +the coast on which they were cast away proved to be uninhabited their +situation might be very serious. + +"On the other hand, the ship may have gone down after the collision," +suggested Harry, "how she ever came to graze this land and then escape +I can't make out." + +"I've been puzzling over that, too," replied Frank, "there's a lot +that's very mysterious about this whole thing. The Southern Cross is, +as you know, equipped with a submarine bell which should give warning +when she approaches shallow water. Why didn't it sound last night?" + +"Because there must be deep water right up to this coast," was the +only explanation Harry could offer. + +"That's just it," argued his brother. "But what is a coast doing here +at all. We are two hundred miles out in the South Atlantic, or rather, +we were last night." + +"The charts don't show any land out there, do they?" + +"Not so much as a pin point. Some of the deepest parts of the ocean +are encountered there." + +"Then the ship must have been off her course." + +"It seems impossible. She is in charge of experienced navigators. Her +compasses and other instruments are the most perfect of their kind." + +"Maybe it is a dream after all, and we'll wake up and find ourselves +in our bunks," was all Harry could say. + +Before Frank could find anything to reply to this extraordinary +suggestion he gave a sudden tense cry of: + +"Hark!" + +Both boys stopped and above their quick breathing they could hear the +beating of their hearts. + +Human voices were coming toward them. + +Luckily Frank had his revolver, having been using it the day before in +shooting at huge turtles that floated lazily by. He had by a lucky +oversight neglected to take it off when he had finished his target +practice, merely thrusting it back into its holster. He drew the +weapon now, and grasping Harry by the arm pulled him down beside him +into a clump of brush. + +"We'll hide here till we see who it is coming," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ADRIFT ON A FLOATING ISLAND. + + +The voices grew nearer and suddenly to his amazement Frank heard his +own name mentioned. The next moment both lads broke into a loud +exclamation of surprise. + +Those approaching their place of concealment were Billy Barnes and Ben +Stubbs. + +It would be difficult to say which pair of adventurers were more +astonished as they met on the beach. + +"Shiver my timbers!" exclaimed Ben, "whar did you boys come from? Did +you turn back?" + +"Turn back?" echoed Frank, "no, we've been keeping right on." + +"Wall," drawled Ben, "then what I was afeard of at first is true." + +"What's that, Ben?" + +"Why, that we are on an island." + +"On an island!" + +"Yes, a floating island." + +For a moment they were all dumb with amazement. Then Ben went on: + +"I've heard old sailors tell of such things off of this yer coast. +These islands--as they are called--are nothing more or less than huge +sections of forest torn from the banks of the Amazon when it is in +flood and floated out ter sea on its current." + +"But how can they keep afloat?" asked Harry. + +"Why the tangled roots and tree limbs keep 'em up for a long time," +rejoined Ben, "and then they sink." + +"I hope our island isn't sinking," exclaimed Frank, anxiously looking +about him. + +"Not much fear of that; but it's moving, all right," replied the old +sailor, "just fix your eyes on that cloud for a minute." + +The boys did as directed, and, sure enough, the island, as they now +knew it, was moving slowly along, doubtless urged by some current of +the ocean. + +"Suppose the ship never finds us," gasped Billy. + +"Now, just put thoughts like that out of your head, youngster," +exclaimed Ben sharply. "I've been in worse fixes than this and got out +of them. What we had best do now is to gather up some of those big +cocoanuts that's scattered about there and make waterholders out of +them." + +"But there's plenty of water flowing from the springs. We passed +several of them," objected Harry. + +"That's just the water that has soaked into the ground after the +rain," said Ben. "It will soon dry up as the day goes on." + +The adventurers at once set to work gathering up cocoanuts and with +their knives scooping out their shells so as to form sort of pots out +of them. These were filled with water at the nearest of the little +springs and placed in the shade. + +"Now to gather some more oysters and we'll have dinner," said Ben, +when the boys had filled what he pronounced to be a sufficient number +of the improvised pots. + +The boys set to work at the task at once, stripping from the low +hanging branches the oysters that clung to them. These were roasted in +the same manner as the previous night and washed down with water and +cocoanut milk. + +"Well, we shan't starve for a while, anyhow," said Ben, as they +concluded their meal. "If the worst comes to the worst I guess we can +live on cocoanuts for a while." + +After some talk about their situation and the prospects of their being +rescued from it Ben announced that he was going to explore the +interior of the island and see if he could find some tree up which it +would be possible to swarm and attach a sort of signal or at any rate +obtain an extended view of the sea. + +The boys, who felt tired and dispirited, said that they would remain +in the camp--if camp it could be called. + +Ben had been gone perhaps half an hour, when they were aroused by a +sudden shout. At the sound they all sprang to their feet from the +restful postures they had assumed. + +There was a note of terror in the cry. + +"Help, boys, help!" + +The sound rang through the forest and then died away, as if the +shouter had been suddenly silenced. + +"It's Ben," shouted Frank. + +"What can have happened?" gasped Harry. + +"He is in trouble of some kind," shouted Billy Barnes. + +"Come on, boys," exclaimed Frank, drawing his revolver, "get your +knives ready, we may need all the weapons we have." + +They plunged into the forest in the direction from which they judged +the cries had proceeded and after a few minutes pushing through the +dense brush, which greatly hampered their progress, they heard a +tremendous noise of breaking tree limbs and a violent threshing about +as if some huge body was rushing through the woods. + +"What can it be?" gasped Frank, his face pale at the sound of the +struggle. + +In almost the same breath his question was answered. Pushing aside +some brush the boys saw before them a small glade or clearing. + +In the midst of this stood Ben, his face transfixed with horror and +brandishing a seaman's knife. + +Facing him, and seemingly about to dart forward, was the largest +serpent they had ever seen; the sunlight checkered its bright colored +folds. Its red tongue darted wickedly in and out as it faced the brave +seaman. + +"Shoot, Frank. Shoot and kill it," implored Harry. + +With a white, tense face the elder boy leveled his revolver. He pulled +the trigger and, before the sharp report that followed had died away, +the monstrous, snake was threshing its huge body about in agony. + +But as they started to cheer the effect of the shot a cry of horror +broke from the boys. In its struggles the monster had convulsed its +folds till Frank, who was caught off his guard, was within their +reach. + +In a second he was wrapped in the giant reptile's grip without having +time to utter even an outcry. + +Powerless, with only their puny knives with which to give battle to +the serpent, the boys stood petrified with terror. Even Ben, to whom +his rescue and Frank's peril had been unfolded so swiftly that he was +half-dazed, seemed unable to determine what to do. + +But indecision only held for a moment. Then with a cry he jumped +forward and picked up Frank's revolver, which the boy had dropped when +the serpent seized him. With a prayer on his lips the old sailor +fired. + +Almost with the rapidity of a single bullet the whole contents of the +automatic's magazine poured out and every missile took effect in the +reptile's huge head. In its death agony it straightened out its folds +and Frank's senseless body dropped from them, seemingly limp and +lifeless. + +The boys started to rush in, but Ben held them back with a warning +hand. + +"Hold on; it may not be dead yet," he warned. + +But a brief inspection proved that the great snake had succumbed to +Ben's fusillade and, this settled, they dragged Frank to a low bank, +where the extent of his injuries could be ascertained. + +"No bones broken," pronounced Ben, after a careful examination. It was +not long before the boy opened his eyes and in a short time he +declared he felt as well as ever. + +The serpent on being measured with Frank's pocket rule proved to be a +trifle over twenty feet long and of great girth. + +"It's an anaconda," said Ben, "there are lots of 'em up along the +Amazon and they are as deadly a snake as there is. I've heard tell +they can crush a horse in their folds." + +"I hope there are no more of them on the island," exclaimed Billy. + +"We shall have to be careful," rejoined Ben, "there may be other +dangerous creatures here, too. This island, as I should judge, must be +all of six miles around and there's room for a lot of ugly critters in +that space." + +Leaving the dead body of the snake the adventurers made their way back +to camp. The first thing that all wanted was a drink of water. They +made for the place in which the drinking fluid had been left. + +As soon as his eyes fell on the row of improvised water pots Frank +gave an exclamation of dismay. + +"Look here," he shouted, "there's some one on this island besides +ourselves." + +"What!" was the amazed chorus. + +"There must be," went on the lad, "see here, there were twenty +cocoanut shells of water when we went away, and now there are only +fifteen." + +"Five gone!" exclaimed Ben in an alarmed voice, "and the spring has +already dried up." + +"Hullo! What's that?" suddenly cried Billy, as something came crashing +through the branches. + +The next moment one of the missing shells was rolled with great +violence into the middle of the group of adventurers. Before they had +recovered from their astonishment a strange sharp scream filled the +forest. There was a derisive note in its tones. + +A strange fear filled the boys' hearts. Their faces paled. + +"The island is haunted!" shouted Ben. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CAUGHT IN THE FLAMES. + + +"Nonsense," said Frank, sharply, although he had been considerably +startled by the inexplicable occurrence himself, "you know there are +no such things as ghosts, Ben." + +"And if there were they wouldn't throw cocoanut shells at us," went on +Harry. + +"Wall," said Ben, stubbornly, "what else could it have been?" + +"A wild man," suggested Billy; "perhaps a whole tribe of them." + +This was not a pleasant suggestion. Frank had but a few cartridges +left and the others had only their knives. These would be small +protection against savages if any of the forest dwellers had really +gone adrift on the floating island. It was not a cheerful party that +sat down to another meal of oysters and fruit that evening. Moreover +the water supply of the little party was almost exhausted and without +water they faced a terrible death. + +Because of the unknown dangers which, it was felt, surrounded them it +was decided to set a watch that night and keep the fire burning +through the dark hours. Harry and Ben were to share the first watch +and Frank and Billy agreed to take the second one. Nothing had +occurred when Ben, at midnight, aroused Frank and the young reporter +and told them it was time to go on duty. + +The boys had been on sentry duty for perhaps an hour with nothing but +the lapping of the waves against the shore of the floating island to +break the deep stillness, when suddenly both were startled by a +strange and terrible cry that rang through the forest. + +With beating hearts they leaped to their feet and strained their ears +to see if they could ascertain the origin of the uncanny cry, but they +heard nothing more. + +Hardly had they resumed their places by the fire, however, before the +wild screams rang out again. + +"It's some human being," cried Frank. + +"They are being killed or something!" cried the affrighted Billy +Barnes. + +By this time Ben Stubbs and Harry had awakened and were sitting up +with scared looks on their faces. + +"Seems to come from near at hand," suggested Ben. + +Suddenly the yell sounded quite close, and at the same instant it was +echoed by the boys as a dozen or more dark forms dashed out of the +dark shades of the forest and rushed toward them. Half unnerved with +alarm at this sudden and inexplicable attack, Frank fired point-blank +into the onrush, and two of the dark forms fell. Their comrades, with +the same wild shrieks that had so alarmed the boys, instantly turned +and fled, awakening the echoes of the woods with their terrifying +clamor. + +"A good thing I killed those two," cried Frank; "throw some wood on +the fire, Ben, and we'll see who or what it is that I've shot." + +In the bright blaze the adventurers bent over the two still forms that +lay on the ground as they had fallen. + +"Why, they're great apes!" exclaimed Frank in amazement; "what +monsters!" + +"Howling monkeys, that's what they call 'em," declared Ben, "I've +heard of 'em. No wonder we were scared, though. Did you ever hear such +cries?" + +"I wonder why they attacked the camp?" asked Billy. + +"I don't suppose it was an attack at all," said Frank, "most likely +they smelled the food and thought they'd come and help themselves to +some broiled oysters." + +"I'll bet it was the monkeys that took our water and then threw the +shells at us," cried Harry. + +"I guess you are right, boy," said Ben; "them monkeys are terrors for +mischief." + +"I hope they don't take it into their heads to annoy us any more," +said Harry. + +"Not likely," declared Ben, "I guess the firing of the revolver and +the sight of them two mates of theirs falling dead scared them out of +two years' growth." + +Ben's surmise was right. The adventurers passed the remainder of the +night in peace. + +As soon as day broke over a sea unmarred by a single ripple, there was +an eager scrutiny of the horizon by all the castaways, but to their +bitter disappointment not a sign of the Southern Cross, or any other +vessel, could be descried. + +"Looks like we'll have to spend some more time on 'Monkey Island'," +said Ben with a shrug. + +"We can't spend much more time," said Frank, grimly. + +"Why not?" demanded Ben. + +"What are we to do for water?" + +Things did, indeed, look black. Breakfast was eaten in comparative +silence, and after the meal was concluded, at Frank's suggestion, it +was decided to explore the island for a spring that could be tapped +for further water supply. The boys all admitted to themselves that the +chance of finding one was remote, but they determined to try and +locate one in any event. At any rate Frank felt it would keep their +minds off their troubles to have something to do. + +The best part of the morning was spent in the search and although they +came across occasional driblets of water,--the remnants of springs +started by the heavy rain that marked their first night on the +island,--they found nothing that promised an available supply. At noon +they sat down in the shade of a huge palm to rest and made a meal off +the nuts that lay at its foot. The milk of these proved cool and +refreshing and was drunk out of the shell after one end of it had been +hacked off with Frank's hunting knife. + +"Well, we might as well make a start back for our camp," suggested +Frank, after some moments had passed in silence. + +"Camp," repeated Harry, bitterly, "that's a fine camp. Why, there's +nothing there but trees and sand and howling monkeys." + +Nevertheless a start was made for the resting place of the previous +night, the party trudging along the narrow beach in Indian file. All +at once Ben, who was in the lead, stopped short. + +"Look!" he exclaimed, pointing overhead. + +The boys followed his finger and gave a shout of astonishment. + +"Smoke!" cried Frank. + +"Hurrah," cheered Harry, "it's the Southern Cross." + +He waved his hat at the dark wreaths of vapor that were blowing across +the island overhead. + +The smoke scudded across the sky like small fleecy clouds, but it +momentarily grew thicker and blacker. + +"She's smoking up all right," laughed Billy Barnes, all his fears gone +now that rescue seemed at hand. + +Ben alone of the party seemed troubled. + +"I'm not so sure that that's steamer smoke," he said slowly. + +"Why, what else can it be?" demanded Frank. + +"I don't know,"--sniff,--"but it seems to me,"--sniff,--"that's a +whole lot of smoke for a steamer to be making, and"--sniff--"I don't +like the looks of it." + +"What else could make such smoke?" demanded Harry. + +For reply Ben asked what seemed a strange question. + +"Did you put the fire out when we left the camp?" + +In an instant they all perceived without his speaking a word, what the +sailor feared. + +The island was on fire! + +A few minutes later the smell of the burning trees and the crash as +they fell, while the flames leaped through the brushwood beneath them, +was clearly borne to them. + +They were marooned on a floating island, and the island was in flames. + +The dense smoke of the fire had by this time blotted out the sky and +all they could see above them was a thick canopy of smoke. It rose in +a huge pillar blotting out the sky and poisoning the air. + +"What are we to do?" gasped Billy. + +"I don't see what we can do," was Frank's reply, "our escape is cut +off. We shall burn to death." + +Indeed it seemed as if the boys were doomed to death in the flames. +With incredible rapidity the fire, undoubtedly started by their +carelessness in not extinguishing their camp fire, came leaping and +roaring through the forest. + +Suddenly out of the woods directly in front of them leaped a lithe +spotted form, and without glancing to right or left, the creature shot +into the sea. It swam quite a distance and then sank. + +"A jaguar," exclaimed Ben; "a good thing it was too scared to attack +us." + +"Yes, I haven't got a cartridge left," said Frank, gazing ruefully at +his empty revolver. + +"I don't think that would do us much good if you had; we might as well +die by a jaguar's teeth and claws as by being burned to death," said +Harry. + +The boys were now witnesses of a strange scene. Driven by the heat of +the fire scores of terrified animals passed them. There were small +agoutis or wild pigs, monkeys, birds of various kinds,--including huge +macaws and numerous snakes. The creatures paid not the least attention +to the boys, but, crazed with fear, made for the sea. The birds alone +soared off and doubtless the stronger winged of them reached land. + +"If we only had the Golden Eagle here," sighed Frank. + +"Hurrah," suddenly shouted Ben, capering about, "hurrah, I've got a +plan." + +For a minute or two the boys regarded him as one might an insane +person, but as he went on to explain his plan they grasped at it as a +last resort. Two large tree trunks lay near to where they stood. They +had fallen apparently in some tropical storm, so that their bulk +rested on some smaller trees. It was as if they were on rollers. + +"We will lash those together with some withes and make a raft," +exclaimed Ben. + +"How are you going to get them into the water?" asked Billy. + +"By the natural rollers that are underneath them," replied the sailor; +"come, we have no time to lose if we are to escape." + +Indeed they had not. The fire was now so close that they could feel +its ardent breath. Sparks were falling about them in red-hot showers +and already some of the brush in their vicinity was beginning to +smoke. Soon it would burst into flame and then they were doomed. + +Feverishly they worked and soon had the two trunks lashed together +firmly with long "lianas" or creepers of tough fibre that grew in +great profusion everywhere. The work of getting the trunks into the +water was, thanks to the natural rollers, not so hard as might have +been anticipated. Ben and Frank managed the placing of the rollers, +which were carried in front of the logs as fast as its hinder end +cleared some of them. In this manner their "raft," if such it could be +called, was soon afloat. + +It seemed a terribly insecure contrivance with which to risk a voyage, +but they had no choice. The whole island, except the spot in which +they had worked, was now one raging furnace, and had their situation +not been so critical, the party would have been compelled to admire +the wild magnificence of the spectacle. Great red tongues of flame +shot up through the blanket of dark smoke, dying it crimson. +Occasionally there would be a dull crash as some huge forest monarch +fell prostrate, or the dying scream of some creature overtaken by the +flames rang out. + +"Quick, onto the raft," shouted Frank as the clumsy craft floated at +last. + +It did not take the adventurers long to follow his directions. The +heat from the fire was now intense and they lost no time in putting +the two branches they had cut to use as paddles into action. It was +hard work but they found to their delight that their raft moved when +they dug into the water with their clumsy means of propulsion. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Billy as they began to glide slowly over the waves, +"we are saved from the floating island." + +"Yes, but for how long," exclaimed Frank; "we have no provisions and +no water. How long can we live without them?" + +"We must hope to be picked up," said Harry. + +"That is our only hope," rejoined Frank, "if we are not---" + +There was no need for him to finish the sentence, even had he been +able to, for while he was still speaking a startling thing happened. + +The raft was about twenty feet from the shore, but despite the +distance a dusky form that had rushed out of the wood with a wild +howl, shot through the air and landed fairly upon it. + +[Illustration: "With a Wild Howl, Shot Through the Air."] + +With its menacing eyes of green, like balls of angry flame, dull +yellow hide, catlike form, and twitching tail, the boys had no +difficulty in recognizing it for what it was. + +A giant panther. + +There was no possibility of escape. As the creature growled menacingly +the boys realized that they were practically without means of +protection against this new enemy. + +As the panther, too, realized its position, it drew back on its +haunches and, lashing its tail wickedly, prepared to spring. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A QUEER ACCIDENT. + + +It was no time for words. Almost before any of them realized just what +had happened, the savage creature that had taken refuge from the +flames on their frail craft, launched its yellow body at them in a +great leap. But the brute miscalculated its spring this time. + +With a howl of dismay it shot beyond its mark and fell into the sea. + +"Quick, boys, get your knives ready," shouted Ben, "we've got a +fighting chance now." + +Hastily the boys, though they felt skeptical as to the effectiveness +of these small weapons against such a formidable enemy, got out their +hunting knives. But they were not destined to use them. + +The howl of dismay which the panther had uttered as it found itself +plunged into the water was quickly changed to a shrill scream of +terror from its huge throat. At the same instant a number of +triangular fins dashed through the water toward it. + +"Sharks!" shouted Harry. + +Attracted by the number of animals that had taken to the water to +escape the fire the creatures had gathered in great numbers about the +island and were devouring the fugitives right and left. Fully a dozen +of the monsters rushed at the panther which, formidable as it was on +land, was, like most of the cat tribe, at a great disadvantage in the +water. + +It could make no resistance but a few feeble snaps to the avalanche of +sharks that rushed at it, and a few seconds after the onslaught the +water was crimsoned with the blood of the panther and the boys were +safe from that peril. But the sharks now offered almost as great a +danger as had the land monster. + +Made furious by the taste of so much food they cruised alongside the +rickety raft gazing with their little eyes at its occupants till +shudders ran through them. The boys tried to scare them away by +flourishing the branches used as oars, but this, while it scared them +at first, soon lost its effect on the sea-tigers, who seemed +determined to keep alongside the raft, evidently hoping that sooner or +later they would get a meal. + +All the afternoon the boys took turns paddling with their branches and +by this means, and impelled also by one of the ocean currents that +abound in this latitude, the smoking island gradually drew further and +further away. But the sharks still cruised alongside and now and again +one bolder than the others would turn partly on his back and nose up +against the raft, showing his cruel, saw-like teeth and monstrous +mouth as he did so. + +"I don't wonder they call them sea-tigers," said Frank, "more terrible +looking monsters I never saw." + +The tropic night soon closed and darkness shut down with great +rapidity. Far off the boys could see the red glare cast by the flaming +island. + +"That's queer," exclaimed Frank suddenly. He had been regarding the +island intensely for some time. + +"What's queer?" demanded Billy. + +"Why, do you see that long wavering ray of light shooting up near the +island," he cried, pointing in that direction, "what can it be?" + +The others looked and to their amazement, as soon as Ben's eyes fell +on the strange ray of white light, the old sailor began dancing a sort +of jig to the imminent danger of his tumbling in among the sharks. + +"Hurray! hurray!" he shouted, "douse my topsails and keel-haul my +main-jibboom, if that ain't the best sight I've seen for a long time." + +"Have you gone crazy?" asked Harry. + +"Not much, my boy," shouted the old tar, "that queer light--as you +call it--yonder is a ship's searchlight. The Southern Cross like as +not." + +"She must have seen the smoke from the burning island and sailed in +that direction," exclaimed Frank. + +"How can we attract their attention?" cried Billy. + +"Easy enough," said Ben, pulling off his shirt, "this is a good shirt, +but I'd rather have my life than a whole trunk full of shirts. Now for +some matches and we'll make a night signal." + +The matches were soon produced and the old sailor set fire to the +garment. It flared up brightly and made a fine illumination, but as +the flare died out there was nothing about the movement of the +searchlight to indicate that the signal had been seen. + +"We must try again," said Ben. + +It was Harry's turn to sacrifice a shirt this time, and he lost no +time in ripping it off. As Frank prepared to light it, however, an +unfortunate--or even disastrous--accident occurred. + +The waterproof box of matches slipped from his fingers in his +excitement, and before any of them could recover it, it was overboard. +The rush of a great body through the water at the same instant told +them that one of the watchful sharks had swallowed it. + +"I wish they'd burn his insides out," cried Billy. + +"Everybody search their pockets for a match," commanded Frank. A +prolonged scrutiny resulted in yielding just one match. It came from +Ben's pocket. + +Frank lit it with great care. For one terrible moment, as they all +hung breathless over it, it seemed as if it was going out. It finally +caught, however, and flared up bravely. + +"Now the shirt," cried Frank. + +It was thrust into his hands and he waved the blazing garment above +his head till the flames streaked out in the night. + +This time a cheer went up from the castaways on the raft. + +Their signal had been seen. + +At least so it appeared, for the searchlight, which had been sweeping +about near the island, suddenly shot its long finger of light in their +direction. As the vessel bearing it neared them a bright glow +enveloped the figures on the raft, who were alternately hugging each +other and shaking hands over the prospect of their speedy deliverance. + +A few minutes later all doubt was dissolved. The approaching vessel +was the Southern Cross, and the adventurers were soon answering to +excited hails from her bridge. To lower a boat and get them on board +once more did not take long, and it was not till late that night that, +the story of their perils having been told and retold at least twenty +times, they managed to get to their old bunks. + +Never had the mattresses seemed so soft or the sheets so comfortable +as they did to the tired boys. Their heads had hardly touched the +pillows before they were off in dreamland--a region in which, on that +night at least, fires, panthers and sharks raged in inextricable +confusion. + +Before they retired they heard from the lips of Captain Hazzard the +puzzle their disappearance from the ship had proved. The Southern +Cross, it appeared, on the day following her collision with the +floating island, had cruised in the vicinity in the hope of finding +some trace of the castaways. Her search was kept up until hope had +been about abandoned. The sight of the glare of the blazing island +had, however, determined her commander to ascertain its cause, with +the result that while her searchlight was centered on the strange +phenomenon the boys' tiny fire signal had been seen by a lookout in +the crow's nest and the ship at once headed for the little point of +light. + +For his part the commander was much interested in hearing of the +floating island. It cleared up what had been a great mystery, namely, +the nature of the obstruction they had struck, and proved interesting +from a scientific point of view. Captain Hazzard told the boys that +these great tracts of land were, as Ben had said, not uncommon off the +mouth of the Amazon, but that it was rarely one ever got so far out to +sea. + +Two weeks later, after an uneventful voyage through tropic waters, +during which the boys had had the interesting experience of crossing +the equator, and had been initiated by being ducked in a huge canvas +pool full of salt water placed on the fore deck, the Southern Cross +steamed into the harbor of Monte Video, where she was to meet her +consort, the Brutus, which vessel was to tow her down into the polar +regions. + +A few interesting days were spent in Monte Video and the boys sent +many letters home and Captain Hazzard forwarded his log books and data +as obtained up to date. Professor Sandburr spent his time among the +natives collecting memoranda about their habits while the boys roamed +at their leisure about the city. They saw a bull fight, a spectacle +that speedily disgusted them, and witnessed the driving into the +stock-yards of a huge herd of cattle rounded up by wild and +savage-looking gauchos on wiry ponies. + +One day, while they were walking through a back street leading to some +handsome buildings, they heard terrible cries coming from a small hut +in unmistakably American tones. + +"Come on, let's see what is the matter?" shouted Frank. + +Followed by Billy and Harry, the lad ran toward the mud hut from which +the cries had issued. As they neared it a terrible-looking figure +dashed out. Its white duck suit was streaming with red and the same +color was daubed all over its face and head. + +"Oh, boys, save me!" it cried as it ran towards the three lads. + +"Why, it's Professor Sandburr!" exclaimed Harry, gazing at the +crimson-daubed figure; "whatever is the matter?" + +"Oh-oh-oh-oh," howled the professor, dancing about, "it's a woman in +that hut. She threw some stinging stuff all over me." + +"Why, it's chile con-carne!" exclaimed Frank, examining the red stuff +that daubed the unfortunate professor from head to foot; "good +gracious, what a scare you gave us; we thought you had been attacked +with knives and terribly cut." + +There was a trough of water near by and to it the boys conducted the +professor, who was half-blinded by the stinging Spanish dish, which is +a sort of pepper stew. It took a long time to clean him, during which +quite a crowd gathered and laughed and jeered, but at last they had +the luckless scientist looking more presentable. + +"Now tell us what happened?" asked Frank, as they started back toward +the city in a hired "volante," or native carriage, that had been +passing, by good luck, as they finished their cleaning process. + +"Well, my dear boys, it's an outrage. I will see the mayor or the +president about it, or whoever is in charge of those things in this +land. I saw a fine looking specimen of a hopping sand-toad going into +that house and I dashed in after it with my net extended. As soon as I +rushed in I upset a sort of baby carriage that stood by the door. Two +children, who were in it, started howling in a terrible manner. I know +a little Spanish and I tried to explain, but before I could do so the +mother threw a whole pot of that hot stuff over me and called me a +kidnapper, a robber, a thief. Upon my word I think I may be considered +lucky that she didn't shoot me." + +"I think you may, indeed," agreed the boys, who could hardly keep from +laughing at the comical sight the professor presented with his head +cocked on one side and all daubed with the traces of his "hot bath." + +Early the next day the Brutus passed a steel hawser to the Southern +Cross and the two vessels proceeded out of the harbor of Monte Video. + +"Well, we're really off for the pole at last," exclaimed Frank, as the +shores grew dim behind them and the long ocean swell made itself felt. + +"Yes," rejoined the professor, who was busy getting specimens of +jelly-fish in a bucket he lowered overboard by a line. "I wonder what +sort of creatures I can catch in the ice there. I don't care so much +about the pole, but I do want to get a 'Pollywoginisius Polaris.'" + +"Whatever is that?" asked Frank. + +"It's a sort of large pollywog with fur on it like seal," replied the +professor gravely. + +"A sort of fur overcoat," suggested Billy, nudging Frank +mischievously. + +"Exactly," said the professor gravely; "if you see one will you catch +it for me?" + +"I certainly will," replied Billy gravely. + +For several days the Brutus and the vessel she was towing kept on down +the coast. At last one morning the captain announced that they were +off the coast of Patagonia, where the famous giant tribes of +aborigines and a kind of ostrich are to be found. The professor was +greatly excited at this and begged to have the ships stopped and be +allowed to go ashore. + +"I am afraid that will be impossible," rejoined Captain Hazzard; "we +must get into the Polar regions before the winter sets in, and if we +delay we shall not be able to do so. No, we must keep on, I am +afraid." + +The Brutus was making good speed at the moment, and her tow was +cutting obediently through the water after her. Sail had been set on +all the masts, as there was a favoring breeze. Suddenly there came a +jarring shock that threw everybody from their feet. The tow-line +parted under the strain with a report like that of a gun. + +"We have struck something," shouted the captain. + +"A sunken wreck, probably," said the professor, who did not seem at +all disturbed. + +"Is there any danger?" asked Billy with rather a white face. + +"We cannot tell yet till the ship has been examined," replied the +captain. He gave orders to sound the well and sent some men forward to +examine the vessel's bow. + +Soon the ship's carpenter and Ben Stubbs came hurrying aft with scared +faces. + +"What is it?" demanded the captain, "are we seriously damaged?" + +"We have sprung a leak forward and the water is pouring in," was the +alarming reply. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE PROFESSOR IS KIDNAPPED. + + +The faces of all grew grave. A leak at sea is a serious menace. The +point at which the water was entering the Southern Cross was soon +found to be through a sprained plank a little below the water line. +Captain Hazzard ordered canvas weighted and dropped overboard around +the leak so that the pressure of water would hold it there. The +carpenter's gang then set to work to calk the hole temporarily. + +In the meantime the Brutus had put back, blowing her whistle +inquiringly. + +"Send them a wireless message telling them what has happened," the +commander ordered Frank, who hastened to obey. + +The captain of the Brutus ordered out his boat as soon as Frank's +message had been conveyed to him and came aboard the Southern Cross. +He agreed, after a consultation with Captain Hazzard, that it would be +necessary to put in somewhere to refit. + +"We are now off the mouth of the Santa Cruz river in Patagonia," said +Captain Barrington, "it is a good place to lie to. I was there once on +a passenger steamer that met with an accident. We can shift the cargo +to the stern till we have raised the bow of the Southern Cross, and +then we can patch up her prow easily," he said. + +All agreed that this was a good plan. There was only one objection, +and that was the so-called giants of Patagonia, who are hostile to all +strangers. In view of the large force of men on board the two ships, +however, and the numerous weapons carried, it was agreed that there +was not much to be feared from the Patagonians. + +The broken steel hawser was at once detached and a new one put in +place and the two vessels headed for the shore, about one hundred and +fifty miles distant. They arrived off the mouth of the Santa Cruz +river the next day and the boys, who had been up before dawn in their +anxiety to get their first glimpse of "The Land of the Giants," were +rather disappointed to see stretched before them a dreary looking +coast with a few bare hills rising a short distance inland. There were +no trees or grass ashore, but a sort of dull-colored bush grew +abundantly. + +"I thought the giants lived in dense forests," said Billy, +disgustedly; "this place is a desert." + +"It was a fortunate accident though that brought us to this shore," +said a voice behind them and Professor Sandburr's bony, spectacled +face was thrust forward. "I would not have missed it for a great deal. +I would like to capture a specimen of a Patagonian alive and take him +home in a cage. The Patagonian dog-flea, too, I understand, is very +curious." + +The boys all laughed at this, but the professor was perfectly serious. +There is no doubt that he would have liked to have done so and caged +up a Patagonian where he could have studied him at his leisure. + +The Brutus, with leadsmen stationed in her bows to test the depth of +the water, proceeded cautiously up the river and finally came to +anchor with her tow behind her about two miles from its mouth. The +work of shifting some of the cargo of the Southern Cross to the stern +so as to elevate her bow, was begun at once; as time was an important +consideration. Soon all was declared ready for the carpenters to start +work and they were lowered on stages over the side and at once began +to rectify the trouble. Some of them worked from a boat secured to the +bow. + +"Do you think you can persuade the captain to let us go ashore with +you?" asked Frank of the professor, who was busy at once getting out +all his paraphernalia in anticipation of going on what Billy called "a +bug hunt." + +"Certainly," declared the scientist confidently, "come along. I should +like above all things to have you boys go ashore with me. Besides, I +may teach you all to become faunal naturalists." + +The delighted boys followed the old man to Captain Hazzard's cabin, +but, to their disappointment, he forbade the expedition peremptorily. + +"The Patagonians are dangerous savages," he said, "and I will not +assume the responsibility of allowing you to risk your lives." + +Nor did any persuasion of which the boys or the professor could make +have any effect in causing the commander to change his mind. He was +firm as adamant and reluctantly the boys made their way forward and +watched the carpenters fix the leak, and when that palled they were +compelled to fall back on fishing for an amusement. + +The professor joined ardently in this sport despite his disappointment +at not being allowed to go ashore. He managed to fix up a net attached +to an iron ring with which he scooped up all kinds of queer fish out +of the river, many of which were so ugly as to be repulsive to the +boys. But the professor seemed to be delighted with them all. + +"Ah, there, my beautiful 'Piscatorius Animata Catfisio,'" he would +say, as he seized a struggling sea monster with a firm grip and +plunged it into one of his tin tanks. "I'll dissect you to-night. You +are the finest specimen of your kind I have ever seen." + +The boys were suddenly interrupted in their fishing by blood-curdling +yells from the old scientist. Looking up in alarm they saw him dancing +about on the deck holding his arm as if in great pain, while in front +of him on the deck a queer-looking, flat fish with a long barbed tail +flopped about, its great goggle eyes projecting hideously. + +Frank ran forward to pick up the creature and throw it overboard, but +as he grasped it he experienced a shock that knocked him head over +heels. As he fell backward he collided with the professor and the two +sprawled on the deck with the professor howling louder than ever. + +"No wonder they're hurt," shouted Ben Stubbs, coming up with a long +boat-hook, "that's an electric ray." + +"An electric what?" asked Billy. + +"An electric ray. They carry enough electricity in them to run a small +lamp, and when they wish they can give you a powerful shock. They kill +their prey that way." + +"Ouch--," exclaimed the professor, who had by this time got up, "the +ray nearly killed me. Let me look at the brute so that I'll know one +of them again." + +"Why don't you put him in your collection?" asked Frank with a smile, +although his arm still hurt him where the electric ray had shocked it. + +"I want no such fish as that round me, sir," said the professor +indignantly, and ordered Ben to throw the creature overboard with his +boat-hook. + +After supper that night the boys hung about the decks till bedtime. +The hours passed slowly and they amused themselves by watching the +moonlit shores and speculating on the whereabouts of the Patagonians. + +Suddenly Billy seized Frank's arm. + +"Look," he exclaimed, pointing to a low ridge that stood out blackly +in the moonlight. + +Behind the low eminence Frank could distinctly see a head cautiously +moving about, seemingly reconnoitering the two ships. In a few seconds +it vanished as the apparent spy retreated behind the ridge. + +"That must have been a Patagonian," said Frank. + +"Just think, they are so near to us and we cannot go ashore," sighed +the professor, who was one of the group. "I wonder if they have any +dogs with them?" + +"I have a good mind to go, anyway," said the old man, suddenly, "I +would like to write a paper on the habits of the Patagonians and how +can I if I don't study them at first hand?" + +"What if they chopped your head off?" asked Billy. + +"They would not do that," rejoined the scientist, with a superior +smile. "I have a friend who lived with them for a time and then wrote +a book about them. According to him Captain Hazzard is wrong; they are +not hostile, but, on the contrary, are friendly to white men." + +"Then you think that Captain Hazzard doesn't know much about them?" +asked Billy. + +"I did not say that," replied the professor; "but he may be mistaken +just like I was about the electric ray, which I thought was a South +Atlantic skate. Just the same, I mean to find out for myself," he went +on. "To-night when everyone is asleep but the man on duty, I am going +to watch my opportunity and go ashore in the boat the carpenters left +at the bow this afternoon. There are ropes hanging from the prow down +which I can climb." + +Soon after this the boys determined to turn in and, naturally, the +professor's decision occupied a great deal of their conversation. + +"Do you think we ought to tell the captain about what Professor +Sandburr means to do?" asked Frank of the others. + +"I don't think so," said Billy. "He is much older than we are and +doubtless he knows what he is about. At the same time, though, I think +we should watch and if he gets into trouble should try and help him +out of it." + +"Very well, then we will all be out on deck at midnight," said Frank, +"and if we find that the professor is really serious in his intention +to go ashore in the boat we will try and stop him. If he still +persists we shall have to tell the captain." + +The others agreed that the course that Frank recommended was the best +one, and they all decided to adopt his plan. + +But the boys were heavy sleepers and besides were tired out when they +sought their bunks, so that when Frank, who was the first to wake, +opened his eyes it was past one in the morning. With a start the boy +jumped out of bed and hastily called the others. + +"We may not be too late yet," he said, as he hastily slipped into +trousers, shirt and slippers. + +But the boys WERE too late. When they reached the bow they could see +by peering over that the boat had gone and that the professor had +penetrated alone into the country of the Patagonians. + +Suddenly there came a shot from the shore and a loud cry of: + +"Help!" + +"It's the professor!" exclaimed Frank; "he's in serious trouble this +time." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A BATTLE IN THE AIR. + + +To raise an alarm throughout the ship was the work of a few minutes +and the watchman, whose carelessness had allowed the professor to slip +away unnoticed, aroused the indignation of Captain Hazzard, who blamed +him bitterly for his oversight. Several shots followed the one the +boys had heard and more cries, but they grew rapidly fainter and at +the same time the sound of horses galloping away in the distance was +heard. + +"They have carried him off," cried Captain Hazzard. + +"Can we not chase them and rescue him?" asked Billy, "we've got plenty +of men and arms." + +"That would be of little use to us," was the reply, "the Patagonians +are mounted and by this time they have got such a start on us that we +could never hope to catch up to them on foot." + +"Not on foot," put in Frank quietly, "but there is another way." + +"What do you mean, boy?" + +"That we can assemble the Golden Eagle in a couple of hours if you +will give us the men to help." + +Captain Hazzard thought a minute. + +"It seems to be the only chance," he said at last, "but I don't know +that I ought to let you assume such responsibility." + +"We will be in no greater danger than the professor is; much less, in +fact," urged Frank. "Please let us go. If we can save his life it is +worth running the risk." + +"Perhaps you are right, my boy," said Captain Hazzard at length, "at +any rate, promise me to run no unnecessary danger." + +The promise was readily given and with a cheer the men set to work to +hoist the cases containing the sections of the aeroplane over the side +and row them ashore. The work was carried on under the glare of the +searchlights of the two ships. In two hours' time the Golden Eagle was +ready for an engine test which showed her machinery to be in perfectly +good trim. + +"She is fit for the flight of her life," declared Frank, as he stopped +the engine. + +"Is everything ready?" asked Captain Hazzard. + +"Yes," was the reply, "except for two canteens of water, some +condensed soup tablets and two tins of biscuit." + +"You have your weapons?" + +"I have sent to the ship for two 'Express' rifles, each carrying a +heavy charge and explosive bullets. In addition we have our revolvers +and some dynamite bombs--the ones that were designed to be used in +blasting polar ice," said Frank. + +"One moment," said Captain Hazzard. He turned and hailed the ship: +"Bring over six of the naval rockets from the armory!" he ordered. + +"If you should need help," he said, in explanation of his order, "send +up a rocket. They are made so that they are visible by day as well as +night. In the daylight their explosion produces a dense cloud of black +smoke visible at several miles. They also make a terrific report that +is audible for a long distance." + +The same boat that brought the boys' weapons carried the rockets and +their provisions and at about four a. m. they were ready for their +dash through the air. At the last minute it was decided to take Billy +Barnes along as he knew something about handling an aeroplane and in a +pinch could make himself useful. + +"Good-bye and good luck," said Captain Hazzard fervently as the engine +was once more started, with a roar like the discharge of a battery of +gatling guns. From the exhausts blue flames shot out and the air was +filled with the pungent odor of exploding gasolene. + +With a wave of the hand and amid a cheer that seemed to rend the sky +the Golden Eagle shot forward as Frank set the starting lever and +rushed along over the level plane like a thing of life. After a short +run she rose skyward in a long level sweep, just as the daylight began +to show in a faint glow in the east. + +It rapidly grew lighter as the boys rose and as they attained a height +of 1,500 feet and flew forward at sixty miles an hour above the vast +level tract of gravelly desert, by looking backward they could see the +forms of the two ships, like tiny toys, far behind and below them. On +and on they flew, without seeing a trace of the professor or the band +that had undoubtedly made him prisoner. + +"We must have overshot the mark," said Frank, as he set a lever so as +to swing the aeroplane round. "We shall have to fly in circles till we +can locate the spot where the Patagonians have taken him." + +They flew in this manner for some time, sometimes above rugged broken +land with great sun-baked clefts in it, and sometimes above level +plains overgrown with the same dull colored brush they had noticed +fringing the coast. + +Suddenly Billy called attention to a strange thing. All about them +were circling the forms of huge birds. Some of them measured fully ten +feet from wing tip to wing tip. They had bald, evil-looking heads and +huge, hooked beaks. + +"They are South American condors, the largest birds in existence," +cried Harry, as the monstrous fowls, of which fully a hundred were now +circling about the invaders of their realm, seemed to grow bolder and +closed in about the aeroplane. + +"They mean to attack us," cried Frank, suddenly. + +[Illustration: "They Mean to Attack Us."] + +As he spoke one immense condor drove full at him, its evil head +outstretched as if it meant to tear him with its hooked beak. The boy +struck at it with one arm while he controlled the aeroplane with the +other and the monstrous bird seemed nonplussed for a moment. With a +scream of rage it rejoined its mates and they continued to circle +about the aeroplane, every minute growing, it seemed, more numerous +and bold. + +"We shall have to fire at them," cried Frank at last. "If they keep on +increasing in numbers they may attack us all at once and wreck our +airship." + +Hastily Harry and Billy unslung their heavy "Express" rifles and began +firing. Ordinarily it is no easy task to hit a bird on the wing with a +rifle, but so large a target did the huge bodies present that four +fell at the first volley. As they dropped some of their cannibal +companions fell on them and tore them to ribbons in midair. It was a +horrible sight, but the boys had little time to observe it. Their +attention was now fully occupied with beating off the infuriated mates +of the dead birds, who beat the air about the aeroplane with their +huge wings until the air-storm created threatened to overbalance it. + +Again and again the boys fired, but failed to hit any more of the +birds, although feathers flew from some of the great bodies as the +bullets whizzed past them. + +All at once the condors seemed to come to a decision unanimously. +Uttering their harsh, screaming cries they rushed at the aeroplane, +tearing and snapping with beak and claws. The machine yawed under +their attack till it seemed it must turn over. Still, so far, Frank +managed to keep it on an even keel. + +"Bang! bang!" cracked the rifles again and again, but the loud angry +cries of the birds almost drowned the sharp sound of the artillery. + +It was a battle in the clouds between a man-made bird and nature's +fliers. + +Suddenly Frank gave a shout. + +"The dynamite bombs!" + +Swiftly and cautiously Harry got one of the deadly explosives ready. +They were provided with a cap that set them off when they encountered +any solid substance, as, for instance, when they struck the earth, but +a small, mechanical contrivance enabled them to be adjusted also so +that they could be exploded in midair. + +"Isn't there danger of upsetting the aeroplane?" gasped Billy, as he +saw the preparations. + +"We'll have to chance that," was Harry's brisk response, "the birds +are too much for us." + +As he spoke he leaned out from the chassis and hurled the bomb high in +the air. As he cast it out there was a slight click as the automatic +exploder set itself. + +"Hold tight," shouted Frank, setting the sinking planes. + +The aeroplane rushed downward like a stone. Suddenly a terrific roar +filled the air and the boys felt as if their ear drums would be +fractured. The aeroplane swayed dizzily and Frank worked desperately +at his levers and adjusters. + +For one terrible moment it seemed that the Golden Eagle was doomed to +destruction, but the brave craft righted herself and soared on. + +The bomb had done its work. + +Of the huge flock of condors that had attacked the Golden Eagle only a +bare dozen or so remained. The rest had been killed or wounded by the +bomb. The survivors were far too terrified to think of pursuing the +boys and their craft further. + +"Thank goodness we have escaped that peril," exclaimed Harry, as they +sailed onward through the air; "who would ever have thought that such +birds would have attacked an aeroplane." + +"They frequently, so naturalists say, carry off babies and small +animals to their rocky nests," was Frank's response, "and birds as +bold as that I suppose resented the appearance of what seemed another +and larger bird in their realm." + +For an hour more the aeroplane soared and wheeled above the baking hot +plains intersected by their deep gullies, but without result. The boys +with sinking hearts were beginning to conclude that the professor had +been carried off and hidden beyond hope of recovery, when Harry, who +had been peering ahead through the glasses, indicated a distant spot +behind a ridge with much excitement. + +"I can see a horse tethered there," he cried. + +The aeroplane was at once shot off in that direction and soon all +doubt that they were in the vicinity of a band of Patagonians +vanished. As the air craft rushed forward several tethered horses +became visible and a column of smoke was seen rising from a deep gully +behind the ridge. No doubt the Patagonians thought themselves well +hid. + +So secure did they feel, seemingly, that not even a sentry was +visible. + +"Do you think they are the same band that kidnapped the professor?" +asked Billy. + +"There's not much doubt of it," said Frank. + +"At any rate we shall soon see," concluded Harry, as the aeroplane +shot directly above the encampment of the giant Patagonians. Gazing +downward the boys could see one of the savages, a huge figure more +than six feet tall, in a feather mantle and armed with a formidable +looking spear, pacing up and down, as if he were a chief of some kind. +This belief was confirmed when one of the other tribesmen approached +the man in the long cloak and addressed something to him with a low +obeisance. Frank had by this time put the muffler in operation and +throttled down the engine so that the aeroplane swung in lazy circles +above the Patagonians, entirely unnoticed by them. + +While they gazed the boys saw a figure led from a rude tent by several +of the Patagonians, of whom there seemed to be two or three hundred in +the camp. Instantly a loud yelling went up and several of the natives +began a sort of dance, shaking their spears menacingly and wrapping +their feather cloaks tightly about their tall figures. + +"It's the professor!" shouted Frank, indicating the captive who had +been taken from the tent. + +"They are going to burn him alive!" shouted Harry in a voice of horror +the next moment, pointing to the fire. + +Indeed, it seemed so. The Patagonians began piling fresh bundles of +wood on their fire, the smoke of which the boys had seen from far off. +Their savage yells and cries filled the air. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ADRIFT! + + +Six of the huge warriors picked up the unfortunate professor, who was +bound hand and foot, and were preparing to carry him toward the fire +when there came a startling interruption to their plans. + +With a roar as if the desolate mountains about them were toppling +about their ears one of the dynamite bombs carried by the boys was +dropped and exploded a short distance from the camp. A huge hole was +torn in the earth and a great cloud of dust arose. + +Shrieks and cries filled the air and, although none of them was hurt, +the Patagonians rushed about like ants when some one has stirred up +their nests. Suddenly one of them happened to look upwards and gave a +wild yell. + +Instantly the tribesmen, without waiting to pick up any of their +possessions, fled for their horses and mounting them rode out of sight +without daring to look round. To accelerate their progress the boys +sent another dynamite bomb and two rockets after them, and then +descended to pick up the professor who, bound as he was, had been left +on the ground and was quite as much in the dark as to what he owed his +escape to as the Indians were. + +"Oh, boys!" he exclaimed, as the machine glided to earth and the boys +stepped out, "you were just in time. I really believe they meant to +make soup out of me. They were worse than the electric ray, a great +deal. Oh, dear, I wish I had obeyed Captain Hazzard, but I wanted to +get a specimen of a Patagonian dog-flea. They are very rare." + +"Did you get one?" asked Frank, laughing in spite of himself at the +woe-begone figure of the professor, who, his bonds having been cut, +now stood upright with his spectacles perched crookedly on his nose. + +"I did not," moaned the man of science, who seemed more grieved over +his failure to collect the rare specimen than he did over his own +narrow escape, "there is every other kind of flea around here, though, +I found that out while I was in the tent." + +"Come, we had better be going," said Frank at length, after they had +explored the camp and picked up some fine feather robes and curious +weapons which the Patagonians had left behind them in their hurry to +escape. + +"The Patagonians might take it into their heads to come back and +attack us and then we should be in a serious fix." + +All agreed that it was wise not to linger too long in the camp and so +a few minutes later the Golden Eagle was sent into the air again, this +time with an added passenger. + +"Dear me, this is very remarkable," said the professor, "quite like +flying. I feel like a bird," and he flapped his long arms till the +boys had to laugh once more at the comical man of learning. + +As they flew along the professor explained to them that after he had +taken the boat he had heard a dog barking ashore, and being confident +that the Patagonians were friendly people and that it was a Patagonian +dog he heard, he determined to do some exploring in search of the +Patagonian dog-flea. He had only crawled a few steps from the river +bank, however, when he felt himself seized and carried swiftly away. +It was then that he had fired the shot the boys heard. Later he had +managed to break loose and then had discharged his revolver some more, +without hitting anybody, however. + +The Patagonians had then bound him and tied him to the back of a horse +and rapidly borne him into the interior. They might not have meant any +harm to him at first, he thought, but when they found him examining a +dog with great care they were convinced the simple-minded old man was +a witch doctor and at once sentenced him to be burned to death. + +"How about your friend that said that the Patagonians were a friendly +race?" asked Billy, as the professor concluded his narrative. + +"I shall write a book exposing his book," said the professor, with +great dignity. + +Nothing more occurred till, as they drew near the ships, Frank waved +his handkerchief and the others fired their revolvers in token of the +fact that they had been successful in their quest. In reply to these +joyous signals the rapid-fire gun of the Southern Cross was fired and +the air was so full of noise that any Patagonians within twenty miles +must have fled in terror. + +The professor, looking very shamefaced, was summoned to Captain +Hazzard's cabin soon after he had arrived on board and put on clean +garments. What was said to him nobody ever knew, but he looked +downcast as one of his own bottled specimens when he left the cabin. +By sundown, however, he had quite recovered his spirits and had to be +rescued from the claws of a big lobster he had caught and which +grabbed him by the toe as soon as he landed it on deck. + +In the meantime the aeroplane was "taken down" and packed up once more +while the boys came in for warm congratulations on the successful +outcome of their aerial dash to the rescue. Captain Hazzard himself +sent for them and complimented them highly on their skill and courage. + +"I shall mention your achievement in the despatches I shall send north +by the Brutus," he said in conclusion to the happy boys. + +The damage to her bow being repaired, there was nothing more to keep +the Southern Cross and her escort in the dreary river, and with no +regrets at leaving such a barren, inhospitable country behind them, +the pole-seekers weighed anchor early the next day. + +Ever southward they forged till the weather began to grow chilly and +warm garments were served out to the men from the storerooms of the +Southern Cross. To the boys the cold was welcome, as it meant that +they were approaching the goal of their journey. + +Captain Barrington doubled watches day and night now, for at any +moment they might expect an encounter with a huge iceberg. In the +antarctic these great ice mountains attain such bulk that they could +crush the most powerful ship like an eggshell. It behooves all +mariners venturing into those regions, therefore, to keep a most +careful lookout for them. + +One day soon after dinner, while the boys were on the fore peak +chatting with Ben Stubbs, the old bos'n suddenly elevated his nose, +drew in a long breath and announced: + +"I smell ice." + +Recollecting that Ben had said that he "smelled land" on another +memorable occasion, the boys checked their disposition to laugh, +although the professor, who was trying to dissect a strange little +fish he had caught the day before, ridiculed the idea. + +"Ice being a substance consisting of frozen water and without odor, +what you say is a contradiction in terms," he pronounced with much +solemnity. + +"All right, professor," said Ben, with a wink at the boys, "maybe ice +ain't as easy to tell as an electric ray, but just the same I'm an old +whaling man and I can smell ice as far as you can smell beefsteak +frying." + +This was touching on the scientist's weak spot, for like many men of +eminence, he was nevertheless fond of a good dinner and his alacrity +in answering meal calls had become a joke on board. + +"You are arguing 'ad hominum,' my dear sir," spoke the professor with +dignity. "Ice and beefsteak have no affinity for one another, nor do +they partake of the same qualities or analyses." + +Whatever Ben might have said to this crushing rejoinder was lost +forever, for at this moment there was a great disturbance in the water +a short distance from the ship. The boys saw a whale's huge dark form +leap from the waves not forty feet from the bow and settle back with a +crash that sent the water flying up in the air like a fountain. + +"Whale ho!" shouted Ben, greatly excited. "Hullo," he exclaimed the +next instant, "now you'll see some fighting worth seeing." + +As he spoke, a form dimly seen, so near to the surface was it, rushed +through the water and crashed headlong into the whale. + +"What is it, another whale?" asked Billy. + +"No, it's a monster sword-fish," cried Ben, "and they are going to +fight." + +The water grew crimson as the sword-fish plunged his cruel weapon into +the great whale's side, but the monster itself, maddened by its wound, +the next instant charged the sword-fish. Its great jaws opened wide as +it rushed at its smaller enemy, for which however, it was no +match,--for the sword-fish doubled and swam rapidly away. The next +instant it dived, and coming up rammed the whale with its sword once +more. With a mighty leap the sea monster mounted clear of the water +once more, the blood spouting from its wounds. + +But its strength was gone and it crashed heavily downward while it was +in mid-spring. A warning shout from Ben called the attention of +everybody who had been watching the fight to a more imminent danger to +the ship. The giant cetacean in falling to its death had struck the +towing cable and snapped it under its huge bulk as if the stout hawser +had been a pack thread. + +"We are adrift," shouted Captain Barrington, rushing forward with +Captain Hazzard by his side. + +Another cry of alarm mingled with his as he uttered it. + +"The iceberg!" cried Ben. + +The old sailor pointed ahead and there, like a huge ghost drifting +toward them, was a mighty structure of ice--the first berg the boys +had ever seen. With its slow advance came another peril. The air grew +deathly cold and a mist began to rise from the chilled sea. + +"Signal the Brutus!" shouted Captain Barrington, but the fires had +been extinguished on the Southern Cross when she was taken in tow, and +she had nothing to signal with but her rapid firing gun. This was +fired again and again and soon through the mist there came back the +low moan of the siren of the Brutus. + +"They won't dare to put back after us in this," exclaimed Captain +Barrington, as he stood on the bridge with the boys beside him, "we +shall have to drift helplessly here till the iceberg passes or--" + +"Until we are crushed," put in Captain Hazzard quietly, "wouldn't it +be as well to have the boats made ready for lowering," he went on. + +"A good idea," agreed Captain Barrington. Ben Stubbs was summoned aft +and told to give the necessary orders, and soon the men were at work +clearing the life-boats in case things should come to the worst. + +The mist grew momentarily denser and the cold more intense, yet so +critical was the situation that nobody thought of leaving the decks to +don warmer clothing. The fog, caused by the immense berg chilling the +warmer ocean currents, was now so thick that of the mighty berg itself +they could perceive nothing. The knowledge that the peril was +invisible did not make the minds of those on board the drifting vessel +any the easier. + +"If only we had steam we could get out of the berg's path," said +Captain Barrington, stamping his foot. + +"Couldn't we hoist sail," suggested Frank. + +"There is no wind. I wish there were," replied the captain, "then it +would blow this mist away and we could at least see where we are +driving to." + +In breathless silence and surrounded by the dense curtain of freezing +mist the polar ship drifted helplessly on, those on board realizing +that at any moment there might come the crash and disaster that would +follow a collision with the monster berg. + +Suddenly there came a shock that almost threw those on the bridge off +their feet. + +Hoarse cries and shouts sounded through the mist from the bow of the +ship, which was no longer visible in the dense smother. + +Above all the confused noises one rang out clear and terrible. + +"The berg has struck us. We are sinking!" was the terrible cry. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE SHIP OF OLAF THE VIKING. + + +"Stop all that confusion," roared Captain Barrington through his +megaphone, which he had snatched from its place on the bridge. + +Silence instantly followed, only to be succeeded by a tearing and +rending sound. + +The rigging of the foremast had caught in a projecting ridge of the +berg and was being torn out. The ship trembled and shook as if a giant +hand was crushing her, but so far her heavy timbers seemed to have +stood the shock. Presently the noises ceased and the air began to grow +less chilly. + +"I believe we are free of the berg!" shouted Captain Hazzard. + +The rapid clearing away of the dense fog that had hung like a pall +about the seemingly doomed ship confirmed this belief. By great good +fortune the Southern Cross had been spared the fate of many ships that +venture into the polar seas, and the boys gazing backward from the +bridge could see the mighty berg, looking as huge as a cathedral, +slowly increasing its distance from them, as it was borne along on the +current. + +"Hurrah, we are safe!" cried Harry. + +"Don't be too sure," warned Captain Barrington. "I hope we are, but +the vessel will have to be examined before we can be certain. In any +event our foremast and bowsprit are sad wrecks." + +The portions of the ship he referred to were, indeed, badly damaged. +The shrouds supporting the foremast had been ripped out by the berg on +the port or left hand side of the vessel, and her jibboom had been +snapped off short where the berg struck her. Two boats had, besides, +been broken and the paint scraped off the polar ship's sides. + +"We look like a wreck," exclaimed Billy. + +"We may think ourselves lucky we got off so easily," said Captain +Barrington, "we have just gone through the deadliest peril an +antarctic ship can undergo." + +The Brutus now came gliding up, and after congratulations had been +exchanged between the two ships, a new hawser was rigged and the +Southern Cross was once more taken in tow. + +"I don't want any more encounters with icebergs," said Billy, as the +ship proceeded toward her goal once more. + +"Nor I," spoke the others. + +"It's a pity this isn't at the north pole," said the professor, who +was varnishing dried fish in the cabin, where this conversation took +place. + +"Why?" asked Frank. + +"Because, if it had been, there might have been a polar bear on that +iceberg. I have read that sometimes they drift away on bergs that +become detached and are sighted by steamers quite far south." + +"Why,--do you want a polar bear skin," asked Billy, "you can buy lots +of them in New York." + +"Oh, I don't care about the polar bear," said the professor quickly, +"but the creatures have a kind of flea on them that is very rare." + +At the idea of hunting such great animals as polar bears for such +insignificant things as fleas, the boys all had to laugh. The +professor, who was very good-natured, was not at all offended. + +"Small animals are sometimes quite as interesting as large ones," was +all he said. + +The next day the rigging and bowsprit were refitted and further and +further south steamed the Brutus with the polar ship in tow. The fires +of the Southern Cross had now been started and her acetylene gas plant +started going as the heat and light were needed. Icebergs were now +frequently met with and the boys often remained on deck at night, +snugly wrapped in furs, to watch the great masses of ice drift by. + +Although they were as dangerous as ever, now that the ships were in +cooler water the bergs did not create a fog as they did in the warmer +region further north. By keeping a sharp lookout during the day and +using the searchlights at night, Captain Barrington felt fairly +confident of avoiding another encounter with an ice mountain. The +damage the ship had sustained in her narrow escape from annihilation +had proved quite difficult to repair, though before the vessel reached +the sixtieth parallel it had been adjusted. + +"Well, boys," announced Captain Hazzard one day at noon, "we are now +not more than three hundred miles from the Great Barrier." + +"Beyond which lies the polar mystery," exclaimed Frank. + +Captain Hazzard glanced at him quickly. + +"Yes, the polar mystery," he repeated, "perhaps now is as good a time +as any for telling you boys the secret of this voyage. Come to my +cabin and I will tell you one of the objects of our expedition, which +hitherto has been kept a secret from all but the officers." + +The excitement of the boys may be imagined as they followed the +captain to his cabin and seated themselves on a seat arranged above +the radiator. + +"It's the ship of Olaf," whispered Billy to Harry. + +"Of course," began Captain Hazzard, "the main object of this +expedition is to plant the flag of the United States at 'furthest +south,' even if not at the pole itself." + +"And to capture a South Polar flea and a fur-bearing pollywog," put in +the professor, who had included himself in the invitation to the boys. + +"Exactly," smiled the captain, "but there is still another object +scarcely of less importance than the ones that I and the professor," +he added with a smile, "have enumerated." + +"You boys have all heard of the daring rovers who set out centuries +ago in their ships to explore unknown oceans?" + +The boys nodded. + +"You mean the Vikings?" asked Frank. + +"Yes," replied the captain. "Well, some time ago a member of one of +our great scientific bodies, while traveling in Sweden, discovered in +a remote village an odd legend concerning some sailors who claimed to +have seen an old Viking ship frozen in the ice near the Great Barrier. +They were poor and superstitious whalemen and did not dare to disturb +it, but they brought home the story." + +"And you think the ship is still there," broke in Harry. + +"If they really saw such a thing there is every reason to suppose that +it is," rejoined the lieutenant. "In the ice anything might be +preserved almost indefinitely. Providing the yarn of the whalemen is +true, we now come to the most interesting part of the story. The +scientist, who has a large acquaintance among librarians and +custodians of old manuscripts in European libraries, happened to +mention one night to a friend what he had heard in the little +Norwegian fishing village. His friend instantly surprised him by +declaring that he had an idea what the ship was. + +"To make a long story short, he told him that years before, while +examining some manuscripts in Stockholm, he had read an account of a +Viking ship that in company with another had sailed for what must have +been the extreme South Pacific. One of the ships returned laden with +ivory and gold, which latter may have been obtained from some mine +whose location has long since been lost, but the other never came +back. That missing ship was the ship of Olaf the Rover, and as her +consort said, she had last been seen in the South Pacific. The +manuscript said that the returned rovers stated that they had become +parted from the ship of Olaf in a terrific gale amid much ice and +great ice mountains. That must have meant the antarctic regions. This +much they do know, that Olaf's ship was stripped of her sails and +helpless when they were compelled by stress of weather to abandon her. +It is my theory and the theory of a man high in the government, who +has authorized me to make this search, that the ship of Olaf was +caught in a polar current and that the story heard so many years after +about the frozen ship in the ice is true." + +"Then somewhere down there along the Great Barrier there is a Viking +ship full of ivory and gold, you believe?" asked Frank. + +"I do," said the captain. + +"And the ice has preserved it all intact?" shouted Billy. + +"If the ship is there at all she is undoubtedly preserved exactly as +she entered the great ice," was the calm reply. + +"Gosh!" was the only thing Billy could think of to say. + +"Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it?" gasped Harry. + +"Maybe some Viking fleas got frozen up, too," chirped the professor, +hopefully. "What a fine chance for me if we find the ship." + +"Have you the latitude and longitude in which the whalers saw the +frozen vessel?" asked Frank. + +"I have them, yes," replied the captain, "and when the winter is over +we will set out on a search for it. On our march toward the pole that +will make only a slight detour." + +"Was it for this that you wanted to have our aeroplane along?" asked +Frank, his eyes sparkling. + +"Yes," was the reply, "in an airship you can skim high above the +ice-fields and at a pace that would make an attempt to cover unknown +tracts on foot ridiculous. If the Viking ship is to be found it will +have to be your achievement." + +Captain Hazzard was called out on deck at this juncture and the boys, +once he was out of the room, joined in a war dance round the swinging +cabin table. + +"Boys, will you take me along when you go?" asked the professor +anxiously. "If there is any chance of getting a Viking flea I would +like to. It would make my name famous. I could write a book about it, +too." + +"But you've got a book to write already about the Patagonians," +objected Frank. + +"Bless me, so I have," exclaimed the absent-minded old man. "However +that can wait. A Viking flea would be a novelty indeed." + +At this moment loud tramplings on the deck overhead and shouts +apprised them that something out of the ordinary must be occurring. +Just as they were about to emerge from the cabin the captain rushed +in. He seemed much excited. + +"My fur coat, quick," he cried, seizing the garment from Frank, who +had snatched it from its peg and handed it to him. + +"What has happened?" asked Frank. + +The words had hardly left his lips before there came a terrible +grinding and jarring and the Southern Cross came to a standstill. Her +bow seemed to tilt up, while her stern sank, till the cabin floor +attained quite a steep slope. + +"What can be the matter?" cried the professor, as he dashed out after +the boys and the captain, the latter of whom had been much too excited +to answer Frank's question. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +MAROONED ON AN ICE FLOE. + + +"We have struck a polar reef!" + +It was Captain Barrington who uttered these words after a brief +examination. + +"Do you think we will be able to get off?" Frank asked Ben Stubbs, who +with the boys and the rest of the crew was in the bow peering down at +what appeared to be rocks beneath the vessel's bow, except that their +glitter in the lanterns that were hung over the side showed that the +ship was aground on solid ice. + +"Hard to say," pronounced Ben. "These polar reefs are bad things. They +float along a little below the surface and many a ship that has struck +them has had her bottom ripped off before you could say 'knife.'" + +"Are we seriously damaged?" asked Billy, anxiously gazing at the +scared faces around him. + +"I hope not," said the old salt; "there is one thing in our favor and +that is that we were being towed so that our bow was raised quite a +bit, and instead of hitting the ice fair and square we glided up on +top of it." + +Another point in favor of the ship's getting off was that there had +been no time to reshift the cargo, which, it will be recalled, had +been stowed astern when her bow was sprung off Patagonia, so that she +rode "high by the head," as sailors say. So far as they could see in +the darkness about twenty feet of her bow had driven up onto the polar +reef. The Brutus had stopped towing in response to the signal gun of +the Southern Cross in time to prevent the towing-bitts being rooted +out bodily or the cable parting. + +"There is nothing to be done till daylight," pronounced Captain +Barrington, after an examination of the hold had shown that the vessel +was perfectly dry. "The glass indicates fair weather and we'll have to +stay where we are till we get daylight." + +Little sleep was had by any aboard that night, and bright and early in +the morning the boys, together with most of the crew, were on deck and +peering over the bow. The day was a glorious one with the temperature +at two below zero. The sun sparkled and flashed on the great ice-reef +on which they had grounded, and which in places raised crested heads +above the greenish surface of the sea. + +No water had been taken on in the night, to the great relief of the +captain, and soon a string of gaudy signal flags were set which +notified the Brutus, lying at anchor about a mile away, to stand by. +The hawser had been cast off over night and so the Brutus was free to +steam to any position her captain thought advisable. As soon as the +signalling was completed he heaved anchor and stood for a point about +half-a-mile to the leeward of the Southern Cross, where he came to +anchor once more. + +Breakfast, a solid meal as befitted the latitude in which they were, +was hastily despatched and the boys bundled themselves up in polar +clothes and hurried out on deck to see what was going forward. Captain +Barrington, after a short consultation with Captain Hazzard, decided +to order out boat parties to explore the length and depth of the +ice-reef so that he could make plans to free his ship off her prison. + +The boys begged to be allowed to accompany one of the boat parties and +so did the professor. Their requests were finally acceded to by the +two captains and they formed part of the crew of Boat No. 3, in charge +of Ben Stubbs. + +"Wait a minute," shouted the professor, as, after the boat to which +they were assigned lay ready for lowering, the boys clambered into +her. + +"What's the matter?" demanded the boys. + +"I want to get my dredging bucket," exclaimed the man of science, +"this is a fine opportunity for me to acquire some rare specimens." + +He dived into his cabin, the two ends of his woolen scarf flying out +behind him like the tail of some queer bird. He reappeared in a second +with the bucket, an ordinary galvanized affair, but with a wire-net +bottom and a long rope attached, to allow of it being dragged along +the depths of the sea. + +"All ready!" shouted Frank, as the professor clambered into the boat. + +The "falls" rattled through the blocks and the boat struck the water +with a splash, almost upsetting the professor, who was peering over +the side through his thick spectacles as if he expected to see some +queer polar fish at once. The crew swarmed down the "falls," and as +Ben gave the order, pulled away for the outer end of the reef, the +station assigned to them. + +In accordance with their instructions when they arrived at the end of +the reef, the crew, headed by Ben Stubbs, left the boat and tramping +about on the slippery ice tried to ascertain its thickness and how far +under water it extended. The boys soon tired of sitting idle in the +boat and, as they had been forbidden to land on the treacherous ice of +the reef, cast about for something to do. The professor soon provided +a digression. + +"Look there," he suddenly shouted, pointing at a black triangular +shaped object that was moving about on the green water a short +distance from the boat. + +"What can it be?" wondered Billy. + +"Some sort of rare fish, I don't doubt," rejoined the professor. +"Let's row out and see." + +The boys, nothing loath, shoved off, and as Ben and the crew of the +boat were far too busy sounding and poking about on the reef to notice +them, they rowed off unobserved. + +The triangular object proved elusive, and after rowing some time, the +boys found they had come quite a distance from the ship without +getting much nearer to it. Suddenly a great, shining black back curved +itself out of the water and the boys saw that the sharp triangular +thing was an immense dorsal fin attached to the back of a species of +whale they had not so far seen, although they had sighted many +varieties since entering the Antarctic regions. + +"Let's give it a shot," cried Billy, and before any one could stop +him, the young reporter fired at the creature. + +To their amazement, instead of diving, as do most whales when injured +by a bullet or otherwise, the creature raised its blunt head and gazed +at them out of a wicked little red eye. + +"What--what--what's the matter with him do you suppose?" gasped Billy. + +As he spoke the whale began lashing the water with its tail till the +white foam spread all about it, slightly flecked with red here and +there, in token that Billy's shot had struck it. + +"I'm afraid that we are in for serious trouble," suddenly said the +professor. + +"Why, you don't mean that the creature is bold enough to attack us?" +gasped Billy. + +"That's just what I do," exclaimed the professor, apprehensively. + +"The creature is a killer whale--an animal as ferocious as a shark and +far more bold. I should have recognized what it was when I saw that +sharp fin cruising about." + +"We must row back," shouted Frank, and he and Harry sprang to the +oars. + +But they were too late. With a flashing whisk of its tail the +ferocious killer whale dived, and when it came up its head was within +twenty feet of the boat. + +"Pull for that floe!" shouted the professor, pointing to a small +island of ice floating about not far from them. It was their only +chance of escape, and the boys gave way with a will. But pull as they +would their enemy was faster than they. Just as the nose of their boat +scraped the floe the great "killer" charged. + +Frank had just time to spring onto the floe and drag Harry after him +when the monster's head rammed the boat, splitting it to kindling wood +with a terrible crackling sound. The stout timbers might as well have +been a matchbox, so far as resistance to the terrific onslaught was +concerned. + +Billy jumped just as the boat collapsed under him, and gained the +floe. But where was the professor? + +For an instant the terrible thought that he had perished flashed +across the boys' minds, but just then a cry made them look round, and +they saw the unfortunate scientist, blue with cold and dripping with +icy water, come clambering over the other side of the little floe on +which they stood. He had been hurled out of the boat when the whale +charged and cast into the water. His teeth were chattering so that he +could hardly speak, but he still had his bucket, and insisted on +examining it to see if any creatures had been caught in it when he +took his involuntary plunge. + +The whale, after its charge and the terrific bump with which it struck +the boat, seemed to be stunned and lay quietly on the water a few feet +from the floe, from which it had rebounded. + +"I'll bet he's got a headache," exclaimed Billy. + +"Headache or no headache, I don't see how we are going to get off this +floe unless we can attract the attention of the ship, and we are +drifting further away from it every minute," said Frank, gravely. + +"Let's fire our pistols," suggested Billy. + +"I didn't bring mine," said Frank. + +"Nor I," said Harry. + +"N-n-n-n-or I," chattered the shivering professor. + +"Gee whitakers," shouted Billy, "and to top the bad luck, I left mine +in the boat. I laid it on a seat after I had fired at the whale." + +"B-b-b-b-boys, w-w-w-w-w-hat are we g-g-g-oing to d-d-d-do?" shivered +the scientist. + +"Shout," said Frank; "come on, all together." + +They shouted at the tops of their voices, but in the clear polar air, +rarified as it is, sound does not carry as well as in northern +latitudes, and there was no response. + +All the time the floe, slowly revolving in the current like a floating +bottle, was drifting further and further from the ships. The situation +was serious, and, moreover, the scientist was evidently suffering +acutely, although he made no complaint, not wishing to add to their +anxieties. Frank, however, insisted on their each shedding a garment +for the professor's benefit, and although the scientist at first +refused them, he finally consented to don the articles of dry apparel +and seemed to be much comforted by their warmth. + +Faster and faster the floe drifted, and they were now almost out of +sight of the ships. The boys' faces, although they tried not to show +their fear, grew very pale. There seemed to be no prospect of their +being saved, and in the rigorous cold of that climate they knew they +could not survive many hours without food or drink. + +Suddenly Frank, who had been gloomily watching the progress of the +floe, gave a shout of surprise. + +"What's the matter?" said Harry. + +"Are we g-g-g-g-going d-d-d-d-down?" gasped the professor. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +DYNAMITING THE REEF. + + +"No," shouted the boy, "not that, but I think I see a chance of our +being saved!" + +"Have they seen us from the ships?" asked Billy. + +"No, but the floe has struck a different current and we are drifting +back." + +"Are you s-s-s-sure of t-t-t-this?" asked the professor. + +"Certain," replied Frank; "I have been watching the progress of other +pieces of drifting ice and the current seems to take a distinct curve +here and radiate backward toward the pole." + +"Then we are saved--hurray!" shouted Billy, dancing about on the +slippery ice, and falling headlong, in his excitement, on the +treacherous footing it afforded. + +"No use hollering till we are out of the woods," said Frank; "the +current may make another turn before we land near the ships." + +This checked the enthusiasm and the boys all fell to anxiously +watching the course their floe was likely to pursue. + +"There's our whale," shouted Billy, suddenly. "Look what a smash on +the nose he got." + +The great monster seemed to have recovered from its swoon and was now +swimming in slow circles round the floe, eyeing the boys malevolently, +but not offering to attack them. Evidently it was wondering, in its +own mind, what it had struck when it collided with the boat and the +floe. + +The floe drifted onward, with the vessels' forms every moment growing +larger to the boys' view. All at once a welcome sound rang out on the +nipping polar air. + +"Boom!" + +"They have missed us and are firing the gun," cried Frank. + +"That's what," rejoined Billy; "and we are going to get a terrible +lecture when we get back on board, too." + +Soon the floe, drifting steadily southward, by the strange freak of +the antarctic current, came in view of the lookouts on the ships, who +had been posted as soon as the boys were missed. The boats were at +once despatched, and headed for the little ice island. + +The killer whale suddenly took it into his head, as the boats drew +near, to try one more attack, but Dr. Watson Gregg, the ship's +surgeon, who stood in the bow of the first boat, saw the ferocious +monster coming and, with three quick bullets from a magazine rifle, +ended the great brute's career forever. His huge, black bulk, with its +whitish belly and great jaws, floated on the surface for a few +minutes, and the boys estimated his length at about thirty feet. + +"Room enough there to have swallowed us all up," commented Billy, as +they gazed at the monster. + +"Well, young men, what have you got to say for yourselves?" asked Dr. +Gregg, as the boats drew alongside. + +The boys all looked shamefaced as they got into the boat, and two +sailors assisted the half-frozen professor into it. They realized that +they had been guilty of a breach of discipline in taking off the boat, +and that, moreover, their disobedience had cost the expedition one of +its valuable assets, for there was no hope of ever putting the smashed +craft together again. + +On their return to the ship Captain Hazzard did not say much to them, +but what he did say, as Billy remarked afterward, "burned a hole in +you." + +However, after a hearty dinner and a change of clothing, they all, +even the professor--who seemed none the worse for the effects of his +cold bath--cheered up a bit, more especially as Captain Barrington had +announced that he had a plan for getting the ship off the reef. Ben +Stubbs, who had, with his crew, been taken off the end of the +obstruction by another boat, had announced that the depth of the +obstruction did not seem to exceed twenty feet and its greatest width +forty. Where the ship's bow rested the breadth was about thirty feet +and the depth not more than twenty. + +"My gracious," suddenly cried the professor as the boys came out from +dinner; "I have suffered a terrible loss!" + +His face was so grave, and he seemed so worried, that the boys +inquired sympathetically what it was that he had lost. + +"My bucket, my dredging bucket," wailed the scientist. "I was too cold +to examine it thoroughly and I recollect now that I am sure it had +some sort of sea-creatures in the bottom of it." + +"What has become of it?" asked Frank, hardly able to keep from +laughing. + +"I left it on the ice floe," wailed the professor. "I must have it." + +"Well, if it's on the floe it will have to stay there," remarked +Frank. "There seems to be no way of getting it off." + +"I wonder if the captain wouldn't send out some men in a boat to look +for it," hopefully exclaimed the collector, suddenly. + +"I shouldn't advise you to ask him," remarked Ben Stubbs, who just +then came up, his arms laden with packages. "We've lost one boat +through going after peppermints or specimints, or whatever you call +'em." + +"Possibly, as you say, it would not be wise," agreed the professor; +"never mind, perhaps I can catch a fur-bearing pollywog at the South +Pole." + +He seemed quite cheered up at this reflection and smiled happily at +the thought of achieving his dream. + +"What have you got there, Ben?" asked Billy, pointing to the +queer-looking boxes and packages the boatswain was carrying. + +"Dynamite, battery boxes, and fuses," replied the old sailor. + +"Whatever for?" asked the young reporter. "Are you going to blow up +the ship?" + +"Not exactly, but we are going to blow her OUT." + +"Dynamite the ice, you mean?" + +"That's it." + +"Hurray, we'll soon be free of the ice-drift," cried Harry, as they +followed the boatswain forward and watched while he and several of the +crew drilled holes in the ice and adjusted the dynamite on either side +of the bow, at a distance of about two hundred feet from the ship in +either direction. + +Caps of fulminate of mercury were then affixed to the explosive and +wires led from it to the battery boxes. + +"How will that free us?" asked the professor, who, like most men who +devote all their time to one subject, was profoundly ignorant of +anything but deep sea life and natural history. + +"It is the nature of dynamite to explode downwards," said Frank. "When +that charge is set off it will blow the ice away on either side and we +shall float freely once more." + +"Wonderful," exclaimed the professor. "I had better get my deep sea +net. The explosion may kill some curious fish when it goes off." + +He hurried away to get the article in question, while the boys stood +beside Captain Hazzard, who was about to explode the heavy charges. +Everybody was ordered to hold tight to something, and then the +commander pushed the switch. + +"Click!" + +A mighty roar followed and the ship seemed to rise in the air. But +only for an instant. The next minute she settled back and those on +board her broke out in a cheer as they realized that they once more +floated free of the great ice-reef. + +The two ends of the obstruction having been blown off by the dynamite, +the center portion was not buoyant enough to support the weight of the +Southern Cross, and went scraping and bumping beneath her to bob up +harmlessly to the surface at her stern. + +There was only one dissenting voice in the general enthusiasm that +reigned on board at the thought that they were now able to proceed, +and that was the professor's. He had been untangling a forgotten rare +specimen of deep-sea lobster from his net, when the explosion came. + +In his agitation at the vessel's sudden heave and the unexpected +noise, he had let his hand slip and the creature had seized him by the +thumb. With a roar of pain the professor flung it from him and it +flopped overboard. + +"Hurray! we are off the reef, professor," shouted Frank, running aft +to help adjust a stern cable that had been thrown out when the +Southern Cross grounded. + +"So I see, but I have lost a rare specimen of deep-sea lobster," +groaned the professor, peering over the side of the ship to see if +there were any hope of recapturing his prize. + +The anchor of the Southern Cross was dropped to hold her firmly while +the steel hawser was reconnected with the Brutus, and soon the coal +ship and her consort were steaming steadily onward toward the Barrier +and the polar night. + +It grew steadily colder, but the boys did not mind the exhilarating +atmosphere. They had games of ball and clambered about in the rigging, +and kept in a fine glow in this way. The professor tried to join them +at these games, but a tumble from halfway up the slippery main shrouds +into a pile of snow, in which he was half smothered, soon checked his +enthusiasm, and he thereafter devoted himself to classifying his +specimens. + +Great albatross now began to wheel round the vessel and the sailors +caught some of the monster white and gray birds with long strings to +which they had attached bits of bread and other bait. These were flung +out into the air and the greedy creatures, making a dive for them, +soon found themselves choking. They were then easily hauled to deck. +Captain Hazzard, who disliked unnecessary cruelty, had given strict +orders that the birds were to be released after their capture, and +this was always done. The birds, however, seemed in no wise to profit +by their lessons, for one bird, on the leg of which a copper ring had +been placed to identify him, was captured again and again. + +The professor, particularly, was interested in this sport, and devised +a sort of lasso with a wire ring in it, with which he designed to +capture the largest of the great birds, a monster with a wing spread +of fully ten feet. Day after day he patiently coaxed the creature near +with bits of bread, but the bird, with great cunning, came quite close +to get the bread, but as soon as it saw the professor getting ready to +swing his "lariat" it vanished. + +"Ah-ha, my beauty, I'll get you yet," was all the professor said on +these occasions. His patience was marvelous. + +One day, as the ships were plunging along through ice-strewn seas, not +far to the eastward of the inhospitable and bleak Shetland Islands, +the professor accomplished his wish, and nearly ended his own career +simultaneously. + +The boys, who were amidships talking to Ben Stubbs, were apprised by a +loud yell that something unusual was occurring aft, and ran quickly in +that direction. There they saw a strange sight. The professor, with +his feet hooked into a deck ring, was holding with both hands to the +end of his lasso, while the albatross, which he had at last succeeded +in looping, was flapping with all its might to escape. + +"Help, help, he'll pull me overboard," screamed the professor. + +"Let go the halliards!" roared Ben, who saw that there was, indeed, +danger of what the professor feared happening. + +"I can't let him escape. Help me!" yelled the professor. + +"My feet are slipping!" he went on. + +"Let go of the albatross," shouted the boys, who with Ben were +hastening up the ladder leading to the raised stern. It did not look, +however, as if they could reach there before the professor was carried +overboard like the tail of a kite, by the huge bird he had lassoed. + +Suddenly, with a howl of terror, the professor, who never seemed to +entertain the thought of letting go of the bird, was jerked from his +foothold by a sudden lurch of the ship. + +Ben Stubbs was just in time. He sprang forward with wonderful agility +and seized the professor's long legs just as the man of science was +being pulled over the rail into space by the great albatross. + +"Let go, dod gast you!" he bellowed, jerking the lasso out of the +professor's hands, while the albatross went flapping off, a long +streamer of rope hanging from its neck. + +"I've lost my albatross," wailed the scientist. + +"And blamed near lost yer own life," angrily exclaimed Ben. "Why +didn't you let go?" + +"Why, then I'd have lost the bird," said the professor, simply. "But I +thank you for saving my life." + +"Well, don't go doin' such fool things again," said Ben, angrily, for +he had feared that he would not be in time to save the bigoted +scientist's life. + +The professor, however, was quite unruffled, and went about for some +hours lamenting the loss of the huge antarctic bird. He consoled +himself later, however, by shooting a beautiful little snow petrel, +which he stuffed and mounted and presented to Ben Stubbs, who was +quite mollified by the kind-hearted, if erratic, professor's gift. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A POLAR STORM. + + +Early in February the voyagers, whose progress had been slow, found +themselves in a veritable sea of "Pancake ice." Everywhere in a +monotonous waste the vast white field seemed to stretch, with only a +few albatrosses and petrels dotting its lonely surface. The +thermometer dropped to ten below zero, and the boys found the snug +warmth of the steam-heated cabins very desirable. There was a fair +wind, and sail had been set on the Southern Cross to aid the work of +towing her, and she was driving through the ice with a continuous +rushing and crashing sound that at first was alarming, but to which +her company soon grew accustomed. + +Captain Barrington announced at noon that day that they were then in +lat. 60 degrees 28 minutes, and longitude 59 degrees 20 minutes +West--bearings which showed that they would be, before many days had +past, at the Great Barrier itself. Excitement ran high among the boys +at the receipt of this news, and Frank and Harry, who had fitted up a +kind of work-room in the warmed hold, worked eagerly at their +auto-sledge, which was expected to be of much use in transporting +heavy loads to and from the ship to the winter quarters. + +Before the two vessels reached the Barrier, however, they were +destined to encounter a spell of bad weather. + +One evening Ben Stubbs announced to the boys, who had been admiring a +sunset of a beauty seldom seen in northern climes, that they were in +for a hard blow, and before midnight his prediction was realized. +Frank awoke in his bunk, to find himself alternately standing, as it +seemed, on his head and his feet. The Southern Cross was evidently +laboring heavily and every plank and bolt in her was complaining. Now +and again a heavy sea would hit the rudder with a force that +threatened to tear it from its pintles, solidly though it was +contrived. + +Somewhat alarmed, the boy aroused the others, and they hastened out on +deck. As they emerged from the cabin the wind seemed to blow their +breath back into their bodies and an icy hand seemed to grip them. It +was a polar-storm that was raging in all its fury. + +As she rose on a wave, far ahead the boys could see the lights of the +Brutus. Only for a second, however, for the next minute she would +vanish in the trough of a huge comber, and then they could hear the +strained towing cable "twang" like an overstretched piano wire. + +"Will it hold?" That was the thought in the minds of all. + +In order to ease the hawser as much as possible, Captain Barrington, +when he had noted the drop of the barometer, had ordered a "bridle," +or rope attachment, placed on the end of the cable, so as to give it +elasticity and lessen the effect of sudden strains, but the +mountainous seas that pounded against the blunt bows of the Southern +Cross were proving the stout steel strand to the uttermost. + +The boys tried to speak, but their words were torn from their lips by +the wind and sent scattering. In the dim light they could see the +forms of the sailors hurrying about the decks fastening additional +lashings to the deck cargo and making things as snug as possible. + +Suddenly there came a shout forward, followed by a loud "bang!" that +made itself audible even above the roar of the hurricane. + +The cable had parted! + +Considering the mountainous seas in which they were laboring and the +violence of the storm, this was a terrifying piece of intelligence. + +It meant that at any moment they might drift helplessly into some +mighty berg and be crushed like an egg-shell on its icy sides. Captain +Barrington muffled up in polar clothes and oilskins, rushed past the +boys like a ghost and ran forward shouting some order. The first and +second officers followed him. + +Presently the voice of the rapid-fire gun was heard, and the boys +could see its sharp needles of white fire splitting the black night. + +A blue glare far away answered the explosions. It was the Brutus +signaling her consort. But that was all she could do. In the terrific +sea that was running it would have been impossible to rig a fresh +cable. The only thing for the two ships to do was to keep burning +flare lights, in order that they might keep apart and not crash +together in the tempest. + +"Shall we go down, do you think?" asked Billy, shivering in spite of +himself, as a huge wave towered above them as if it would engulf the +polar ship, and then as she rose gallantly to its threatening bulk, +went careening away to leeward as if angry at being cheated of its +prey. + +"We can only hope for the best," said a voice at his elbow. It was +Captain Hazzard. "I have implicit confidence in Captain Barrington. He +is a sailor of rare mettle." + +These remarks were shouted at the top of the two speakers' voices, but +they sounded, in the midst of the turbulent uproar that raged about +them, like the merest whispers. + +Time and again it seemed that one of the great waves that came +sweeping out of the darkness must engulf them, but so far the Southern +Cross rode them like a race-horse, rising pluckily to them as they +rushed at her. Captain Barrington and his officers were trying to get +some headsail put on the vessel to keep her head up to the huge waves, +but they were unwilling to imperil any one's life by ordering him out +on the plunging bowsprit, that was now reared heavenward and again +plunged downward as if pointing to the bottom of the sea. + +Ben Stubbs it was who finally volunteered to crawl out, and two other +American seamen followed him. They succeeded, although in deadly peril +half a dozen times, in getting the jib gaskets cast loose, and then +crawled back half frozen to receive the warm plaudits of the officers +and more substantial rewards later on. With her jib hoisted, the +Southern Cross made better weather of it, but the seas were fast +becoming more mountainous and threatening. The wind screeched through +the rigging like a legion of demons. To add to the turmoil some casks +got loose and went rolling and crashing about till they finally went +overboard as a great wave toppled aboard. + +"We must see how the professor is getting on," said, or rather yelled, +Frank suddenly. + +He and the boys entered the cabin structure aft, which seemed warm and +cosy with its light and warmth after the turmoil of the terrific +battle of the elements outside. + +But a prolonged search failed to reveal any trace of the man of +science. + +Where could he be? + +A scrutiny of his cabin, even looking under the bunk, failed to reveal +him. The boys began to fear he might have been swept overboard, when +suddenly Frank exclaimed: + +"Perhaps he is in his laboratory." + +"Hiding there?" asked Billy. + +"No, I don't think so. The professor, whatever his oddities may be, is +no coward," rejoined Frank. + +"No, his search for the Patagonian dog-flea proved that," agreed +Harry. + +Frank lost no time in opening the trap-door in the floor of the main +cabin, which led into what had formerly been the "valuables room" of +the Southern Cross, but which had been fitted up now as a laboratory +for the professor. + +"There's a light burning in it," announced Frank, as he peered down. + +"Oh, professor--Professor Sandburr, are you there?" he shouted the +next moment. + +"What is it? Is the ship going down?" came back from the depths in the +voice of the professor. He seemed as calm as if it was a summer's day. + +"No, but she is having a terrible fight with the waves," replied the +boy. + +"She has broken loose from the towing ship. The cable has snapped!" +added Harry. + +"Is that so?" asked the professor calmly. "Will you boys come down +here for a minute? I want to see you." + +Wondering what their eccentric friend could possibly wish in the way +of conversation at such a time, the boys, not without some difficulty, +clambered down the narrow ladder leading into the professor's den. +They found him balancing himself on his long legs and trying to secure +his bottles and jars, every one of which held some queer creature +preserved in alcohol. The boys aided him in adjusting emergency racks +arranged for such a purpose, but not before several bottles had broken +and several strange-looking snakes and water animals, emitting a most +evil smell, had fallen on the floor. These the professor carefully +gathered up, though it was hard work to stand on the plunging floor, +and placed in new receptacles. He seemed to place great value on them. + +"So," he said finally, "you think the ship may go down?" + +"We hope for the best, but anything may happen," rejoined Frank; "we +are in a serious position. Practically helpless, we may drift into a +berg at any moment." + +"In that case we would sink?" + +"Almost to a certainty." + +"Then I want you to do something for me. Will you?" + +The boys, wondering greatly what could be coming next, agreed readily +to the old scientist's wish. Thereupon he drew out three slips of +paper. He handed one to each of the boys. + +"I wrote these out when I first thought there was danger of our +sinking," he said. + +The boys looked at the writing on their slips. They were all the same, +and on each was inscribed: + +"The man who told me that the Patagonians were a friendly race is a +traitor to science. I, Professor Simeon Sandburr, brand him a teller +of untruths. For Professor Thomas Tapper, who told me about the +fur-bearing pollywog of the South Polar seas, I have the warmest +respect. I leave all my books, bottled fishes and reptiles to the +Smithsonian Institute. My servant, James, may have my stuffed +Wogoliensuarious. My sister is to have my entire personal and real +estate. This is my last will and testament. + +"Simeon Sandburr. + +"M.A.-F.R.G.S.-M.R.H.S.-Etc., etc." + +"What are we to do with these papers?" asked Frank, hardly able, even +in the serious situation in which they then were, to keep from +laughing. + +"One of you boys may escape, even if the ship does go down," said the +professor, gravely: "If any of us should get back to civilization I +want the world to know that the Patagonians are not a friendly race, +and that I died hoping to capture the fur-bearing pollywog of the +South Polar seas." + +At this moment a sudden shock hurled them headlong against the +glass-filled shelves, smashing several bottles and releasing the +slimy, finny contents, and sending them all in a heap on the floor. + +"We have struck something!" cried Frank. + +"Something terrible has happened!" shouted Harry and Billy. + +"We are sinking, boys," yelled the professor; "don't forget my last +will and testament." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE GREAT BARRIER. + + +To rush on deck was the work of a few moments. If it was a scene of +confusion the boys had left, the sight that now met their eyes was far +more turbulent. + +"The boats! the boats! We are sinking!" + +"We are going down!" + +"The iceberg has sunk us!" + +These and a hundred other cries of terror filled the air, for the wind +seemed to have died down, though the sea still ran high, and sounds +were now more audible. Off to the starboard side of the ship the boys +perceived a mighty towering form, which they knew must be the iceberg +they had encountered. The crew fought madly for the boats. + +Suddenly a sharp voice rang out: + +"I'll shoot the first man that lays a hand on the boats!" + +It was Captain Barrington. He stood on the stern deck steadying +himself against the rail. In his hands gleamed two revolvers. Beside +him stood Captain Hazzard, a look of stern determination on his face. +Ben Stubbs and several other seamen, who had not lost their heads, +were grouped behind them prepared to quell any onslaught on the boats. + +The members of the crew, who had become panic-stricken when the +helpless ship encountered the iceberg, paused and looked shamefaced. + +"We've a right to save our lives," they muttered angrily. + +"And prove yourselves cowards," exclaimed Captain Barrington. "You +ought to be ashamed to bear the names of American seamen! Get forward, +all of you, and let me see no more of this." + +The stern voice of their commander and his evident command of himself +reassured the panic-stricken crew and they withdrew to the forecastle. +Their shame was the more keen when it was found that, while the +Southern Cross had been severely bumped by the iceberg, her stout +timbers had sustained no damage. + +By daybreak the sea had calmed down somewhat, and the wind had still +further moderated. But the danger was by no means over till they could +get in communication with the Brutus. Frank was set to work on the +wireless and soon "raised" the towing ship, the captain of which was +delighted to hear of his consort's safety. The position of the +Southern Cross being ascertained, her bearings were wirelessed to the +Brutus, and she then cast anchor to await the arrival of the towing +ship. + +As the line was once more made fast, having been spliced till it was +as strong as new, the professor came up to the boys. He looked rather +sheepish. + +"Would you mind giving me back those papers I gave you last night," he +said. + +"You mean the last will and testament?" Frank could not help saying. + +"That's it. I have changed my mind. I will show up that Patagonian +fellow in a book." + +The professor, as he received the little slips of paper, scattered +them into tiny bits and threw them overboard. + +"You are quite sure you have not been fooled also on the fur-bearing +pollywog?" asked Frank. + +"Quite," replied the professor, solemnly. "Professor Tapper is one of +our greatest savants." + +"But so was your friend who told you the Patagonians were a friendly +tribe," argued Frank. + +"I am quite sure that Professor Tapper could not have been mistaken, +however." + +"Has Professor Tapper ever been in the South Polar regions?" asked +Billy, seriously. + +"Why, no," admitted the professor; "but he has proved that there must +be a fur-bearing pollywog down here." + +"In what manner has he been able to prove it?" asked Harry. + +"He has written three volumes about it. They are in the Congressional +library. Then he contributed a prize-essay on it to the Smithsonian +Institute, which has bound it up with my report on the Canadian Bull +Frog. He is a very learned man." + +"But the South Polar pollywog is then only a theory?" + +"Well, yes--so far," admitted the professor; "but it is reserved for +me to gain the honor of positively proving the strange creature's +existence." + +"And if there should be no such thing in existence?" asked Frank. + +"Then I shall write a book denouncing Professor Tapper," said the +professor, with an air of finality, and turning away to examine the +water through a pair of binoculars. + +On moved the ships and at last, early one day, Captain Barrington +called the boys on deck and, with a wave of the hand, indicated a huge +white cliff, or palisade, which rose abruptly from the green water and +seemed to stretch to infinity in either direction. + +"The Great Barrier," he said, simply. + +"Which will be our home for almost a year," added Captain Hazzard. + +The boys gazed in wonder at the mighty wall of snow and ice as it +glittered in the sunlight. It was, indeed, a Great Barrier. At the +point where they lay it rose to a height of 130 feet or more from the +water, which was filled with great detached masses of ice. Further on +it seemed to sweep to even greater heights. + +This was the barrier at which Lieutenant Wilkes, on his unlucky +expedition, had gazed. The mighty wall that Shackleton and Scott, the +Englishmen, had scaled and then fought their way to "furthest South" +beyond. The names of many other explorers, French, English, Danish, +and German, rushed into the boys' minds as they gazed. + +Were they destined to penetrate the great mysteries that lay beyond +it? Would their airship be successful in wresting forth the secret of +the great white silence? + +"Well?" said Captain Barrington, breaking the silence at length, with +a smile; "pretty big proposition, eh?" + +The boys gazed up at him awe-struck. + +"We never dreamed it was anything like this," said Frank. "I always +pictured the Great Barrier as something more or less imaginary." + +"Pretty solid bit of imagination, that ice-wall yonder," laughed +Captain Hazzard. + +"How are we ever going to get on the top of it?" asked Billy. + +"We must steam along to the westward till we find a spot where it +shelves," was the reply. + +"Then it is not as high as this all the way round the polar regions?" + +"No, in places it shelves down till to make a landing in boats is +simple. We must look for one of those spots." + +"What is the nature of the country beyond?" asked Frank, deeply +interested. + +"Ice and snow in great plateaus, with here and there monster +glaciers," was the reply of Captain Hazzard. "In places, too, immense +rocky cliffs tower up, seeming to bar all further progress into the +mystery of the South Pole." + +"Mountains?" gasped Billy. + +"Yes, and even volcanoes. This has given rise to a supposition that at +the pole itself there may be flaming mountains, the warmth of which +would have caused an open polar sea to form." + +"Nobody knows for certain, then?" asked Frank. + +"No, nobody knows for certain," repeated Captain Hazzard, his eyes +fixed on the great white wall. "Perhaps we shall find out." + +"Perhaps," echoed Frank, quite carried away by the idea. + +"What is known about the location of the pole?" asked Billy. + +"It is supposed to lie on an immensely high plateau, possibly 20,000 +feet above sea level. Shackleton got within a hundred miles of it he +believes." + +"And then he had to turn back," added Captain Barrington. + +"Yes; lack of provisions and the impossibility of traveling quickly +after his Manchurian ponies had died compelled him to leave the +mystery unsolved. Let us hope it remains for the American flag to be +planted at the pole." + +"Are there any animals or sea-creatures there, do you know?" inquired +the professor, who had been an interested listener. + +"If there is an open polar sea there is no doubt that there is life in +it," was the answer, with a smile; "but what form such creatures would +assume we cannot tell." + +"Perhaps hideous monsters?" suggested the imaginative Billy. + +"More likely creatures like whales or seals," returned Captain +Hazzard. + +"If there is such a thing as a creature with a South Polar flea in its +fur I would like to catch it," hopefully announced the scientist. + +"Seals are covered with them," rejoined the officer. + +"Pooh, those are just common seal-fleas," returned the professor. "I +would like to find an insect that makes its home at the pole itself." + +"Well, perhaps you will," was the rejoinder. + +"I hope so," said the professor. "It would be very interesting." + +All this time the two vessels were steaming slowly westward along the +inhospitable barrier that seemed, as Frank said, to have been erected +by nature to keep intruders away from the South Polar regions. As the +professor concluded his last remark the lookout gave a sudden hail. + +"Shipwrecked sailors!" + +"Where away?" shouted Captain Barrington. + +"Off to the starboard bow, sir," came back the hail. + +Captain Barrington raised his glasses and looked in the direction +indicated. The boys, too, brought binoculars to bear. They were +greatly excited to see what seemed to be four men standing up and +waving their arms on a raft drifting at some distance away. + +"Lower a boat," commanded Captain Barrington. + +The command was speedily complied with--in a few seconds one of the +stanch lifeboats lay alongside. + +"Do you boys want to go?" asked Captain Hazzard. + +"Do we?" asked Billy. "I should say." + +"All right, away with you." + +"Can I go, too? I might get some specimens," asked the professor, +eagerly. + +"Yes, but don't try to catch any more killer whales," was the answer, +which brought a general laugh. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE PROFESSOR TAKES A COLD BATH. + + +"Give way, men!" shouted Ben Stubbs, who was in command of the boat; +"them poor fellers must be perishin' of cold and hunger." + +The boat fairly flew through the water, skillfully avoiding, under +Ben's careful steering, the great floes of ice which were drifting +about. + +The boys and the professor were in the bow, eagerly scanning the raft +with the four black figures upon it. The castaways kept waving their +arms in the most pitiable fashion. + +Suddenly the professor exclaimed: + +"There's something queer about those men!" + +"You'd be queer, too, if you was drifting about the polar seas on an +old raft," returned Ben Stubbs. + +All the men laughed at this and the professor said no more. But he +scanned the "castaways" carefully, and so did the boys. As they drew +nearer, the latter also began to observe that they were the funniest +looking men they had ever seen. + +"They've got on long black coats with white waistcoats to their +knees," cried Billy. + +"So they have," exclaimed Harry. "If it wasn't too ridiculous, you'd +say they had on evening clothes." + +"They're not men at all," suddenly shouted the professor, with an air +of triumph. "I thought I was not mistaken." + +"Not men!" roared Ben. "What are the poor critters, then--females?" + +"Neither men nor women," was the astonishing reply. "They are +penguins." + +All the men turned at this, and one of them, who had sailed in the +polar regions before, announced, with a shout of laughter: + +"The doc is right. Them's Emperor penguins, sure enough--taking a +joy-ride through the ice." + +The queer birds betrayed not the slightest excitement at the approach +of the boat, but stood gazing solemnly at it, waving their little +flippers,--somewhat like those of a seal, only feathered,--up and down +in a rhythmic way. + +"They act like band leaders," was Frank's remark. + +"Better go back to the ship," said Ben, much disgusted at the upshoot +of the expedition, and somewhat chagrined, too, if the truth must be +told, at the professor's triumph over him. + +"No, let us catch one," urged the professor. "I would like to see if +it is possible to tame one." + +"Yes, let's go up to them and see what they look like at close range," +cried Frank. + +"All right, if we don't waste too much time," agreed Ben. "Give way, +men." + +They soon drew near the strange South Polar birds who blinked solemnly +at them as if to say: + +"And who may you be?" + +As they bobbed up and down on the piece of drift wood the boys had +mistaken for a raft, the sight was so ludicrous that the boys burst +into a hearty laugh. + +"Hush," warned the professor, holding up his hand; "you may scare +them." + +They were big birds of their kind, standing fully four feet, and it +was not strange that from the ship they had been mistaken for +shipwrecked men; indeed, it is not the first time such an incident has +occurred in the South Polar climes. + +"Steady now, men," said the professor, bowing his lean form over the +bow of the boat as they drew near to the penguins. + +"Ah! my feathered beauties, if you will only stay there and not move, +I will soon have one of you," he whispered to himself, as the +boat,--the men rowing as silently as possible,--glided alongside. + +The birds made no sign of moving, and evidently had not the slightest +fear of the strange beings, such as the newcomers must have seemed to +them. Instead, they seemed mildly curious and stretched their necks +out inquiringly. + +"Here, chick-chick-chicky," called the professor, by an odd +inspiration, as if he were calling to the chickens in the barnyard at +home. + +"Here, chick-chick-chicky. Pretty chick-chick-chicky." + +Suddenly he made a grab for the nearest penguin, and at the same +instant the boys gave a shout of dismay. As he seized it, the +creature--affrighted when it felt the professor's bony arms about +it,--had dived and the scientist, losing his balance, had followed it +into the water. + +This might not have been so serious, but the other penguins, seeing +the professor's plight, started to attack him, beating him back into +the icy water every time he came to the surface. + +"Ouch, you brute--oh, boys, help--o-o-o-h, this water is cold. Get me +out, somebody. Scat, get away, you penguins." + +These were some of the cries uttered by the luckless professor, as he +struggled to get to the inside of the boat. + +When they could, for laughing at the ludicrous plight, the men and the +boys beat off the big penguins with the oars and hauled the professor +into the boat. His nose was pecked badly and was of a ruddy hue from +his misadventure. Fortunately, one of the men had some stimulant with +him and this was given to the professor to drink and the strong stuff +quickly revived him. He sat up in the boat and talked with animation +while the boat was being rowed back to the ship. + +"Bless my soul, what an adventure," he puffed. "Ouch, my poor nose. I +thought the penguins would peck it off. Boys, that penguin was as +slippery as a greased pig and as fat as butter. Oh, dear, what a +misadventure, and I've ruined a good suit of clothes and broken a +bottle of specimens I had in the pockets. Never mind, I can catch some +more." + +Thus the professor rattled on, from time to time feeling his very +prominent nose, apparently in some doubt as to whether he still +retained the feature. + +"I guess you are cured of penguin hunting?" remarked Frank. + +"Who, I?" asked the professor, in mild surprise. "Oh, no, my dear boy. +I will get a penguin yet, even if I have to fight a regiment of them. +I'll get one, never fear, and tame him to eat out of my hand." + +"I hope so, I'm sure," said Frank, with a smile at the odd old man's +enthusiasm. + +"Hullo, what's that?" cried Billy, suddenly pointing. + +"What?" chorused the boys. + +"Why that creature off there on the ice flapping about,--it seems to +be in distress." + +"There is certainly something the matter with it," agreed Frank. + +What seemed to be a huge bird was struggling and flapping about on the +floes at no great distance from them. + +"Other birds are attacking it!" cried Billy. + +It was so, indeed. Numerous albatrosses and other large sea birds and +gulls were hovering above the struggling creature, from time to time +diving and pecking it. + +"What in the world can it be?" cried Frank. + +"We might go and see, but the professor is wet and should get back to +the ship," said Ben. + +"Oh, my dear sir, don't mind me," demurred that individual. "If I +could have a little more of the stimulant--ah, thank you--as I was +saying, I am never in a hurry to go anywhere when there is an +interesting question of natural history to be solved." + +"Very well, then," said Ben, heading the boat about; "if you catch +cold, don't blame me." + +"Oh dear, no. I wouldn't think of such a thing," said the professor, +his eyes eagerly fixed on the disturbance of the birds. + +"It's a big wounded albatross!" suddenly exclaimed Billy, as the boat +drew near to the object the other birds were attacking. + +"So it is," cried Harry. + +"A monster, too," supplemented the professor. "It would be a great +find for any collection." + +"Perhaps we can catch it and stuff it," cried Billy. + +"Perhaps so; but we must hurry or the others will have pecked it to +bits." + +The boat flew through the water, and soon they were near enough to +drive the other birds away. The wounded albatross, however, did not +rise, but lay flapping on the ice. + +"Why, bless my soul, how very extraordinary!" cried the professor, +forgetting his wet clothes and his chill in his excitement. + +"What is?" asked Frank. + +"Why something seems to be holding the bird down under water," was the +answer. + +"It's a string!" suddenly cried Ben, standing up in the stern of the +boat. + +"A string?" echoed the professor. + +"Sure enough," was the reply. + +And so it proved. The albatross was held down by a bit of string +encircling its neck so tightly as to almost choke it, and which had +become caked with ice till it was quite heavy. + +"I know that bird," shouted the professor, suddenly, as they drew +alongside it. + +"You know it?" echoed the others, thinking the old man had taken leave +of his senses. + +"Yes, yes," cried the professor. "It's the one that nearly dragged me +overboard. See whether the wire loop is still round its neck." + +"It sure is," exclaimed Ben, as, disregarding the pecks of the big +bird, he dragged it struggling into the boat and pinioned its wings. + +"Well, this is a most extraordinary happening," smiled the professor, +as happy as if he had been left a million dollars. "This will be most +interesting to scientists and will make my name famous. 'The Sandburr +albatross, which flew many scores of miles with my lasso round its +neck.' Wonderful. Poor creature. I suppose as it dipped into the waves +for its food a thin film of ice formed on the cord till it grew too +heavy for it to carry." + +"That's right," said Ben, who had cut the lasso and released the +creature from its hampering weight. "I'll bet this weighs ten or +twelve pounds." + +He held out a huge chunk of ice for their inspection. + +"That's great weight for a bird to carry so many miles," said Frank. + +"It is, indeed," said the professor, patting the bound albatross on +the head. "That makes it all the more remarkable." + +"What are you going to do with the albatross, now that you have him?" +inquired Billy Barnes. + +"I must make a cage for him out of packing cases, and perhaps we can +tame him," said the professor. + +All agreed that this would be an interesting experiment, and the boat +pulled back to the ship with one passenger more than she had left it +with. As for the professor, he was in the seventh heaven of delight +all the way back. + +He sat on a stern seat by the albatross, which was looking wildly +about, and kept talking to it as if he thought it could understand +him. + +"Ah, my beauty, I'll astonish Professor Tapper with you when I get +home," he said; "you are worthy to be ranked with the fur-bearing +South Polar pollywog. I will feed you till your feathers shine and you +are the envied of all birds. I am the most fortunate man in the +world." + +All hands enjoyed a hearty laugh as, on the return to the ship, their +adventures were narrated. + +"The poor professor never seems to go out but what he gets into some +pickle or other," laughed Captain Barrington, who was joined in his +merriment by Captain Hazzard. "But, dear me," he went on, "where is +the professor?" + +They ran out on deck and found the man of science seated in the boat, +which had not yet been hauled up, as the vessels were not to weigh +anchor till the next day,--the berth where they lay being a snug one. + +"Why don't you come on board, professor?" asked Captain Hazzard, +indicating the accommodation ladder, which had been lowered. + +"I-I'd like to, but I can't," responded the professor. + +"You can't? Why, what on earth do you mean? You'll freeze to death +down there," roared Captain Barrington. + +"I wish you'd send down a small stove," wailed the scientist. + +"A small stove; why, what do you want with that?" + +"Why the fact is, I'm sozzen to the feet--I mean frozen to the seat, +and if you can't send down a stove, send down another pair of +trousers!" was the calm reply. + +When the perfect tempest of laughter at the poor professor's expense +had subsided, he was hauled to the deck in the boat and handed a long +coat. Only till then would he consent to get up from the seat, an +operation which was attended by a loud sound of ripping and tearing. + +"Ha, ha, ha," roared Captain Hazzard. "First the professor nearly +loses his life, and then he loses his trousers!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +FACING THE POLAR NIGHT. + + +After steaming for several hours the next day, the Great Barrier +opened into a small bight with shelving shores, which seemed to +promise an easy landing place. A boat party, including the professor +and the boys, was organized and the pull to the shore begun, after the +two ships had swung to anchor. + +The beach was a shelving one, formed of what seemed broken-off +portions of volcanic rock. A short distance back from the shore there +were several rocky plateaus, clear of snow, which seemed to offer a +good site for pitching camp. From the height, too, the boys could see, +at no great distance, stretched out on the snow, several dark forms +that looked not unlike garden slugs at that distance. + +"What are they?" asked Billy. + +"Seals," replied the professor; "though of what variety I do not know, +and it is impossible to tell at this distance." + +Captain Barrington and Captain Hazzard, after viewing the landing +place and its surroundings, decided that a better spot could hardly be +found, and the men were set to work at once marking out a site for the +portable hut, which was to form the main eating and dwelling place, +and the smaller structure in which the officers of the expedition were +to make their homes. + +The work of setting up the main hut, which had double walls, the space +between being filled with cork dust and felt, was soon accomplished, +and it was then divided off into small rooms. In the center a big +table was set up and at one end a huge stove was placed for heating +and cooking. At the other end the acetylene gas-plant, for providing +light during the antarctic night, was provided. A big porch provided +means of entrance and egress. This porch was fitted with double doors +to prevent any cold air or snow being driven into the house when it +was opened. + +Captain Barrington and Captain Hazzard each had a small hut, another +was shared by Doctor Gregg and the first officer, while the boys and +the professor occupied still another. The engineer and Ben Stubbs were +placed in charge of the main hut, in which the twelve men who were to +be left behind after the Brutus sailed north, were to find quarters. + +When everything had been fixed in position, a task that took more than +a week, the work of unloading the provisions and supplies was begun. +The cases which did not hold perishable goods, or ones likely to be +affected by cold, were piled about the walls of the main hut as an +additional protection against snow and cold. The glass jars of fruit +and others of the supplies were stored inside the main hut, where they +could be kept from freezing. The various scientific instruments of the +expedition were stored in the huts occupied by Captain Barrington and +Captain Hazzard. These huts, as well as the one occupied by the boys +and Professor Sandburr, were all warmed by a system of hot-air pipes +leading from the main stove in the hut. Specially designed oil heaters +were also provided. A short distance away the aeroplane shed or +"hanger" was set up. + +The coal, wood, oil and fuel the expedition would need in its long +sojourn were stored in a canvas and wood shelter some distance from +the main camp, so as to avoid any danger of fire. When all was +completed and big steel stays passed above the roofs of the huts to +keep them in position, even in the wildest gale, a tall flag-pole, +brought for the purpose, was set up and the Stars and Stripes hoisted. + +While all these preparations had been going on, the boys and the +professor had made several hunting trips over the ice and snow in the +neighborhood of the camp. Some little distance back from the barrier +they had been delighted to find two small lakes, connected by a narrow +neck of water, which they promptly christened Green Lake. The water in +these was warmish, and the professor said he had little doubt it was +fed by volcanic springs. + +The lakes swarmed with seals, and the boys' first seal hunt was an +experience they were not likely to forget. Armed with light rifles, +they and the professor set out for the seal grounds one morning on +which the thermometer recorded seven degrees below zero. All wore +their antarctic suits, however, and none felt the cold, severe as it +was. + +As they neared the seal grounds the soft-eyed creatures raised their +heads and regarded them with mild astonishment. A few of them dived +into the waters of Green Lake, but the rest stood their ground. + +"There is one with a young one," shouted the professor, suddenly. "I +must have it. I will tame it." + +He dashed upon the mother seal, who promptly raised herself up and +struck the professor a violent blow with her fin. + +The professor was caught off his guard and, losing his footing, +staggered back several steps. As he did so Frank cried a note of +warning. The steep icy bank above Green Lake was below the scientist's +heel. Before he had time to heed the boys' warning cry the professor, +with a yell of amazement, slid backwards into the green pool, from +which he emerged, blowing and puffing as if he had been a seal. +Luckily, the water was warm and he suffered no serious consequences, +but thereafter he was much more careful. + +The boys could not bring themselves to kill the seals that seemed so +gentle and helpless, but some of the men acted as butchers later on, +for seal meat is a valuable ration in the antarctic. + +"Wait till you lads encounter a leopard seal, or a sea elephant," said +Captain Hazzard, when the boys confided their scruples to him. + +"Sea leopards!" exclaimed Frank. + +"Sea elephants!" echoed Harry. + +"Yes, certainly," laughed the captain. "The creatures are well named, +too. The sea leopard is as formidable as his namesake on land. The sea +elephant is his big brother in size and ferocity." + +"I shall give them a wide berth," said the professor. "That killer +whale was enough for me." + +"You will be wise, too," was the rejoinder, and the captain turned to +busy himself with his books and papers, for this conversation occurred +about noon in his hut. + +The next day there were good-byes to be said. The polar winter was +near at hand, when the sea for miles beyond the barrier would freeze +solid and it would have been foolhardy for the Brutus, which had +discharged all her coal but that necessary to steam north with, to +have remained longer. She sailed early in the morning, bearing with +her letters to their friends in the north, which the boys could not +help thinking might be the last they would ever write them. Unknown +perils and adventures lay before them. How they would emerge from them +they did not know. + +All experienced a feeling of sadness as the ship that had gallantly +towed them into their polar berth lessened on the horizon, and then +vanished altogether in the direction of the north. The Southern Cross +alone remained now, but she was no longer their floating home, most of +her stores and comforts having been removed to the shore. Her boilers +were emptied and piping disconnected in preparation for her sojourn in +the ice. + +With so much to be done, however, the adventurers could not long feel +melancholy, even though they knew their letters from home would not +reach them till the arrival of the relief ship late in the next +autumn. + +The first duty tackled by Captain Hazzard was to call all the members +of the expedition into the main hut and give them a little talk on the +dangers, difficulties and responsibilities that lay before them. The +men cheered him to the echo when he had finished, and each set about +the duties assigned to him. Ben Stubbs was ordered to set the watches +for the nights and adjust any minor details that might occur to him. + +"I want to speak to you boys for a minute," said Captain Hazzard, as +he left the hut and returned to his own. + +Wondering what he could have to say to them the boys followed him. + +"As you boys know, we are not alone in our anxiety to reach the pole," +he began. "There is another nation anxious to achieve the glory also. +How much of our plans they have gained possession of, I do not know. +No doubt, not as much as they would have in their possession if the +Jap had not been captured. I am pretty confident that they know +nothing of the treasure ship, for instance. But it is probable that +they will watch us, as they have some suspicion that we are after more +than the pole itself, and have an ulterior object." + +"Then you think that the Japanese expedition has landed?" asked Frank. + +"They must have, if they made any sort of time," replied Captain +Hazzard. "Our own progress down the coast was very slow, and they have +probably established a camp already." + +"Where?" + +"That, of course, I have no means of knowing," was the reply. "I +suppose that they are somewhere to the west of us, however. What I +wanted to impress on you, however, is that some time ago a big +dirigible was purchased abroad, and it is believed that it was for the +use of the Japanese polar expedition, as it had means provided +specially to warm the gas and prevent its condensation in extremely +cold climates." + +The boys nodded, but did not interrupt. + +"It would be an easy matter for them to scout in such a ship and maybe +discover our camp," said the captain. "For that reason I want to ask +you boys to set an extra night watch of your own. Nobody else need +know anything about it. I feel that I can rely on you more than any of +the other subordinates of the expedition, excepting Ben Stubbs, and he +is too busy to do everything." + +The boys willingly agreed to keep out a watch for any airship that +might appear, although privately they thought it was a bit of extra +caution that was unnecessary. + +"I don't see why any one who could keep out of the cold at night, +would want to go scooting around in an airship in the dark for," said +Billy, when they were all seated in their own hut. + +"Captain Hazzard knows best," said Frank, shortly. "You and Harry had +better take the first watch tonight, and I and--" + +He stopped, puzzled. Who was to take the other watch with him? After +some reflection they decided on asking the captain if a colored man, +who acted as cook, couldn't be placed on to be Frank's companion. He +was the only person they could think of whose duties would permit him +to take the job, as his duties were only to cook for the officers, and +were consequently light. + +Moreover, he was a trustworthy man and not likely to gossip if he saw +anything strange. Captain Hazzard readily gave his consent to the +colored man, whose name was Rastus Redwing, being Frank's companion on +the night watch. + +"We can have our breakfast cooked by the other man," he said, "and +then all Rastus will have to do will be to prepare lunch and dinner +and extra pay." + +But Rastus, when the plan was broached to him, was by no means so +willing. + +"Wha' me tramp, tramp, tramp roun' in dat dar ice and snow all de +night time?" he gasped. "Laws a me Massa Frank, wha' kin' of man yo +all tink dese yar darky am?" + +"It only means a few hours' more work, and you get double pay for it," +said Frank. + +"Oh-ho, dat alters de circumference ob de question," said Rastus, +scratching his head, when this had been explained to him. "All right, +Massa Frank, yo' count on me at twelve to-night fo' sho." + +"Very well," said Frank. "I shall--and see that you are there." + +"Ah'll be dar, don' you nebbe fear fo' dat," chuckled the colored man. +"Huh-huh double pay and no brakfus' ter git. Dat's what I calls +LIVIN'--yas, sah." + +As Frank, well pleased at having adjusted the business of the night +watches so easily, was striding over the snow-powdered rocks toward +the boys' hut, he heard a sudden disturbance behind the main hut and +loud cries of: + +"Help! help!" + +The person who was uttering them seemed to be in great distress and +was apparently in dire need of aid. + +"It's the professor," shouted Frank, as the cries were repeated. +"Whatever can have happened to him now." + +As he spoke, the professor came dashing toward the camp, his arms were +outstretched as if in entreaty, and his long legs going up and down +like piston rods, at such speed was he running. + +"Whatever is that caught to his coat tails?" exclaimed Frank, as he +saw that a large, heavy creature of some kind was clinging fast to the +flying professor's garment. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +A MYSTERIOUS LIGHT. + + +"Take him off,--take him off. If I were not running he'll bite me," +shrieked the scientist as he sped along. + +"Whatever is it?" shouted Frank, regarding the strange sight with +amazement. + +"It's a sea-leopard. Ouch!--he bit me then. Shoot him or something," +screamed the professor, scooting round in circles like a professional +runner; for he knew that if he stopped the creature would surely nip +him hard. + +Frank hastily ran into the hut for his rifle and returned in a moment +followed by the others. Half the occupants of the camp were out by +this time to watch the outcome of the professor's quandary. + +Frank raised his rifle and took careful aim--or as careful aim as he +could with the professor rushing along at such a pace, but even as the +rifle cracked the professor tripped on a snow hummock and down he +came. The yell he set up echoed back from the naked, rocky crags that +towered at the back of the camp. + +"Don't holler so, the creature's dead," cried Frank, as he and the +boys came running up to where the recumbent professor lay howling in +the snow. + +"Oh, dear, I do seem to have the worst luck," moaned the scientist. +"First, I'm nearly drowned by a killer whale, then I'm almost pollowed +by a swenguin--no, I mean swallowed by a penguin, and now a sea +leopard attacks me." + +As he spoke the professor got to his feet and the dead sea-leopard, as +he called it, fell over on the snow. It was a ponderous creature, much +like a seal, but with huge tusks and a savage expression, even in +death. It was about five feet in length. + +"What made it tackle you?" asked Harry. + +"I was down by the beach collecting some curious specimens of polar +sea-slugs, when I felt a tug at my coat-tails," said the scientist. "I +looked round and saw this creature glaring at me." + +"Why didn't you shoot at it?" asked Billy, noting the outline of the +professor's revolver under his coattail. + +"I had placed a specimen of antarctic star-moss in the barrel of my +revolver for safe-keeping, and didn't wish to disturb it," explained +the professor; "so I thought the best thing to do under the +circumstances was to run. I never dreamed the creature would cling +on." + +"Well it did, and like a bull-dog, too," said Billy. + +"We'll have to be careful and not get snarled up with any +sea-leopards," said Harry, who had been examining the dead animal. +"Look at the monster's tusks." + +"Yes, he could make a fine meal off any of you boys," remarked the +professor. + +Suddenly he fell on his knees beside the sea-leopard and began +examining it carefully. + +"What in the world are you doing, now?" asked Frank. + +"I thought I might find a sea-leopard flea," was the response of the +engrossed scientist. + +"Ah," he exclaimed, making a sudden dart; "here is one, a beauty, too. +Ah, ha, my fine fellow, no use your wriggling, I have you fast." + +As he spoke he drew out one of the bottles of which receptacles his +pockets seemed to be always full, and popped the sea-leopard flea into +it. + +"That will be a very valuable addition to science," he said, looking +round triumphantly. + +A few days after this incident the polar night began to shut down in +grim earnest. Sometimes for days the boys and the other adventurers +would be confined to the huts. Entertainments were organized and +phonograph concerts given, and, when it was possible to venture out, +hunting trips in a neighboring seal-ground were attempted. All these +things helped to while away the monotony of the long darkness. In the +meantime the commanders of the expedition laid their plans for the +spring campaign, when the boys' aerial dash was to be made. + +On one of the milder nights, when Frank and Rastus were on watch, +their first intimation that a strange and mysterious presence shared +their lonely vigil was made manifest. It was Rastus who called Frank's +attention to what was eventually to prove a perplexing puzzle to the +pole hunters. + +As the colored man and Frank were pacing outside the huts, keeping +their watch, the negro suddenly gripped the boy's arm. + +"Fo' de lub ob goodness, man, wha's dat?" he exclaimed, getting as +pale as it is possible for a negro to become. + +"What?" demanded the boy. "I can't see anything." + +He stared about him in the gloom. + +"Ain't nuffin ter SEE," rejoined Rastus, in a low, awed tone. "But, +hark!" + +The negro's ears, sharper than those of the white boy, had caught a +sound that later became audible to Frank. + +It was a most peculiar sound. + +Coming from no one direction that one could indicate with certainty, +it seemed to fill the whole air with a buzzing noise that beat almost +painfully on the eardrums. + +While he gazed about, in perplexity at the phenomenon, Frank suddenly +descried something that almost startled him into an outcry. + +In the sky far to the westward and, seemingly, high in the air, there +hovered a bright light! + +The next instant it vanished so suddenly as to leave some doubt in the +boy's mind as to whether he had really seen it,--and, if he had, if it +might not have been a star or some other heavenly body. + +He turned to his companion. + +"Rastus, did you see a light in the sky there a second ago?" + +The boy pointed in the direction in which the mystery had appeared. + +"A light--?" repeated the puzzled negro, still scared at the buzzing +sound, which had now ceased. "You done say a light--a reg'lar LIGHT, +light?" + +"Yes, yes," impatiently; "did you see one?" + +"No, sah, no, indeedy," was the indignant response; "ah don' see no +lights." + +"That's strange," said Frank, half to himself. "You are quite sure?" + +Again the negro denied all knowledge of having beheld such a thing. + +"Ef ah'd done seed anyfing lak dat," he declared; "ah'd hev bin +skedaddlin' fer ther hut lak er chicken wif a hungry coon afta' +it,--yas, sah." + +Thoroughly convinced that his imagination had played him a trick, +Frank did not mention the incident, to his fellow adventurers and soon +almost forgot it. It was recalled to his mind in a startling manner a +few nights later. + +This time it was Rastus that saw the strange light, and the yell that +he set up alarmed the entire camp. + +"Oh, Lordy--oo-o-o-o-ow, Lawdy!" he shrieked; "ah done see a ghosess +way up in dar sky, Massa Frank!" + +Frank seized the black by the arm, as he started to run. + +"What do you mean, you big black coward," he exclaimed. "What's the +matter with you?" + +"Oh, dat dar light," wailed Rastus. "Dat ain't no human light dat +ain't; dat light's a way up in dar sky. It's a polar ghosess, dat's +wha' dat is--de ghos' ob some dead sailor." + +"Don't talk nonsense," sharply ordered Frank, as the others, hastily +bundled in their furs, came rushing out. + +"Whatever is the matter?" demanded Captain Hazzard, gazing sternly at +the trembling negro. + +"Oh, Massa Hazzard, ah done see a ghos' light in dar sky," he yelled. + +"Silence, sir, and stop that abominable noise. Frank, what do you know +about this?" + +"Only that I really believe he saw such a thing, sir." + +"What, a light in the sky!" echoed Captain Barrington. "Did you see +it, too?" + +"Not to-night, sir." + +"Then it has appeared before?" + +"Yes, it has," was the reply. + +"But you said nothing of it," exclaimed Captain Hazzard. + +"No; I thought it might be imagination. It appeared for such a short +time that I could not be certain if it was not a trick of the +imagination." + +"Well, it begins to look as if Rastus is telling the truth," was the +officer's comment. + +"Yas, sah, yas sah, I'se tellin' de truf, de whole truf, and +everything but de truf," eagerly stuttered the negro. + +"Where did you first see the light?" demanded Captain Hazzard. + +"Right ober de grable (gable) ob de ruuf ob de big hut," was the +reply. + +"That's about where I saw it," burst out Frank. + +"Was it stationary?" asked Captain Hazzard. + +"Yas, sah; it's station was airy, dat's a fac'," grinned Rastus. "It +was high up in de air." + +"That's not what I mean, at all," snapped Captain Hazzard. "Was it +moving or standing still?" + +"Oh, ah see what yo' mean, Captain Hazzard,--no, sir, der was no +circumlocution ob de objec', in fac', sah, it was standin' still." + +"For how long did you watch it?" + +"Wall, sah, it jes flash lak de wink ob an eye and den it was gone." + +"Possibly it was some sort of antarctic lightning-bug," ventured the +professor, who had been intently listening to the account of the +strange light. + +"Hardly likely," smiled Captain Barrington. "Tell us, Rastus, what it +looked most like to you--what did it resemble?" + +"Wall, sah, it presembled mos'ly dat big laight what yo' see on a +snortermobile befo' it runs ober you. Yas, sah, Cap't Barranton, dat's +what it looked lak, fo' sho." + +"Does that tally with your impression of it, Frank?" asked Captain +Hazzard. + +"Yes, sir, Rastus has put it very well. It was more like an automobile +headlight than anything else." + +"Well, nobody could be driving an automobile in the sky," put in the +professor, decisively, as if the matter were disposed of in this way +without any more argument being wasted. + +"No, but there are other vehicles that are capable of rising above the +earth," spoke Captain Hazzard, thoughtfully. + +"For instance--?" breathed Frank, with a half-formed idea of what he +meant. + +"For instance, airships," was the quiet reply. + +"Airships," exclaimed Captain Barrington. "Then you think---?" + +"That we have some very undesirable neighbors at close quarters," +rejoined Captain Hazzard. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A PENGUIN HUNT. + + +Although, as may be imagined, a closer watch than ever was kept during +the period of darkness, nothing more was seen that winter of the +mysterious light. The dim twilight preceding spring began to appear in +February without there being any recurrence of the mysterious +incident. The coming of the season in which they hoped to accomplish +such great things, found the camp of the adventurers in splendid trim. +Everyone from Captain Hazzard down to the professor's albatross, which +by this time had become quite tame, was in fine health, and there had +been not the slightest trace of illness among the adventurers. + +The motor-sledge was put together as soon as the September spring +began to advance, and was found to work perfectly. As it has not been +described in detail hitherto, a few words may be devoted to it at this +point. + +It was a contrivance, about twenty feet long by three wide, supported +on hollow "barrels" of aluminum. The sledge itself was formed of a +vanadium steel frame with spruce planking, and was capable of carrying +a load of a thousand pounds at thirty miles an hour over even the +softest snow, as its cylindrical supports did not sink into the snow +as ordinary wheels would have done. The motor was a forty-horse power +automobile machine with a crank-case enclosed in an outer case in +which a vacuum had been created--on the principle of the bottles which +keep liquids cold or warm. In this instance the vacuum served to keep +the oil in the crank-case, which was poured in warm, at an even +temperature. The gasolene tank, which held twenty gallons, was also +vacuum-enclosed, and as an additional precaution the warm gases from +the exhaust were inducted around it, and the space used for storing +extra cans of fuel. + +Specially prepared oils and a liberal mixing of alcohol with the +gasolene afforded a safeguard against any sudden freezing of the vital +fluids. The engine was, of course, jacketed, but was air-cooled, as +water circulation would have been impracticable in the polar regions. + +The test of the weird-looking contrivance was made on a day in early +spring, when, as far as the eye could reach, a great solid sea of ice +spread to the northward, and to the south only a vast expanse of snowy +level was visible,--with far in the distance the outlines of some +mountains which, in Captain Hazzard's belief, guarded the plateau on +the summit of which perhaps lay the South Pole. + +The Southern Cross lay sheathed in ice, and the open sea, through +which she had approached the Great Barrier, was now a solid ocean of +glacial ice. If it did not break up as the spring advanced the +prospect was bad for the adventurers getting out that year, but at +this time they were too engrossed with other projects to give their +ultimate release much thought. + +But to return to the motor-sledge. With Frank at the steering wheel in +front and Harry, Billy Barnes, the professor, and Rastus distributed +about its "deck," it was started across the snow, amid a cheer from +the men, without a hitch. So splendidly did it answer that the boys +drove on and on over the white wastes without giving much thought to +the distance they traversed. + +With the return of spring, Skua gulls and penguins had become +plentiful and in answer to the professor's entreaties the boys finally +stopped the sledge near a rookery of the latter, in which the queer +birds were busy over the nests. These nests are rough piles of stones, +on which the eggs are laid. Soon the chickens--fuzzy little brown +creatures--appear, and there is a lot of fuss in the rookery; the +penguins getting their families mixed and fighting furiously over each +small, bewildered chick. + +It was egg-laying time, however, when the boys rolled up on their +queer motor-sledge to the neighborhood of the breeding ground the +professor had espied. The man of science was off the sledge in a +trice, and while the boys, who wished to examine the motor, remained +with the vehicle, he darted off for the penguins' habitat. + +With him went Rastus, carrying a large basket, which the professor had +ordered him to bring in case they needed it to carry back any finds of +interest. + +"Perfusser, is dem dar penguins good ter eat?" asked Rastus, as he and +his learned companion strode through the snow to the rookery. + +"They are highly esteemed as food," was the reply. "Former expeditions +to the South Pole have eaten them and declare that their flesh is as +good as chicken." + +"As good as chicking!" exclaimed Rastus, delightedly. "My, my, yo' +make mah mouf watah. Don' you fink we could ketch one an' hev a +fricassee, perfusser?" + +"I am only going in search of eggs and would, of course, like to catch +a flea--a penguin-flea, I mean," said the professor; "and I should not +advise you to meddle with any of the creatures, Rastus." + +"Why, dey look as tame as elingfants in de Zoo," protested the colored +man, as he gazed at the penguins, who in turn gazed back at him with +their beady black eyes. + +"Yes, and ordinarily they are, but in the breeding season they get +savage if molested, although it is safe enough to walk among them." + +"Huh," grunted Rastus to himself; "dis yer perfusser am a fusser fer +sho. Ef dem birds tas' lak chicking ah'm a-goin 'ter ketch one while +he's a huntin' fer fleas and other foolishnesseses." + +"What's that you said, Rastus?" inquired the professor, as they began +to thread their way among the piles of stones, each of which marked a +nest. + +"Ah said de perfusser am a wonderful man wid his fleas and other +scientificnesses," rejoined the colored man. + +"Ah, Rastus," cried the professor, highly flattered; "if I can only +catch the fur-bearing pollywog, then I shall, indeed, have some claim +on fortune and fame, till then--let us hunt penguin eggs." + +In the meantime the boys were busy examining the motor. They found +that the specially prepared oil worked perfectly and that, although it +changed color in the low temperature, it showed no disposition to +freeze. The gasolene, too, was successfully kept at the right +temperature by means of the vacuum casing of the tank. + +"We could go to the pole itself in this motor-sledge," cried Billy, +enthusiastically. + +"How would we pass the mountains?" asked Frank, pointing to the south, +where stood the snowy sentinels guarding the mystery of the Antarctic. + +"That's so," agreed Billy, hurriedly. "That's a job for the Golden +Eagle." + +"And she's going to do it, too," rejoined Frank, earnestly. "That is +if it is humanly possible." + +"You bet she is," began Harry, enthusiastically. + +"Hullo, what's happened to the professor now?" he broke off. + +Indeed, it seemed that some serious trouble had again overtaken the +luckless naturalist. + +"Oh, boys! boys!" came his cries from the direction of the penguin +rookery. "Help! The menguins are plurdering us--I mean the penguins +are murdering us!" + +"Fo' de Lawd's sake, come quick!" came a yell in Rastus's tones. +"We're done bin eated alive by dese yar pencilguins." + +The rookery lay in a slight depression and was not visible from where +the boys stood, so that they were unable to imagine what was taking +place. + +"They are in serious trouble of some sort again," cried Frank. "Come +on, boys, let's go to their rescue." + +The motor-sledge was soon speeding over the snow and in a few minutes +was at the edge of the declivity in which lay the penguin rookery. +Gazing down into it the boys could hardly keep from laughing. + +Indeed, Billy did burst into loud roars of merriment as he beheld the +strange figures cut by the professor and Rastus, as they strove to +escape the onslaught of the whole colony of penguins, which, with +sharp shrieks of rage were attacking them with their beaks and beating +them with their wings. + +[Illustration: "They Strove to Escape the Onslaught of the Penguins."] + +"Oh, please, good Mistah Pencilguins, I didn't mean no harm," roared +Rastus, who seemed to think the human-looking birds could understand +him. "Go afta' de perfusser, it was him dat tole me youalls tasted lak +chicking." + +"Stop that, you greedy black rascal," retorted the professor, laying +about him with the egg-basket. "If you hadn't tried to grab that +penguin we wouldn't have been in this trouble." + +This was true enough. The penguins had not seemed to resent their +nests being interfered with at all, but had gathered round the +invaders with much curiosity. The trouble all originated when Rastus +had sneaked up to a small penguin while the professor was busy +extracting an egg from a nest, and with a cry of: + +"Oh, you lubly lilly chickin, ah hev yo fer supper, sho nuff," had +grabbed the creature. + +It instantly sent up a loud cry of fear and rage, which its mates +seemed to regard as a battle cry, for they all fell on the rash +invaders of their realm at once. + +As the boys dashed down the snowbank into the rookery, with their +revolvers drawn, the professor, with a loud yell, fell backward into a +well-filled nest. He arose with yellow yolks streaming from him and +covered with down, feathers and eggshell, that made him look like a +spectacled penguin himself. Rastus fared no better and was being +beaten and pecked unmercifully when the boys rushed down to the +rescue. + +"Fire your revolvers in the air!" cried Frank. "Don't kill the poor +things." + +"Fo' goodness sake kill dis big feller dat's a-peckin' mah nose off!" +yelled Rastus, struggling on the ground in the midst of a mass of +broken eggs. + +The fusillade that went up from the boys' pistols made the penguins +stop their attack and waddle off in affright, while the professor and +Rastus, both sorry figures, scrambled to their feet and tried to brush +off some of the eggshells and yellow yolks that covered them from head +to foot. + +"Come on back to the auto," cried Frank, when he saw they were safe. + +"What, aren't you going to kill some of the birds?" demanded the +professor. + +"No, certainly not," replied Frank. "What for?" + +"Why they attacked us and frightened the life out of me," protested +the professor. + +"An' dem pesky pencilguins mos' bited mah nose off," roared Rastus, +rubbing that not over prominent feature. + +"Well, you had no business in their rookery, anyhow," rejoined Frank, +unfeelingly. "Why did you go?" + +"Why, my dear sir," said the professor, regarding him with sorrowful +egg-stained countenance; "in the interests of science, of course. We +would not have been attacked at all if Rastus had not tried to catch a +penguin. What for, I cannot imagine." + +"Why, perfusser, you done say dey tas' lak chickin," ruefully cried +the black man. + +"Did I?" exclaimed the man of science. "Well, bless my soul, so I did. +That was very foolish of me. I ought to have known that Rastus would +not be able to resist such an idea." + +"Ah dunno 'bout de idah," observed Rastus, as he cranked up the +machine, and the boys and the professor climbed on board; "but ah +couldn' resis' de chicking." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE FLAMING MOUNTAIN. + + +A few days after the events described in the last chapter, Captain +Hazzard summoned the boys to him and informed them that it was time to +start out and establish "depots" for the storing of food and blankets +as far as was practicable, in the direction of the pole. This was in +order that any parties sent out to explore might not run the chance of +being lost in the antarctic snows without having some place to which +they could retreat. The "depots" were to be marked as rapidly as they +were made with tall bamboo poles, each of which bore a black flag. + +The boys pitched in to this occupation with great enthusiasm and, with +the aid of the motor-sledge, soon had established three depots, +covering a radius of some eighty miles from the camp. This work +brought them to the verge of the chain of snow-mountains, beyond whose +white crests they believed lay the pole. Somewhere along the coast +line of this chain of mountains, too, so the lieutenant calculated, +lay the Viking ship, which, in the years that had elapsed since the +whalemen had seen her, must have drifted towards their bases on the +ever-shifting polar currents. For the Great Barrier, solid as it +seems, is not stationary, and many scientists hold that it is subject +to violent earthquakes, caused by the subsidence of great areas of icy +land into the boiling craters of polar volcanoes. + +A careful study of the position, in which the whalemen set down they +had spied the ship, and a calculation of the polar drift during the +time that had elapsed from their discovery, had enabled Captain +Hazzard to come, as he believed, very nearly locating the exact +situation of the mysterious vessel. + +"Somewhere to the southeast, at the foot of the snow-mountains, I +firmly believe that we shall find her," he said. + +It was a week after the establishment of the last depot that the boys +were ready to make their first flight in polar regions. The Golden +Eagle's vacuum tank and crank-case were attached and a supply of +non-freezing oils and gasolene drums, carefully covered with warm +felt, taken on board. + +"Your instructions are," were Captain Hazzard's parting words, "to fly +to the southward for a distance of a hundred miles or so, but no +further. You will report the nature of the country and bring back your +observations made with the instruments." + +The Golden Eagle, which had been assembled earlier in the spring, was +wheeled out of her shed and, after a brief "grooming," was ready for +her first flight in the antarctic regions. + +"It seems queer," observed Frank, "to be flying an aeroplane, that has +been through so many tropical adventures, in the frozen regions of the +south pole." + +"It does, indeed," said the professor, who, with Billy Barnes, had +obtained permission to accompany the boys. + +Captain Hazzard, himself, would have come but that he and Captain +Barrington had determined to make surveys of the ice surrounding the +Southern Cross, in order to decide whether the ship had a speedy +chance of delivery from her frozen bondage. + +The Golden Eagle shot into the icy air at exactly ten minutes past +nine on the morning of the 28th of September. It was a perfect day, +with the thermometer registering 22 above zero. So accustomed had they +become to the bitter cold of the polar winter that even this low +temperature seemed oppressive to the boys, and they wore only their +ordinary leather aviation garments and warm underclothes. A plentiful +supply of warm clothing was, however, taken along in case of need. +Plenty of provisions and a specially contrived stove for melting snow +into water were also carried, as well as blankets and sleeping bags. + +The shout of farewell from the sojourners at the camp had hardly died +out before the aviators found themselves flying at a height of three +hundred feet above the frozen wastes. Viewed from that height, the +aspect stretched below them was, indeed, a desolate one. As far as the +eye could reach was nothing but the great whiteness. Had it not been +for the colored snow goggles they wore the boys might have been +blinded by the brilliancy of the expanse, as cases of snow blindness +are by no means uncommon in the Antarctic. + +On and on they flew toward the mighty snow mountains which towered +like guardian giants ahead of them. The barograph showed that after +some hours of flying they had now attained a height of two thousand +feet, which was sufficient to enable them to clear the ridge. Viewed +from above, the snow mountains looked like any other mountains. They +were scarred by gullies and valleys in the snow, and only the lack of +vegetation betrayed them as frozen heaps. Perhaps not mountains in the +ordinary sense at all, but simply mighty masses of ice thrown up by +the action of the polar drift. + +"Look, look," quavered Billy Barnes, as they cleared the range and +their eyes fell on the expanse beyond. + +The boy's exclamation had been called forth by the sight of an immense +mountain far to the southward of them. + +From its summit was emerging a cloud of black smoke. + +"A volcano!" exclaimed Frank, in blank astonishment. + +"Such another as Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, also within the +antarctic circle, but not either of which is as big as this one. I +should imagine," said the professor. "Boys, let us head for it," he +exclaimed; "it must be warm in the vicinity of the crater and perhaps +we may find some sort of life existent there. Even the fur-bearing +pollywog may reside there. Who knows?" + +All agreed, without much argument, that it came within the scope of +their duties to investigate the volcano, and they soon were winging +toward it. As they neared the smoking cone they observed that its +sides were formed of some sort of black stone, and with that, mingled +with the smoke that erupted from its mouth, came an occasional burst +of flame. + +"It's in eruption," gasped Billy. "We'd better not get too near to +it." + +"I apprehend no danger," said the professor. "Both Scott and +Shackleton and our own Wilkes examined the craters of Mounts Erebus +and Terror, when steam and flames were occasionally spurting from +them, without suffering any bad consequences." + +Acting on the professor's advice the aeroplane was grounded at a point +some distance from the summit of the mountain, on a small flat +plateau. The warmth was perceptible, and some few stunted bushes and +trees clung to the sides of the flaming mountain. The professor was +delighted to find, flitting among the vegetation, a small fly with +pink and blue wings, which he promptly christened the Sanburritis +Antarcticitis Americanus. He netted it without difficulty and popped +it into a camphor bottle and turned, with the boys, to regarding the +mountain. + +"Let's climb it and examine the crater," exclaimed Frank, suddenly, +the instinct of the explorer strong in him. + +"Bully," cried Billy; "I'm on." + +"And me," exploded Harry. + +"I should dearly love to," spoke the professor; "perhaps we can +discover some more strange insects at the summit." + +The climb was a tedious one, even with the aid of the rope they had +brought with them from the Golden Eagle; and with which part of the +party hauled the others over seemingly impassable places. At last, +panting, and actually perspiring in the warm air, they stood on the +lip of the crater and gazed down. + +It was an awe-inspiring sight. + +The crater was about half-a-mile across the top, and its rocky sides +glowed everywhere with the glare of the subterranean fires. A reek of +sulphurous fumes filled the air and made the adventurers feel dizzy. +They, therefore, worked round on the windward side of the crater, and +after that felt no ill consequences. + +For a long time they stood regarding the depths from which the heavy +black smoke rolled up. + +"There's no danger of an eruption, is there?" asked Billy, somewhat +apprehensively. + +"I don't apprehend so," rejoined the professor. "A survey of the sides +of the crater convinces me that it is many years since the volcano was +active." + +"It is a wonderful feeling to think that we are the first human beings +who have ever seen it," exclaimed Frank, impulsively. + +"It is, indeed," agreed the professor. "This is a great discovery and +we must take possession of it in the name of the United States. Let us +call it Mount Hazzard in commemoration of this expedition." + +And so with a cheer the great antarctic volcano was named in honor of +the leader of the expedition. + +At the foot of the flaming mountain, originated no doubt by the +warmth, were numerous large lakes filled with water of a deep greenish +blue hue. + +"I wonder if there aren't some fish in those lakes?" wondered the +professor, gazing at the bodies of water so far below them. "At any +rate there may be some kinds of creatures there that are very +uncommon. Conditions such as they must exist under would make them +unlike any others on earth, provided the waters are inhabited." + +"It's easy enough to see," said Frank. + +"How so?" + +"We can clamber down the mountain side and get in the aeroplane and +fly down to examine the lakes," said the boy. + +"Bless my soul, that's so," ejaculated the man of science. "Do you +know, for a moment I had quite forgotten how it was possible to get +here. That is a wonderful machine that you boys have there." + +The climb down the mountain side was almost more difficult and +dangerous than the ascent, but at last all, even the professor, were +once more at the side of the Golden Eagle. They were soon on board, +and in long spirals, Frank dropped to the earth, landing not far from +the edge of one of the small lakes. + +"How curiously honeycombed the rocks are," exclaimed Frank, as they +got out of the craft. + +Indeed the face of the cliff that towered above the lakes did present +a singular appearance, there being myriads of holes in its face at a +height of a few inches above the surface of the water. + +"Doubtless some freak of the volcanic nature of the earth hereabouts," +explained the professor; "but they do, indeed, look curious." + +The water of the lake, on being tested, was found to be quite fresh +and agreeable to the taste though it was warmish and seemed to have an +admixture of iron in it. All about them--strangest freak of all--small +geysers of hot water bubbled, sending up clouds of steam into the air. + +"This is like an enchanted land," was Billy's comment, as he gazed +about him. Indeed, what with the towering black mountain above them +with its perpetual cloud of smoke hovering above its crest, the green +lakes of warm water and the bubbling, steaming geysers, it did seem +like another world than ours. + +Some time was occupied by a thorough investigation of the small lake +and the boys and their scientific companion then advanced on a larger +one that lay at some distance. + +"Do you think it is wise to go so far from the aeroplane?" asked +Harry. + +"Why, there's nothing here that could attack us," the professor was +beginning, when he stopped short suddenly with an exclamation. + +"Look there!" he exclaimed, pointing down at the ground. "A human +track." + +The boys looked and saw the imprint of a foot! + +Yet, on inspection, it was unlike a human foot and seemed more like +the track of a bear. Several other prints of a similar nature became +visible now that they examined the spongy soil carefully. + +"Whatever do you think it is?" Frank asked of the professor, who was +examining the imprints with some care. + +"I don't know, my dear boy," he replied. "It looks like the foot of a +bear, and yet it appears to be webbed as if it might be that of some +huge water animal." + +"Yes, but look at the size of it," argued Billy. "Why, the animal +whose foot that is must be an immense creature." + +"It's certainly strange," mused the professor, "and suggests to me +that we had better be getting back to our aeroplane." + +"You think it is dangerous to remain here, then?" asked Harry, with +some dismay. + +"I do, yes," was the naturalist's prompt reply. "I do not know what +manner of animal it can be that left that track, and I know the tracks +of every known species of mammal." + +"Perhaps some hitherto unknown creature made it," suggested Billy. + +"That's just what I think, my boy," was the reply. "I have, as I said, +not the remotest conception of what sort of a creature it could be, +but I have an idea from the size of that track that it must be the +imprint of a most formidable brute." + +"Might it not be some prehistoric sort of creature like the mammoths +of the north pole or the dinosauras, or huge flying-lizard?" suggested +Frank. + +"I'm inclined to think that that is what the creature is," rejoined +the scientist. "It would be most interesting to remain here and try to +get a specimen, but in the position we are in at present we should be +cut off from the aeroplane in case an attack came from in front of +us." + +"That's so," agreed Frank. "Come on, boys, let's get a move on. We can +come back here with heavy rifles some day, and then we can afford to +take chances. I don't like the idea of facing what are possibly +formidable monsters with only a pistol." + +"My revolver can--," began Billy, drawing the weapon in question--when +he stopped short. + +The faces of all blanched as they, too, noted the cause of the +interruption. + +A harsh roar had suddenly filled the air, booming and reverberating +against the gloomy cliffs like distant thunder. + +Suddenly Billy, with a shout that was half a scream, called attention +to the holes they had noticed at the foot of the acclivity. + +"Look, look at that!" he chattered, his teeth clicking like castanets +with sheer terror. + +"We are lost!" shouted the professor, starting back with blanched +cheeks. + +From the strange holes they had previously noticed at the foot of the +cliffs, dozens of huge creatures of a form and variety unknown to any +in the party, were crawling and flopping into the lake. + +That their intentions were hostile was evident. As they advanced in a +line that would bring them between the boys and their aeroplane, they +emitted the same harsh, menacing roar that had first started the +adventurers. + +"Run for your lives," shouted Frank, as the monsters cleaved the +water, every minute bringing them nearer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ADRIFT ABOVE THE SNOWS. + + +"Whatever are they?" gasped Billy, as they ran for the aeroplane. + +"Prehistoric monsters," rejoined the professor, who was almost out of +breath. + +The next minute he stumbled on a bit of basalt and fell headlong. Had +it not been for this accident they could have gained the aeroplane in +time, but, as it was, the brief space it took to aid the scientist to +his feet gave the creatures of the cliff a chance to intercept the +little party. + +As the creatures drew themselves out of the green warm water of the +lake with hideous snarls the boys saw that the animals were great +creatures that must have weighed several hundred pounds each and were +coated with shaggy hair. Their heads and bodies were shaped not unlike +seals except that they had huge tusks; but each monster had two short +legs in front and a pair of large flippers behind. Their appearance +was sufficiently hideous to alarm the most callous venturer into the +Antarctic. + +"We've got to make the aeroplane," exclaimed Frank, "come on, get your +guns out and fire when I give the word. If we can only kill a few of +them perhaps the rest will take fright." + +"A good idea," assented the professor producing his revolver, a weapon +that might have proved fatal to a butterfly, but certainly would not +be of any effect against the shaggy foes they now faced. + +"Fire!" cried Frank, when the others had their heavy magazine weapons +ready. + +A volley of lead poured into the ranks of the monsters and several of +them, with horribly human shrieks, fled wounded toward the lake. A +strong sickening odor of musk filled the air as the creatures bled. + +But far from alarming the rest of the monsters the attack seemed to +render them ten times more savage than before. With roars of rage they +advanced toward the boys, making wonderful speed on their legs and +flippers. + +"Let 'em have it again," shouted Frank as he noted with anxiety that +the first fusillade had been a failure, the rough coats and thick hide +of the monsters deflecting the bullets. + +Once more the adventurers emptied their pistols, but the shaggy coats +of the great creatures still seemed to prevent the bullets doing any +serious injury. + +The boys' position was ominous indeed. An order from Frank to reload +resulted in the discovery that he alone of any of the party had a belt +full of cartridges; the others had all used up the few they had +carried. + +"We're goners sure," gasped Billy as the creatures hesitated before +another scattering discharge of bullets, but still advanced, despite +the fact that this time two were killed. Suddenly, however, their +leader with a strange cry threw his head upward and seemed to sniff at +the air as if in apprehension. + +At the same instant a slight trembling of the ground on which the +adventurers stood was perceptible. + +"It's an earthquake," cried Billy, recollecting his experience in +Nicaragua. + +With wild cries the monsters all plunged into the lake. They seemed to +be in terror. Behind them they left several of their wounded, the +latter making pitiful efforts to reach the water. + +"Whatever is going to happen?" cried Billy in dismay, at the animals' +evident terror of some mysterious event that was about to transpire, +and the now marked disturbance of the earth. + +As he spoke, the earth shook violently once more and a rumbling sound +like subterranean thunder filled the air. + +"It's the mountain!" shouted the professor, who had been gazing about, +"it's going to erupt." + +From the crater they had explored there were now rolling up great +masses of bright, yellow smoke in sharp contrast to the dark vapors +that had hitherto poured from it. A mighty rumbling and roaring +proceeded from its throat as the smoke poured out, and vivid, blue +flames shot through the sulphurous smother from time to time. + +"We've no time to lose," cried Frank, "come on, we must get to the +aeroplane in a hurry." + +They all took to their heels over the trembling ground, not stopping +to gaze behind them. The monsters had all disappeared, and as they had +not been seen to re-enter their holes they were assumed to be hiding +at the bottom of the lake. + +As the boys gained the aeroplane and clambered in, Frank uttered an +exclamation: + +"Where's the professor?" + +In a few seconds they espied him carefully bending over the dead body +of one of the slain monsters several yards away. + +"Come on, professor," they shouted, "there's no time to lose." + +"One second and I have him," the scientist called back. + +At the same instant he made a dart at the dead creature's shaggy fur +and appeared to grasp something. He hastily drew out a bottle and +dropped whatever he had seized into it and then started leaping and +bounding toward the aeroplane, his long legs looking like stilts as he +advanced over the uneven ground. + +He was just in time. + +As the aeroplane left the ground the water in the lakes became +violently agitated and steam arose from fissures in the mountain side. +Flames shot up to a considerable height above the crater and a torrent +of black lava began to flow toward the lakes, falling into them with a +loud hissing sound that was audible to the boys, even after they had +put many miles between themselves and the burning mountain. + +"That will be the last of those monsters, I expect," remarked Harry as +they flew steadily northward. + +"I don't know," observed the professor, "they may have caves under +water where they can keep cool. They evidently knew what to expect +when they felt the first rumblings and shaking of the earth and must +have had previous experience. I guess I was mistaken in thinking the +volcano inactive." + +"It was a piece of great good luck for us that the eruption came when +it did," said Frank. + +"It was a terrific one," commented Billy. + +The professor laughed. + +"Terrific," he echoed, "why, my boy, you ought to see a real eruption. +This was nothing. See, the smoke is already dying down. It is over." + +"Well, it may not have been a big one, but you were in a mighty hurry +to get to the aeroplane," said Billy with a grin. + +"That was so that I could get my volcano monster's flea back safe and +sound," exclaimed the man of science. "See here." + +He took from his pocket and held up a small bottle. + +"Look there," he exclaimed in triumph. + +"Well," said the others, who, all but Frank, who was steering, were +regarding the naturalist. + +"Well," he repeated somewhat querulously, "don't you see it?" + +"See what?" asked Billy, after a prolonged scrutiny of the bottle. + +"Why, the flea, the little insect I caught in the shaggy fur of the +volcano monster?" + +"No," cried both boys simultaneously. + +The professor gazed at the bottle in a puzzled way. + +"Bless my soul, you are right," he exclaimed, angrily, "the little +creature eluded me. Oh, dear, this is a bitter day for science. I was +in such a hurry to pop my specimen into the bottle that I held him +carelessly and he evidently hopped away. Oh, this is a terrible, an +irreparable, loss." + +Although the boys tried to comfort him they could not. He seemed +overcome by grief. + +"Cheer up," said Billy at length, "remember there is always the +fur-bearing pollywog to be captured." + +"Ah, yes," agreed the professor, "but a bug in the hand is worth two +in the air." + +As they talked, there suddenly came a loud explosion from the engine +and two of the cylinders went out of commission. The speed of the +aeroplane at once decreased and she began to drop. + +The dismay of the boys may be imagined. They were several miles from +the camp and below them was nothing but the desolate expanse of the +snow wastes that lay at the foot of the barrier range. + +"Shall we have to go down?" asked Billy. + +"Nothing else to do," said Frank with a grave face, "there's something +wrong with the engine and we can't repair it up here. If we were not +in this rarified atmosphere we could fly on the cylinders that are +firing all right, but this atmosphere would not support us." + +"Do you think it is anything serious?" asked the professor. + +"I can't tell yet," was the grave reply, "that explosion sounded like +a back-fire and that may be all that's the matter. In such a case we +can drain the crank case and put in fresh oil; for if it was really a +back-fire it was most likely caused by 'flooding.'" + +Ten minutes later they landed on the firm, hard snow and lost no time +in getting things in shape to spend the night where they were; for it +was unlikely that repairs could be effected in time for them to fly +back to the camp before dark. The canvas curtains at the sides of the +aeroplane's body were drawn up, forming a snug tent. The stove was set +going and soup and canned meats and vegetables warmed and eaten by the +light of a lantern. + +In the meantime Frank had discovered that the breakdown had been +caused by a defect in the ignition apparatus which it would take some +time to repair. Both he and Harry went to work on it after supper, +however, and by midnight they had it adjusted. + +They were just preparing to turn in, the professor and Billy having +wrapped themselves in their blankets some time before, when a sudden +sound, breaking on the stillness of the Antarctic night, made them +pause. Both boys strained their ears intently and the sound came once +more. + +This time there was no mistaking it. + +It was the same sound to which Rastus had called Frank's attention the +night they were on watch outside the hut. + +Pulling the curtain open, the boys gazed out, determined to unravel +the mystery once and for all. The night was perfectly still except for +the buzzing noise, and a bright moon showed them the snow lying white +and undisturbed about them. + +The sound did not proceed from the ground, that was evident, but from +the air. The atmosphere seemed filled with it. + +"What can it be?" exclaimed Harry. + +"Look--look there!" shouted Frank, at the same instant clutching his +brother's arm in his excitement. + +Both boys gazed upward and as they did so a dark, shadowy form passed +above them far overhead. For an instant a brilliant light gleamed from +it and then it vanished, going steadily eastward with the strange +thrumming sound growing fainter as it receded. + +The boys looked at each other in amazement and the words of Captain +Hazzard flashed across Frank's mind. + +"WE HAVE SOME VERY UNDESIRABLE NEIGHBORS AT CLOSE QUARTERS," the +captain had said. Undoubtedly he was right. + +"What did you make it out for?" asked Harry at length. + +"A dirigible and no small one," was the reply, "and you?" + +"Same here. You can't mistake the sound of an airship's engine. The +question is what is the explanation of it all?" + +"Simple." + +"Simple, well I--" + +"That aeroplane is the one which was bought in Europe. It is specially +provided with radiators which electrically heat its gas, allowing it +to navigate in these regions without fear of the gas condensing and +causing the ship to descend." + +"Yes, but whose is it? What are they doing in it?" + +"The first question is easy to answer. That ship is the ship of the +rival expedition." + +"The Japanese one, you mean?" + +"That's it. It must have been the light of it that I saw during the +winter. I suppose they were experimenting with it then." + +"Experimenting--what for?" + +"For the work they are using it on to-night." + +"And that is?" + +"To forestall us in the discovery of the Viking ship and the South +Pole." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +SWALLOWED BY A CREVASSE. + + +The early morning following the discovery of the night trip of the +dirigible saw the Golden Eagle rising into the chill air and winging +her way to the camp. The boys, as soon as they descended, hastened to +Captain Hazzard's hut and detailed their adventures. As may be +supposed, while both the leader of the expedition and the captain of +the Southern Cross were deeply interested in the account of the +flaming mountain and the prehistoric seal-like creatures, they were +more deeply concerned over the boys' sighting of the airship. + +"It means we have earnest rivals to deal with," was Captain Hazzard's +comment, "we must set about finding the Viking ship at once. The +search will not take long, for if she is not somewhere near where I +have calculated she ought to be it would be waste of time to seek her +at all." + +Full of excitement at the prospect of embarking on the search for the +ship, before long the boys dispersed for breakfast only to gather +later on in Captain Hazzard's hut. The officer informed them that they +were to fly to the position he indicated the next day and institute a +thorough search for the lost craft. The Golden Eagle was to carry her +wireless and a message was to be flashed to the camp's wireless +receiving station if important discoveries were made. + +In the event of treasure being found, the boys were to at once +"wireless" full details and bearings of the find and a relay of men +and apparatus for saving the treasure would be sent from the ship to +their aid on the motor-sledge. In the event of their not discovering +the Viking ship they were to spend not more than three days on the +search, wirelessing the camp at the end of the third day for further +instructions. + +The rest of that day was spent in putting the Golden Eagle's wireless +in working order and stretching the long "aerials" above her upper +plane. The instruments were then tested till they were in tune for +transmitting messages from a long distance. The apparatus, after a +little adjustment, was found to work perfectly. + +Captain Hazzard warned the boys that, in the event of the rival +expedition discovering them, they were on no account to resort to +violence but to "wireless" the camp at once and he would decide on the +best course to pursue. + +"But if they attack us?" urged Frank. + +"In that case you will have to defend yourselves as effectively as +possible till aid arrives," said the commander. + +Early the next day, with a plentiful supply of cordite bombs and +dynamite on board for blasting the Viking ship free of the ice casing +which it was to be expected surrounded her, the Golden Eagle soared +away from the camp. + +The boys were off at last on the expedition they had longed for. The +professor accompanied them with a formidable collection of nets and +bottles and bags. He had had prepared a lot of other miscellaneous +lumber which it had been explained to him he could not transport on an +aeroplane and which he had therefore reluctantly left behind. The +engine worked perfectly and Frank anticipated no further trouble from +it. + +As they sped along Harry from time to time tested the wireless and +sent short messages back to the camp. It worked perfectly and the +spark was as strong as if only a few miles separated airship and camp. +Nor did there seem to be any weakening as the distance between the two +grew greater. + +They passed high above snow-barrens and seal-rookeries and colonies of +penguins, the inhabitants of which latter cocked their heads up +inquiringly at the big bird flying by far above them. Their course +carried them to the eastward and as they advanced the character of the +scenery changed. What were evidently bays opened up into the land and +some of them seemed to run back for miles, cutting deep into the many +ranges that supported the plateau of the interior on which they had +found the volcano. + +These bays or inlets were ice covered but it was easy to see that with +the advance of summer they would be free of ice. At noon, Frank landed +the aeroplane and made an observation. It showed him they were still +some distance from the spot near which Captain Hazzard believed the +Viking ship was imprisoned. After a hasty lunch, cooked on the stove, +the aeroplane once more ascended and kept steadily on her course till +nightfall. + +As dark set in, the boys found themselves at a spot in which the water +that lapped the foot of the great Barrier washed--or would when the +ice left it--at the very bases of the mountains, which here were no +more than mere hills. They were cut into in all directions by deep +gulches into which during the summer it was evident the sea must +penetrate. + +"We are now not more than one hundred and fifty miles from the spot in +which Captain Hazzard believes the ship is ice-bound," announced Frank +that night as they turned in inside the snugly curtained chassis. +Sleep that night was fitful. The thought of the discovery of which +they might be even then on the brink precluded all thought of sound +sleep. Even the usually calm professor was excited. He hoped to find +some strange creatures amid the mouldering timbers of the Viking ship +if they ever found her. + +Dawn found the adventurers up and busily disposing of breakfast. As +soon as possible the Golden Eagle rose once more and penetrated +further into the unknown on her search. Several wireless messages were +sent out that day and the camp managed to "catch" every one of them. +The wireless seemed to work better in that dry, cold air than in the +humid atmosphere of the northern climes. + +The character of the country had not changed. Deep gullies still +scarred the white hills that fringed the barrier, but not one of these +yielded the secret the boys had come so far to unravel. + +"I'm beginning to think this is a wild goose chase," began Billy, as +at noon Frank landed, took his bearings, and then announced that they +were within a few minutes of the spot in which the ship ought to lie. + +"She seems as elusive as the fur-bearing pollywog," announced the +professor. + +"You still believe there is such a creature?" asked Harry. + +"Professor Tapper says so," was the reply, "I must believe it. I will +search everywhere till I can find it." + +"I think he was mistaken," said Billy, "I can't imagine what such a +creature could look like." + +"You may think he was mistaken," rejoined the professor, "but I do +not. Professor Tapper is never wrong." + +"But suppose you cannot find such an animal?" + +"If I don't find one before we leave the South Polar regions, then, +and not till then, will I believe that he was mistaken," returned the +man of science with considerable dignity. + +This colloquy took place while they were getting ready to reascend +after a hasty lunch and was interrupted by a sudden cry from Frank, +who had been gazing about while the others talked. + +"What's that sticking above the snow hill yonder?" he exclaimed, +pointing to a spot where a deep gully "valleyed" the hills at a spot +not very far from where they stood. + +"It looks like the stump of a tree," observed the professor, squinting +through his spectacles. + +"Or-or-the mast of a ship," quavered Harry, trembling with excitement. +"It's the Viking ship--hurray!" + +"Don't go so fast," said Frank, though his voice shook, "it may be +nothing but a plank set up there by some former explorer, but it +certainly does look like the top of a mast." + +"The best way is to go and see," suggested the professor, whose calm +alone remained unruffled. + +The distance between the boys and the object that had excited their +attention was not considerable and the snow was smooth and unmarked by +impassable gullies. The professor's suggestion was therefore at once +adopted and the young adventurers were soon on their way across the +white expanse which luckily was frozen hard and not difficult to +traverse. + +The boys all talked in excited tones as they made their way forward. +If the object sticking above the gully's edge proved actually to be a +mast it was in all probability a spar of the ship they sought. The +thought put new life into every one and they hurried forward over the +hard snow at their swiftest pace. + +The professor was in the lead, talking away at a great rate, his long +legs opening and shutting like scissor blades. + +"Perhaps I may find a fur-bearing pollywog after all," he cried; "if +you boys have found your ship surely it is reasonable to suppose that +I can find my pollywog?" + +"Wouldn't you rather find a Viking ship filled with gold and ivory, +and frozen in the ice for hundreds of years, than an old fur-bearing +pollywog?" demanded Billy. + +"I would not," rejoined the professor with much dignity; "the one is +only of a passing interest to science and a curious public. The other +is an achievement that will go ringing down the corridors of time +making famous the name of the man who braved with his life the rigors +of the South Polar regions to bring back alive a specimen of the +strange creature whose existence was surmised by Professor Thomas +Tapper, A.M., F.R.G.S., M.Z., and F.O.X.I.--Ow! Great Heavens!" + +As the professor uttered this exclamation an amazing thing happened. + +The snow seemed to open under his feet and with a cry of real terror +which was echoed by the boys, who a second before had been listening +with somewhat amused faces to his oratory, he vanished as utterly as +if the earth had swallowed him--which it seemed it had indeed. + +"The professor has fallen into a crevasse!" shouted Frank, who was the +first of the group to realize what had occurred. + +Billy and Harry were darting forward toward the hole in the snow +through which the scientist had vanished when a sharp cry from the +elder boy stopped them. + +"Don't go a step further," he cried. + +"Why not,--the professor is down that hole," cried Harry, "we must do +something to save him." + +"You can do more by keeping cool-headed than any other way," rejoined +Frank. "A crevasse, into one of which the professor has fallen, is not +'a hole' as you call it, but a long rift in the earth above which snow +has drifted. Sometimes they are so covered up that persons can cross +in safety, at other times the snow 'bridge' gives way under their +weight and they are precipitated into the crevasse itself,--an +ice-walled chasm." + +"Then we may never get the professor out," cried Billy in dismay. "How +deep is that crevasse likely to be?" + +"Perhaps only ten or twenty feet. Perhaps several hundred," was the +alarming reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE VIKING'S SHIP. + + +Suddenly, from the depths as it seemed, there came a faint cry. + +It was the professor's voice feebly calling for aid. Frank hastened +forward but dared not venture too near the edge of the hole through +which the scientist had vanished. + +"Are you hurt, professor?" he cried, eagerly, and hung on the answer. + +"No," came back the reply, "not much, but I can't hold on much +longer." + +"Are you at the bottom of the chasm?" + +"No, I am clinging to a ledge. It is very slippery and if I should +fall it would be to the bottom of the rift, which seems several +hundred feet deep." + +Even in his extreme danger the professor seemed cool and Frank took +heart from him. + +Luckily they had with them a coil of rope brought from the Golden +Eagle for the purpose of lowering one of their number over the edge of +the gulf onto the Viking ship--if the mast they had seen proved to be +hers. + +It was the work of a moment to form a loop in this and then Frank +hailed the professor once more. + +"We are going to lower a rope to you. Can you grasp it?" + +"I think so. I'll try," came up the almost inaudible response. + +The rope was lowered over the edge of the rift and soon to their joy +the boys felt it jerked this way and that as the professor caught it. + +"Tie it under your arms," enjoined Frank. + +"All right," came the answer a few seconds later. "Haul away. I can't +endure the cold down here much longer." + +The three boys were strong and they pulled with all their might, but +for a time it seemed doubtful if they could lift the professor out of +the crevasse as, despite his leanness, he was a fairly heavy man. He +aided them, however, by digging his heels in the wall of the crevasse +as they hoisted and in ten minutes' time they were able to grasp his +hands and pull him into safety. + +A draught from the vacuum bottle containing hot coffee which Frank +carried soon restored the professor and he was able to describe to +them how, as he was walking along, declaiming concerning the +fur-bearing pollywog, the ground seemed to suddenly open under his +feet and he felt himself tumbling into an abyss of unknown depth. + +As the chasm narrowed, he managed to jam himself partially across the +rift and in this way encountered an ice-coated ledge. One glance down +showed him that if he had not succeeded in doing this his plunge would +have ended in death, for the crevasse seemed to exist to an unknown +depth beneath the surface of the earth. + +"And now that I am safe and sound," said the professor, "let us hurry +on. The fall hasn't reduced my eagerness to see the wrecked Viking +ship." + +"But the crevasse, how are we to pass that?" asked Frank. + +"We must make a detour to the south," said the professor, "I noticed +when I was down there that the rift did not extend more than a few +feet in that direction. In fact, had I dared to move I might have +clambered out." + +The boys, not without some apprehension, stepped forward in +continuance of their journey, and a few minutes later, after they had +made the detour suggested by the professor, realized to their joy that +they had passed the dangerous abyss in safety. + +"And now," shouted Frank, "forward for the Viking ship or--" + +"Or a sell!" shouted the irrepressible Billy. + +"Or a sell," echoed Frank. + +With fast beating hearts they dashed on and a few minutes later stood +on the edge of the mastmarked abyss, gazing downward into it. + +As they did so a shout--such a shout as had never disturbed the great +silences of that region--rent the air-- + +"The Viking ship at last. Hurray!" + +The gully was about thirty feet deep and at the bottom of it, glazed +with the thick ice that covered it, lay a queerly formed ship with a +high prow,--carved like a raven's head. + +IT WAS THE VIKING SHIP. + +After all the centuries that had elapsed since she went adrift she was +at last found, and to be ransacked of the treasure her dead sailors +had amassed. + +The first flush of the excitement over the discovery quickly passed +and the boys grew serious. The problem of how to blast the precious +derelict out of the glassy coat of ice without sinking her was a +serious one. Frank, after a brief survey, concluded, however, that the +ice "cradle" about her hull was sufficiently thick to hold her steady +while they blasted a way from above to her decks and hold. + +It was useless to linger there, as they had not brought the needful +apparatus with them, so they at once started back for the Golden +Eagle. Frank's first care, arrived once more at the aeroplane, was to +send out the good news, and it was received with "wireless acclaim" by +those at Camp Hazzard. + +"Will be there in two days by motor-sledge. Commence operations at +once," was the order that was flashed back after congratulations had +been extended. As it was too late to do anything more that night, the +boys decided to commence work on the derelict in the morning. After a +hearty supper they retired to bed in the chassis of the aeroplane, all +as tired out as it is possible for healthy boys to be. Nevertheless, +Frank, who always--as he put it--"slept with one eye open," was +awakened at about midnight by a repetition of the noise of the +mysterious airship. + +There was no mistaking it. It was the same droning "burr" they had +heard on the night following their discovery of the flaming mountain. +Waking Harry, the two lads peered upward and saw the stars blotted out +as the shadowy form of the air-ship passed above them--between the sky +and themselves. All at once a bright ray of light shot downward and, +after shifting about over the frozen surface for a time, it suddenly +glared full on to the boys' camp. + +Both lads almost uttered a cry as the bright light bathed them and +made it certain that their rivals had discovered their aeroplane; but +before they could utter a word the mysterious craft had extinguished +the search glare and was off with the rapidity of the wind toward the +west. + +"They must be scared of us," said Harry at length, after a long +awe-stricken silence. + +"Not much, I'm afraid," rejoined Frank, with a woeful smile. + +"Well, they hauled off and darted away as soon as they saw us," +objected Harry. + +"I'm afraid that that is no guarantee they won't come back," remarked +Frank, with a serious face. + +"You mean that they--" + +"Have gone to get reinforcements and attack us," was the instant +reply, "they must have trailed us with the powerful lenses of which +the Japanese have the secret and which are used in their telescopes. +They are now certain that we have found the ship and are coming back. +It's simple, isn't it?" + +The professor, when he and Billy awakened in the morning, fully shared +the boys' apprehensions over the nocturnal visitor. + +"If they think we have discovered the ship they won't rest till they +have wrested it from us," he said soberly. + +"I'm afraid that we are indeed in for serious trouble," said Frank, in +a worried tone. "You see, Captain Hazzard and his men can't get here, +even with the motor-sledge, for two days." + +"Well, don't you think we had better abandon the ship and fly back to +the camp?" suggested Billy. + +"And leave that ship for them to rifle at their leisure--no," rejoined +Frank, with lips compressed in determination, "we won't do that. We'll +just go ahead and do the best we can--that's all." + +"That's the way to talk," approved the professor, "now as soon as you +boys have had breakfast we'll start for the ship, for, from what you +have related, there is clearly no time to be lost." + +The thought that their mysterious enemies might return at any time +caused the boys to despatch the meal consisting of hot chocolate, +canned fruit, pemmican, and salt beef, with even more haste than +usual. Before they sat down to eat, however, Frank flashed a message +to the camp telling them of their plight. + +"Will start at once," was the reply, "keep up your courage. We are +coming to the rescue." + +This message cheered the boys up a good deal and they set out for the +Viking ship with lighter hearts than they had had since the sighting +of the night-flier. They packed with them plenty of stout rope, drills +and dynamite. Harry carried the battery boxes and the rolls of wire to +be used in setting off the charges when they were placed. + +Arrived at the edge of the gully, a hole was drilled in the ice and an +upright steel brace, one of the extra parts of the aeroplane, was +imbedded in it as an upright, to which to attach the rope. It was soon +adjusted and Frank, after they had drawn lots for the honor of being +the first on board, climbed down it. He was quickly followed by the +others, but any intention they might have had of exploring the ship at +that time was precluded by the ice that coated her deck with the +accumulation of centuries of drifting in the polar currents. + +With the drill several holes were soon bored in the glassy coating and +sticks of dynamite inserted. These were then capped with fulminate of +mercury caps, and Harry climbed the rope to the surface of the narrow +gully with the wires which were to carry the explosive spark. The +others followed, and then, carrying the battery box to which the wires +had been attached, withdrew to what was considered a safe distance. + +"Ready?" asked Frank, his hand on the switch, when all had been +adjusted. + +"Let 'er go," cried Billy. + +There was a click, and a split of blue flame followed by a roar that +shook the ground under their feet. From the gully a great fountain of +ice shot up mingled with smoke. + +"I'm afraid I gave her too much," regretted Frank apprehensively, as +the noise subsided and the smoke blew away. "I hope we haven't sunk +her." + +"That would be a calamity," exclaimed the professor, "but I imagine +the ice beneath her was too thick to release her, even with such a +heavy charge as you fired." + +"Let's hope so," was the rejoinder. + +Billy led the others on the rush back to the gulf. + +All uttered a cry of amazement as they gazed over its edge. + +The explosion had shattered the coating of ice above the vessel's +decks and had also exposed her hold at a spot at which the deck itself +had been blown in. + +"I can't believe my eyes," shouted Billy, as he gazed. + +"It's there, right enough," gasped Frank, "the old manuscript was +right after all." + +As for the professor and Harry, they stood speechless, literally +petrified with astonishment. + +Below them, exposed to view, where the deck had been torn away, was +revealed the vessel's hold packed full, apparently, of yellow walrus +ivory and among the tusks there glittered dully bars of what seemed +solid gold. + +Frank was the first down the rope. The explosion had certainly done +enough damage, and if the ice "cradle" beneath the vessel's keel had +not been so thick she must have been sunk with the shock of the +detonation. The ice "blanket" that covered her though had been +shattered like a pane of glass--and, with picks thrown down onto the +decks from above the boys soon cleared a path to the door of a sort of +raised cabin aft. + +Then they paused. + +A nameless dread was on them of disturbing the secrets of the long +dead Vikings. Before them was the cabin door which they longed to open +but somehow none of them seemed to have the courage to do so. The +portal was of massive oak but had been sprung by the explosion till it +hung on its hinges weakly. One good push would have shoved it down. + +"Say, Billy, come and open this door," cried Harry, but Billy was +intently gazing into the hold, now and then jumping down into it and +handling the ivory and bar gold with an awe-stricken face. + +"Well, are you boys going to open that door?" asked the professor at +last. He had been busy in another part of the ship examining the +rotten wood to see if he could find any sort of insects in it. + +"Well--er, you see, professor--" stammered Harry. + +"What--you are scared," exclaimed the professor, laughing. + +"No; not exactly scared, but--," quavered Frank, "it doesn't seem just +right to invade that place. It's like breaking open a tomb." + +"Nonsense," exclaimed the scientist, who had no more sentiment about +him than a steel hack-saw, "watch me." + +He bounded forward and put his shoulder to the mouldering door. It +fell inward with a dull crash and as it did so the professor leaped +backward with a startled cry, stumbling over a deck beam and sprawling +in a heap. + +"W-w-what's the matter?" gasped Harry, with a queer feeling at the +back of his scalp and down his spine. + +"T-T-THERE'S SOMEONE IN THERE!" was the startling reply from the +recumbent scientist. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +CAUGHT IN A TRAP. + + +"Someone in there?" Frank echoed the exclamation in amazed tones. + +"Y-y-yes," stammered the scared professor, "he's sitting at a table." + +"It must be one of the long dead Vikings," said Frank, after a +moment's thought, "in these frozen regions and incased in ice as the +ship has been, I suppose that a human body could be kept in perfect +preservation indefinitely." + +"I reckon that's it," exclaimed the professor, much relieved at this +explanation, "but, boys, it gave me a dreadful start. He was looking +right at me and I thought I saw his head move. Perhaps it was Olaf +himself." + +"Nonsense," said Frank sharply, who, now that the door was actually +open, had lost his queer feeling of scare; "come on, let's explore the +cabin. That poor dead Viking can't hurt us." + +Followed by the others he entered the dark, mouldy cabin and could +himself hardly repress a start as he found himself facing a man who +must have been of gigantic stature. The dead sea rover was seated at a +rough oak table with his head resting on his hand as if in deep +thought. He had a mighty yellow beard reaching almost to his waist and +wore a loose garment of some rough material. Had it not been for a +green-mold on his features he must have seemed a living man. + +The cabin contained some rude couches and rough bunks of dark wood +lined its sides, but otherwise, with the exception of the table and +chairs, it was bare of furniture. Some curious looking weapons, +including several shields and battle axes, were littered about the +place and some quaint instruments of navigation which Frank guessed +were crude foreshadows of the sextent and the patent log, lay on a +shelf. + +"How do you suppose he died?" asked Billy in an awed whisper, +indicating the dead man. + +"I don't know--frozen to death perhaps," was Frank's reply. + +"But where are the others? The crew,--his companions?" + +"Perhaps they rowed away; perhaps they went out to seek for food and +never came back--we can't tell and never shall be able to," was the +rejoinder. + +The bare, dark cabin was soon explored and the boys, marveling a good +deal at the temerity of the old-time sailors who made their way across +unknown seas in such frail ships, emerged into the air once more. They +determined to throw off in work the gloomy feelings that had oppressed +them in the moldering cabin of the Viking ship. + +"The first thing to do," announced Frank, "is to get all we can of +this stuff to the surface." He indicated the hold. + +With this end in view a block and tackle was rigged on the surface of +the plateau, and the ivory and gold hauled out as fast as the boys +could load it. The professor at the top attended to the hauling and +dumping of each load. Soon a good pile of the valuable stuff lay +beside him and he hailed the boys and suggested that it was time for a +rest. + +Nothing loath to knock off their fatiguing task for a while, the boys +clambered up to the surface by the rope and soon were busy eating the +lunch they had brought with them. They washed it down with smoking hot +chocolate which they had poured into their vacuum bottles at breakfast +time. The hot stuff was grateful and invigorating in the chill air, +and they ate and drank with keen appetites. + +So excited were they by the events of the morning, and so much was +there to talk about, that the big dirigible had entirely slipped from +their minds till they suddenly were jolted into abrupt recollection by +a happening that brought them all to their feet with a shout of alarm. + +FROM HIGH IN THE AIR A VOICE HAD HAILED THEM. + +They looked up with startled eyes to see hovering directly over them +the mysterious dirigible. + +Her deck seemed to be supporting several men, some of whom gazed +curiously at the boys; but what caught the adventurers' attention, and +riveted it, was the sight of several rifles aimed at them. + +"Keep still, and we will not shoot," shouted a man who appeared to be +in command, "we do not wish to harm you." + +"Hum," said Billy, "I don't see what they want to aim those shooting +irons at us for, then." + +"It would be useless to try to run, I suppose," said the professor. + +"It would be dangerous to try it," decided Frank, "those fellows +evidently mean to kill us if we try to disobey their orders." + +As he spoke the dirigible was brought to the ground by her operators +and as she touched the snow several of her crew gave a shout of +surprise at the sight of the pile of treasure already excavated by the +boys. They started to run toward it; but were checked by a sharp cry +from their officer. They obeyed him instantly and marshaled in a +motionless line waiting his next command, but he left them and strode +through the snow toward the boys. + +He was a dapper little brown man, dressed in the uniform of the +Mikado's Manchurian troops. A heavy, fur collar encircled his neck and +a fur cap was pulled over his ears. + +"Don't make any hostile move or it will mean your death," he warned as +he advanced toward them. + +The boys stood motionless, but the professor, in a high, angry voice, +broke out: + +"What do you mean, sir, by approaching American citizens in this +manner? If it is the Viking ship you are after we have already claimed +it in the name of the United States." + +"That matters little here,--where we are," said the little officer, +with a smile, "we are now in a country where might is right; and I +think you will acknowledge that we have the might on our side." + +The boys gazed at the twelve men who stood facing them with leveled +rifles and could not help but acknowledge the truth of these words. It +seemed that they were utterly in the power of the Japanese. + +"Your government shall hear about this," sputtered the professor +angrily. "It will not countenance such a high-handed proceeding. We +are not at war with your country. You have no right under the law of +nations, or any other law, to interfere with us." + +"You will oblige me by stepping into the cabin of my dirigible," was +the response in an even tone. The others had paid not the slightest +attention to the professor's harangue. + +"And if we refuse?" demanded the professor. + +"If you refuse you will be shot, and do not, I beg, make the mistake +of thinking that I don't mean what I say." + +There was nothing to do, under the circumstances, but to obey and, +with sinking hearts, they advanced in the direction of the big +air-ship. With great courtesy the interloper ushered them inside. + +They found a warm and comfortable interior, well cushioned and even +luxurious in its appointments. Once they were well inside the little +man, with a bow, remarked: + +"I now beg to be excused. You will find books and the professor +something to smoke if he wishes it. Don't make any attempt to escape +as I should regret to be compelled to have any of you shot." + +He was gone. Closing the door behind him with a "click," that told the +boys that they were locked in. + +"Prisoners," exclaimed Billy. + +"That's it, and just as we have accomplished our wish," said Frank +bitterly; "it's too bad." + +"Well, it can't be helped," said the professor, "let's look about and +see if there is not some way we can get out if an opportunity presents +itself." + +They approached a window and through it could see the new arrivals +examining the edge of the gulf and peeping down at the Viking ship. +But as soon as they opened the casement and peered out a man with a +rifle appeared, as if from out of the earth, and sharply told them to +get inside. + +"Well, we've got to spend the time somehow, we might as well examine +the ship," said the professor closing the window. + +Somewhat cheered by his philosophical manner, the boys followed him as +he led the way from the main cabin through a steel door which they +found led into the engine-room. The engines were cut off, but a small +motor was operating a dynamo with a familiar buzzing sound. This was +the sound the boys had heard when the ship passed above them at night. + +"What have they got the dynamo going for?" demanded Harry. + +"I don't know. To warm the ship by electric current, or something I +suppose," said Frank listlessly. "I wonder where the engineer is? The +ship seems deserted." + +"I guess he's out with the rest looking over OUR treasure," said the +professor bitterly. + +"Ours no longer,--might is right, you know," quoted Harry miserably. + +Frank had been examining the machinery with some care. Even as a +prisoner he felt some interest in the completeness of the engine room +of the Japanese dirigible. He bent over her twin fifty-horse-power +motors with admiring appreciation and examined the other machinery +with intense interest. + +The purring dynamo next came in for his attention and he was puzzling +over the utility of several wires that led from it through the engine +room roof when a sudden thought flashed into his mind. With a cry of +triumph he bent over a small lever marked "accelerator," beside which +was a small gauge. He rapidly adjusted the gauge, so that it would not +register any more than the pressure it recorded at that moment and +then shoved the lever over to its furthest extent. + +"Whatever are you doing?" demanded Harry, much mystified at these +actions, at the conclusion of which he had strolled up. + +"You know that the gas in the bag of this dirigible is heated by +electric radiators in order to avoid condensation of the gas?" was the +seemingly incoherent reply. + +"Yes," was the astonished answer, "but what has that--?" + +"Hold on a minute," cried Frank, raising his hand, "and that gas when +expanded by heat soon becomes too buoyant for its container, and will, +if allowed to continue expanding, burst its confines." + +Harry nodded his head. + +"Well, then," Frank went on, "that's what's going to happen on this +ship." + +"Whatever do you mean? I suppose I'm dense, but I don't see yet." + +"I mean," said Frank, "that I've fixed the gas-heating radiators so +that in a few hours the bag above our head will be ripped into tatters +by a gas explosion. The resistance coils are now heating and expanding +the gas at a rate of ten times above the normal and the gauge I have +adjusted so that an inspection of it will show nothing to be the +matter." + +"But what good will that do us?" urged Harry. + +"It may save our lives. In any event the Viking treasure will never be +taken from here by another nation." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE FATE OF THE DIRIGIBLE. + + +"Have you any idea what time the explosion will take place?" asked +Harry, anxiously, almost dumbfounded by the other's cool manner. + +"Soon after dark has fallen. Don't be scared, it won't hurt us; at +least I think not, but in the confusion that is certain to follow we +must make a dash for the Golden Eagle." + +"It's a desperate chance." + +"We are in a desperate fix," was the brief reply. + +An hour later something occurred which caused Frank, who had in the +meantime communicated his plan to the others, considerable anxiety. +The despoilers of the adventurers' treasure hoard returned to the ship +laden down with bar gold and ivory and, from what the captain was +saying to his minor officers, it seemed, though he spoke in a low +tone, that it was planned to sail right off back to the camp of the +men the boys had now come justifiably to regard as their enemies. + +"If they do that, we are lost," said Frank, after he had whispered his +fears to Harry. + +"You mean they will discover the trick we have played on them?" + +"No, I mean that the explosion will come off in midair and we shall +all be dashed to death together." + +"Phew!--Would it not be better to tell them what we have done and take +our chances?" + +"If the worst comes to the worst I shall do that. It would be +imperiling our lives uselessly to go aloft with the overheated gas +that is now in the bag." + +But the "worst did not come to the worst." The little captain who had +paid small or no attention to his prisoners, evidently realizing that +they could not get away, didn't like the look of the weather, it +seemed, and made frequent consultations of the barometer with his +fellows. The glass was falling fast and there was evidently a blizzard +or sharp storm of some kind approaching. + +At this time a fresh fear crossed Frank's mind. What if the Japs had +destroyed the Golden Eagle? So far as he could judge they had not +molested her, evidently not thinking it worth while to waste time they +judged better spent on looting the Viking ship of its treasure. But if +they had disabled her, the boy knew that in the event of his +companions escaping they faced an alternative between death by +freezing and starvation, or being shot down by the rifles of their +captors. However, Frank resolved to put such gloomy speculations out +of his mind. It was useless to worry. Things, if they were as he half +feared, would not mend for thinking about them. + +Supper, a well-cooked, well-served meal, was eaten under this painful +strain. The boys and the professor put the best countenance they could +on things, considering that their minds were riveted on the great +gasbag above them which even now, as they knew, was swollen almost to +bursting point with its superheated gases. + +"It is too bad that the weather threatens so," remarked their captor, +who was politeness itself, to his prisoners; "otherwise we should now +be in the air on our way back to my camp. In three more trips we shall +be able, however, to carry off the rest of the treasure. We were well +repaid for keeping our eyes on you." + +The boys answered something, they hardly knew what. Frank in his +nervousness looked at his watch. The strain was becoming painful. At +last, to their intense relief, they rose from supper and the little +officer shut himself in his own cabin. Outside, the boys could hear +the feet of the two armed sentries crunching on the snow. + +"The outrush of gas will stupefy them," whispered Frank, "we shall +have nothing to fear from them after the explosion takes place." + +"When is it due?" gasped Billy, with a ghastly attempt at a smile. + +"At any moment now. It is impossible to calculate the exact time. But +within half an hour we should know our fate." + +Silently the boys and the professor waited, although the scientist was +so nervous that he strode up and down the cabin floor. + +Suddenly the silence was shattered by a loud shout from the engine +room. + +"The gas! The gas! We are--" + +The sentence was never finished. + +There was a sudden convulsion of the entire fabric of the big +dirigible--as if a giant hand from without were shaking her like a +puppy shakes a rat. + +She seemed to lift from the ground in a convulsive leap and settled +back with a crash that smashed every pane of glass and split her stout +sides. + +At the same instant, there was an ear-splitting roar as if a boiler +had exploded and a flash of ruddy flame. + +The exploding gas had caught fire--possibly from a spark from the +electric radiators as the bag and their supporting framework was +ripped apart by the explosion. + +Dazed and half stunned, the boys groped about in total darkness; for +the explosion had extinguished every light on the ship. + +"Boys, where are you?" + +It was Frank calling. + +"Great heavens, what a sensation!" gasped the professor, half choked +by the powerful fumes of the hydrogen gas which filled the air. + +Rapidly the others answered to Frank and groped through the darkness +toward his voice. Before them was the shattered side of the cabin. +Through the gap was the sky. They could see the bright antarctic stars +gleaming. Beyond the rent they knew lay freedom, provided the +marauders had not molested their aeroplane. + +It was the work of a second to stagger through the opening made by the +explosion and gain the fresh air, which they inhaled in great +mouthfuls. Then began the dash for the aeroplane. + +In the wild confusion that reigned following the explosion, their +absence, so far as they could perceive, had not been noticed. As Frank +had guessed, the two sentries were knocked senseless by the explosion +and the fugitives stumbled over their unconscious figures recumbent on +the snow. + +Gasping and staggering they plunged on in the direction they knew the +Golden Eagle lay. It was not more than a mile distant, but before they +reached their goal the professor gave out and the boys had to +half-drag, half-carry him over the frozen surface. They were bitterly +cold, too, and the thought of the blankets and warm clothing aboard +the Golden Eagle lent them additional strength--as much so, in fact, +as the peril that lay behind them. + +"Can you see her?" gasped Harry, after about fifteen minutes of this +heart-breaking work. + +"Yes. I think so at least. There seems to be a dark object on the snow +ahead. If only they have not molested her," panted Frank. + +"If they have, it's all up," exclaimed Billy Barnes. At the same +moment Harry breathed: + +"Hark!" + +Borne over the frozen ground they could hear shouts. + +"They have discovered our escape!" exclaimed Frank, "it's a race for +life now." + +[Illustration: "It's a Race for Life Now."] + +His words threw fresh determination into all. Even the professor made +a desperate struggle. A few more paces and there was no doubt that the +dark object ahead was the Golden Eagle. Only one anxiety now remained. +Was she unharmed? + +Bang! + +It was a shot from the men of the dirigible. + +"They are firing after us," exclaimed Billy. + +"They can fire all they want to if they come as wide of the mark as +that," said Frank; "they are shooting at random to scare us." + +A few seconds later they gained the side of the Golden Eagle and, worn +and harried as they were, they could not forbear setting up a cheer as +they found that the aeroplane was in perfect shape. + +Hastily they cranked the Golden Eagle motor up, blue flame and sharp +reports bursting from her exhausts as they did so. The engine was +working perfectly,--every cylinder taking up its work as the sparks +began to occur rhythmically. + +"We've put the fat in the fire now," exclaimed Frank, as he took his +seat at the steering wheel. "If they could not locate us before, the +noise of the exhaust and the blue flame will betray us to them." + +"Well, it can't be helped," shouted Harry, above the roar of the +engine. "We've got to get every ounce of power out of her to-night." + +The other lad nodded and as he did so a sound like a bee in flight +fell on the adventurers' ears--a bullet. + +It was followed by several reports. + +"They've got the range," cried Harry. + +"They won't have it long," said his brother as he threw in the clutch +and rapidly the Golden Eagle sped forward, crashing faster and faster +over the frozen surface as her young driver worked the engine up to +full speed. + +In a few seconds more they felt the aeroplane begin to lift and soar +into the night air. + +They were exploding skyward to safety, while far below them their +baffled captors were firing aimlessly in the hope of a random shot +shattering some vital part of the aeroplane. + +But no such thing happened and as the boys sped toward the west, bound +for Camp Hazzard, they sent out a wireless message. Again and again +they tried but without success. They could not raise an answer. + +"Of course we can't raise them. They are on the march!" shouted Frank +suddenly. + +"On the motor-sledge bound for the Viking ship," cried Billy, "they +should be there to-morrow." + +"Say, fellows, we have done it now," cried Frank, with a sudden +twinge. + +"What's the matter?" inquired the professor. + +"Why, they will arrive there to find the others in possession and no +sign of us. They'll think we ran away without even putting up a +fight." + +"We'll have to try to pick them up in the daylight," was the reply; +"we know about the route along which they'll drive and from this +altitude we can't miss them if they are anywhere within miles of us." + +The boys were then at a height of about 1,500 feet. The air was bitter +chill and warm wraps and furs had been donned long before. Suddenly +the aeroplane gave a sickening sidewise dip and seemed about to +capsize. Frank caught and righted her just in time. The gyroscopic +balance whizzed furiously. + +A curious moaning sound became perceptible in the rigging and a wind, +which they had not noticed before, lashed their faces with a stinging +sensation. The recollection of the falling barometer flashed across +Frank's mind. They were in for a storm. + +The boy gazed at the compass beneath its binnacle light. As he did so +he gave a gasp. + +"We are way off our course," he cried, "the wind is out of the north +and it is blowing us due south." + +"Due south!" exclaimed Harry. + +"That's it. And the worst of it is I can do nothing. With this load on +board I don't dare try to buck the wind and it's freshening every +minute." + +"But if we are being blown due south from here, where on earth will we +fetch up?" cried Billy, in dismayed tones. + +They all looked blank as they awaited the reply. Frank glanced at his +watch and then at the compass and made a rapid mental calculation. + +"At the rate we are going we should be over the South Pole, roughly +speaking, at about midnight," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC. + + +The professor was the first to break the tense silence that followed +Frank's words. + +"Into the heart of the Antarctic," he breathed. + +There seemed to be something in the words that threw a spell of awed +silence over them all. Little was said as on and on through the polar +night the aeroplane drove,--the great wind of the roof of the world +harassing her savagely, viciously,--as if it resented her intrusion +into the long hidden arcana of the polar Plateau. + +It grew so bitter cold that the chill ate even through their furs and +air-proofed clothing. The canvas curtains were hoisted for a short +distance to keep off the freezing gale. They dared not set them fully +for fear they might act as sails and drive the ship before the gale so +fast that all control would be lost. + +At ten o'clock Frank, his hands frozen almost rigid, surrendered the +wheel to Harry. + +It now began to snow. Not a heavy snowfall but a sort of frozen flurry +more like hail in its texture. Frank glanced at his watch. + +Eleven o'clock. + +"How's she headed?" shouted Harry, above the song of the polar gale. + +"Due south," was the short reply as the other boy bent over the +compass. + +"Well, wherever we are going, we are bound for the pole, there's some +grim satisfaction in that," remarked Frank. + +On and on through the cold they drove. The snow had stopped now and +suddenly Billy called attention to a strange phenomenon in the +southern sky. + +It became lit with prismatic colors like a huge curtain, gorgeously +illuminated in its ample folds by the rays of myriad colored +searchlights. + +"Whatever is it?" gasped Billy in an awed tone as the mystic lights +glowed and danced in almost blinding radiance and cast strange colored +lights about the laboring aeroplane. + +"The Aurora Australis," said the professor in an almost equally +subdued voice, "the most beautiful of all the polar sky displays." + +"The Aurora Australis," cried Frank, "then we are near the pole +indeed." + +Half past eleven. + +The lights in the sky began to dim and soon the aeroplane was driving +on through solid blackness. The suspense was cruel. Not one of the +adventurers had any idea of the conditions they were going to meet. A +nameless dread oppressed all. + +Suddenly Frank, after a prolonged scrutiny of the compass, voiced what +was becoming a general fear. + +"What if we are being drawn by magnetic force toward the pole?" + +"And be dashed to destruction as we reach it?" the professor finished +for him. + +Brave as they were, the adventurers gave a shudder that was not born +of the gnawing cold as the possibility occurred to them. Frank glanced +at the barograph. Fifteen hundred feet. They were then holding their +own in altitude. This was a cheering sign. + +Ten minutes to twelve. + +The strange lights began to reappear. Glowing in fantastic forms they +seemed alive with lambent fire. As the boys gazed at each other they +could see that their features were tinted with the weird fires of the +polar sky. + +Twelve o'clock. + +Frank gave a hurried dash toward the compass and drew back with a +shout. + +"Look," he shouted, "we are within the polar influence." + +The needle of the instrument was spinning round and round at an almost +perpendicular angle in the binnacle with tremendous velocity. The +pointer tore round its points like the hands of a crazy clock. + +"What does it mean?" quavered Harry. + +"The South Pole, or as near to it as we are ever likely to get," +exclaimed Frank, peering over the side. + +Far below illuminated fantastically by the lights of the dancing, +flickering aurora he could see a vast level plain of snow stretching, +so it seemed, to infinity. There was no open sea. No strange land. +Nothing but a vast plateau of silent snow. + +"Fire your revolvers, boys," shouted Frank, as, suiting the action to +the word, he drew from his holster his magazine weapon and saluted the +silent skies. + +"The South Pole--Hurrah!" + +It was a quavering cry, but the first human sound that had ever broken +the peace of the mysterious solitudes above which they were winging. + +Suddenly in the midst of the "celebration" the aeroplane was violently +twisted about. Every bolt and stay in her creaked and strained under +the stress, but so well and truly had she been built that nothing +started despite Frank's fears that the voyage to the pole was to end +right there in disaster. + +The adventurers were thrown about violently. All, that is, but Frank, +who had now resumed the wheel and steadied himself with it. As they +scrambled to their feet Billy chattered: + +"Whatever happened--did a cyclone strike us?" + +For answer Frank bent over the compass and gave a puzzled cry. + +"I don't understand this," he exclaimed. + +"Don't understand what?" asked Harry, coming to his side. + +"Why look here--what do you make of that?" + +"The needle has steadied and is pointing north!" cried Harry, as he +gazed at the compass. + +"North," echoed the professor. + +"There's no question about it," rejoined Frank, knitting his brows. + +"What is your explanation of this sudden reversal of the wind?" asked +the professor. + +"I know no more than you," replied the puzzled young aviator, "the +only reason I can advance is that at the polar cap some strange +influences rule the wind currents and that we are caught in a polar +eddy, as it were." + +"If it holds we are saved," cried the professor, who had begun to fear +that they might never be able to emerge from their newly discovered +region. + +Hold it did and daybreak found the aeroplane above the same +illimitable expanse of snow that marked the pole, but several miles to +the north. + +"I'm going down to take an observation," said Frank, suddenly, "and +also, has it occurred to you fellows that we haven't eaten a bite +since last night?" + +"Jiminy crickets," exclaimed Billy Barnes, his natural flow of spirits +now restored, "that's so. I'm hungry enough to eat even a fur-bearing +pollywog, if there's one around here." + +"Boys," began the professor solemnly as Billy concluded, "I have a +confession to make." + +"A confession?" cried Harry, "what about?" + +"Why for some time I have entertained a doubt in my mind and that +doubt has now crystallized to a certainty. I don't believe there is +such a creature as the fur-bearing pollywog." + +"Then Professor Tapper is wrong?" asked Harry, amazed at the +scientist's tone. + +"I am convinced he is. I shall expose him when we return--if we ever +do," declared the scientist. + +A few minutes later they landed on the firm snow and soon a hearty +meal of hot canned mutton, vegetables, soup, and even a can of plum +pudding, warmed on their stove and washed down with boiling tea, was +being disposed of. + +"And now," said Frank, as he absorbed the last morsels on his plate, +"let's see whereabouts on the ridgepole of the earth we have lighted." + +The boy's observation showed that they were at a point some two +hundred miles to the southwest of the spot in which they had left the +crippled dirigible and the Viking ship. The wind had dropped, however, +and conditions were favorable for making a fast flight to the place +they were now all impatient to reach Frank, after a few minutes' +figuring, announced that dusk ought to find them at the Viking ship +and, if all went well, in communication with their friends. + +No time was lost in replenishing the gasolene tank from the reserve +"drums," and carefully inspecting the engine and then a long farewell +was bade to the Polar plateau. Without a stop the Golden Eagle winged +steadily toward the northeast, and as the wonderful polar sunset was +beginning to paint the western sky they made out the black form of the +disabled dirigible on the snow barrens not far from the Viking ship's +gully. + +As they gazed they broke into a cheer, for advancing toward the other +dark object at a rapid rate was another blot on the white expanse, +which a moment's scrutiny through the glasses showed them was the +motor-sledge packed with men on whose rifles the setting sun glinted +brightly. The Golden Eagle ten minutes later swooped to earth at a +spot not twenty yards from her original landing place and a few +moments later the boys were shaking hands and executing a sort of war +dance about Captain Barrington and Captain Hazzard, while Ben Stubbs +was imploring some one to "shiver his timbers" or "carry away his +top-sails" or "keel-haul him" or something to relieve his feelings. + +Eagerly the officers pressed for details of the polar discovery, but +Frank, after a rapid sketching of conditions as they had observed them +at the world's southern axis, went on to describe the events that had +led up to their wild flight and urged immediate negotiations with the +rival explorers. Both leaders agreed to advance at once, convinced +that their force was sufficiently formidable to overcome the Japs. + +"Steady, men, and be ready for trouble but make no hostile move till +you get the word," warned Captain Hazzard, as the somewhat formidable +looking party advanced on the stricken dirigible. At first no sign of +life was visible about her, but as they neared the ship Frank saw that +the wrecked cabin had been patched up with canvas, and parts of the +balloon bag that had not burned, till it formed a fairly snug tent. +They were within a hundred paces of it before anyone appeared to have +taken any notice of their arrival and then the little officer, who had +directed the capture of the adventurers, appeared. + +As Billy said afterward, he "never turned a hair," over the conditions +that confronted him. He was a beaten man and knew it; but his manner +was perfectly suave and calm. + +"Good evening, gentlemen," was all he said, with a wave of his hand +toward the Viking ship and the pile of ivory and gold that still lay +on the edge of the gully, "to the victors belong the spoils and you +are without doubt the victors." + +He gazed at the array of armed men that backed up the two officers and +the boys. + +"We have come to take formal possession in the name of the United +States, of the remains of the Viking ship," said Captain Hazzard, +somewhat coldly, for, after what he had heard from the boys, he felt +in no way amiably disposed toward the smiling, suave, little man. + +"If you have pen and ink and paper in your cabin we will draw up a +formal agreement which will hold good in an international court," +supplemented Captain Barrington. + +A flash of resentment passed across the other's face but it was gone +in an instant. + +"Certainly, sir, if you wish it," he said, "but, if it had not been +for those boys we should by this time have been far away." + +"I do not doubt it," said Captain Barrington, dryly, "and, now, if you +please, we will draw up and sign the paper." + +Ten minutes later, with the boys' signatures on it as witnesses, the +important document was drawn up and sealed with a bit of wax that +Captain Hazzard had in his pocket writing-set. And so ended the +episode of the attempt to seize the treasure of the Viking ship. + +Now only remains to be told the manner of its transporting to the +Southern Cross and the last preparations before bidding farewell to +the inhospitable land in which they had spent so much time. First, +however, the castaways of the dirigible were given transportation on +the motor-sledge to their ship which, to the astonishment of all the +American party, they found was snugly quartered in a deep gulf, not +more than twenty miles to the westward of the berth of the Southern +Cross. This accounted for the light and the buzzing of the air-ship +being heard so plainly by the Southern Crucians. The defeated Japs +sailed at once for the north, departing as silently as they had +arrived. + +It took many trips of the motor-sledge before the last load of the +Viking ship's strange cargo was snugly stored in the hold of the +Southern Cross. At Captain Hazzard's command the dead Viking was +buried with military honors and his tomb still stands in the "White +silence." Then came the dismantling of the Golden Eagle and the +packing of the aeroplane in its big boxes. + +"Like putting it in a coffin," grunted Billy, as he watched the last +cover being screwed on. + +All the time this work was going forward the nights and days were +disturbed with mighty reports like those of a heavy gun. + +The ice was breaking up. + +The frozen sea was beginning to be instinct with life. The time for +the release of the Southern Cross was close at hand. + +At last the tedious period of waiting passed and one night with a +mighty crash the ice "cradle" in which the Southern Cross rested +parted from the ice-field and the ship floated free. The engineers' +force had been busy for a week and in the engine-room all was ready +for the start north, but another tedious wait occurred while they +waited for the field-ice to commence its weary annual drift. + +At last, one morning in early December, Captain Barrington and Captain +Hazzard gave the magic order: + +"Weigh anchor!" + +"Homeward bound!" shouted Ben Stubbs, racing forward like a boy. + +A week later, as the Southern Cross was ploughing steadily northward, +a dark cloud of smoke appeared on the horizon. It was not made out +positively for the relief ship Brutus till an hour had passed and then +the rapid-fire gun crackled and the remainder of the daylight rockets +were shot off in joyous celebration. + +In the midst of the uproar Billy Barnes appeared with a broom. + +"Whatever are you going to do with that?" demanded Captain Hazzard, +with a smile, as the lad, his eyes shining with eagerness, approached. + +"Please, Captain Hazzard, have it run up to the main-mast head," +beseeched Billy. + +"Have halliards reeved and run it up, Hazzard," said Captain +Barrington, who came up at this moment, "the lads have certainly made +a clean sweep." + +So it came about that a strange emblem that much puzzled the captain +of the Brutus was run up to the main-mast head as the two ships drew +together. + +"That's the Boy Aviators' standard," said Billy, proudly surveying it. +"We win." + +Shortly afterward a boat from the Brutus came alongside with the mail. +"Letters from home," what magic there is in these words to adventurers +who have long sojourned in the solitary places of the earth! Eagerly +the boys seized theirs and bore them off to quiet corners of the deck. + +"Hurrah," cried Billy, after he had skimmed through his epistles. "I'm +commissioned to write up the trip for two newspapers and a magazine. +How's your news, boys, good?" + +The boys looked up from their pile of correspondence. + +"I'm afraid we're going to have a regular reception when we get home," +said Frank rather apprehensively. + +"Hurray! Brass-bands--speeches--red-fire and big-talk," cried Billy. + +"None of that for us," said Harry, "I guess we'll retire to the +country for a while, till it blows over." + +But they did not escape, for on the arrival of the Polar ships in New +York the boys and the commanders of the expedition were seized on and +lionized till newer idols caught the popular taste. Then, and not till +then, were they allowed to settle down in peace and quiet to tabulate +the important scientific results of the expedition. + +As for the Professor, what he wrote about Professor Tapper--a screed +by the way that nearly caused a mortal combat between the two +savants--may be read in his massive volume entitled "The Confutation +of the Tapper Theory of a South Polar Fur-Bearing Pollywog, by +Professor Simeon Sandburr." It weighs twelve pounds, and can be found +in any large library. + + + + +CONCLUSION. + + +And here, although the author would dearly like to detail their +further adventures, we must bid the Boy Aviators "Farewell." Those who +have followed this series know, however, that the lads were not likely +to remain long inactive without seeking further aerial adventures. +Whether the tale of these will ever be set down cannot at this time be +forecast. The Chester boys adventures have been recorded, not as the +deeds of paragons or phenomenons, but as examples of what pluck, energy, +and a mixture of brains, can accomplish,--and with this valedictory we +will once more bid "God speed" to "The Boy Aviators." + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Aviators' Polar Dash, by +John Henry Goldfrap + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH *** + +***** This file should be named 6973.txt or 6973.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/9/7/6973/ + +Produced by Paul Hollander, Juliet Sutherland, Ben Byer, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!**** + + +Title: The Boy Aviators' Polar Dash +Or +Facing Death in the Antarctic + +Author: Captain Wilbur Lawton + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6973] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 19, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH *** + + + + +Produced by Paul Hollander, Juliet Sutherland, Ben Byer, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + +THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH + +OR + +FACING DEATH IN THE ANTARCTIC + + + +BY + +CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON +(pseudonym for John Henry Goldfrap) + + + + +Boy Aviators' Series + +By Captain Wilbur Lawton + +1 THE BOY AVIATORS IN NICARAGUA; +or, In League with the Insurgents. + +2 THE BOY AVIATORS ON SECRET SERVICE; +or, Working with Wireless. + +3 THE BOY AVIATORS IN AFRICA; +or, An Aerial Ivory Trail. + +4 THE BOY AVIATORS' TREASURE QUEST; +or, The Golden Galleon. + +5 THE BOY AVIATORS IN RECORD FLIGHT; +or, The Rival Aeroplane. + +6 THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH; +or, Facing Death in the Antarctic. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER +I. The Polar Ship +II. A Mysterious Robbery +III. Off for the South Pole +IV. A Message from the Air +V. A Tragedy of the Skies +VI. A Strange Collision +VII. Adrift on a Floating Island +VIII. Caught in the Flames +IX. A Queer Accident +X. The Professor is Kidnapped +XI. A Battle in the Air +XII. Adrift +XIII. The Ship of Olaf the Viking +XIV. Marooned on an Ice Floe +XV. Dynamiting the Reef +XVI. A Polar Storm +XVII. The Great Barrier +XVIII. The Professor Takes a Cold Bath +XIX. Facing the Polar Night +XX. A Mysterious Light +XXI. A Penguin Hunt +XXII. The Flaming Mountain +XXIII. Adrift Above the Snows +XXIV. Swallowed by a Crevasse +XXV. The Viking's Ship +XXVI. Caught in a Trap +XXVII. The Fate of the Dirigible +XXVIII. The Heart of the Antarctic + + + + +THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH + +OR + +FACING DEATH IN THE ANTARCTIC + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE POLAR SHIP. + + +"Oh, it's southward ho, where the breezes blow; we're off for the +pole, yo, ho! heave ho!" + +"Is that you, Harry?" asked a lad of about seventeen, without looking +up from some curious-looking frames and apparatus over which he was +working in the garage workshop back of his New York home on Madison +Avenue. + +"Ay! ay! my hearty," responded his brother, giving his trousers a +nautical hitch; "you seem to have forgotten that to-day is the day we +are to see the polar ship." + +"Not likely," exclaimed Frank Chester, flinging down his wrench and +passing his hand through a mop of curly hair; "what time is it?" + +"Almost noon; we must be at the Eric Basin at two o'clock." + +"As late as that? Well, building a motor sledge and fixing up the +Golden Eagle certainly occupies time." + +"Come on; wash up and then we'll get dinner and start over." + +"Will Captain Hazzard be there?" + +"Yes, they are getting the supplies on board now." + +"Say, that sounds good, doesn't it? Mighty few boys get such a chance. +The South Pole,--ice-bergs--sea-lions,--and--and--oh, heaps of +things." + +Arm in arm the two boys left the garage on the upper floor of which +they had fitted up their aeronautical workshop. There the Golden +Eagle, their big twin-screw aeroplane, had been planned and partially +built, and here, too, they were now working on a motor-sledge for the +expedition which now occupied most of their waking--and +sleeping--thoughts. + +The Erie Basin is an enclosed body of water which forms at once a +repair shop and a graveyard for every conceivable variety of vessel, +steam and sail, and is not the warmest place in the world on a chill +day in late November, yet to the two lads, as they hurried along a +narrow string-piece in the direction of a big three-masted steamer, +which lay at a small pier projecting in an L-shaped formation, from +the main wharf, the bitter blasts that swept round warehouse corners +appeared to be of not the slightest consequence--at least to judge by +their earnest conversation. + +"What a muss!" exclaimed Harry, the younger of the two lads. + +"Well," commented the other, "you'd hardly expect to find a wharf, +alongside which a south polar ship is fitting up, on rush orders, to +be as clean swept as a drawing-room, would you?" + +As Harry Chester had said, the wharf was "a muss." Everywhere were +cases and barrels all stenciled "Ship Southern Cross, U. S. South +Polar Expedition." As fast as a gang of stevedores, their laboring +bodies steaming in the sharp air, could handle the muddle, the +numerous cases and crates were hauled aboard the vessel we have +noticed and lowered into her capacious holds by a rattling, fussy +cargo winch. The shouts of the freight handlers and the sharp shrieks +of the whistle of the boss stevedore, as he started or stopped the +hoisting engine, all combined to form a picture as confused as could +well be imagined, and yet one which was in reality merely an orderly +loading of a ship of whose existence, much less her destination, few +were aware. + +As the readers of The Boy Aviators in Record Flight; or, The Rival +Aeroplane, will recall, the Chester boys, in their overland trip for +the big newspaper prize, encountered Captain Robert Hazzard, a young +army officer in pursuit of a band of renegade Indians. On that +occasion he displayed much interest in the aeroplane in which they +were voyaging over plains, mountains and rivers on their remarkable +trip. They in turn were equally absorbed in what he had to tell them +about his hopes of being selected for the post of commander of the +expedition to the South Pole, which the government was then +considering fitting out for the purpose of obtaining meteorological +and geographical data. The actual attainment of the pole was, of +course, the main object of the dash southward, but the expedition was +likewise to do all in its power to add to the slender stock of the +world's knowledge concerning the great silences south of the 80th +parallel. About a month before this story opens the young captain had +realized his wish and the Southern Cross--formerly a stanch +bark-rigged whaler--had been purchased for uses of the expedition. + +Their friend had not forgotten the boys and their aeroplane and in +fact had lost no time in communicating with them, and a series of +consultations and councils of war had ended in the boys being signed +on as the aviators of the expedition. They also had had assigned to +their care the mechanical details of the equipment, including a motor +sledge, which latter will be more fully described later. + +That the consent of the boys' parents to their long and hazardous trip +had not been gained without a lot of coaxing and persuasion goes +without saying. Mrs. Chester had held out till the last against what +she termed "a hare-brained project," but the boys with learned +discourses on the inestimable benefits that would redound to +humanity's benefit from the discovery of the South Pole, had overborne +even her rather bewildered opposition, and the day before they stood +on the wharf in the Erie Basin, watching the Southern Cross swallowing +her cargo, like a mighty sea monster demolishing a gigantic meal, they +had received their duly signed and witnessed commissions as aviators +to the expedition--documents of which they were not a little proud. + +"Well, boys, here you are, I see. Come aboard." + +The two boys gazed upward at the high side of the ship from whence the +hail had proceeded. In the figure that had addressed them they had at +first no little difficulty in recognizing Captain Hazzard. In grimy +overalls, with a battered woolen cap of the Tam o' Shanter variety on +his head, and his face liberally smudged with grime and dust,--for on +the opposite side of the Southern Cross three lighters were at work +coaling her,--a figure more unlike that of the usually trim and trig +officer could scarcely be imagined. + +The lads' confusion was only momentary, however, and ended in a hearty +laugh as they nimbly ascended the narrow gangway and gained the deck +by their friend's side. After a warm handshake, Frank exclaimed +merrily: + +"I suppose we are now another part of the miscellaneous cargo, sir. If +we are in the way tell us and we'll go ashore again." + +"No, I've got you here now and I don't mean to let you escape," +laughed the other in response; "in my cabin--its aft there under the +break in the poop, you'll find some more overalls, put them on and +then I'll set you both to work as tallyers." + +Harry looked blank at this. He had counted on rambling over the ship +and examining her at his leisure. It seemed, however, that they were +to be allowed no time for skylarking. Frank, however, obeyed with +alacrity. + +"Ay, ay, sir!" he exclaimed, with a sailor-like hitch at his trousers; +"come, Harry, my hearty, tumble aft, we might as well begin to take +orders now as any other time." + +"That's the spirit, my boy," exclaimed the captain warmly, as Harry, +looking a bit shamefaced at his temporary desire to protest, followed +his brother to the stern of the ship. + +Once on board there was no room to doubt that the Southern Cross had +once been a whaler under the prosaic name of Eben A. Thayer. In fact +if there had been any indecision about the matter the strong smell of +oil and blubber which still clung to her, despite new coats of paint +and a thorough cleaning, would have dispelled it. + +The engine-room, as is usual in vessels of the type of the converted +whaler, was as far aft as it could be placed, and the boys noticed +with satisfaction as they entered the officers' quarters aft, that the +radiators had been connected with the boilers and had warmed the place +up to a comfortable temperature. A Japanese steward showed them into +Captain Hazzard's cabin, and they selected a suit of overalls each +from a higgledy-piggledy collection of oil-skins, rough pilot-cloth +suits and all manner of headgear hanging on one of the cabin +bulkheads. + +They had encased themselves in them, and were laughing at the +whimsical appearance they made in the clumsy garments, when the +captain himself entered the cabin. + +"The stevedores have knocked off for a rest spell and a smoke and the +lighters are emptied," he announced, "so I might as well show you boys +round a bit. Would you care to?" + +Would they care to? Two hearty shouts of assent left the young +commander no doubt on this score. + +The former Eben A. Thayer had been a beamy ship, and the living +quarters of her officers astern left nothing to be desired in the way +of room. On one side of the cabin, extending beneath the poop deck, +with a row of lights in the circular wall formed by the stern, were +the four cabins to be occupied by Captain Hazzard, the chief engineer, +a middle-aged Scotchman named Gavin MacKenzie, Professor Simeon +Sandburr, the scientist of the expedition, and the surgeon, a Doctor +Watson Gregg. + +The four staterooms on the other side were to be occupied by the boys, +whom the lieutenant assigned to the one nearest the stern, the second +engineer and the mate were berthed next to them. Then came the cabin +of Captain Pent Barrington, the navigating officer of the ship, and +his first mate, a New Englander, as dry as salt cod, named Darius +Green. The fourth stateroom was empty. The steward bunked forward in a +little cabin rigged up in the same deck-house as the galley which +snuggled up to the foot of the foremast. + +Summing up what the boys saw as they followed their conductor over the +ship they found her to be a three-masted, bark-rigged vessel with a +cro' nest, like a small barrel, perched atop of her mainmast. Her +already large coal bunkers had been added to until she was enabled to +carry enough coal to give her a tremendous cruising radius. It was in +order to economize on fuel she was rigged for the carrying of sail +when she encountered a good slant of wind. Her forecastle, originally +the dark, wet hole common to whalers, had been built up till it was a +commodious chamber fitted with bunks at the sides and a swinging table +in the center, which could be hoisted up out of the way when not in +use. Like the officers' cabins, it was warmed by radiators fed from +the main boilers when under way and from the donkey, or auxiliary, +boiler when hove to. + +Besides the provisions, which the stevedores, having completed their +"spell," were now tumbling into the hold with renewed ardor, the deck +was piled high with a strange miscellany of articles. There were +sledges, bales of canvas, which on investigation proved to be tents, +coils of rope, pick-axes, shovels, five portable houses in knock-down +form, a couple of specially constructed whale boats, so made as to +resist any ordinary pressure that might be brought to bear on them in +the polar drift, and nail-kegs and tool-chests everywhere. + +Peeping into the hold the boys saw that each side of it had been built +up with big partitions, something like the pigeon-holes in which bolts +of cloth are stored in dry-goods shops--only much larger. Each of +these spaces was labeled in plain letters with the nature of the +stores to be placed there so that those in charge of the supplies +would have no difficulty in laying their hands at once on whatever +happened to be needed. Each space was provided with a swiveled bar of +stout timber which could be pulled across the front of the opening in +heavy weather, and which prevented anything plunging out. + +Captain Hazzard explained that the heavy stores were stowed forward +and the provisions aft. A gallery ran between the shelves from stem to +stern and provided ready access to any part of the holds. A system of +hot steam-pipes had been rigged in the holds so that in the antarctic +an equable temperature could be maintained. The great water tanks were +forward immediately below the forecastle. The inspection of the +engines came last. The Southern Cross had been fitted with new +water-tube boilers--two of them--that steamed readily on small fuel +consumption. Her engine was triple expansion, especially installed, as +the boilers had been, to take the place of the antiquated machinery +boasted by the old Thayer. + +"Hoot, mon, she's as fine as a liner," commented old MacKenzie, the +"chief," who had taken charge of the boys on this part of their +expedition over the vessel, which was destined to be their home for +many months. + +"Some day," said Frank, "every vessel will be equipped with gasoline +motors and all this clumsy arrangement of boilers and complicated +piping will be done away with." + +The old Scotch engineer looked at him queerly. + +"Oh, ay," he sniffed, "and some day we'll all go to sea in pea-soup +bowls nae doot." + +"Well, a man in Connecticut has built a schooner out of cement," +declared Harry. + +The engineer looked at him and slowly wiped his hands on a bit of +waste. + +"I ken his head must be a muckle thicker nor that," was his comment, +at which both the boys laughed as they climbed the steel ladders that +led from the warm and oily regions to the deck. The engineer, with a +"dour" Scot's grin, gazed after them. + +"Hoots-toots," he muttered to his gauges and levers, "the great ice +has a wonderful way with lads as cocksure as them twa." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A MYSTERIOUS ROBBERY. + + +Their inspection of the Southern Cross completed, the delighted boys +accompanied Captain Hazzard back to the main cabin, where he unfolded +before them a huge chart of the polar regions. + +The chart was traced over in many places with tiny red lines which +made zig-zags and curves over the blankness of the region south of the +eightieth parallel. + +"These lines mark the points reached by different explorers," +explained the captain. "See, here is Scott's furthest south, and here +the most recent advance into south polar regions, that of Sir Ernest +Shackleton. In my opinion Shackleton might have reached his goal if he +had used a motor sledge, capable of carrying heavy weights, and not +placed his sole dependence on ponies." + +The boys nodded; Frank had read the explorer's narrative and realized +that what Captain Hazzard said was in all probability correct. + +"It remains for your expedition to carry the Stars and Stripes further +to the southward yet," exclaimed Frank, enthusiastically, as Captain +Hazzard rolled up the map. + +"Not only for us," smiled the captain; "we have a rival in the field." + +"A rival expedition?" exclaimed Frank. + +"Exactly. Some time this month a Japanese expedition under Lieutenant +Saki is to set out from Yokahama for Wilkes Land. + +"They are to be towed by a man-of-war until they are in the polar +regions so as to save the supply of coal on the small steamer they are +using," went on the captain. "Everything has been conducted with the +utmost secrecy and it is their intention to beat us there if +possible--hence all this haste." + +"How did our government get wind of the fact that the Japs are getting +ready another expedition?" inquired Frank, somewhat puzzled. + +"By means of our secret service men. I don't doubt that the Japanese +secret service men in this country have also notified their government +of our expedition. England also is in the race but the Scott +expedition will not be ready for some time yet." + +"You think, then, that the Japs have secret agents keeping track of +us?" was Frank's next question. + +The captain's reply was cut short by a loud crash. They all started up +at the interruption. So intent had they been in their conversation +that they had not noticed the Jap steward standing close behind them +and his soft slippers had prevented them hearing his approach. The +crash had been caused by a metal tray he had let drop. He now stood +with as much vexation on his impassive countenance as it ever was +possible for it to betray. + +"What on earth are you doing, Oyama?" sharply questioned Captain +Hazzard. + +"I was but about to inquire if the cap-it-an and the boys would not +have some refreshments," rejoined the Jap. + +"Not now, we are busy," replied Captain Hazzard, with what was for him +some show of irritation. "Be off to your pantry now. I will ring if I +want you." + +With an obsequious bow the Jap withdrew; but if they could have seen +his face as he turned into his small pantry, a cubby-hole for dishes +and glasses, they would have noticed that it bore a most singular +expression. + +"It seems curious that while we were talking of Jap secret service men +that your man should have been right behind us," commented Frank. "I +don't know that I ought to ask such a question--but can you trust +him?" + +The captain laughed. + +"Oh, implicitly," he said easily, "Oyama was with me in the +Philippines, and has always been a model of all that a good servant +should be." + +Soon after this the conference broke up, the boys having promised to +have their aeroplane on board early the next day. Frank explained that +the machine was all ready and in shape for shipping and all that +remained to do was to "knock it down," encase it in its boxes and get +a wagon to haul it to the pier. + +"Say, Harry," said Frank earnestly, as the boys, having bade their +leave of Captain Hazzard, who remained on board owing to press of +business on the ship, made their way along the maze of wharves and +toward a street car. + +"Say it," responded Harry cheerfully, his spirits at the tip-top of +excitement at the idea of an almost immediate start for the polar +regions. + +"Well, it's about that Jap." + +"Oh that yellow-faced bit of soft-footed putty--well, what about him?" + +"Well, that 'yellow-faced bit of putty,' as you call him, is not so +easily dismissed from my mind as all that. I'm pretty sure that he had +some stronger reason than the one he gave for coming up behind us as +silently as a cat while we were talking." + +"But Captain Hazzard says that he has had him for years. That he can +trust him implicitly," protested Harry. + +"Just the same I can't get it out of my mind that there is something +wrong about the fellow. I wish he hadn't seen that map and the +proposed route of our expedition." + +"Oh bosh, you are thinking of what Captain Hazzard said about the Jap +secret service. Our friend Oyama is much too thick to be a secret +service man." + +"He simply looks unimpressive," rejoined Frank. "For that reason alone +he would make a good man for any such purpose." + +"Well, here comes a car," interrupted Harry, "so let's board it and +forget our Japanese friend. Depend upon it you'll find out that he is +all O. K. long before we sight an iceberg." + +"I hope so, I'm sure," agreed Frank; but there was a troubled look on +his face as he spoke. + +However, not later than the next morning, as they were screwing up the +last of the big blue cases that contained the various parts of the +Golden Eagle, Billy Barnes, the young reporter who had accompanied the +two boys in all of their expeditions, including the one to Nicaragua, +where, with their aeroplane they helped make Central American history, +as related in The Boy Aviators in Nicaragua; or, Leagued with the +Insurgents,--Billy Barnes, the irrepressible, bounced into the garage +which they used as a workshop, and which was situated in the rear of +their house on Madison Avenue, with what proved to be important news +of the Jap. + +"Aha, my young Scotts and Shackletons, I behold you on the verge of +your departure for the land of perpetual ice, polar bears and +Esquimaux," exclaimed the reporter, striking an attitude like that +assumed by Commander Peary in some of his pictures. + +"Hullo, Billy Barnes," exclaimed both boys, continuing their work, as +they were pretty well used to the young reporter's unceremonious +calls, "What brings you out so early?" + +"Oh, a little story to cover in the Yorkville Court and I thought as I +was up this way I'd drop off and pay my respects. Say, bring me back a +polar bear skin, will you?" + +"A polar bear skin?" laughed Frank, "why there aren't any polar bears +at the South Pole." + +"No polar bears," repeated Billy lugubriously, "what's the good of a +pole without polar bears. Me for the frozen north then. I suppose +you'll tell me next there are no natives at the South Pole either." + +"Well, there are not," rejoined Frank. + +"But there are sea-elephants and ice-leopards and--" began Harry. + +"And sea-cats, I suppose," interrupted Billy. + +"No," exclaimed Harry, rather nettled at the young reporter's joking +tone, "but there is the ship of Olaf--" + +Frank was up like a shot. + +"Didn't we give our word to the Captain not to mention a word about +that?" he demanded. + +"That's so," assented Harry, abashed, "but I just wanted to show this +young person here that he can't treat our expedition with levity." + +"The ship of Olaf, eh?" mused the young reporter, "sounds like a +story. Who was Olaf, if I may ask?" + +"You may not ask," was Frank's rejoinder. "As you know, Billy, we have +been frank with you, of course under the pledge of secrecy which we +know you too well to dream of your breaking. You know we are bound for +the South Polar regions. You know also that the object of Captain +Hazzard is to discover the pole, if possible; in any event to bring +back scientific data of inestimable value; but there's one thing you +don't know and of which we ourselves know very little, and that is the +thing that Harry let slip." + +"All right, Frank," said the young reporter, readily, "I won't say any +more about it, only it did sound as if it had possibilities. Hullo! +ten o'clock; I've got to be jogging along." + +"What are you going to court about?" inquired Frank. + +"Oh, a small case. Doesn't look as if it would amount to a row of +pins. A Jap who was arrested last night, more for safe-keeping than +anything else, I guess. He was found near the consulate of his country +and appeared to be under the influence of some drug. Anyhow, he +couldn't look after himself, so a policeman took him to a +station-house. Of course, there might be a story back of it and that's +why I'm on the job." + +"A Jap, eh?" mused Frank curiously. + +"Yes; do you number any among your acquaintance?" inquired Billy. + +"Well, we do number one; don't we, Harry?" laughed Frank. + +At that moment the telephone bell rang sharply in the booth erected in +the workshop in order to keep out noise when anyone was conversing +over the wire. + +"Wait a second, I'll see what that call is," exclaimed Frank, bolting +into the booth. He was in it several seconds and when he came out his +face was flushed and he seemed excited. + +"What's the matter--trouble?" inquired Billy, noting his apparent +perturbation. + +"Yes, it is trouble in a way," assented Frank, "I guess we'll take a +run to court with you and look over this Jap of yours, Billy." + +"Think you know him?" + +"That's just what I want to see." + +"You seem very anxious about it. Anything wrong?" + +"Yes, very wrong. That was Captain Hazzard on the wire, and a +mysterious theft has occurred on the Southern Cross." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +OFF FOR THE SOUTH POLE. + + +The court-room was crowded as the boys entered it, but armed with +Billy's police card they soon made their way through a rail that +separated the main body of the place from the space within which the +magistrate was seated. On the way over Frank had related his +conversation over the wire with Captain Hazzard. It appeared that +Oyama, the Jap, was missing and that several papers bearing on the +objects of the expedition which were,--except in a general way,--a +mystery to the boys themselves, had been stolen. + +Putting two and two together, Frank had made up his mind that the Jap +whose case Billy had been assigned to investigate was none other than +Oyama himself, and as they entered the space described above his eyes +eagerly swept the row of prisoners seated in the "Pen." + +"I was sure of it," the boy exclaimed as his eyes encountered an +abject, huddled-up figure seated next a ragged, besotted-looking +tramp. + +"Sure of what?" demanded Harry. + +"Why, that Oyama was the man who stole the papers from the Southern +Cross." + +"Well?" + +"Well, there he is now." + +Frank indicated the abject object in the corner who at the same moment +raised a yellow face and bloodshot eyes and gazed blearily at him. +There was no sign of recognition in the face, however. In fact the Jap +appeared to be in a stupor of some sort. + +"Is that little Jap known to you?" + +Frank turned: a gray moustached man with a red face and keen eyes was +regarding him and had put the question. + +"He is--yes," replied the boy, "but----" + +"Oh, you need not hesitate to talk to me," replied the stranger, "I am +Dr. McGuire, the prison surgeon, and I take a professional interest in +his case. The man is stupefied with opium or some drug that seems to +have numbed his senses." + +"Do you think it was self-administered?" asked the boy. + +"Oh, undoubtedly. Those fellows go on regular opium debauches +sometimes. In this case perhaps it is very fortunate for some one that +he was imprudent enough to take such heavy doses of the drug that the +policeman picked him up, for a lot of papers were found on him. They +are meaningless to me, but perhaps you can throw some light on them." + +"The papers, we believe, are the property of Captain Hazzard, the head +of the government's South Polar expedition," exclaimed Frank, whose +suspicions had rapidly become convictions at the sight of the Jap. "We +have no right to examine into their contents, but I suppose there +would be no harm in our looking at them to make sure. I can then +notify the Captain." + +"You are friends of his?" + +"We are attached to the expedition," replied Frank, "but I must ask +you not to mention it, as I do not know but we are breaking our +promise of secrecy even in such an important matter as this." + +"You can depend that I shall not violate your confidence," promised +Dr. McGuire. + +It was the matter of few moments only to secure the papers from the +court clerk. There was quite a bundle of them, some of them sealed. +Apparently the thief, elated over his success in stealing them, had +indulged himself in his beloved drug before he had even taken the +trouble to examine fully into his finds. One paper, however, had been +opened and seemed to be, as Frank could not help noticing, a sort of +document containing "General Orders" to the expedition. + +It consisted of several closely typewritten pages, and on the first +one Frank lit on the magic words,--"--AND CONCERNING THE SHIP OF OLAF, +THE VIKING ROVER, YOU WILL PROCEED ACROSS THE BARRIER, USING ALL +DISCRETION, AS A RIVAL NATION HAS ALSO SOME INKLING OF THE PRESENCE OF +THE LONG-LOST VESSEL AND,--" + +Though the boy would have given a good deal to do so he felt that he +could not honorably read more. He resolutely, therefore, closed the +paper and restored it to its place in the mass of other documents. +There was, of course, no question that the papers were the property of +Captain Hazzard, and that the Jap had stolen them. The latter was +therefore sentenced to spend the next six weeks on Blackwell's Island, +by the expiration of which time the Southern Cross would be well on +her voyage toward The Great Barrier. + +As the boys left the court, having been told that Captain Hazzard's +papers would be sealed and restored him when he called for them and +made a formal demand for their delivery, they were deep in excited +talk. + +"Well, if this doesn't beat all," exclaimed Frank, "we always seem to +be getting snarled up with those chaps. You remember what a tussle +they gave us in the Everglades." + +"Not likely to forget it," was the brief rejoinder from Harry. + +"I'll never forget winging that submarine of Captain Bellman's," put +in Billy. + +"Well, boys, exciting as our experiences were down there, I think that +we are on the verge of adventures and perils that will make them look +insignificant," exclaimed Frank. + +"Don't," groaned Billy. + +"Don't what?" + +"Don't talk that way. Here am I a contented reporter working hard and +hoping that some day my opportunity will come and I shall be a great +writer or statesman or something and then you throw me off my base by +talking about adventure," was the indignant response. + +"Upon my word, Billy Barnes, I think you are hinting that you would +like to come along." + +"Well, would that be so very curious. Oh cracky! If I only could get a +chance." + +"You think you could get a leave of absence?" + +"Two of 'em. But what's the use," Billy broke off with a groan, +"Captain Hazzard wouldn't have me and that's all there is to it. No, +I'll be stuck here in New York while you fellows are shooting Polar +bears--oh, I forgot, there aren't any,--well, anyhow, while you're +having a fine time,--just my luck." + +"If you aren't the most contrary chap," laughed Frank. "Here a short +time ago you never even dreamed of coming and now you talk as if you'd +been expecting to go right along, and had been meanly deprived of your +rights." + +"I wonder if the Captain----," hesitated Harry. + +"Would take Billy along?" Frank finished for him, "well, we will do +this much. We have got to go over to the Erie Basin now and tell +Captain Hazzard about the recovery of his papers. Billy can come along +if he wants and we will state his case for him, it will take three +boys to manage that sledge anyway," went on Frank, warming up to the +new plan. "I think we can promise you to fix it somehow, Billy." + +"You think you can," burst out the delighted reporter, "oh, Frank, if +you do, I'll--I'll make you famous. I'll write you up as the +discoverer of the ship of Olaf and--" + +"That's enough," suddenly interrupted Frank, "if you want to do me a +favor, Billy, never mention any more about that till Captain Hazzard +himself decides to tell us about it. We only let what we know of the +secret slip out by accident and we have no right to speculate on what +Captain Hazzard evidently wishes kept a mystery till the time comes to +reveal it." + +"I'm sorry, Frank," contritely said Billy, "I won't speak any more +about it; but," he added to himself, "you can't keep me from thinking +about it." + +As Frank had anticipated, Captain Hazzard agreed to ship Billy Barnes +as a member of the expedition. He was to be a sort of general +secretary and assist the boys with the aeroplane and motor sledge when +the time came. The reporter's face, when after a brief conference it +was announced to him that he might consider himself one of the +Southern Cross's ship's company, was a study. It was all he could do +to keep from shouting at the top of his voice. The contrast between +the dignity he felt he ought to assume before Captain Hazzard and the +desire he felt to skip about and express his feelings in some active +way produced such a ludicrous mixture of emotions on Billy's face that +both the boys and the captain himself had to burst into uncontrollable +laughter at it. Laughter in which the good natured Billy, without +exactly understanding its cause, heartily joined. + +A week later the final good-byes were said and the Southern Cross was +ready for sea. She was to meet a coal-ship at Monte Video in the +Argentine Republic which would tow her as far as the Great Barrier. +This was to conserve her own coal supply. The other vessel would then +discharge her cargo of coal,--thus leaving the adventurers a plentiful +supply of fuel in case the worst came to worst, and they were frozen +in for a second winter. + +In case nothing was heard of them by the following fall a relief ship +was to be despatched which would reach them roughly about the +beginning of December, when the Antarctic summer is beginning to draw +to a close. The commander of the Southern Cross expected to reach the +great southern ice-barrier in about the beginning of February, when +the winter, which reaches its climax in August, would be just closing +in. The winter months were to be devoted to establishing a camp, from +which in the following spring--answering to our fall--the expedition +would be sent out. + +"Hurray! a winter in the Polar ice," shouted the boys as the program +was explained to them. + +"And a dash for the pole to cap it off," shouted the usually +unemotional Frank, his face shining at the prospect. + +As has been said, the Southern Cross was an old whaler. Built rather +for staunchness than beauty, she was no ideal of a mariner's dream as +she unobtrusively cleared from her wharf one gray, chilly morning +which held a promise of snow in its leaden sky. There were few but the +stevedores, who always hang about "the Basin," and some idlers, to +watch her as she cast off her lines and a tug pulled her head round +till she pointed for the opening of the berth in which she had lain so +long. Of these onlookers not one had any more than a hazy idea of +where the vessel was bound and why. + +As the Southern Cross steamed steadily on down the bay, past the bleak +hills of Staten Island, on by Sandy Hook, reaching out its long, +desolate finger as if pointing ships out to the ocean beyond, the +three boys stood together in a delighted group in the lee of a pile of +steel drums, each containing twenty gallons of gasolene. + +"Well, old fellow, we're off at last," cried Frank, his eye kindling +as the Southern Cross altered her course a bit and stood due south +down the Jersey coast. + +"That's it," cried Billy, with a wave of his soft cap, "off at last; +we're the three luckiest boys on this globe, I say." + +"Same here," was Harry's rejoinder. + +The blunt bows of the Southern Cross began to lift to the long heave +of the ever restless Atlantic. She slid over the shoulder of one big +wave and into the trough of another with a steady rhythmic glide that +spoke well for her seaworthy qualities. Frank, snugly out of the +nipping wind in the shelter of the gasolene drums, was silent for +several minutes musing over the adventurous voyage on which they were +setting out. Thus he had not noticed a change coming over Harry and +Billy. Suddenly a groan fell on his ear. Startled, the boy looked +round. + +On the edge of the hatch sat Billy and beside him, his head sunk in +his hands, was Harry. + +"What's the matter with you fellows?" demanded Frank. + +At that instant an unusually large breaker came rolling towards the +Southern Cross and caught her fair and square on the side of the bow. +Deep laden as she was it broke over her and a wall of green water came +tumbling and sweeping along the decks. Frank avoided it by leaping +upward and seizing a stanchion used to secure the framework holding +down the deck load. + +But neither Harry nor Billy moved, except a few minutes later when +another heavy roll sent them sliding into the scuppers. + +"Come, you fellows, you'd better get up, and turn in aft," said Frank. + +"Oh, leave me alone," groaned Billy. + +"I'm going to die, I think," moaned Harry. + +At this moment the new steward, a raw boy from Vermont, who had been +at sea for several years, came up to where the two boys were +suffering. + +"Breakfast's ready," he announced, "there's some nice fat bacon and +fried eggs and jam and----" + +It was too much. With what strength they had left Billy and Harry +tumbled to their feet and aimed simultaneous blows at him. + +It was a final effort and as the Southern Cross plunged onward toward +her mysterious goal she carried with her two of the most sea-sick boys +ever recorded on a ship's manifest. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A MESSAGE FROM THE AIR. + + +It was a bright, sunshiny morning a week later. The Southern Cross was +now in sub-tropic waters, steaming steadily along under blue skies and +through smooth azure water flecked here and there with masses of +yellow gulf weed. + +The boys were in a group forward watching the flying fish that fled +like coveys of frightened birds as the bow of the polar ship cut +through the water. Under Dr. Gregg's care Billy and Harry had quite +recovered from their sea-sickness. + +"Off there to the southeast somewhere is the treasure galleon and the +Sargasso Sea," said Harry, indicating the purplish haze that hung on +the horizon. [Footnote: See Vol. 4 of this series, The Boy Aviators' +Treasure Quest; or, The Golden Galleon.] + +"Yes, and off there is the South Pole," rejoined Frank, pointing due +south, "I wish the old Southern Cross could make better speed, I'm +impatient to be there." + +"And I'm impatient to solve some of the mystery of this voyage," put +in Billy, "here we've been at sea a week and Captain Hazzard hasn't +told us yet anything about that--that,--well you know, that ship you +spoke about, Frank." + +"He will tell us all in good time," rejoined the other, "and now +instead of wasting speculation on something we are bound not to find +out till we do find it out, let's go aft to the wireless room and +polish up a bit." + +The Southern Cross carried a wireless apparatus which had been +specially installed for her polar voyage. The aerials stretched from +her main to mizzen mast and a small room, formerly a storeroom, below +the raised poop containing the cabins had been fitted up for a +wireless room. In this the boys had spent a good deal of time during +their convalescence from sea-sickness and had managed to "pick-up" +many vessels within their radius,--which was fifteen hundred miles +under favorable conditions. + +Frank was the first to clap on the head-receiver this morning and he +sat silently for a while absently clicking out calls, to none of which +he obtained an answer. Suddenly, however, his face grew excited. + +"Hullo," he cried, "here's something." + +"What?" demanded Harry. + +"I don't know yet," he held up his hand to demand silence. + +"That's queer," he exclaimed, after a pause, in which the receiver had +buzzed and purred its message into his ear. + +The others looked their questions. + +"There's something funny about this message," he went on. "I cannot +understand it. Whoever is calling has a very weak sending current. I +can hardly hear it. One thing is certain though, it's someone in +distress." + +The others leaned forward eagerly, but their curiosity was not +satisfied immediately by Frank. Instead his face became set in +concentration once more. After some moments of silence, broken only by +the slight noise of the receiver, he pressed his hand on the sending +apparatus and the Southern Cross's wireless began to crackle and spit +and emit a leaping blue flame. + +"What's he sending?" asked Billy, turning to Harry. + +"Wait a second," was the rejoinder. The wireless continued to crackle +and flash. + +"Cracky," suddenly cried Harry, "hark at that, Billy." + +"What," sputtered the reporter, "that stuff doesn't mean anything to +me. What's he done, picked up a ship or a land station or what?" + +"No," was the astounding response, "he's picked up an airship!" + +"Oh, get out," protested the amazed Billy. + +"That's right," snapped Frank, "as far as I can make out it's a +dirigible balloon that has been blown out to sea. They tried to give +me their position, and as near as I can comprehend their message, they +are between us and the shore somewhere within a radius of about twenty +miles." + +"Are they in distress?" demanded Billy. + +"Yes. The heat has expanded their gas and they fear that the bag of +the ship may explode at any moment. They cut off suddenly. The +accident may have occurred already." + +"Why don't they open the valve?" + +"I suppose because in that case they'd stand every chance of dropping +into the sea," responded Frank, disconnecting the instrument and +removing the head-piece. "I have sent word to them that we will try to +rescue them, but I'm afraid it's a slim chance. I must tell Captain +Hazzard at once." + +Followed by the other two, Frank dashed up the few steps leading to +the deck and unceremoniously burst into the captain's cabin where the +latter was busy with a mass of charts and documents in company with +Captain Barrington, the navigating commander. + +"I beg your pardon," exclaimed Frank, as Captain Hazzard looked up, +"but I have picked up a most important message by wireless,--two men, +in an airship, are in deadly peril not far from us." + +The two commanders instantly became interested. + +"An airship!" cried Captain Hazzard. + +"What's that!" exclaimed Captain Barrington. "Did they give you their +position?" he added quickly. + +"Yes," replied the boy, and rapidly repeated the latitude and +longitude as he had noted it. + +"That means they are to the west of us," exclaimed Captain Barrington +as the boy concluded. He hastily picked up a speaking tube and hailed +the wheel-house, giving instructions to change the course. He then +emerged on deck followed by Captain Hazzard and the boys. The next +hour was spent in anxiously scanning the surrounding sea. + +Suddenly a man who had been sent into the crow's nest on the main mast +gave a hail. + +"I see something, sir," he cried, pointing to the southwest. + +"What is it," demanded the captain. + +"Looks like a big bird," was the response. + +Slinging his binoculars round his neck by their strap, Captain +Barrington himself clambered into the main shrouds. When he had +climbed above the cross-trees he drew out his glasses and gazed in the +direction the lookout indicated. The next minute he gave a shout of +triumph. + +"There's your dirigible, boys," he exclaimed, and even Billy overcame +his dislike to clambering into the rigging for a chance to get a look +at the airship they hoped to save. + +Viewed even through the glasses she seemed a speck, no larger than a +shoe button, drifting aimlessly toward the south, but as the Southern +Cross drew nearer to her she stood out in more detail. The watchers +could then see that she was a large air craft for her type and carried +two men, who were running back and forth in apparent panic on her +suspended deck. Suddenly one of them swung himself into the rigging +and began climbing up the distended sides of the big cigar-shaped gas +bag. + +"What can he be going to do?" asked Captain Hazzard. + +"I think I know," said Frank. "The valve must be stuck and they have +decided now that as we are so near they will take a chance and open it +and risk a drop into the sea rather than have the over-distended bag +blow up." + +"Of course. I never thought of that," rejoined the captain, "that's +just what they are doing." + +"That man is taking a desperate chance," put in Professor Simeon +Sandburr, who had climbed up and joined the party and looked with his +long legs and big round glasses, like some queer sort of a bird +perched in the rigging. "Hydrogen gas is deadly and if he should +inhale any of it he would die like a bug in a camphor bottle." + +Interest on board the Southern Cross was now intense in the fate of +the dirigible. Even the old chief engineer had left his engines and +wiping his hands with a bit of waste, stood gazing at the distressed +cloud clipper. + +"The mon moost be daft," he exclaimed, "any mon that wud go tae sea in +sic a craft moost be daft. It's fair temptin' o' providence." + +At that instant there was a sharp and sudden collapse of the balloon +bag. It seemed to shrivel like a bit of burned paper, and the +structure below it fell like a stone into the ocean, carrying with it +the man who had remained on it. Of the other, the one who had climbed +the bag, not a trace could be seen. Even as the onlookers gazed +horror-stricken at the sudden blotting out of the dirigible before +their eyes the loud roar of the explosion of its superheated gas +reached their ears. + +"Every pound of steam you've got, chief," sharply commanded Captain +Barrington, almost before the dirigible vanished, "we must save them +yet." + +The old engineer dived into his engine room and the Southern Cross, +with her gauges registering every pound of steam her boilers could +carry, rushed through the water as she never had before in all her +plodding career. + +"Heaven grant we may not be too late," breathed Captain Hazzard, as, +followed by the boys, he clambered out of the rigging. "If only they +can swim we may save them." + +"Or perhaps they have on life-belts," suggested Billy. + +"Neither will do them much good," put in a voice at his elbow grimly. +It was Professor Sandburr. + +"Why?" demanded Frank, "we will be alongside in a few minutes now and +if they can only keep up we can save them." + +"The peril of drowning is not so imminent as another grave danger they +face," spoke the professor. + +"What's that?" + +"Sharks," was the reply, "these waters swarm with them." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A TRAGEDY OF THE SKIES. + + +It was soon evident that the two men were supporting themselves in the +water. Their heads made black dots on the surface beneath which the +heavy deck structure of the dirigible had vanished. Through the +glasses it could be seen that they were swimming about awaiting the +arrival of the vessel which was rushing at her top speed to their aid. + +Soon the Southern Cross was alongside and a dozen ropes and life buoys +were hastily cast over the side. But even as one of the men grasped a +rope's end he gave a scream of terror that long rang in the boys' +ears. + +At the same instant a huge, dark body shot through the water and then +there was a whitish gleam as the monster shark turned on its back with +its jaws open displaying a triple row of saw-like teeth. + +"Quick, shoot him," cried Captain Hazzard. + +But nobody had a rifle or revolver. Frank hastily darted into his +cabin for his magazine weapon but when he reappeared there was only a +crimson circle on the water to mark where the terrible, man-killing +shark had vanished with his prey. Attracted, no doubt, by the +mysterious sense that tells these sea tigers where they can snap up a +meal, other dark fins now began to cut through the water in all +directions. + +The second man, almost overcome by the horror of his companion's fate, +however, had presence of mind enough to grasp a rope's end. In a few +seconds he had been hauled to the vessel's side and several of the +crew were preparing to hoist him on board when two of the monsters +made a simultaneous rush at him, Frank's revolver cracked at the same +instant and the sea tigers, with savage snaps of their jaws, which, +however, fell short of their intended prey, rolled over and vanished. + +The rescued man when hauled on deck was a pitiable object. But even in +his half famished condition and with the great beard that he wore +there was something very familiar--strangely so--about him to the +boys. Frank was the first to solve the mystery. + +"Ben Stubbs," he exclaimed. + +"Who's that that called Ben Stubbs," exclaimed the man over whom a +dozen sailors and the doctor had been bending. + +"It's me," shouted Frank, regardless of grammar, "Frank Chester." + +The amazement on the face of the old salt who had accompanied the boys +in Africa and the Everglades and shared their perils in the Sargasso +Sea, was comical to behold. + +"Well, what in the name of the great horn-spoon air you boys doing +here," he gasped, for Harry and Billy had now come forward and were +warmly shaking his hand. + +"Well, answer us first: what are you doing here?" demanded Frank. + +"Coming mighty near my finish like my poor mate," was the reply. + +"Perhaps your friend had better come in the cabin and have something +to eat while he talks," suggested Captain Hazzard to the boys. + +All agreed that that would be a good idea and the castaway was +escorted to the cabin table on which Hiram Scroggs the Vermonter soon +spread a fine meal. + +"Wall, first and foremost," began Ben, the meal being dispatched, "I +'spose you want to know how I come to be out here skydoodling around +in a dirigible?" + +"That's it," cried Billy. + +"It's just this way," resumed the old sailor drawing out his aged +pipe. "Yer see, my pardner, James Melville,--that's the poor feller +that's dead,--and me was trying out his new air-craft when we got +blown out ter sea. We'd been goin' fer two days when you picked up the +wireless call for help he was sending out. I used ter say that +wireless was a fool thing ter have on an air-ship, but I owe my life +ter it all right. + +"Ter go back a bit, I met Melville soon after we got back from the +treasure hunt. He was a friend of my sister's husband and as full of +ideas as a bird dog of fleas. But he didn't have no money to carry out +his inventions and as I had a pocketful I couldn't exactly figure how +to use, I agreed to back him in his wireless dirigible. We tried her +out several times ashore and then shipped her to Floridy, meaning to +try to fly to Cuba. But day afore yesterday while we was up on a trial +flight the wind got up in a hurry and at the same moment something +busted on the engine and, before we knew where we was, we was out at +sea." + +"You must have been scared to death," put in Professor Sandburr who +was an interested listener. + +"Not at first we wasn't. Poor Melville in fact seemed to think it was +a fine chance to test his ship. He managed to tinker up the engine +after working all night and part of yesterday on it and as we had +plenty to eat and drink on board--for we had stocked the boat up +preparatory to flying to Cuba--we didn't worry much. + +"Howsomever, early this morning, after we'd had the engine going all +night we found we was still in the same position and for a mighty good +reason--one of the blades of the propeller had snapped off and there +we were,--practically just where we'd been the night before and with +no chance doing anything but drift about and wait for help. Melville +never lost his nerve though. + +"'We'll be all right, Ben,' says he to me, and though I didn't feel +near so confident, still I chirped up a little for I had been feeling +pretty blue, I tell you. + +"Right after we had had a bite to eat he starts in hammering away at +the wireless, sending out calls for help while I just sat around and +hoped something would turn up. Some observations we took showed that +we had not drifted very much further from land in the night on account +of there being no wind. This looked good for it meant that we were, or +should be, in the path of ships. The only thing that worried me was +that mighty few coasting vessels carry wireless, and I was surprised +when we got an answer from what I knew later was the Southern Cross. + +"It was just as Melville was getting your answer that I noticed the +bag. The air had grown hot as an oven as the sun rose higher and about +noon I looked up just to see if there wasn't a cloud in the sky that +might mean a storm, and perhaps a change of wind that maybe would blow +us back over land again. What I saw scared me. The bag was blown out +as tight as the skin of a sausage, and it didn't look to me as if it +could swell much more without busting. + +"I pointed it out to Melville and he went up in the air--worried to +death. + +"'The gas is expanding,' he explains, 'it's the sun that's doing it. +If we don't let some gas out we'll bust.' + +"And if we do we'll drop into the sea," says I. + +"'Yes, that's very likely,' he replied, as cool as a cucumber, 'when +the evening comes and the gas condenses, with what we've lost, if we +pull the valve open, we won't have enough to keep the ship in the +air.' + +"'There's only one thing to do,' he went on, 'we must wait till this +ship I've been speaking to by wireless comes in sight. Then we'll take +a chance. If the worst comes to worst we can float about till they +pick us up.' + +"That seemed a good plan to me and I never gave the sharks a thought. +But when you drew near and it seemed as if the bag was going to bust +in a second's time and we tried to open the valve--we couldn't. The +halliards that work it had got twisted in the gale that blew us out to +sea and they wouldn't come untangled. + +"Melville takes a look at the pressure gauge. Then he gave a long +whistle. + +"'If we don't do something she'll bust in five seconds,' he says. + +"Then I suddenly made up my mind. Without saying a word to him I +kicked off my boots and started to climb into the rigging. + +"'What are you going to do?' asked Melville. + +"Open that valve, says I. + +"We saw you climbing and could not imagine what you were doing," put +in Billy. + +"Wall," continued the old sailor, "I managed fine at first, although +that thar gas sausage was stretched as smooth and tight as a drum. The +network around it gave me a foothold though, and once I was half-way +round the lower bulge of the bag--where I was clinging on upside +down,--I was all right. + +"I had the valve lever in my hand and was just going to open it when I +felt everything cave in around me like something had been pulled from +under my feet--or as if I had been sitting on a cloud and it had +melted. + +"The dirigible had blown up. + +"Luckily I kept my wits about me and deliberately made a dive for the +sea. It was a good height but I struck it clean. Down and down I went +till I thought I'd never come up again. My ear-drums felt like they'd +bust and my head seemed to have been hit with an axe. But come up I +did eventually as you know, and found poor George Melville there, too. +Of the dirigible there was not so much of as a match-stick left. The +rest you know." + +Ben's voice shook a little as he reached the latter part of his +narrative. The rugged sailor's face grew soft and he winked back a +tear. The others said nothing for a few seconds and then Captain +Hazzard looked up. + +"Since you have become one of us in such a strange way, I presume you +would like to know where we are bound for?" + +"Wall, if it ain't askin' too much I would," rejoined the rugged +adventurer. + +"We are bound for the South Pole." + +Ben never flicked an eyelid. + +"Ay, ay, sir," was all he said. + +"I have a proposition to make to you," continued the captain. "We need +a bos'n, will you sign on? If you do not care to we will put you +ashore at the first convenient port or hail a homeward-bound ship and +have you transferred." + +The old sailor looked positively hurt. + +"What; me lose an opportunity to see the South Pole, to shoot Polar +bears--" + +"There aren't any," put in Billy. + +"Wall, whatever kind of critters there are there," went on the old +man, "no, sir; Ben Stubbs ain't the man to hold back on a venture like +this. Sign me on as bos'n, and if I don't help nail Uncle Sam's colors +to the South Pole call me a doodle-bug." + +"A doodle-bug," exclaimed Professor Sandburr, "What kind of a bug is +that? If you know where to find them I hope you will catch one and +forward it to me." + +Ben grinned. + +"I guess doodle-bugs is like South Polar bears," he said. + +"How is that, my dear sea-faring friend?" + +"There ain't any," laughed Ben, blotting his big, scrawling signature +on the ship's books. + +On and on toward the Pole plied the Southern Cross. One night when she +was about two hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the Amazon, the +boys, as it was one of the soft tropical nights peculiar to those +regions, were all grouped forward trying to keep cool and keeping a +sharp lookout for the real Southern Cross. This wonderful, heavenly +body might be expected to be visible almost any night now, Captain +Hazzard had told them. Old Ben shared their watch. + +The little group was seated right on the forefoot or "over-hang" of +the polar ship, their legs dangling over the bow above the water. +Beneath their feet they could see the bright phosphorous gleam as the +ship ploughed onward. They were rather silent. In fact, except for +desultory conversation, the throb of the engines and the regular +sounding of the ship's bell as it marked the hours were the only +sounds to be heard. + +It was past eight bells and everyone on the ship but the helmsman had +turned in, leaving the boys and Ben on watch, when there came a +terrific shock that caused the vessel to quiver and creak as if she +had run bow on into solid land. Captain Hazzard was thrown from his +bunk and all over the vessel there was the wildest confusion. + +Shouts and cries filled the air as Captain Hazzard, not able to +imagine what had happened rushed out on deck in his night clothes. The +sky had become overcast and it was terribly black. It was hardly +possible for one to see his hand before his face. A heavy sulphurous +smell was in the air. + +"What is it? What has happened? Did we hit another ship?" shouted +Captain Barrington, appearing from his cabin. + +The helmsman could give no explanation. There had been a sudden shock +and he had been knocked off his feet. What had struck the ship or what +she had struck he could not make out. Captain Barrington knew there +were no rocks so far out at sea and he also knew that he could not be +near land. The only explanation was a collision with another ship, but +had that been the case surely, he argued, they would have heard shouts +and cries on the other vessel. + +"Send forward for the boys and Ben Stubbs, they had the watch," he +commanded. + +A man hurried forward to execute his order but he was soon back with a +white scared face. + +"The young lads and Bos'n Stubbs aren't there," he exclaimed in a +frightened tone. + +"Not there," repeated Captain Hazzard. + +"No, sir. Not a trace of them. Beggin' your pardon, sir, I think it's +ghosts." + +"Don't talk nonsense," sharply commanded his superior. "Have the ship +searched for them." + +"Very good, sir," and the man, with a tug at his forelock, hastened +away to spread the word. + +But a search of every nook and cranny of the ship only added to the +mystery. + +Neither the boys nor Ben were to be found. + +Had ghosts indeed snatched them into aerial regions, as some of the +more superstitious men seemed inclined to believe they could not have +vanished more utterly. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A STRANGE COLLISION. + + +We must now turn back and ascertain what has become of our young +adventurers and their rugged old companion. We left them sitting on +the bow--or rather perched there in positions none too secure in case +of a sudden lurch of the ship. + +"I smell land," had been Ben's sudden exclamation after one of the +prolonged silences which, as has been said, possessed them that night. + +The boys laughed. + +"Laugh away," declared Ben, "but I do. Any old sailor can tell it." + +"But we are two hundred miles at sea," objected Frank. + +"Don't make no difference, I smell land," stubbornly repeated the old +sailor. + +"Maybe the wind is off shore and that's the reason," suggested Billy. + +"A sensible suggestion, youngster," approved Ben. "I guess that is the +reason for there is no island in this part of the world that I ever +heard tell of. But say," he broke off suddenly, "what's come over the +weather. It's getting black and the stars are blotted out. There's a +storm brewing and a bad one, or I'm mistaken." + +The boys agreed that there did seem to be every indication of an +approaching tropical disturbance of some kind. The air had suddenly +grown heavy and sulphurous. There was an oppressive quality in it. + +"I'm going aft to tell the captain that there's a bad blow coming on +or I'm a Dutchman," exclaimed Ben, starting to scramble to his feet. + +"Better hold onto that stay or you'll topple overboard," warned Frank, +as Ben, balancing himself, got into a standing posture. + +"What me, an old sailor topple over," shouted Ben, "Not much younker, +why I--" + +The sentence was never finished. At that instant the shock that had +aroused Captain Hazzard and terrified the whole ship's company hurled +him headlong into the night and the boys, balanced as they were on the +prow of the trembling ship, were shot after him into the darkness as +if they had been hurled out of catapults. + +Frank's feelings as he fell through the darkness he could not +afterward describe, still less his amazement when, instead of falling +into the sea, fully prepared to swim for his life, he found himself +instead plunged into a sticky ooze. For several seconds, in fact, he +was too amazed to utter a sound or move. It seemed he must be +dreaming. + +Then he extended his hands and almost gave a cry so great was his +amazement. + +He had encountered an unmistakable tree trunk! + +He was on land--not dry land--for the boy was mired to the knees in +sticky mud,--but nevertheless land. Land in midocean. + +Hardly had he recovered from his first shock of surprise when he heard +a voice exclaim: + +"Can anyone tell me am I awake or dreaming in my bunk?" + +"What's the matter, Billy?" hailed Frank, overjoyed to know that one +at least of his comrades was safe. + +Before Billy could reply Harry's voice hailed through the darkness. + +"I'm up to my neck in mud. Where are we, anyhow?" + +"We're on dry land in midocean, shiver my timbers if we ain't," came a +deep throated hail, which proceeded from Ben Stubbs. + +"Thank heaven we are all safe anyhow," cried Frank, "this mud is +mighty uncomfortable, though." + +"Well, if it hadn't been here we'd have been eaten by sharks by this +time," Billy assured them; an observation all felt to be true. + +"Where can the ship be?" exclaimed Harry's voice suddenly. + +"Miles off by this time," said Frank. "I don't suppose they have even +missed us and even if they have it's so black they could never find +us." + +"Let's see where we are," suggested Ben, "anyhow I'm going to try to +get out of this mud. It's like a pig-pen." + +His observation struck the boys as a good suggestion and they all +wallowed in a direction they deemed was forward and soon were rewarded +for their efforts by finding themselves on real dry land. By +stretching out their hands they could feel tree trunks and dense brush +all about them. + +"It's no dream," declared Frank, "we are really on land. But where?" + +"Maybe the ship was way off her course and we are stranded on the +coast of Brazil," suggested Harry. + +"Not likely," corrected Ben, "and besides if we'd hit land the ship +would be ashore." + +"Then what can we be on?" demanded Frank. + +"Give it up," said Billy. + +"Anybody got a match?" asked Frank. + +Luckily there were no lack of these and as the boys carried them in +the waterproof boxes they had used on their previous expeditions they +were dry. Some were soon struck and a bonfire built of the brush and +wood they found about them. + +It was a strange tropical scene the glare illuminated. All about were +palm trees and tropic growth of various kinds; many of the plants +bearing fruits unfamiliar to the boys. Some large birds, scared by the +light, flapped screaming out of the boughs above them as the bonfire +blazed up. They could now see that they had been pitched out of the +ship onto a muddy beach, the ooze of which stuck to their clothes like +clay. The spot in which they stood was a few feet above the sea level. + +"Well, there's no use trying to do anything till daylight," said +Frank, "we had better sleep as well as we can and start out to try and +find a house of some sort in the morning." + +All agreed this was a good plan and soon they were wrapped in slumber. +Frank's sleep was restless and broken, however, and once or twice he +had an uneasy feeling that something or somebody was prowling about +the "camp." Once he could have sworn he saw a pair of eyes, like two +flaming points of fire, glare at him out of the blackness; but as it +was not repeated, he assured himself that it was only his nervous +imagination and composed himself to sleep once more. + +A sharp thunder storm raged above them shortly before daybreak and +they were compelled to seek what shelter they could under a fallen +tree trunk. The storm was the one that had blackened the sky some +hours before. Luckily it was as short as it was sharp, and when the +sun rose it showed them a scene of glistening tropic beauty. + +But the boys had little eye for scenery. + +"What are we going to do for breakfast?" was Billy's manner of voicing +the general question that beset them all after they had washed off +some of the mud of the night before. + +"Tighten our belts," grinned Harry. + +"Not much; not while them oysters is there waiting to be picked," +exclaimed Ben pointing to some branches which dipped in the sea and to +which bunches of the bivalves were clinging. + +"I've got some biscuits in my pocket," said Frank, "I brought them on +deck with me last night in case I got hungry on watch." + +"Well, we'll do fine," cheerfully said Ben, as having heated some +stones he set the oysters to broil on them. + +Despite his cheerful tone, however, not one of the little party was +there that did not think with longing regrets of the snowy linen and +bountiful meals aboard the Southern Cross. + +Breakfast over, Ben announced that the first thing to do was to try to +find out where they could be. It was agreed for this purpose to +advance along the beach for five miles or so in opposite directions, +the group being formed into two parties for the purpose. Harry and +Frank paired off in one party and Ben Stubbs and Billy formed the +other. They were to meet at noon or as soon thereafter as possible and +compare notes. + +Frank and Harry tramped resolutely along the beach under a baking hot +sun till they felt as if they were going to drop, but they held +pluckily on, fortunately having found several springs along their line +of march. + +From time to time they eagerly scanned the expanse of sparkling sea +that stretched before them; but it was as empty of life as a desert. + +"Do you suppose the ship will make a search for us?" asked Frank. + +"How can we tell," rejoined his brother, "they will have found out we +are gone by this time and will naturally conclude that we fell +overboard and were drowned or eaten by sharks." + +Both agreed that such was probably likely to be the fact and that if +the coast on which they were cast away proved to be uninhabited their +situation might be very serious. + +"On the other hand, the ship may have gone down after the collision," +suggested Harry, "how she ever came to graze this land and then escape +I can't make out." + +"I've been puzzling over that, too," replied Frank, "there's a lot +that's very mysterious about this whole thing. The Southern Cross is, +as you know, equipped with a submarine bell which should give warning +when she approaches shallow water. Why didn't it sound last night?" + +"Because there must be deep water right up to this coast," was the +only explanation Harry could offer. + +"That's just it," argued his brother. "But what is a coast doing here +at all. We are two hundred miles out in the South Atlantic, or rather, +we were last night." + +"The charts don't show any land out there, do they?" + +"Not so much as a pin point. Some of the deepest parts of the ocean +are encountered there." + +"Then the ship must have been off her course." + +"It seems impossible. She is in charge of experienced navigators. Her +compasses and other instruments are the most perfect of their kind." + +"Maybe it is a dream after all, and we'll wake up and find ourselves +in our bunks," was all Harry could say. + +Before Frank could find anything to reply to this extraordinary +suggestion he gave a sudden tense cry of: + +"Hark!" + +Both boys stopped and above their quick breathing they could hear the +beating of their hearts. + +Human voices were coming toward them. + +Luckily Frank had his revolver, having been using it the day before in +shooting at huge turtles that floated lazily by. He had by a lucky +oversight neglected to take it off when he had finished his target +practice, merely thrusting it back into its holster. He drew the +weapon now, and grasping Harry by the arm pulled him down beside him +into a clump of brush. + +"We'll hide here till we see who it is coming," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ADRIFT ON A FLOATING ISLAND. + + +The voices grew nearer and suddenly to his amazement Frank heard his +own name mentioned. The next moment both lads broke into a loud +exclamation of surprise. + +Those approaching their place of concealment were Billy Barnes and Ben +Stubbs. + +It would be difficult to say which pair of adventurers were more +astonished as they met on the beach. + +"Shiver my timbers!" exclaimed Ben, "whar did you boys come from? Did +you turn back?" + +"Turn back?" echoed Frank, "no, we've been keeping right on." + +"Wall," drawled Ben, "then what I was afeard of at first is true." + +"What's that, Ben?" + +"Why, that we are on an island." + +"On an island!" + +"Yes, a floating island." + +For a moment they were all dumb with amazement. Then Ben went on: + +"I've heard old sailors tell of such things off of this yer coast. +These islands--as they are called--are nothing more or less than huge +sections of forest torn from the banks of the Amazon when it is in +flood and floated out ter sea on its current." + +"But how can they keep afloat?" asked Harry. + +"Why the tangled roots and tree limbs keep 'em up for a long time," +rejoined Ben, "and then they sink." + +"I hope our island isn't sinking," exclaimed Frank, anxiously looking +about him. + +"Not much fear of that; but it's moving, all right," replied the old +sailor, "just fix your eyes on that cloud for a minute." + +The boys did as directed, and, sure enough, the island, as they now +knew it, was moving slowly along, doubtless urged by some current of +the ocean. + +"Suppose the ship never finds us," gasped Billy. + +"Now, just put thoughts like that out of your head, youngster," +exclaimed Ben sharply. "I've been in worse fixes than this and got out +of them. What we had best do now is to gather up some of those big +cocoanuts that's scattered about there and make waterholders out of +them." + +"But there's plenty of water flowing from the springs. We passed +several of them," objected Harry. + +"That's just the water that has soaked into the ground after the +rain," said Ben. "It will soon dry up as the day goes on." + +The adventurers at once set to work gathering up cocoanuts and with +their knives scooping out their shells so as to form sort of pots out +of them. These were filled with water at the nearest of the little +springs and placed in the shade. + +"Now to gather some more oysters and we'll have dinner," said Ben, +when the boys had filled what he pronounced to be a sufficient number +of the improvised pots. + +The boys set to work at the task at once, stripping from the low +hanging branches the oysters that clung to them. These were roasted in +the same manner as the previous night and washed down with water and +cocoanut milk. + +"Well, we shan't starve for a while, anyhow," said Ben, as they +concluded their meal. "If the worst comes to the worst I guess we can +live on cocoanuts for a while." + +After some talk about their situation and the prospects of their being +rescued from it Ben announced that he was going to explore the +interior of the island and see if he could find some tree up which it +would be possible to swarm and attach a sort of signal or at any rate +obtain an extended view of the sea. + +The boys, who felt tired and dispirited, said that they would remain +in the camp--if camp it could be called. + +Ben had been gone perhaps half an hour, when they were aroused by a +sudden shout. At the sound they all sprang to their feet from the +restful postures they had assumed. + +There was a note of terror in the cry. + +"Help, boys, help!" + +The sound rang through the forest and then died away, as if the +shouter had been suddenly silenced. + +"It's Ben," shouted Frank. + +"What can have happened?" gasped Harry. + +"He is in trouble of some kind," shouted Billy Barnes. + +"Come on, boys," exclaimed Frank, drawing his revolver, "get your +knives ready, we may need all the weapons we have." + +They plunged into the forest in the direction from which they judged +the cries had proceeded and after a few minutes pushing through the +dense brush, which greatly hampered their progress, they heard a +tremendous noise of breaking tree limbs and a violent threshing about +as if some huge body was rushing through the woods. + +"What can it be?" gasped Frank, his face pale at the sound of the +struggle. + +In almost the same breath his question was answered. Pushing aside +some brush the boys saw before them a small glade or clearing. + +In the midst of this stood Ben, his face transfixed with horror and +brandishing a seaman's knife. + +Facing him, and seemingly about to dart forward, was the largest +serpent they had ever seen; the sunlight checkered its bright colored +folds. Its red tongue darted wickedly in and out as it faced the brave +seaman. + +"Shoot, Frank. Shoot and kill it," implored Harry. + +With a white, tense face the elder boy leveled his revolver. He pulled +the trigger and, before the sharp report that followed had died away, +the monstrous, snake was threshing its huge body about in agony. + +But as they started to cheer the effect of the shot a cry of horror +broke from the boys. In its struggles the monster had convulsed its +folds till Frank, who was caught off his guard, was within their +reach. + +In a second he was wrapped in the giant reptile's grip without having +time to utter even an outcry. + +Powerless, with only their puny knives with which to give battle to +the serpent, the boys stood petrified with terror. Even Ben, to whom +his rescue and Frank's peril had been unfolded so swiftly that he was +half-dazed, seemed unable to determine what to do. + +But indecision only held for a moment. Then with a cry he jumped +forward and picked up Frank's revolver, which the boy had dropped when +the serpent seized him. With a prayer on his lips the old sailor +fired. + +Almost with the rapidity of a single bullet the whole contents of the +automatic's magazine poured out and every missile took effect in the +reptile's huge head. In its death agony it straightened out its folds +and Frank's senseless body dropped from them, seemingly limp and +lifeless. + +The boys started to rush in, but Ben held them back with a warning +hand. + +"Hold on; it may not be dead yet," he warned. + +But a brief inspection proved that the great snake had succumbed to +Ben's fusillade and, this settled, they dragged Frank to a low bank, +where the extent of his injuries could be ascertained. + +"No bones broken," pronounced Ben, after a careful examination. It was +not long before the boy opened his eyes and in a short time he +declared he felt as well as ever. + +The serpent on being measured with Frank's pocket rule proved to be a +trifle over twenty feet long and of great girth. + +"It's an anaconda," said Ben, "there are lots of 'em up along the +Amazon and they are as deadly a snake as there is. I've heard tell +they can crush a horse in their folds." + +"I hope there are no more of them on the island," exclaimed Billy. + +"We shall have to be careful," rejoined Ben, "there may be other +dangerous creatures here, too. This island, as I should judge, must be +all of six miles around and there's room for a lot of ugly critters in +that space." + +Leaving the dead body of the snake the adventurers made their way back +to camp. The first thing that all wanted was a drink of water. They +made for the place in which the drinking fluid had been left. + +As soon as his eyes fell on the row of improvised water pots Frank +gave an exclamation of dismay. + +"Look here," he shouted, "there's some one on this island besides +ourselves." + +"What!" was the amazed chorus. + +"There must be," went on the lad, "see here, there were twenty +cocoanut shells of water when we went away, and now there are only +fifteen." + +"Five gone!" exclaimed Ben in an alarmed voice, "and the spring has +already dried up." + +"Hullo! What's that?" suddenly cried Billy, as something came crashing +through the branches. + +The next moment one of the missing shells was rolled with great +violence into the middle of the group of adventurers. Before they had +recovered from their astonishment a strange sharp scream filled the +forest. There was a derisive note in its tones. + +A strange fear filled the boys' hearts. Their faces paled. + +"The island is haunted!" shouted Ben. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CAUGHT IN THE FLAMES. + + +"Nonsense," said Frank, sharply, although he had been considerably +startled by the inexplicable occurrence himself, "you know there are +no such things as ghosts, Ben." + +"And if there were they wouldn't throw cocoanut shells at us," went on +Harry. + +"Wall," said Ben, stubbornly, "what else could it have been?" + +"A wild man," suggested Billy; "perhaps a whole tribe of them." + +This was not a pleasant suggestion. Frank had but a few cartridges +left and the others had only their knives. These would be small +protection against savages if any of the forest dwellers had really +gone adrift on the floating island. It was not a cheerful party that +sat down to another meal of oysters and fruit that evening. Moreover +the water supply of the little party was almost exhausted and without +water they faced a terrible death. + +Because of the unknown dangers which, it was felt, surrounded them it +was decided to set a watch that night and keep the fire burning +through the dark hours. Harry and Ben were to share the first watch +and Frank and Billy agreed to take the second one. Nothing had +occurred when Ben, at midnight, aroused Frank and the young reporter +and told them it was time to go on duty. + +The boys had been on sentry duty for perhaps an hour with nothing but +the lapping of the waves against the shore of the floating island to +break the deep stillness, when suddenly both were startled by a +strange and terrible cry that rang through the forest. + +With beating hearts they leaped to their feet and strained their ears +to see if they could ascertain the origin of the uncanny cry, but they +heard nothing more. + +Hardly had they resumed their places by the fire, however, before the +wild screams rang out again. + +"It's some human being," cried Frank. + +"They are being killed or something!" cried the affrighted Billy +Barnes. + +By this time Ben Stubbs and Harry had awakened and were sitting up +with scared looks on their faces. + +"Seems to come from near at hand," suggested Ben. + +Suddenly the yell sounded quite close, and at the same instant it was +echoed by the boys as a dozen or more dark forms dashed out of the +dark shades of the forest and rushed toward them. Half unnerved with +alarm at this sudden and inexplicable attack, Frank fired point-blank +into the onrush, and two of the dark forms fell. Their comrades, with +the same wild shrieks that had so alarmed the boys, instantly turned +and fled, awakening the echoes of the woods with their terrifying +clamor. + +"A good thing I killed those two," cried Frank; "throw some wood on +the fire, Ben, and we'll see who or what it is that I've shot." + +In the bright blaze the adventurers bent over the two still forms that +lay on the ground as they had fallen. + +"Why, they're great apes!" exclaimed Frank in amazement; "what +monsters!" + +"Howling monkeys, that's what they call 'em," declared Ben, "I've +heard of 'em. No wonder we were scared, though. Did you ever hear such +cries?" + +"I wonder why they attacked the camp?" asked Billy. + +"I don't suppose it was an attack at all," said Frank, "most likely +they smelled the food and thought they'd come and help themselves to +some broiled oysters." + +"I'll bet it was the monkeys that took our water and then threw the +shells at us," cried Harry. + +"I guess you are right, boy," said Ben; "them monkeys are terrors for +mischief." + +"I hope they don't take it into their heads to annoy us any more," +said Harry. + +"Not likely," declared Ben, "I guess the firing of the revolver and +the sight of them two mates of theirs falling dead scared them out of +two years' growth." + +Ben's surmise was right. The adventurers passed the remainder of the +night in peace. + +As soon as day broke over a sea unmarred by a single ripple, there was +an eager scrutiny of the horizon by all the castaways, but to their +bitter disappointment not a sign of the Southern Cross, or any other +vessel, could be descried. + +"Looks like we'll have to spend some more time on 'Monkey Island'," +said Ben with a shrug. + +"We can't spend much more time," said Frank, grimly. + +"Why not?" demanded Ben. + +"What are we to do for water?" + +Things did, indeed, look black. Breakfast was eaten in comparative +silence, and after the meal was concluded, at Frank's suggestion, it +was decided to explore the island for a spring that could be tapped +for further water supply. The boys all admitted to themselves that the +chance of finding one was remote, but they determined to try and +locate one in any event. At any rate Frank felt it would keep their +minds off their troubles to have something to do. + +The best part of the morning was spent in the search and although they +came across occasional driblets of water,--the remnants of springs +started by the heavy rain that marked their first night on the +island,--they found nothing that promised an available supply. At noon +they sat down in the shade of a huge palm to rest and made a meal off +the nuts that lay at its foot. The milk of these proved cool and +refreshing and was drunk out of the shell after one end of it had been +hacked off with Frank's hunting knife. + +"Well, we might as well make a start back for our camp," suggested +Frank, after some moments had passed in silence. + +"Camp," repeated Harry, bitterly, "that's a fine camp. Why, there's +nothing there but trees and sand and howling monkeys." + +Nevertheless a start was made for the resting place of the previous +night, the party trudging along the narrow beach in Indian file. All +at once Ben, who was in the lead, stopped short. + +"Look!" he exclaimed, pointing overhead. + +The boys followed his finger and gave a shout of astonishment. + +"Smoke!" cried Frank. + +"Hurrah," cheered Harry, "it's the Southern Cross." + +He waved his hat at the dark wreaths of vapor that were blowing across +the island overhead. + +The smoke scudded across the sky like small fleecy clouds, but it +momentarily grew thicker and blacker. + +"She's smoking up all right," laughed Billy Barnes, all his fears gone +now that rescue seemed at hand. + +Ben alone of the party seemed troubled. + +"I'm not so sure that that's steamer smoke," he said slowly. + +"Why, what else can it be?" demanded Frank. + +"I don't know,"--sniff,--"but it seems to me,"--sniff,--"that's a +whole lot of smoke for a steamer to be making, and"--sniff--"I don't +like the looks of it." + +"What else could make such smoke?" demanded Harry. + +For reply Ben asked what seemed a strange question. + +"Did you put the fire out when we left the camp?" + +In an instant they all perceived without his speaking a word, what the +sailor feared. + +The island was on fire! + +A few minutes later the smell of the burning trees and the crash as +they fell, while the flames leaped through the brushwood beneath them, +was clearly borne to them. + +They were marooned on a floating island, and the island was in flames. + +The dense smoke of the fire had by this time blotted out the sky and +all they could see above them was a thick canopy of smoke. It rose in +a huge pillar blotting out the sky and poisoning the air. + +"What are we to do?" gasped Billy. + +"I don't see what we can do," was Frank's reply, "our escape is cut +off. We shall burn to death." + +Indeed it seemed as if the boys were doomed to death in the flames. +With incredible rapidity the fire, undoubtedly started by their +carelessness in not extinguishing their camp fire, came leaping and +roaring through the forest. + +Suddenly out of the woods directly in front of them leaped a lithe +spotted form, and without glancing to right or left, the creature shot +into the sea. It swam quite a distance and then sank. + +"A jaguar," exclaimed Ben; "a good thing it was too scared to attack +us." + +"Yes, I haven't got a cartridge left," said Frank, gazing ruefully at +his empty revolver. + +"I don't think that would do us much good if you had; we might as well +die by a jaguar's teeth and claws as by being burned to death," said +Harry. + +The boys were now witnesses of a strange scene. Driven by the heat of +the fire scores of terrified animals passed them. There were small +agoutis or wild pigs, monkeys, birds of various kinds,--including huge +macaws and numerous snakes. The creatures paid not the least attention +to the boys, but, crazed with fear, made for the sea. The birds alone +soared off and doubtless the stronger winged of them reached land. + +"If we only had the Golden Eagle here," sighed Frank. + +"Hurrah," suddenly shouted Ben, capering about, "hurrah, I've got a +plan." + +For a minute or two the boys regarded him as one might an insane +person, but as he went on to explain his plan they grasped at it as a +last resort. Two large tree trunks lay near to where they stood. They +had fallen apparently in some tropical storm, so that their bulk +rested on some smaller trees. It was as if they were on rollers. + +"We will lash those together with some withes and make a raft," +exclaimed Ben. + +"How are you going to get them into the water?" asked Billy. + +"By the natural rollers that are underneath them," replied the sailor; +"come, we have no time to lose if we are to escape." + +Indeed they had not. The fire was now so close that they could feel +its ardent breath. Sparks were falling about them in red-hot showers +and already some of the brush in their vicinity was beginning to +smoke. Soon it would burst into flame and then they were doomed. + +Feverishly they worked and soon had the two trunks lashed together +firmly with long "lianas" or creepers of tough fibre that grew in +great profusion everywhere. The work of getting the trunks into the +water was, thanks to the natural rollers, not so hard as might have +been anticipated. Ben and Frank managed the placing of the rollers, +which were carried in front of the logs as fast as its hinder end +cleared some of them. In this manner their "raft," if such it could be +called, was soon afloat. + +It seemed a terribly insecure contrivance with which to risk a voyage, +but they had no choice. The whole island, except the spot in which +they had worked, was now one raging furnace, and had their situation +not been so critical, the party would have been compelled to admire +the wild magnificence of the spectacle. Great red tongues of flame +shot up through the blanket of dark smoke, dying it crimson. +Occasionally there would be a dull crash as some huge forest monarch +fell prostrate, or the dying scream of some creature overtaken by the +flames rang out. + +"Quick, onto the raft," shouted Frank as the clumsy craft floated at +last. + +It did not take the adventurers long to follow his directions. The +heat from the fire was now intense and they lost no time in putting +the two branches they had cut to use as paddles into action. It was +hard work but they found to their delight that their raft moved when +they dug into the water with their clumsy means of propulsion. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Billy as they began to glide slowly over the waves, +"we are saved from the floating island." + +"Yes, but for how long," exclaimed Frank; "we have no provisions and +no water. How long can we live without them?" + +"We must hope to be picked up," said Harry. + +"That is our only hope," rejoined Frank, "if we are not---" + +There was no need for him to finish the sentence, even had he been +able to, for while he was still speaking a startling thing happened. + +The raft was about twenty feet from the shore, but despite the +distance a dusky form that had rushed out of the wood with a wild +howl, shot through the air and landed fairly upon it. + +[Illustration: "With a Wild Howl, Shot Through the Air."] + +With its menacing eyes of green, like balls of angry flame, dull +yellow hide, catlike form, and twitching tail, the boys had no +difficulty in recognizing it for what it was. + +A giant panther. + +There was no possibility of escape. As the creature growled menacingly +the boys realized that they were practically without means of +protection against this new enemy. + +As the panther, too, realized its position, it drew back on its +haunches and, lashing its tail wickedly, prepared to spring. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A QUEER ACCIDENT. + + +It was no time for words. Almost before any of them realized just what +had happened, the savage creature that had taken refuge from the +flames on their frail craft, launched its yellow body at them in a +great leap. But the brute miscalculated its spring this time. + +With a howl of dismay it shot beyond its mark and fell into the sea. + +"Quick, boys, get your knives ready," shouted Ben, "we've got a +fighting chance now." + +Hastily the boys, though they felt skeptical as to the effectiveness +of these small weapons against such a formidable enemy, got out their +hunting knives. But they were not destined to use them. + +The howl of dismay which the panther had uttered as it found itself +plunged into the water was quickly changed to a shrill scream of +terror from its huge throat. At the same instant a number of +triangular fins dashed through the water toward it. + +"Sharks!" shouted Harry. + +Attracted by the number of animals that had taken to the water to +escape the fire the creatures had gathered in great numbers about the +island and were devouring the fugitives right and left. Fully a dozen +of the monsters rushed at the panther which, formidable as it was on +land, was, like most of the cat tribe, at a great disadvantage in the +water. + +It could make no resistance but a few feeble snaps to the avalanche of +sharks that rushed at it, and a few seconds after the onslaught the +water was crimsoned with the blood of the panther and the boys were +safe from that peril. But the sharks now offered almost as great a +danger as had the land monster. + +Made furious by the taste of so much food they cruised alongside the +rickety raft gazing with their little eyes at its occupants till +shudders ran through them. The boys tried to scare them away by +flourishing the branches used as oars, but this, while it scared them +at first, soon lost its effect on the sea-tigers, who seemed +determined to keep alongside the raft, evidently hoping that sooner or +later they would get a meal. + +All the afternoon the boys took turns paddling with their branches and +by this means, and impelled also by one of the ocean currents that +abound in this latitude, the smoking island gradually drew further and +further away. But the sharks still cruised alongside and now and again +one bolder than the others would turn partly on his back and nose up +against the raft, showing his cruel, saw-like teeth and monstrous +mouth as he did so. + +"I don't wonder they call them sea-tigers," said Frank, "more terrible +looking monsters I never saw." + +The tropic night soon closed and darkness shut down with great +rapidity. Far off the boys could see the red glare cast by the flaming +island. + +"That's queer," exclaimed Frank suddenly. He had been regarding the +island intensely for some time. + +"What's queer?" demanded Billy. + +"Why, do you see that long wavering ray of light shooting up near the +island," he cried, pointing in that direction, "what can it be?" + +The others looked and to their amazement, as soon as Ben's eyes fell +on the strange ray of white light, the old sailor began dancing a sort +of jig to the imminent danger of his tumbling in among the sharks. + +"Hurray! hurray!" he shouted, "douse my topsails and keel-haul my +main-jibboom, if that ain't the best sight I've seen for a long time." + +"Have you gone crazy?" asked Harry. + +"Not much, my boy," shouted the old tar, "that queer light--as you +call it--yonder is a ship's searchlight. The Southern Cross like as +not." + +"She must have seen the smoke from the burning island and sailed in +that direction," exclaimed Frank. + +"How can we attract their attention?" cried Billy. + +"Easy enough," said Ben, pulling off his shirt, "this is a good shirt, +but I'd rather have my life than a whole trunk full of shirts. Now for +some matches and we'll make a night signal." + +The matches were soon produced and the old sailor set fire to the +garment. It flared up brightly and made a fine illumination, but as +the flare died out there was nothing about the movement of the +searchlight to indicate that the signal had been seen. + +"We must try again," said Ben. + +It was Harry's turn to sacrifice a shirt this time, and he lost no +time in ripping it off. As Frank prepared to light it, however, an +unfortunate--or even disastrous--accident occurred. + +The waterproof box of matches slipped from his fingers in his +excitement, and before any of them could recover it, it was overboard. +The rush of a great body through the water at the same instant told +them that one of the watchful sharks had swallowed it. + +"I wish they'd burn his insides out," cried Billy. + +"Everybody search their pockets for a match," commanded Frank. A +prolonged scrutiny resulted in yielding just one match. It came from +Ben's pocket. + +Frank lit it with great care. For one terrible moment, as they all +hung breathless over it, it seemed as if it was going out. It finally +caught, however, and flared up bravely. + +"Now the shirt," cried Frank. + +It was thrust into his hands and he waved the blazing garment above +his head till the flames streaked out in the night. + +This time a cheer went up from the castaways on the raft. + +Their signal had been seen. + +At least so it appeared, for the searchlight, which had been sweeping +about near the island, suddenly shot its long finger of light in their +direction. As the vessel bearing it neared them a bright glow +enveloped the figures on the raft, who were alternately hugging each +other and shaking hands over the prospect of their speedy deliverance. + +A few minutes later all doubt was dissolved. The approaching vessel +was the Southern Cross, and the adventurers were soon answering to +excited hails from her bridge. To lower a boat and get them on board +once more did not take long, and it was not till late that night that, +the story of their perils having been told and retold at least twenty +times, they managed to get to their old bunks. + +Never had the mattresses seemed so soft or the sheets so comfortable +as they did to the tired boys. Their heads had hardly touched the +pillows before they were off in dreamland--a region in which, on that +night at least, fires, panthers and sharks raged in inextricable +confusion. + +Before they retired they heard from the lips of Captain Hazzard the +puzzle their disappearance from the ship had proved. The Southern +Cross, it appeared, on the day following her collision with the +floating island, had cruised in the vicinity in the hope of finding +some trace of the castaways. Her search was kept up until hope had +been about abandoned. The sight of the glare of the blazing island +had, however, determined her commander to ascertain its cause, with +the result that while her searchlight was centered on the strange +phenomenon the boys' tiny fire signal had been seen by a lookout in +the crow's nest and the ship at once headed for the little point of +light. + +For his part the commander was much interested in hearing of the +floating island. It cleared up what had been a great mystery, namely, +the nature of the obstruction they had struck, and proved interesting +from a scientific point of view. Captain Hazzard told the boys that +these great tracts of land were, as Ben had said, not uncommon off the +mouth of the Amazon, but that it was rarely one ever got so far out to +sea. + +Two weeks later, after an uneventful voyage through tropic waters, +during which the boys had had the interesting experience of crossing +the equator, and had been initiated by being ducked in a huge canvas +pool full of salt water placed on the fore deck, the Southern Cross +steamed into the harbor of Monte Video, where she was to meet her +consort, the Brutus, which vessel was to tow her down into the polar +regions. + +A few interesting days were spent in Monte Video and the boys sent +many letters home and Captain Hazzard forwarded his log books and data +as obtained up to date. Professor Sandburr spent his time among the +natives collecting memoranda about their habits while the boys roamed +at their leisure about the city. They saw a bull fight, a spectacle +that speedily disgusted them, and witnessed the driving into the +stock-yards of a huge herd of cattle rounded up by wild and +savage-looking gauchos on wiry ponies. + +One day, while they were walking through a back street leading to some +handsome buildings, they heard terrible cries coming from a small hut +in unmistakably American tones. + +"Come on, let's see what is the matter?" shouted Frank. + +Followed by Billy and Harry, the lad ran toward the mud hut from which +the cries had issued. As they neared it a terrible-looking figure +dashed out. Its white duck suit was streaming with red and the same +color was daubed all over its face and head. + +"Oh, boys, save me!" it cried as it ran towards the three lads. + +"Why, it's Professor Sandburr!" exclaimed Harry, gazing at the +crimson-daubed figure; "whatever is the matter?" + +"Oh-oh-oh-oh," howled the professor, dancing about, "it's a woman in +that hut. She threw some stinging stuff all over me." + +"Why, it's chile con-carne!" exclaimed Frank, examining the red stuff +that daubed the unfortunate professor from head to foot; "good +gracious, what a scare you gave us; we thought you had been attacked +with knives and terribly cut." + +There was a trough of water near by and to it the boys conducted the +professor, who was half-blinded by the stinging Spanish dish, which is +a sort of pepper stew. It took a long time to clean him, during which +quite a crowd gathered and laughed and jeered, but at last they had +the luckless scientist looking more presentable. + +"Now tell us what happened?" asked Frank, as they started back toward +the city in a hired "volante," or native carriage, that had been +passing, by good luck, as they finished their cleaning process. + +"Well, my dear boys, it's an outrage. I will see the mayor or the +president about it, or whoever is in charge of those things in this +land. I saw a fine looking specimen of a hopping sand-toad going into +that house and I dashed in after it with my net extended. As soon as I +rushed in I upset a sort of baby carriage that stood by the door. Two +children, who were in it, started howling in a terrible manner. I know +a little Spanish and I tried to explain, but before I could do so the +mother threw a whole pot of that hot stuff over me and called me a +kidnapper, a robber, a thief. Upon my word I think I may be considered +lucky that she didn't shoot me." + +"I think you may, indeed," agreed the boys, who could hardly keep from +laughing at the comical sight the professor presented with his head +cocked on one side and all daubed with the traces of his "hot bath." + +Early the next day the Brutus passed a steel hawser to the Southern +Cross and the two vessels proceeded out of the harbor of Monte Video. + +"Well, we're really off for the pole at last," exclaimed Frank, as the +shores grew dim behind them and the long ocean swell made itself felt. + +"Yes," rejoined the professor, who was busy getting specimens of +jelly-fish in a bucket he lowered overboard by a line. "I wonder what +sort of creatures I can catch in the ice there. I don't care so much +about the pole, but I do want to get a 'Pollywoginisius Polaris.'" + +"Whatever is that?" asked Frank. + +"It's a sort of large pollywog with fur on it like seal," replied the +professor gravely. + +"A sort of fur overcoat," suggested Billy, nudging Frank +mischievously. + +"Exactly," said the professor gravely; "if you see one will you catch +it for me?" + +"I certainly will," replied Billy gravely. + +For several days the Brutus and the vessel she was towing kept on down +the coast. At last one morning the captain announced that they were +off the coast of Patagonia, where the famous giant tribes of +aborigines and a kind of ostrich are to be found. The professor was +greatly excited at this and begged to have the ships stopped and be +allowed to go ashore. + +"I am afraid that will be impossible," rejoined Captain Hazzard; "we +must get into the Polar regions before the winter sets in, and if we +delay we shall not be able to do so. No, we must keep on, I am +afraid." + +The Brutus was making good speed at the moment, and her tow was +cutting obediently through the water after her. Sail had been set on +all the masts, as there was a favoring breeze. Suddenly there came a +jarring shock that threw everybody from their feet. The tow-line +parted under the strain with a report like that of a gun. + +"We have struck something," shouted the captain. + +"A sunken wreck, probably," said the professor, who did not seem at +all disturbed. + +"Is there any danger?" asked Billy with rather a white face. + +"We cannot tell yet till the ship has been examined," replied the +captain. He gave orders to sound the well and sent some men forward to +examine the vessel's bow. + +Soon the ship's carpenter and Ben Stubbs came hurrying aft with scared +faces. + +"What is it?" demanded the captain, "are we seriously damaged?" + +"We have sprung a leak forward and the water is pouring in," was the +alarming reply. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE PROFESSOR IS KIDNAPPED. + + +The faces of all grew grave. A leak at sea is a serious menace. The +point at which the water was entering the Southern Cross was soon +found to be through a sprained plank a little below the water line. +Captain Hazzard ordered canvas weighted and dropped overboard around +the leak so that the pressure of water would hold it there. The +carpenter's gang then set to work to calk the hole temporarily. + +In the meantime the Brutus had put back, blowing her whistle +inquiringly. + +"Send them a wireless message telling them what has happened," the +commander ordered Frank, who hastened to obey. + +The captain of the Brutus ordered out his boat as soon as Frank's +message had been conveyed to him and came aboard the Southern Cross. +He agreed, after a consultation with Captain Hazzard, that it would be +necessary to put in somewhere to refit. + +"We are now off the mouth of the Santa Cruz river in Patagonia," said +Captain Barrington, "it is a good place to lie to. I was there once on +a passenger steamer that met with an accident. We can shift the cargo +to the stern till we have raised the bow of the Southern Cross, and +then we can patch up her prow easily," he said. + +All agreed that this was a good plan. There was only one objection, +and that was the so-called giants of Patagonia, who are hostile to all +strangers. In view of the large force of men on board the two ships, +however, and the numerous weapons carried, it was agreed that there +was not much to be feared from the Patagonians. + +The broken steel hawser was at once detached and a new one put in +place and the two vessels headed for the shore, about one hundred and +fifty miles distant. They arrived off the mouth of the Santa Cruz +river the next day and the boys, who had been up before dawn in their +anxiety to get their first glimpse of "The Land of the Giants," were +rather disappointed to see stretched before them a dreary looking +coast with a few bare hills rising a short distance inland. There were +no trees or grass ashore, but a sort of dull-colored bush grew +abundantly. + +"I thought the giants lived in dense forests," said Billy, +disgustedly; "this place is a desert." + +"It was a fortunate accident though that brought us to this shore," +said a voice behind them and Professor Sandburr's bony, spectacled +face was thrust forward. "I would not have missed it for a great deal. +I would like to capture a specimen of a Patagonian alive and take him +home in a cage. The Patagonian dog-flea, too, I understand, is very +curious." + +The boys all laughed at this, but the professor was perfectly serious. +There is no doubt that he would have liked to have done so and caged +up a Patagonian where he could have studied him at his leisure. + +The Brutus, with leadsmen stationed in her bows to test the depth of +the water, proceeded cautiously up the river and finally came to +anchor with her tow behind her about two miles from its mouth. The +work of shifting some of the cargo of the Southern Cross to the stern +so as to elevate her bow, was begun at once; as time was an important +consideration. Soon all was declared ready for the carpenters to start +work and they were lowered on stages over the side and at once began +to rectify the trouble. Some of them worked from a boat secured to the +bow. + +"Do you think you can persuade the captain to let us go ashore with +you?" asked Frank of the professor, who was busy at once getting out +all his paraphernalia in anticipation of going on what Billy called "a +bug hunt." + +"Certainly," declared the scientist confidently, "come along. I should +like above all things to have you boys go ashore with me. Besides, I +may teach you all to become faunal naturalists." + +The delighted boys followed the old man to Captain Hazzard's cabin, +but, to their disappointment, he forbade the expedition peremptorily. + +"The Patagonians are dangerous savages," he said, "and I will not +assume the responsibility of allowing you to risk your lives." + +Nor did any persuasion of which the boys or the professor could make +have any effect in causing the commander to change his mind. He was +firm as adamant and reluctantly the boys made their way forward and +watched the carpenters fix the leak, and when that palled they were +compelled to fall back on fishing for an amusement. + +The professor joined ardently in this sport despite his disappointment +at not being allowed to go ashore. He managed to fix up a net attached +to an iron ring with which he scooped up all kinds of queer fish out +of the river, many of which were so ugly as to be repulsive to the +boys. But the professor seemed to be delighted with them all. + +"Ah, there, my beautiful 'Piscatorius Animata Catfisio,'" he would +say, as he seized a struggling sea monster with a firm grip and +plunged it into one of his tin tanks. "I'll dissect you to-night. You +are the finest specimen of your kind I have ever seen." + +The boys were suddenly interrupted in their fishing by blood-curdling +yells from the old scientist. Looking up in alarm they saw him dancing +about on the deck holding his arm as if in great pain, while in front +of him on the deck a queer-looking, flat fish with a long barbed tail +flopped about, its great goggle eyes projecting hideously. + +Frank ran forward to pick up the creature and throw it overboard, but +as he grasped it he experienced a shock that knocked him head over +heels. As he fell backward he collided with the professor and the two +sprawled on the deck with the professor howling louder than ever. + +"No wonder they're hurt," shouted Ben Stubbs, coming up with a long +boat-hook, "that's an electric ray." + +"An electric what?" asked Billy. + +"An electric ray. They carry enough electricity in them to run a small +lamp, and when they wish they can give you a powerful shock. They kill +their prey that way." + +"Ouch--," exclaimed the professor, who had by this time got up, "the +ray nearly killed me. Let me look at the brute so that I'll know one +of them again." + +"Why don't you put him in your collection?" asked Frank with a smile, +although his arm still hurt him where the electric ray had shocked it. + +"I want no such fish as that round me, sir," said the professor +indignantly, and ordered Ben to throw the creature overboard with his +boat-hook. + +After supper that night the boys hung about the decks till bedtime. +The hours passed slowly and they amused themselves by watching the +moonlit shores and speculating on the whereabouts of the Patagonians. + +Suddenly Billy seized Frank's arm. + +"Look," he exclaimed, pointing to a low ridge that stood out blackly +in the moonlight. + +Behind the low eminence Frank could distinctly see a head cautiously +moving about, seemingly reconnoitering the two ships. In a few seconds +it vanished as the apparent spy retreated behind the ridge. + +"That must have been a Patagonian," said Frank. + +"Just think, they are so near to us and we cannot go ashore," sighed +the professor, who was one of the group. "I wonder if they have any +dogs with them?" + +"I have a good mind to go, anyway," said the old man, suddenly, "I +would like to write a paper on the habits of the Patagonians and how +can I if I don't study them at first hand?" + +"What if they chopped your head off?" asked Billy. + +"They would not do that," rejoined the scientist, with a superior +smile. "I have a friend who lived with them for a time and then wrote +a book about them. According to him Captain Hazzard is wrong; they are +not hostile, but, on the contrary, are friendly to white men." + +"Then you think that Captain Hazzard doesn't know much about them?" +asked Billy. + +"I did not say that," replied the professor; "but he may be mistaken +just like I was about the electric ray, which I thought was a South +Atlantic skate. Just the same, I mean to find out for myself," he went +on. "To-night when everyone is asleep but the man on duty, I am going +to watch my opportunity and go ashore in the boat the carpenters left +at the bow this afternoon. There are ropes hanging from the prow down +which I can climb." + +Soon after this the boys determined to turn in and, naturally, the +professor's decision occupied a great deal of their conversation. + +"Do you think we ought to tell the captain about what Professor +Sandburr means to do?" asked Frank of the others. + +"I don't think so," said Billy. "He is much older than we are and +doubtless he knows what he is about. At the same time, though, I think +we should watch and if he gets into trouble should try and help him +out of it." + +"Very well, then we will all be out on deck at midnight," said Frank, +"and if we find that the professor is really serious in his intention +to go ashore in the boat we will try and stop him. If he still +persists we shall have to tell the captain." + +The others agreed that the course that Frank recommended was the best +one, and they all decided to adopt his plan. + +But the boys were heavy sleepers and besides were tired out when they +sought their bunks, so that when Frank, who was the first to wake, +opened his eyes it was past one in the morning. With a start the boy +jumped out of bed and hastily called the others. + +"We may not be too late yet," he said, as he hastily slipped into +trousers, shirt and slippers. + +But the boys WERE too late. When they reached the bow they could see +by peering over that the boat had gone and that the professor had +penetrated alone into the country of the Patagonians. + +Suddenly there came a shot from the shore and a loud cry of: + +"Help!" + +"It's the professor!" exclaimed Frank; "he's in serious trouble this +time." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A BATTLE IN THE AIR. + + +To raise an alarm throughout the ship was the work of a few minutes +and the watchman, whose carelessness had allowed the professor to slip +away unnoticed, aroused the indignation of Captain Hazzard, who blamed +him bitterly for his oversight. Several shots followed the one the +boys had heard and more cries, but they grew rapidly fainter and at +the same time the sound of horses galloping away in the distance was +heard. + +"They have carried him off," cried Captain Hazzard. + +"Can we not chase them and rescue him?" asked Billy, "we've got plenty +of men and arms." + +"That would be of little use to us," was the reply, "the Patagonians +are mounted and by this time they have got such a start on us that we +could never hope to catch up to them on foot." + +"Not on foot," put in Frank quietly, "but there is another way." + +"What do you mean, boy?" + +"That we can assemble the Golden Eagle in a couple of hours if you +will give us the men to help." + +Captain Hazzard thought a minute. + +"It seems to be the only chance," he said at last, "but I don't know +that I ought to let you assume such responsibility." + +"We will be in no greater danger than the professor is; much less, in +fact," urged Frank. "Please let us go. If we can save his life it is +worth running the risk." + +"Perhaps you are right, my boy," said Captain Hazzard at length, "at +any rate, promise me to run no unnecessary danger." + +The promise was readily given and with a cheer the men set to work to +hoist the cases containing the sections of the aeroplane over the side +and row them ashore. The work was carried on under the glare of the +searchlights of the two ships. In two hours' time the Golden Eagle was +ready for an engine test which showed her machinery to be in perfectly +good trim. + +"She is fit for the flight of her life," declared Frank, as he stopped +the engine. + +"Is everything ready?" asked Captain Hazzard. + +"Yes," was the reply, "except for two canteens of water, some +condensed soup tablets and two tins of biscuit." + +"You have your weapons?" + +"I have sent to the ship for two 'Express' rifles, each carrying a +heavy charge and explosive bullets. In addition we have our revolvers +and some dynamite bombs--the ones that were designed to be used in +blasting polar ice," said Frank. + +"One moment," said Captain Hazzard. He turned and hailed the ship: +"Bring over six of the naval rockets from the armory!" he ordered. + +"If you should need help," he said, in explanation of his order, "send +up a rocket. They are made so that they are visible by day as well as +night. In the daylight their explosion produces a dense cloud of black +smoke visible at several miles. They also make a terrific report that +is audible for a long distance." + +The same boat that brought the boys' weapons carried the rockets and +their provisions and at about four a. m. they were ready for their +dash through the air. At the last minute it was decided to take Billy +Barnes along as he knew something about handling an aeroplane and in a +pinch could make himself useful. + +"Good-bye and good luck," said Captain Hazzard fervently as the engine +was once more started, with a roar like the discharge of a battery of +gatling guns. From the exhausts blue flames shot out and the air was +filled with the pungent odor of exploding gasolene. + +With a wave of the hand and amid a cheer that seemed to rend the sky +the Golden Eagle shot forward as Frank set the starting lever and +rushed along over the level plane like a thing of life. After a short +run she rose skyward in a long level sweep, just as the daylight began +to show in a faint glow in the east. + +It rapidly grew lighter as the boys rose and as they attained a height +of 1,500 feet and flew forward at sixty miles an hour above the vast +level tract of gravelly desert, by looking backward they could see the +forms of the two ships, like tiny toys, far behind and below them. On +and on they flew, without seeing a trace of the professor or the band +that had undoubtedly made him prisoner. + +"We must have overshot the mark," said Frank, as he set a lever so as +to swing the aeroplane round. "We shall have to fly in circles till we +can locate the spot where the Patagonians have taken him." + +They flew in this manner for some time, sometimes above rugged broken +land with great sun-baked clefts in it, and sometimes above level +plains overgrown with the same dull colored brush they had noticed +fringing the coast. + +Suddenly Billy called attention to a strange thing. All about them +were circling the forms of huge birds. Some of them measured fully ten +feet from wing tip to wing tip. They had bald, evil-looking heads and +huge, hooked beaks. + +"They are South American condors, the largest birds in existence," +cried Harry, as the monstrous fowls, of which fully a hundred were now +circling about the invaders of their realm, seemed to grow bolder and +closed in about the aeroplane. + +"They mean to attack us," cried Frank, suddenly. + +[Illustration: "They Mean to Attack Us."] + +As he spoke one immense condor drove full at him, its evil head +outstretched as if it meant to tear him with its hooked beak. The boy +struck at it with one arm while he controlled the aeroplane with the +other and the monstrous bird seemed nonplussed for a moment. With a +scream of rage it rejoined its mates and they continued to circle +about the aeroplane, every minute growing, it seemed, more numerous +and bold. + +"We shall have to fire at them," cried Frank at last. "If they keep on +increasing in numbers they may attack us all at once and wreck our +airship." + +Hastily Harry and Billy unslung their heavy "Express" rifles and began +firing. Ordinarily it is no easy task to hit a bird on the wing with a +rifle, but so large a target did the huge bodies present that four +fell at the first volley. As they dropped some of their cannibal +companions fell on them and tore them to ribbons in midair. It was a +horrible sight, but the boys had little time to observe it. Their +attention was now fully occupied with beating off the infuriated mates +of the dead birds, who beat the air about the aeroplane with their +huge wings until the air-storm created threatened to overbalance it. + +Again and again the boys fired, but failed to hit any more of the +birds, although feathers flew from some of the great bodies as the +bullets whizzed past them. + +All at once the condors seemed to come to a decision unanimously. +Uttering their harsh, screaming cries they rushed at the aeroplane, +tearing and snapping with beak and claws. The machine yawed under +their attack till it seemed it must turn over. Still, so far, Frank +managed to keep it on an even keel. + +"Bang! bang!" cracked the rifles again and again, but the loud angry +cries of the birds almost drowned the sharp sound of the artillery. + +It was a battle in the clouds between a man-made bird and nature's +fliers. + +Suddenly Frank gave a shout. + +"The dynamite bombs!" + +Swiftly and cautiously Harry got one of the deadly explosives ready. +They were provided with a cap that set them off when they encountered +any solid substance, as, for instance, when they struck the earth, but +a small, mechanical contrivance enabled them to be adjusted also so +that they could be exploded in midair. + +"Isn't there danger of upsetting the aeroplane?" gasped Billy, as he +saw the preparations. + +"We'll have to chance that," was Harry's brisk response, "the birds +are too much for us." + +As he spoke he leaned out from the chassis and hurled the bomb high in +the air. As he cast it out there was a slight click as the automatic +exploder set itself. + +"Hold tight," shouted Frank, setting the sinking planes. + +The aeroplane rushed downward like a stone. Suddenly a terrific roar +filled the air and the boys felt as if their ear drums would be +fractured. The aeroplane swayed dizzily and Frank worked desperately +at his levers and adjusters. + +For one terrible moment it seemed that the Golden Eagle was doomed to +destruction, but the brave craft righted herself and soared on. + +The bomb had done its work. + +Of the huge flock of condors that had attacked the Golden Eagle only a +bare dozen or so remained. The rest had been killed or wounded by the +bomb. The survivors were far too terrified to think of pursuing the +boys and their craft further. + +"Thank goodness we have escaped that peril," exclaimed Harry, as they +sailed onward through the air; "who would ever have thought that such +birds would have attacked an aeroplane." + +"They frequently, so naturalists say, carry off babies and small +animals to their rocky nests," was Frank's response, "and birds as +bold as that I suppose resented the appearance of what seemed another +and larger bird in their realm." + +For an hour more the aeroplane soared and wheeled above the baking hot +plains intersected by their deep gullies, but without result. The boys +with sinking hearts were beginning to conclude that the professor had +been carried off and hidden beyond hope of recovery, when Harry, who +had been peering ahead through the glasses, indicated a distant spot +behind a ridge with much excitement. + +"I can see a horse tethered there," he cried. + +The aeroplane was at once shot off in that direction and soon all +doubt that they were in the vicinity of a band of Patagonians +vanished. As the air craft rushed forward several tethered horses +became visible and a column of smoke was seen rising from a deep gully +behind the ridge. No doubt the Patagonians thought themselves well +hid. + +So secure did they feel, seemingly, that not even a sentry was +visible. + +"Do you think they are the same band that kidnapped the professor?" +asked Billy. + +"There's not much doubt of it," said Frank. + +"At any rate we shall soon see," concluded Harry, as the aeroplane +shot directly above the encampment of the giant Patagonians. Gazing +downward the boys could see one of the savages, a huge figure more +than six feet tall, in a feather mantle and armed with a formidable +looking spear, pacing up and down, as if he were a chief of some kind. +This belief was confirmed when one of the other tribesmen approached +the man in the long cloak and addressed something to him with a low +obeisance. Frank had by this time put the muffler in operation and +throttled down the engine so that the aeroplane swung in lazy circles +above the Patagonians, entirely unnoticed by them. + +While they gazed the boys saw a figure led from a rude tent by several +of the Patagonians, of whom there seemed to be two or three hundred in +the camp. Instantly a loud yelling went up and several of the natives +began a sort of dance, shaking their spears menacingly and wrapping +their feather cloaks tightly about their tall figures. + +"It's the professor!" shouted Frank, indicating the captive who had +been taken from the tent. + +"They are going to burn him alive!" shouted Harry in a voice of horror +the next moment, pointing to the fire. + +Indeed, it seemed so. The Patagonians began piling fresh bundles of +wood on their fire, the smoke of which the boys had seen from far off. +Their savage yells and cries filled the air. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ADRIFT! + + +Six of the huge warriors picked up the unfortunate professor, who was +bound hand and foot, and were preparing to carry him toward the fire +when there came a startling interruption to their plans. + +With a roar as if the desolate mountains about them were toppling +about their ears one of the dynamite bombs carried by the boys was +dropped and exploded a short distance from the camp. A huge hole was +torn in the earth and a great cloud of dust arose. + +Shrieks and cries filled the air and, although none of them was hurt, +the Patagonians rushed about like ants when some one has stirred up +their nests. Suddenly one of them happened to look upwards and gave a +wild yell. + +Instantly the tribesmen, without waiting to pick up any of their +possessions, fled for their horses and mounting them rode out of sight +without daring to look round. To accelerate their progress the boys +sent another dynamite bomb and two rockets after them, and then +descended to pick up the professor who, bound as he was, had been left +on the ground and was quite as much in the dark as to what he owed his +escape to as the Indians were. + +"Oh, boys!" he exclaimed, as the machine glided to earth and the boys +stepped out, "you were just in time. I really believe they meant to +make soup out of me. They were worse than the electric ray, a great +deal. Oh, dear, I wish I had obeyed Captain Hazzard, but I wanted to +get a specimen of a Patagonian dog-flea. They are very rare." + +"Did you get one?" asked Frank, laughing in spite of himself at the +woe-begone figure of the professor, who, his bonds having been cut, +now stood upright with his spectacles perched crookedly on his nose. + +"I did not," moaned the man of science, who seemed more grieved over +his failure to collect the rare specimen than he did over his own +narrow escape, "there is every other kind of flea around here, though, +I found that out while I was in the tent." + +"Come, we had better be going," said Frank at length, after they had +explored the camp and picked up some fine feather robes and curious +weapons which the Patagonians had left behind them in their hurry to +escape. + +"The Patagonians might take it into their heads to come back and +attack us and then we should be in a serious fix." + +All agreed that it was wise not to linger too long in the camp and so +a few minutes later the Golden Eagle was sent into the air again, this +time with an added passenger. + +"Dear me, this is very remarkable," said the professor, "quite like +flying. I feel like a bird," and he flapped his long arms till the +boys had to laugh once more at the comical man of learning. + +As they flew along the professor explained to them that after he had +taken the boat he had heard a dog barking ashore, and being confident +that the Patagonians were friendly people and that it was a Patagonian +dog he heard, he determined to do some exploring in search of the +Patagonian dog-flea. He had only crawled a few steps from the river +bank, however, when he felt himself seized and carried swiftly away. +It was then that he had fired the shot the boys heard. Later he had +managed to break loose and then had discharged his revolver some more, +without hitting anybody, however. + +The Patagonians had then bound him and tied him to the back of a horse +and rapidly borne him into the interior. They might not have meant any +harm to him at first, he thought, but when they found him examining a +dog with great care they were convinced the simple-minded old man was +a witch doctor and at once sentenced him to be burned to death. + +"How about your friend that said that the Patagonians were a friendly +race?" asked Billy, as the professor concluded his narrative. + +"I shall write a book exposing his book," said the professor, with +great dignity. + +Nothing more occurred till, as they drew near the ships, Frank waved +his handkerchief and the others fired their revolvers in token of the +fact that they had been successful in their quest. In reply to these +joyous signals the rapid-fire gun of the Southern Cross was fired and +the air was so full of noise that any Patagonians within twenty miles +must have fled in terror. + +The professor, looking very shamefaced, was summoned to Captain +Hazzard's cabin soon after he had arrived on board and put on clean +garments. What was said to him nobody ever knew, but he looked +downcast as one of his own bottled specimens when he left the cabin. +By sundown, however, he had quite recovered his spirits and had to be +rescued from the claws of a big lobster he had caught and which +grabbed him by the toe as soon as he landed it on deck. + +In the meantime the aeroplane was "taken down" and packed up once more +while the boys came in for warm congratulations on the successful +outcome of their aerial dash to the rescue. Captain Hazzard himself +sent for them and complimented them highly on their skill and courage. + +"I shall mention your achievement in the despatches I shall send north +by the Brutus," he said in conclusion to the happy boys. + +The damage to her bow being repaired, there was nothing more to keep +the Southern Cross and her escort in the dreary river, and with no +regrets at leaving such a barren, inhospitable country behind them, +the pole-seekers weighed anchor early the next day. + +Ever southward they forged till the weather began to grow chilly and +warm garments were served out to the men from the storerooms of the +Southern Cross. To the boys the cold was welcome, as it meant that +they were approaching the goal of their journey. + +Captain Barrington doubled watches day and night now, for at any +moment they might expect an encounter with a huge iceberg. In the +antarctic these great ice mountains attain such bulk that they could +crush the most powerful ship like an eggshell. It behooves all +mariners venturing into those regions, therefore, to keep a most +careful lookout for them. + +One day soon after dinner, while the boys were on the fore peak +chatting with Ben Stubbs, the old bos'n suddenly elevated his nose, +drew in a long breath and announced: + +"I smell ice." + +Recollecting that Ben had said that he "smelled land" on another +memorable occasion, the boys checked their disposition to laugh, +although the professor, who was trying to dissect a strange little +fish he had caught the day before, ridiculed the idea. + +"Ice being a substance consisting of frozen water and without odor, +what you say is a contradiction in terms," he pronounced with much +solemnity. + +"All right, professor," said Ben, with a wink at the boys, "maybe ice +ain't as easy to tell as an electric ray, but just the same I'm an old +whaling man and I can smell ice as far as you can smell beefsteak +frying." + +This was touching on the scientist's weak spot, for like many men of +eminence, he was nevertheless fond of a good dinner and his alacrity +in answering meal calls had become a joke on board. + +"You are arguing 'ad hominum,' my dear sir," spoke the professor with +dignity. "Ice and beefsteak have no affinity for one another, nor do +they partake of the same qualities or analyses." + +Whatever Ben might have said to this crushing rejoinder was lost +forever, for at this moment there was a great disturbance in the water +a short distance from the ship. The boys saw a whale's huge dark form +leap from the waves not forty feet from the bow and settle back with a +crash that sent the water flying up in the air like a fountain. + +"Whale ho!" shouted Ben, greatly excited. "Hullo," he exclaimed the +next instant, "now you'll see some fighting worth seeing." + +As he spoke, a form dimly seen, so near to the surface was it, rushed +through the water and crashed headlong into the whale. + +"What is it, another whale?" asked Billy. + +"No, it's a monster sword-fish," cried Ben, "and they are going to +fight." + +The water grew crimson as the sword-fish plunged his cruel weapon into +the great whale's side, but the monster itself, maddened by its wound, +the next instant charged the sword-fish. Its great jaws opened wide as +it rushed at its smaller enemy, for which however, it was no +match,--for the sword-fish doubled and swam rapidly away. The next +instant it dived, and coming up rammed the whale with its sword once +more. With a mighty leap the sea monster mounted clear of the water +once more, the blood spouting from its wounds. + +But its strength was gone and it crashed heavily downward while it was +in mid-spring. A warning shout from Ben called the attention of +everybody who had been watching the fight to a more imminent danger to +the ship. The giant cetacean in falling to its death had struck the +towing cable and snapped it under its huge bulk as if the stout hawser +had been a pack thread. + +"We are adrift," shouted Captain Barrington, rushing forward with +Captain Hazzard by his side. + +Another cry of alarm mingled with his as he uttered it. + +"The iceberg!" cried Ben. + +The old sailor pointed ahead and there, like a huge ghost drifting +toward them, was a mighty structure of ice--the first berg the boys +had ever seen. With its slow advance came another peril. The air grew +deathly cold and a mist began to rise from the chilled sea. + +"Signal the Brutus!" shouted Captain Barrington, but the fires had +been extinguished on the Southern Cross when she was taken in tow, and +she had nothing to signal with but her rapid firing gun. This was +fired again and again and soon through the mist there came back the +low moan of the siren of the Brutus. + +"They won't dare to put back after us in this," exclaimed Captain +Barrington, as he stood on the bridge with the boys beside him, "we +shall have to drift helplessly here till the iceberg passes or--" + +"Until we are crushed," put in Captain Hazzard quietly, "wouldn't it +be as well to have the boats made ready for lowering," he went on. + +"A good idea," agreed Captain Barrington. Ben Stubbs was summoned aft +and told to give the necessary orders, and soon the men were at work +clearing the life-boats in case things should come to the worst. + +The mist grew momentarily denser and the cold more intense, yet so +critical was the situation that nobody thought of leaving the decks to +don warmer clothing. The fog, caused by the immense berg chilling the +warmer ocean currents, was now so thick that of the mighty berg itself +they could perceive nothing. The knowledge that the peril was +invisible did not make the minds of those on board the drifting vessel +any the easier. + +"If only we had steam we could get out of the berg's path," said +Captain Barrington, stamping his foot. + +"Couldn't we hoist sail," suggested Frank. + +"There is no wind. I wish there were," replied the captain, "then it +would blow this mist away and we could at least see where we are +driving to." + +In breathless silence and surrounded by the dense curtain of freezing +mist the polar ship drifted helplessly on, those on board realizing +that at any moment there might come the crash and disaster that would +follow a collision with the monster berg. + +Suddenly there came a shock that almost threw those on the bridge off +their feet. + +Hoarse cries and shouts sounded through the mist from the bow of the +ship, which was no longer visible in the dense smother. + +Above all the confused noises one rang out clear and terrible. + +"The berg has struck us. We are sinking!" was the terrible cry. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE SHIP OF OLAF THE VIKING. + + +"Stop all that confusion," roared Captain Barrington through his +megaphone, which he had snatched from its place on the bridge. + +Silence instantly followed, only to be succeeded by a tearing and +rending sound. + +The rigging of the foremast had caught in a projecting ridge of the +berg and was being torn out. The ship trembled and shook as if a giant +hand was crushing her, but so far her heavy timbers seemed to have +stood the shock. Presently the noises ceased and the air began to grow +less chilly. + +"I believe we are free of the berg!" shouted Captain Hazzard. + +The rapid clearing away of the dense fog that had hung like a pall +about the seemingly doomed ship confirmed this belief. By great good +fortune the Southern Cross had been spared the fate of many ships that +venture into the polar seas, and the boys gazing backward from the +bridge could see the mighty berg, looking as huge as a cathedral, +slowly increasing its distance from them, as it was borne along on the +current. + +"Hurrah, we are safe!" cried Harry. + +"Don't be too sure," warned Captain Barrington. "I hope we are, but +the vessel will have to be examined before we can be certain. In any +event our foremast and bowsprit are sad wrecks." + +The portions of the ship he referred to were, indeed, badly damaged. +The shrouds supporting the foremast had been ripped out by the berg on +the port or left hand side of the vessel, and her jibboom had been +snapped off short where the berg struck her. Two boats had, besides, +been broken and the paint scraped off the polar ship's sides. + +"We look like a wreck," exclaimed Billy. + +"We may think ourselves lucky we got off so easily," said Captain +Barrington, "we have just gone through the deadliest peril an +antarctic ship can undergo." + +The Brutus now came gliding up, and after congratulations had been +exchanged between the two ships, a new hawser was rigged and the +Southern Cross was once more taken in tow. + +"I don't want any more encounters with icebergs," said Billy, as the +ship proceeded toward her goal once more. + +"Nor I," spoke the others. + +"It's a pity this isn't at the north pole," said the professor, who +was varnishing dried fish in the cabin, where this conversation took +place. + +"Why?" asked Frank. + +"Because, if it had been, there might have been a polar bear on that +iceberg. I have read that sometimes they drift away on bergs that +become detached and are sighted by steamers quite far south." + +"Why,--do you want a polar bear skin," asked Billy, "you can buy lots +of them in New York." + +"Oh, I don't care about the polar bear," said the professor quickly, +"but the creatures have a kind of flea on them that is very rare." + +At the idea of hunting such great animals as polar bears for such +insignificant things as fleas, the boys all had to laugh. The +professor, who was very good-natured, was not at all offended. + +"Small animals are sometimes quite as interesting as large ones," was +all he said. + +The next day the rigging and bowsprit were refitted and further and +further south steamed the Brutus with the polar ship in tow. The fires +of the Southern Cross had now been started and her acetylene gas plant +started going as the heat and light were needed. Icebergs were now +frequently met with and the boys often remained on deck at night, +snugly wrapped in furs, to watch the great masses of ice drift by. + +Although they were as dangerous as ever, now that the ships were in +cooler water the bergs did not create a fog as they did in the warmer +region further north. By keeping a sharp lookout during the day and +using the searchlights at night, Captain Barrington felt fairly +confident of avoiding another encounter with an ice mountain. The +damage the ship had sustained in her narrow escape from annihilation +had proved quite difficult to repair, though before the vessel reached +the sixtieth parallel it had been adjusted. + +"Well, boys," announced Captain Hazzard one day at noon, "we are now +not more than three hundred miles from the Great Barrier." + +"Beyond which lies the polar mystery," exclaimed Frank. + +Captain Hazzard glanced at him quickly. + +"Yes, the polar mystery," he repeated, "perhaps now is as good a time +as any for telling you boys the secret of this voyage. Come to my +cabin and I will tell you one of the objects of our expedition, which +hitherto has been kept a secret from all but the officers." + +The excitement of the boys may be imagined as they followed the +captain to his cabin and seated themselves on a seat arranged above +the radiator. + +"It's the ship of Olaf," whispered Billy to Harry. + +"Of course," began Captain Hazzard, "the main object of this +expedition is to plant the flag of the United States at 'furthest +south,' even if not at the pole itself." + +"And to capture a South Polar flea and a fur-bearing pollywog," put in +the professor, who had included himself in the invitation to the boys. + +"Exactly," smiled the captain, "but there is still another object +scarcely of less importance than the ones that I and the professor," +he added with a smile, "have enumerated." + +"You boys have all heard of the daring rovers who set out centuries +ago in their ships to explore unknown oceans?" + +The boys nodded. + +"You mean the Vikings?" asked Frank. + +"Yes," replied the captain. "Well, some time ago a member of one of +our great scientific bodies, while traveling in Sweden, discovered in +a remote village an odd legend concerning some sailors who claimed to +have seen an old Viking ship frozen in the ice near the Great Barrier. +They were poor and superstitious whalemen and did not dare to disturb +it, but they brought home the story." + +"And you think the ship is still there," broke in Harry. + +"If they really saw such a thing there is every reason to suppose that +it is," rejoined the lieutenant. "In the ice anything might be +preserved almost indefinitely. Providing the yarn of the whalemen is +true, we now come to the most interesting part of the story. The +scientist, who has a large acquaintance among librarians and +custodians of old manuscripts in European libraries, happened to +mention one night to a friend what he had heard in the little +Norwegian fishing village. His friend instantly surprised him by +declaring that he had an idea what the ship was. + +"To make a long story short, he told him that years before, while +examining some manuscripts in Stockholm, he had read an account of a +Viking ship that in company with another had sailed for what must have +been the extreme South Pacific. One of the ships returned laden with +ivory and gold, which latter may have been obtained from some mine +whose location has long since been lost, but the other never came +back. That missing ship was the ship of Olaf the Rover, and as her +consort said, she had last been seen in the South Pacific. The +manuscript said that the returned rovers stated that they had become +parted from the ship of Olaf in a terrific gale amid much ice and +great ice mountains. That must have meant the antarctic regions. This +much they do know, that Olaf's ship was stripped of her sails and +helpless when they were compelled by stress of weather to abandon her. +It is my theory and the theory of a man high in the government, who +has authorized me to make this search, that the ship of Olaf was +caught in a polar current and that the story heard so many years after +about the frozen ship in the ice is true." + +"Then somewhere down there along the Great Barrier there is a Viking +ship full of ivory and gold, you believe?" asked Frank. + +"I do," said the captain. + +"And the ice has preserved it all intact?" shouted Billy. + +"If the ship is there at all she is undoubtedly preserved exactly as +she entered the great ice," was the calm reply. + +"Gosh!" was the only thing Billy could think of to say. + +"Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it?" gasped Harry. + +"Maybe some Viking fleas got frozen up, too," chirped the professor, +hopefully. "What a fine chance for me if we find the ship." + +"Have you the latitude and longitude in which the whalers saw the +frozen vessel?" asked Frank. + +"I have them, yes," replied the captain, "and when the winter is over +we will set out on a search for it. On our march toward the pole that +will make only a slight detour." + +"Was it for this that you wanted to have our aeroplane along?" asked +Frank, his eyes sparkling. + +"Yes," was the reply, "in an airship you can skim high above the +ice-fields and at a pace that would make an attempt to cover unknown +tracts on foot ridiculous. If the Viking ship is to be found it will +have to be your achievement." + +Captain Hazzard was called out on deck at this juncture and the boys, +once he was out of the room, joined in a war dance round the swinging +cabin table. + +"Boys, will you take me along when you go?" asked the professor +anxiously. "If there is any chance of getting a Viking flea I would +like to. It would make my name famous. I could write a book about it, +too." + +"But you've got a book to write already about the Patagonians," +objected Frank. + +"Bless me, so I have," exclaimed the absent-minded old man. "However +that can wait. A Viking flea would be a novelty indeed." + +At this moment loud tramplings on the deck overhead and shouts +apprised them that something out of the ordinary must be occurring. +Just as they were about to emerge from the cabin the captain rushed +in. He seemed much excited. + +"My fur coat, quick," he cried, seizing the garment from Frank, who +had snatched it from its peg and handed it to him. + +"What has happened?" asked Frank. + +The words had hardly left his lips before there came a terrible +grinding and jarring and the Southern Cross came to a standstill. Her +bow seemed to tilt up, while her stern sank, till the cabin floor +attained quite a steep slope. + +"What can be the matter?" cried the professor, as he dashed out after +the boys and the captain, the latter of whom had been much too excited +to answer Frank's question. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +MAROONED ON AN ICE FLOE. + + +"We have struck a polar reef!" + +It was Captain Barrington who uttered these words after a brief +examination. + +"Do you think we will be able to get off?" Frank asked Ben Stubbs, who +with the boys and the rest of the crew was in the bow peering down at +what appeared to be rocks beneath the vessel's bow, except that their +glitter in the lanterns that were hung over the side showed that the +ship was aground on solid ice. + +"Hard to say," pronounced Ben. "These polar reefs are bad things. They +float along a little below the surface and many a ship that has struck +them has had her bottom ripped off before you could say 'knife.'" + +"Are we seriously damaged?" asked Billy, anxiously gazing at the +scared faces around him. + +"I hope not," said the old salt; "there is one thing in our favor and +that is that we were being towed so that our bow was raised quite a +bit, and instead of hitting the ice fair and square we glided up on +top of it." + +Another point in favor of the ship's getting off was that there had +been no time to reshift the cargo, which, it will be recalled, had +been stowed astern when her bow was sprung off Patagonia, so that she +rode "high by the head," as sailors say. So far as they could see in +the darkness about twenty feet of her bow had driven up onto the polar +reef. The Brutus had stopped towing in response to the signal gun of +the Southern Cross in time to prevent the towing-bitts being rooted +out bodily or the cable parting. + +"There is nothing to be done till daylight," pronounced Captain +Barrington, after an examination of the hold had shown that the vessel +was perfectly dry. "The glass indicates fair weather and we'll have to +stay where we are till we get daylight." + +Little sleep was had by any aboard that night, and bright and early in +the morning the boys, together with most of the crew, were on deck and +peering over the bow. The day was a glorious one with the temperature +at two below zero. The sun sparkled and flashed on the great ice-reef +on which they had grounded, and which in places raised crested heads +above the greenish surface of the sea. + +No water had been taken on in the night, to the great relief of the +captain, and soon a string of gaudy signal flags were set which +notified the Brutus, lying at anchor about a mile away, to stand by. +The hawser had been cast off over night and so the Brutus was free to +steam to any position her captain thought advisable. As soon as the +signalling was completed he heaved anchor and stood for a point about +half-a-mile to the leeward of the Southern Cross, where he came to +anchor once more. + +Breakfast, a solid meal as befitted the latitude in which they were, +was hastily despatched and the boys bundled themselves up in polar +clothes and hurried out on deck to see what was going forward. Captain +Barrington, after a short consultation with Captain Hazzard, decided +to order out boat parties to explore the length and depth of the +ice-reef so that he could make plans to free his ship off her prison. + +The boys begged to be allowed to accompany one of the boat parties and +so did the professor. Their requests were finally acceded to by the +two captains and they formed part of the crew of Boat No. 3, in charge +of Ben Stubbs. + +"Wait a minute," shouted the professor, as, after the boat to which +they were assigned lay ready for lowering, the boys clambered into +her. + +"What's the matter?" demanded the boys. + +"I want to get my dredging bucket," exclaimed the man of science, +"this is a fine opportunity for me to acquire some rare specimens." + +He dived into his cabin, the two ends of his woolen scarf flying out +behind him like the tail of some queer bird. He reappeared in a second +with the bucket, an ordinary galvanized affair, but with a wire-net +bottom and a long rope attached, to allow of it being dragged along +the depths of the sea. + +"All ready!" shouted Frank, as the professor clambered into the boat. + +The "falls" rattled through the blocks and the boat struck the water +with a splash, almost upsetting the professor, who was peering over +the side through his thick spectacles as if he expected to see some +queer polar fish at once. The crew swarmed down the "falls," and as +Ben gave the order, pulled away for the outer end of the reef, the +station assigned to them. + +In accordance with their instructions when they arrived at the end of +the reef, the crew, headed by Ben Stubbs, left the boat and tramping +about on the slippery ice tried to ascertain its thickness and how far +under water it extended. The boys soon tired of sitting idle in the +boat and, as they had been forbidden to land on the treacherous ice of +the reef, cast about for something to do. The professor soon provided +a digression. + +"Look there," he suddenly shouted, pointing at a black triangular +shaped object that was moving about on the green water a short +distance from the boat. + +"What can it be?" wondered Billy. + +"Some sort of rare fish, I don't doubt," rejoined the professor. +"Let's row out and see." + +The boys, nothing loath, shoved off, and as Ben and the crew of the +boat were far too busy sounding and poking about on the reef to notice +them, they rowed off unobserved. + +The triangular object proved elusive, and after rowing some time, the +boys found they had come quite a distance from the ship without +getting much nearer to it. Suddenly a great, shining black back curved +itself out of the water and the boys saw that the sharp triangular +thing was an immense dorsal fin attached to the back of a species of +whale they had not so far seen, although they had sighted many +varieties since entering the Antarctic regions. + +"Let's give it a shot," cried Billy, and before any one could stop +him, the young reporter fired at the creature. + +To their amazement, instead of diving, as do most whales when injured +by a bullet or otherwise, the creature raised its blunt head and gazed +at them out of a wicked little red eye. + +"What--what--what's the matter with him do you suppose?" gasped Billy. + +As he spoke the whale began lashing the water with its tail till the +white foam spread all about it, slightly flecked with red here and +there, in token that Billy's shot had struck it. + +"I'm afraid that we are in for serious trouble," suddenly said the +professor. + +"Why, you don't mean that the creature is bold enough to attack us?" +gasped Billy. + +"That's just what I do," exclaimed the professor, apprehensively. + +"The creature is a killer whale--an animal as ferocious as a shark and +far more bold. I should have recognized what it was when I saw that +sharp fin cruising about." + +"We must row back," shouted Frank, and he and Harry sprang to the +oars. + +But they were too late. With a flashing whisk of its tail the +ferocious killer whale dived, and when it came up its head was within +twenty feet of the boat. + +"Pull for that floe!" shouted the professor, pointing to a small +island of ice floating about not far from them. It was their only +chance of escape, and the boys gave way with a will. But pull as they +would their enemy was faster than they. Just as the nose of their boat +scraped the floe the great "killer" charged. + +Frank had just time to spring onto the floe and drag Harry after him +when the monster's head rammed the boat, splitting it to kindling wood +with a terrible crackling sound. The stout timbers might as well have +been a matchbox, so far as resistance to the terrific onslaught was +concerned. + +Billy jumped just as the boat collapsed under him, and gained the +floe. But where was the professor? + +For an instant the terrible thought that he had perished flashed +across the boys' minds, but just then a cry made them look round, and +they saw the unfortunate scientist, blue with cold and dripping with +icy water, come clambering over the other side of the little floe on +which they stood. He had been hurled out of the boat when the whale +charged and cast into the water. His teeth were chattering so that he +could hardly speak, but he still had his bucket, and insisted on +examining it to see if any creatures had been caught in it when he +took his involuntary plunge. + +The whale, after its charge and the terrific bump with which it struck +the boat, seemed to be stunned and lay quietly on the water a few feet +from the floe, from which it had rebounded. + +"I'll bet he's got a headache," exclaimed Billy. + +"Headache or no headache, I don't see how we are going to get off this +floe unless we can attract the attention of the ship, and we are +drifting further away from it every minute," said Frank, gravely. + +"Let's fire our pistols," suggested Billy. + +"I didn't bring mine," said Frank. + +"Nor I," said Harry. + +"N-n-n-n-or I," chattered the shivering professor. + +"Gee whitakers," shouted Billy, "and to top the bad luck, I left mine +in the boat. I laid it on a seat after I had fired at the whale." + +"B-b-b-b-boys, w-w-w-w-w-hat are we g-g-g-oing to d-d-d-do?" shivered +the scientist. + +"Shout," said Frank; "come on, all together." + +They shouted at the tops of their voices, but in the clear polar air, +rarified as it is, sound does not carry as well as in northern +latitudes, and there was no response. + +All the time the floe, slowly revolving in the current like a floating +bottle, was drifting further and further from the ships. The situation +was serious, and, moreover, the scientist was evidently suffering +acutely, although he made no complaint, not wishing to add to their +anxieties. Frank, however, insisted on their each shedding a garment +for the professor's benefit, and although the scientist at first +refused them, he finally consented to don the articles of dry apparel +and seemed to be much comforted by their warmth. + +Faster and faster the floe drifted, and they were now almost out of +sight of the ships. The boys' faces, although they tried not to show +their fear, grew very pale. There seemed to be no prospect of their +being saved, and in the rigorous cold of that climate they knew they +could not survive many hours without food or drink. + +Suddenly Frank, who had been gloomily watching the progress of the +floe, gave a shout of surprise. + +"What's the matter?" said Harry. + +"Are we g-g-g-g-going d-d-d-d-down?" gasped the professor. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +DYNAMITING THE REEF. + + +"No," shouted the boy, "not that, but I think I see a chance of our +being saved!" + +"Have they seen us from the ships?" asked Billy. + +"No, but the floe has struck a different current and we are drifting +back." + +"Are you s-s-s-sure of t-t-t-this?" asked the professor. + +"Certain," replied Frank; "I have been watching the progress of other +pieces of drifting ice and the current seems to take a distinct curve +here and radiate backward toward the pole." + +"Then we are saved--hurray!" shouted Billy, dancing about on the +slippery ice, and falling headlong, in his excitement, on the +treacherous footing it afforded. + +"No use hollering till we are out of the woods," said Frank; "the +current may make another turn before we land near the ships." + +This checked the enthusiasm and the boys all fell to anxiously +watching the course their floe was likely to pursue. + +"There's our whale," shouted Billy, suddenly. "Look what a smash on +the nose he got." + +The great monster seemed to have recovered from its swoon and was now +swimming in slow circles round the floe, eyeing the boys malevolently, +but not offering to attack them. Evidently it was wondering, in its +own mind, what it had struck when it collided with the boat and the +floe. + +The floe drifted onward, with the vessels' forms every moment growing +larger to the boys' view. All at once a welcome sound rang out on the +nipping polar air. + +"Boom!" + +"They have missed us and are firing the gun," cried Frank. + +"That's what," rejoined Billy; "and we are going to get a terrible +lecture when we get back on board, too." + +Soon the floe, drifting steadily southward, by the strange freak of +the antarctic current, came in view of the lookouts on the ships, who +had been posted as soon as the boys were missed. The boats were at +once despatched, and headed for the little ice island. + +The killer whale suddenly took it into his head, as the boats drew +near, to try one more attack, but Dr. Watson Gregg, the ship's +surgeon, who stood in the bow of the first boat, saw the ferocious +monster coming and, with three quick bullets from a magazine rifle, +ended the great brute's career forever. His huge, black bulk, with its +whitish belly and great jaws, floated on the surface for a few +minutes, and the boys estimated his length at about thirty feet. + +"Room enough there to have swallowed us all up," commented Billy, as +they gazed at the monster. + +"Well, young men, what have you got to say for yourselves?" asked Dr. +Gregg, as the boats drew alongside. + +The boys all looked shamefaced as they got into the boat, and two +sailors assisted the half-frozen professor into it. They realized that +they had been guilty of a breach of discipline in taking off the boat, +and that, moreover, their disobedience had cost the expedition one of +its valuable assets, for there was no hope of ever putting the smashed +craft together again. + +On their return to the ship Captain Hazzard did not say much to them, +but what he did say, as Billy remarked afterward, "burned a hole in +you." + +However, after a hearty dinner and a change of clothing, they all, +even the professor--who seemed none the worse for the effects of his +cold bath--cheered up a bit, more especially as Captain Barrington had +announced that he had a plan for getting the ship off the reef. Ben +Stubbs, who had, with his crew, been taken off the end of the +obstruction by another boat, had announced that the depth of the +obstruction did not seem to exceed twenty feet and its greatest width +forty. Where the ship's bow rested the breadth was about thirty feet +and the depth not more than twenty. + +"My gracious," suddenly cried the professor as the boys came out from +dinner; "I have suffered a terrible loss!" + +His face was so grave, and he seemed so worried, that the boys +inquired sympathetically what it was that he had lost. + +"My bucket, my dredging bucket," wailed the scientist. "I was too cold +to examine it thoroughly and I recollect now that I am sure it had +some sort of sea-creatures in the bottom of it." + +"What has become of it?" asked Frank, hardly able to keep from +laughing. + +"I left it on the ice floe," wailed the professor. "I must have it." + +"Well, if it's on the floe it will have to stay there," remarked +Frank. "There seems to be no way of getting it off." + +"I wonder if the captain wouldn't send out some men in a boat to look +for it," hopefully exclaimed the collector, suddenly. + +"I shouldn't advise you to ask him," remarked Ben Stubbs, who just +then came up, his arms laden with packages. "We've lost one boat +through going after peppermints or specimints, or whatever you call +'em." + +"Possibly, as you say, it would not be wise," agreed the professor; +"never mind, perhaps I can catch a fur-bearing pollywog at the South +Pole." + +He seemed quite cheered up at this reflection and smiled happily at +the thought of achieving his dream. + +"What have you got there, Ben?" asked Billy, pointing to the +queer-looking boxes and packages the boatswain was carrying. + +"Dynamite, battery boxes, and fuses," replied the old sailor. + +"Whatever for?" asked the young reporter. "Are you going to blow up +the ship?" + +"Not exactly, but we are going to blow her OUT." + +"Dynamite the ice, you mean?" + +"That's it." + +"Hurray, we'll soon be free of the ice-drift," cried Harry, as they +followed the boatswain forward and watched while he and several of the +crew drilled holes in the ice and adjusted the dynamite on either side +of the bow, at a distance of about two hundred feet from the ship in +either direction. + +Caps of fulminate of mercury were then affixed to the explosive and +wires led from it to the battery boxes. + +"How will that free us?" asked the professor, who, like most men who +devote all their time to one subject, was profoundly ignorant of +anything but deep sea life and natural history. + +"It is the nature of dynamite to explode downwards," said Frank. "When +that charge is set off it will blow the ice away on either side and we +shall float freely once more." + +"Wonderful," exclaimed the professor. "I had better get my deep sea +net. The explosion may kill some curious fish when it goes off." + +He hurried away to get the article in question, while the boys stood +beside Captain Hazzard, who was about to explode the heavy charges. +Everybody was ordered to hold tight to something, and then the +commander pushed the switch. + +"Click!" + +A mighty roar followed and the ship seemed to rise in the air. But +only for an instant. The next minute she settled back and those on +board her broke out in a cheer as they realized that they once more +floated free of the great ice-reef. + +The two ends of the obstruction having been blown off by the dynamite, +the center portion was not buoyant enough to support the weight of the +Southern Cross, and went scraping and bumping beneath her to bob up +harmlessly to the surface at her stern. + +There was only one dissenting voice in the general enthusiasm that +reigned on board at the thought that they were now able to proceed, +and that was the professor's. He had been untangling a forgotten rare +specimen of deep-sea lobster from his net, when the explosion came. + +In his agitation at the vessel's sudden heave and the unexpected +noise, he had let his hand slip and the creature had seized him by the +thumb. With a roar of pain the professor flung it from him and it +flopped overboard. + +"Hurray! we are off the reef, professor," shouted Frank, running aft +to help adjust a stern cable that had been thrown out when the +Southern Cross grounded. + +"So I see, but I have lost a rare specimen of deep-sea lobster," +groaned the professor, peering over the side of the ship to see if +there were any hope of recapturing his prize. + +The anchor of the Southern Cross was dropped to hold her firmly while +the steel hawser was reconnected with the Brutus, and soon the coal +ship and her consort were steaming steadily onward toward the Barrier +and the polar night. + +It grew steadily colder, but the boys did not mind the exhilarating +atmosphere. They had games of ball and clambered about in the rigging, +and kept in a fine glow in this way. The professor tried to join them +at these games, but a tumble from halfway up the slippery main shrouds +into a pile of snow, in which he was half smothered, soon checked his +enthusiasm, and he thereafter devoted himself to classifying his +specimens. + +Great albatross now began to wheel round the vessel and the sailors +caught some of the monster white and gray birds with long strings to +which they had attached bits of bread and other bait. These were flung +out into the air and the greedy creatures, making a dive for them, +soon found themselves choking. They were then easily hauled to deck. +Captain Hazzard, who disliked unnecessary cruelty, had given strict +orders that the birds were to be released after their capture, and +this was always done. The birds, however, seemed in no wise to profit +by their lessons, for one bird, on the leg of which a copper ring had +been placed to identify him, was captured again and again. + +The professor, particularly, was interested in this sport, and devised +a sort of lasso with a wire ring in it, with which he designed to +capture the largest of the great birds, a monster with a wing spread +of fully ten feet. Day after day he patiently coaxed the creature near +with bits of bread, but the bird, with great cunning, came quite close +to get the bread, but as soon as it saw the professor getting ready to +swing his "lariat" it vanished. + +"Ah-ha, my beauty, I'll get you yet," was all the professor said on +these occasions. His patience was marvelous. + +One day, as the ships were plunging along through ice-strewn seas, not +far to the eastward of the inhospitable and bleak Shetland Islands, +the professor accomplished his wish, and nearly ended his own career +simultaneously. + +The boys, who were amidships talking to Ben Stubbs, were apprised by a +loud yell that something unusual was occurring aft, and ran quickly in +that direction. There they saw a strange sight. The professor, with +his feet hooked into a deck ring, was holding with both hands to the +end of his lasso, while the albatross, which he had at last succeeded +in looping, was flapping with all its might to escape. + +"Help, help, he'll pull me overboard," screamed the professor. + +"Let go the halliards!" roared Ben, who saw that there was, indeed, +danger of what the professor feared happening. + +"I can't let him escape. Help me!" yelled the professor. + +"My feet are slipping!" he went on. + +"Let go of the albatross," shouted the boys, who with Ben were +hastening up the ladder leading to the raised stern. It did not look, +however, as if they could reach there before the professor was carried +overboard like the tail of a kite, by the huge bird he had lassoed. + +Suddenly, with a howl of terror, the professor, who never seemed to +entertain the thought of letting go of the bird, was jerked from his +foothold by a sudden lurch of the ship. + +Ben Stubbs was just in time. He sprang forward with wonderful agility +and seized the professor's long legs just as the man of science was +being pulled over the rail into space by the great albatross. + +"Let go, dod gast you!" he bellowed, jerking the lasso out of the +professor's hands, while the albatross went flapping off, a long +streamer of rope hanging from its neck. + +"I've lost my albatross," wailed the scientist. + +"And blamed near lost yer own life," angrily exclaimed Ben. "Why +didn't you let go?" + +"Why, then I'd have lost the bird," said the professor, simply. "But I +thank you for saving my life." + +"Well, don't go doin' such fool things again," said Ben, angrily, for +he had feared that he would not be in time to save the bigoted +scientist's life. + +The professor, however, was quite unruffled, and went about for some +hours lamenting the loss of the huge antarctic bird. He consoled +himself later, however, by shooting a beautiful little snow petrel, +which he stuffed and mounted and presented to Ben Stubbs, who was +quite mollified by the kind-hearted, if erratic, professor's gift. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A POLAR STORM. + + +Early in February the voyagers, whose progress had been slow, found +themselves in a veritable sea of "Pancake ice." Everywhere in a +monotonous waste the vast white field seemed to stretch, with only a +few albatrosses and petrels dotting its lonely surface. The +thermometer dropped to ten below zero, and the boys found the snug +warmth of the steam-heated cabins very desirable. There was a fair +wind, and sail had been set on the Southern Cross to aid the work of +towing her, and she was driving through the ice with a continuous +rushing and crashing sound that at first was alarming, but to which +her company soon grew accustomed. + +Captain Barrington announced at noon that day that they were then in +lat. 60 degrees 28 minutes, and longitude 59 degrees 20 minutes +West--bearings which showed that they would be, before many days had +past, at the Great Barrier itself. Excitement ran high among the boys +at the receipt of this news, and Frank and Harry, who had fitted up a +kind of work-room in the warmed hold, worked eagerly at their +auto-sledge, which was expected to be of much use in transporting +heavy loads to and from the ship to the winter quarters. + +Before the two vessels reached the Barrier, however, they were +destined to encounter a spell of bad weather. + +One evening Ben Stubbs announced to the boys, who had been admiring a +sunset of a beauty seldom seen in northern climes, that they were in +for a hard blow, and before midnight his prediction was realized. +Frank awoke in his bunk, to find himself alternately standing, as it +seemed, on his head and his feet. The Southern Cross was evidently +laboring heavily and every plank and bolt in her was complaining. Now +and again a heavy sea would hit the rudder with a force that +threatened to tear it from its pintles, solidly though it was +contrived. + +Somewhat alarmed, the boy aroused the others, and they hastened out on +deck. As they emerged from the cabin the wind seemed to blow their +breath back into their bodies and an icy hand seemed to grip them. It +was a polar-storm that was raging in all its fury. + +As she rose on a wave, far ahead the boys could see the lights of the +Brutus. Only for a second, however, for the next minute she would +vanish in the trough of a huge comber, and then they could hear the +strained towing cable "twang" like an overstretched piano wire. + +"Will it hold?" That was the thought in the minds of all. + +In order to ease the hawser as much as possible, Captain Barrington, +when he had noted the drop of the barometer, had ordered a "bridle," +or rope attachment, placed on the end of the cable, so as to give it +elasticity and lessen the effect of sudden strains, but the +mountainous seas that pounded against the blunt bows of the Southern +Cross were proving the stout steel strand to the uttermost. + +The boys tried to speak, but their words were torn from their lips by +the wind and sent scattering. In the dim light they could see the +forms of the sailors hurrying about the decks fastening additional +lashings to the deck cargo and making things as snug as possible. + +Suddenly there came a shout forward, followed by a loud "bang!" that +made itself audible even above the roar of the hurricane. + +The cable had parted! + +Considering the mountainous seas in which they were laboring and the +violence of the storm, this was a terrifying piece of intelligence. + +It meant that at any moment they might drift helplessly into some +mighty berg and be crushed like an egg-shell on its icy sides. Captain +Barrington muffled up in polar clothes and oilskins, rushed past the +boys like a ghost and ran forward shouting some order. The first and +second officers followed him. + +Presently the voice of the rapid-fire gun was heard, and the boys +could see its sharp needles of white fire splitting the black night. + +A blue glare far away answered the explosions. It was the Brutus +signaling her consort. But that was all she could do. In the terrific +sea that was running it would have been impossible to rig a fresh +cable. The only thing for the two ships to do was to keep burning +flare lights, in order that they might keep apart and not crash +together in the tempest. + +"Shall we go down, do you think?" asked Billy, shivering in spite of +himself, as a huge wave towered above them as if it would engulf the +polar ship, and then as she rose gallantly to its threatening bulk, +went careening away to leeward as if angry at being cheated of its +prey. + +"We can only hope for the best," said a voice at his elbow. It was +Captain Hazzard. "I have implicit confidence in Captain Barrington. He +is a sailor of rare mettle." + +These remarks were shouted at the top of the two speakers' voices, but +they sounded, in the midst of the turbulent uproar that raged about +them, like the merest whispers. + +Time and again it seemed that one of the great waves that came +sweeping out of the darkness must engulf them, but so far the Southern +Cross rode them like a race-horse, rising pluckily to them as they +rushed at her. Captain Barrington and his officers were trying to get +some headsail put on the vessel to keep her head up to the huge waves, +but they were unwilling to imperil any one's life by ordering him out +on the plunging bowsprit, that was now reared heavenward and again +plunged downward as if pointing to the bottom of the sea. + +Ben Stubbs it was who finally volunteered to crawl out, and two other +American seamen followed him. They succeeded, although in deadly peril +half a dozen times, in getting the jib gaskets cast loose, and then +crawled back half frozen to receive the warm plaudits of the officers +and more substantial rewards later on. With her jib hoisted, the +Southern Cross made better weather of it, but the seas were fast +becoming more mountainous and threatening. The wind screeched through +the rigging like a legion of demons. To add to the turmoil some casks +got loose and went rolling and crashing about till they finally went +overboard as a great wave toppled aboard. + +"We must see how the professor is getting on," said, or rather yelled, +Frank suddenly. + +He and the boys entered the cabin structure aft, which seemed warm and +cosy with its light and warmth after the turmoil of the terrific +battle of the elements outside. + +But a prolonged search failed to reveal any trace of the man of +science. + +Where could he be? + +A scrutiny of his cabin, even looking under the bunk, failed to reveal +him. The boys began to fear he might have been swept overboard, when +suddenly Frank exclaimed: + +"Perhaps he is in his laboratory." + +"Hiding there?" asked Billy. + +"No, I don't think so. The professor, whatever his oddities may be, is +no coward," rejoined Frank. + +"No, his search for the Patagonian dog-flea proved that," agreed +Harry. + +Frank lost no time in opening the trap-door in the floor of the main +cabin, which led into what had formerly been the "valuables room" of +the Southern Cross, but which had been fitted up now as a laboratory +for the professor. + +"There's a light burning in it," announced Frank, as he peered down. + +"Oh, professor--Professor Sandburr, are you there?" he shouted the +next moment. + +"What is it? Is the ship going down?" came back from the depths in the +voice of the professor. He seemed as calm as if it was a summer's day. + +"No, but she is having a terrible fight with the waves," replied the +boy. + +"She has broken loose from the towing ship. The cable has snapped!" +added Harry. + +"Is that so?" asked the professor calmly. "Will you boys come down +here for a minute? I want to see you." + +Wondering what their eccentric friend could possibly wish in the way +of conversation at such a time, the boys, not without some difficulty, +clambered down the narrow ladder leading into the professor's den. +They found him balancing himself on his long legs and trying to secure +his bottles and jars, every one of which held some queer creature +preserved in alcohol. The boys aided him in adjusting emergency racks +arranged for such a purpose, but not before several bottles had broken +and several strange-looking snakes and water animals, emitting a most +evil smell, had fallen on the floor. These the professor carefully +gathered up, though it was hard work to stand on the plunging floor, +and placed in new receptacles. He seemed to place great value on them. + +"So," he said finally, "you think the ship may go down?" + +"We hope for the best, but anything may happen," rejoined Frank; "we +are in a serious position. Practically helpless, we may drift into a +berg at any moment." + +"In that case we would sink?" + +"Almost to a certainty." + +"Then I want you to do something for me. Will you?" + +The boys, wondering greatly what could be coming next, agreed readily +to the old scientist's wish. Thereupon he drew out three slips of +paper. He handed one to each of the boys. + +"I wrote these out when I first thought there was danger of our +sinking," he said. + +The boys looked at the writing on their slips. They were all the same, +and on each was inscribed: + +"The man who told me that the Patagonians were a friendly race is a +traitor to science. I, Professor Simeon Sandburr, brand him a teller +of untruths. For Professor Thomas Tapper, who told me about the +fur-bearing pollywog of the South Polar seas, I have the warmest +respect. I leave all my books, bottled fishes and reptiles to the +Smithsonian Institute. My servant, James, may have my stuffed +Wogoliensuarious. My sister is to have my entire personal and real +estate. This is my last will and testament. + +"Simeon Sandburr. + +"M.A.-F.R.G.S.-M.R.H.S.-Etc., etc." + +"What are we to do with these papers?" asked Frank, hardly able, even +in the serious situation in which they then were, to keep from +laughing. + +"One of you boys may escape, even if the ship does go down," said the +professor, gravely: "If any of us should get back to civilization I +want the world to know that the Patagonians are not a friendly race, +and that I died hoping to capture the fur-bearing pollywog of the +South Polar seas." + +At this moment a sudden shock hurled them headlong against the +glass-filled shelves, smashing several bottles and releasing the +slimy, finny contents, and sending them all in a heap on the floor. + +"We have struck something!" cried Frank. + +"Something terrible has happened!" shouted Harry and Billy. + +"We are sinking, boys," yelled the professor; "don't forget my last +will and testament." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE GREAT BARRIER. + + +To rush on deck was the work of a few moments. If it was a scene of +confusion the boys had left, the sight that now met their eyes was far +more turbulent. + +"The boats! the boats! We are sinking!" + +"We are going down!" + +"The iceberg has sunk us!" + +These and a hundred other cries of terror filled the air, for the wind +seemed to have died down, though the sea still ran high, and sounds +were now more audible. Off to the starboard side of the ship the boys +perceived a mighty towering form, which they knew must be the iceberg +they had encountered. The crew fought madly for the boats. + +Suddenly a sharp voice rang out: + +"I'll shoot the first man that lays a hand on the boats!" + +It was Captain Barrington. He stood on the stern deck steadying +himself against the rail. In his hands gleamed two revolvers. Beside +him stood Captain Hazzard, a look of stern determination on his face. +Ben Stubbs and several other seamen, who had not lost their heads, +were grouped behind them prepared to quell any onslaught on the boats. + +The members of the crew, who had become panic-stricken when the +helpless ship encountered the iceberg, paused and looked shamefaced. + +"We've a right to save our lives," they muttered angrily. + +"And prove yourselves cowards," exclaimed Captain Barrington. "You +ought to be ashamed to bear the names of American seamen! Get forward, +all of you, and let me see no more of this." + +The stern voice of their commander and his evident command of himself +reassured the panic-stricken crew and they withdrew to the forecastle. +Their shame was the more keen when it was found that, while the +Southern Cross had been severely bumped by the iceberg, her stout +timbers had sustained no damage. + +By daybreak the sea had calmed down somewhat, and the wind had still +further moderated. But the danger was by no means over till they could +get in communication with the Brutus. Frank was set to work on the +wireless and soon "raised" the towing ship, the captain of which was +delighted to hear of his consort's safety. The position of the +Southern Cross being ascertained, her bearings were wirelessed to the +Brutus, and she then cast anchor to await the arrival of the towing +ship. + +As the line was once more made fast, having been spliced till it was +as strong as new, the professor came up to the boys. He looked rather +sheepish. + +"Would you mind giving me back those papers I gave you last night," he +said. + +"You mean the last will and testament?" Frank could not help saying. + +"That's it. I have changed my mind. I will show up that Patagonian +fellow in a book." + +The professor, as he received the little slips of paper, scattered +them into tiny bits and threw them overboard. + +"You are quite sure you have not been fooled also on the fur-bearing +pollywog?" asked Frank. + +"Quite," replied the professor, solemnly. "Professor Tapper is one of +our greatest savants." + +"But so was your friend who told you the Patagonians were a friendly +tribe," argued Frank. + +"I am quite sure that Professor Tapper could not have been mistaken, +however." + +"Has Professor Tapper ever been in the South Polar regions?" asked +Billy, seriously. + +"Why, no," admitted the professor; "but he has proved that there must +be a fur-bearing pollywog down here." + +"In what manner has he been able to prove it?" asked Harry. + +"He has written three volumes about it. They are in the Congressional +library. Then he contributed a prize-essay on it to the Smithsonian +Institute, which has bound it up with my report on the Canadian Bull +Frog. He is a very learned man." + +"But the South Polar pollywog is then only a theory?" + +"Well, yes--so far," admitted the professor; "but it is reserved for +me to gain the honor of positively proving the strange creature's +existence." + +"And if there should be no such thing in existence?" asked Frank. + +"Then I shall write a book denouncing Professor Tapper," said the +professor, with an air of finality, and turning away to examine the +water through a pair of binoculars. + +On moved the ships and at last, early one day, Captain Barrington +called the boys on deck and, with a wave of the hand, indicated a huge +white cliff, or palisade, which rose abruptly from the green water and +seemed to stretch to infinity in either direction. + +"The Great Barrier," he said, simply. + +"Which will be our home for almost a year," added Captain Hazzard. + +The boys gazed in wonder at the mighty wall of snow and ice as it +glittered in the sunlight. It was, indeed, a Great Barrier. At the +point where they lay it rose to a height of 130 feet or more from the +water, which was filled with great detached masses of ice. Further on +it seemed to sweep to even greater heights. + +This was the barrier at which Lieutenant Wilkes, on his unlucky +expedition, had gazed. The mighty wall that Shackleton and Scott, the +Englishmen, had scaled and then fought their way to "furthest South" +beyond. The names of many other explorers, French, English, Danish, +and German, rushed into the boys' minds as they gazed. + +Were they destined to penetrate the great mysteries that lay beyond +it? Would their airship be successful in wresting forth the secret of +the great white silence? + +"Well?" said Captain Barrington, breaking the silence at length, with +a smile; "pretty big proposition, eh?" + +The boys gazed up at him awe-struck. + +"We never dreamed it was anything like this," said Frank. "I always +pictured the Great Barrier as something more or less imaginary." + +"Pretty solid bit of imagination, that ice-wall yonder," laughed +Captain Hazzard. + +"How are we ever going to get on the top of it?" asked Billy. + +"We must steam along to the westward till we find a spot where it +shelves," was the reply. + +"Then it is not as high as this all the way round the polar regions?" + +"No, in places it shelves down till to make a landing in boats is +simple. We must look for one of those spots." + +"What is the nature of the country beyond?" asked Frank, deeply +interested. + +"Ice and snow in great plateaus, with here and there monster +glaciers," was the reply of Captain Hazzard. "In places, too, immense +rocky cliffs tower up, seeming to bar all further progress into the +mystery of the South Pole." + +"Mountains?" gasped Billy. + +"Yes, and even volcanoes. This has given rise to a supposition that at +the pole itself there may be flaming mountains, the warmth of which +would have caused an open polar sea to form." + +"Nobody knows for certain, then?" asked Frank. + +"No, nobody knows for certain," repeated Captain Hazzard, his eyes +fixed on the great white wall. "Perhaps we shall find out." + +"Perhaps," echoed Frank, quite carried away by the idea. + +"What is known about the location of the pole?" asked Billy. + +"It is supposed to lie on an immensely high plateau, possibly 20,000 +feet above sea level. Shackleton got within a hundred miles of it he +believes." + +"And then he had to turn back," added Captain Barrington. + +"Yes; lack of provisions and the impossibility of traveling quickly +after his Manchurian ponies had died compelled him to leave the +mystery unsolved. Let us hope it remains for the American flag to be +planted at the pole." + +"Are there any animals or sea-creatures there, do you know?" inquired +the professor, who had been an interested listener. + +"If there is an open polar sea there is no doubt that there is life in +it," was the answer, with a smile; "but what form such creatures would +assume we cannot tell." + +"Perhaps hideous monsters?" suggested the imaginative Billy. + +"More likely creatures like whales or seals," returned Captain +Hazzard. + +"If there is such a thing as a creature with a South Polar flea in its +fur I would like to catch it," hopefully announced the scientist. + +"Seals are covered with them," rejoined the officer. + +"Pooh, those are just common seal-fleas," returned the professor. "I +would like to find an insect that makes its home at the pole itself." + +"Well, perhaps you will," was the rejoinder. + +"I hope so," said the professor. "It would be very interesting." + +All this time the two vessels were steaming slowly westward along the +inhospitable barrier that seemed, as Frank said, to have been erected +by nature to keep intruders away from the South Polar regions. As the +professor concluded his last remark the lookout gave a sudden hail. + +"Shipwrecked sailors!" + +"Where away?" shouted Captain Barrington. + +"Off to the starboard bow, sir," came back the hail. + +Captain Barrington raised his glasses and looked in the direction +indicated. The boys, too, brought binoculars to bear. They were +greatly excited to see what seemed to be four men standing up and +waving their arms on a raft drifting at some distance away. + +"Lower a boat," commanded Captain Barrington. + +The command was speedily complied with--in a few seconds one of the +stanch lifeboats lay alongside. + +"Do you boys want to go?" asked Captain Hazzard. + +"Do we?" asked Billy. "I should say." + +"All right, away with you." + +"Can I go, too? I might get some specimens," asked the professor, +eagerly. + +"Yes, but don't try to catch any more killer whales," was the answer, +which brought a general laugh. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE PROFESSOR TAKES A COLD BATH. + + +"Give way, men!" shouted Ben Stubbs, who was in command of the boat; +"them poor fellers must be perishin' of cold and hunger." + +The boat fairly flew through the water, skillfully avoiding, under +Ben's careful steering, the great floes of ice which were drifting +about. + +The boys and the professor were in the bow, eagerly scanning the raft +with the four black figures upon it. The castaways kept waving their +arms in the most pitiable fashion. + +Suddenly the professor exclaimed: + +"There's something queer about those men!" + +"You'd be queer, too, if you was drifting about the polar seas on an +old raft," returned Ben Stubbs. + +All the men laughed at this and the professor said no more. But he +scanned the "castaways" carefully, and so did the boys. As they drew +nearer, the latter also began to observe that they were the funniest +looking men they had ever seen. + +"They've got on long black coats with white waistcoats to their +knees," cried Billy. + +"So they have," exclaimed Harry. "If it wasn't too ridiculous, you'd +say they had on evening clothes." + +"They're not men at all," suddenly shouted the professor, with an air +of triumph. "I thought I was not mistaken." + +"Not men!" roared Ben. "What are the poor critters, then--females?" + +"Neither men nor women," was the astonishing reply. "They are +penguins." + +All the men turned at this, and one of them, who had sailed in the +polar regions before, announced, with a shout of laughter: + +"The doc is right. Them's Emperor penguins, sure enough--taking a +joy-ride through the ice." + +The queer birds betrayed not the slightest excitement at the approach +of the boat, but stood gazing solemnly at it, waving their little +flippers,--somewhat like those of a seal, only feathered,--up and down +in a rhythmic way. + +"They act like band leaders," was Frank's remark. + +"Better go back to the ship," said Ben, much disgusted at the upshoot +of the expedition, and somewhat chagrined, too, if the truth must be +told, at the professor's triumph over him. + +"No, let us catch one," urged the professor. "I would like to see if +it is possible to tame one." + +"Yes, let's go up to them and see what they look like at close range," +cried Frank. + +"All right, if we don't waste too much time," agreed Ben. "Give way, +men." + +They soon drew near the strange South Polar birds who blinked solemnly +at them as if to say: + +"And who may you be?" + +As they bobbed up and down on the piece of drift wood the boys had +mistaken for a raft, the sight was so ludicrous that the boys burst +into a hearty laugh. + +"Hush," warned the professor, holding up his hand; "you may scare +them." + +They were big birds of their kind, standing fully four feet, and it +was not strange that from the ship they had been mistaken for +shipwrecked men; indeed, it is not the first time such an incident has +occurred in the South Polar climes. + +"Steady now, men," said the professor, bowing his lean form over the +bow of the boat as they drew near to the penguins. + +"Ah! my feathered beauties, if you will only stay there and not move, +I will soon have one of you," he whispered to himself, as the +boat,--the men rowing as silently as possible,--glided alongside. + +The birds made no sign of moving, and evidently had not the slightest +fear of the strange beings, such as the newcomers must have seemed to +them. Instead, they seemed mildly curious and stretched their necks +out inquiringly. + +"Here, chick-chick-chicky," called the professor, by an odd +inspiration, as if he were calling to the chickens in the barnyard at +home. + +"Here, chick-chick-chicky. Pretty chick-chick-chicky." + +Suddenly he made a grab for the nearest penguin, and at the same +instant the boys gave a shout of dismay. As he seized it, the +creature--affrighted when it felt the professor's bony arms about +it,--had dived and the scientist, losing his balance, had followed it +into the water. + +This might not have been so serious, but the other penguins, seeing +the professor's plight, started to attack him, beating him back into +the icy water every time he came to the surface. + +"Ouch, you brute--oh, boys, help--o-o-o-h, this water is cold. Get me +out, somebody. Scat, get away, you penguins." + +These were some of the cries uttered by the luckless professor, as he +struggled to get to the inside of the boat. + +When they could, for laughing at the ludicrous plight, the men and the +boys beat off the big penguins with the oars and hauled the professor +into the boat. His nose was pecked badly and was of a ruddy hue from +his misadventure. Fortunately, one of the men had some stimulant with +him and this was given to the professor to drink and the strong stuff +quickly revived him. He sat up in the boat and talked with animation +while the boat was being rowed back to the ship. + +"Bless my soul, what an adventure," he puffed. "Ouch, my poor nose. I +thought the penguins would peck it off. Boys, that penguin was as +slippery as a greased pig and as fat as butter. Oh, dear, what a +misadventure, and I've ruined a good suit of clothes and broken a +bottle of specimens I had in the pockets. Never mind, I can catch some +more." + +Thus the professor rattled on, from time to time feeling his very +prominent nose, apparently in some doubt as to whether he still +retained the feature. + +"I guess you are cured of penguin hunting?" remarked Frank. + +"Who, I?" asked the professor, in mild surprise. "Oh, no, my dear boy. +I will get a penguin yet, even if I have to fight a regiment of them. +I'll get one, never fear, and tame him to eat out of my hand." + +"I hope so, I'm sure," said Frank, with a smile at the odd old man's +enthusiasm. + +"Hullo, what's that?" cried Billy, suddenly pointing. + +"What?" chorused the boys. + +"Why that creature off there on the ice flapping about,--it seems to +be in distress." + +"There is certainly something the matter with it," agreed Frank. + +What seemed to be a huge bird was struggling and flapping about on the +floes at no great distance from them. + +"Other birds are attacking it!" cried Billy. + +It was so, indeed. Numerous albatrosses and other large sea birds and +gulls were hovering above the struggling creature, from time to time +diving and pecking it. + +"What in the world can it be?" cried Frank. + +"We might go and see, but the professor is wet and should get back to +the ship," said Ben. + +"Oh, my dear sir, don't mind me," demurred that individual. "If I +could have a little more of the stimulant--ah, thank you--as I was +saying, I am never in a hurry to go anywhere when there is an +interesting question of natural history to be solved." + +"Very well, then," said Ben, heading the boat about; "if you catch +cold, don't blame me." + +"Oh dear, no. I wouldn't think of such a thing," said the professor, +his eyes eagerly fixed on the disturbance of the birds. + +"It's a big wounded albatross!" suddenly exclaimed Billy, as the boat +drew near to the object the other birds were attacking. + +"So it is," cried Harry. + +"A monster, too," supplemented the professor. "It would be a great +find for any collection." + +"Perhaps we can catch it and stuff it," cried Billy. + +"Perhaps so; but we must hurry or the others will have pecked it to +bits." + +The boat flew through the water, and soon they were near enough to +drive the other birds away. The wounded albatross, however, did not +rise, but lay flapping on the ice. + +"Why, bless my soul, how very extraordinary!" cried the professor, +forgetting his wet clothes and his chill in his excitement. + +"What is?" asked Frank. + +"Why something seems to be holding the bird down under water," was the +answer. + +"It's a string!" suddenly cried Ben, standing up in the stern of the +boat. + +"A string?" echoed the professor. + +"Sure enough," was the reply. + +And so it proved. The albatross was held down by a bit of string +encircling its neck so tightly as to almost choke it, and which had +become caked with ice till it was quite heavy. + +"I know that bird," shouted the professor, suddenly, as they drew +alongside it. + +"You know it?" echoed the others, thinking the old man had taken leave +of his senses. + +"Yes, yes," cried the professor. "It's the one that nearly dragged me +overboard. See whether the wire loop is still round its neck." + +"It sure is," exclaimed Ben, as, disregarding the pecks of the big +bird, he dragged it struggling into the boat and pinioned its wings. + +"Well, this is a most extraordinary happening," smiled the professor, +as happy as if he had been left a million dollars. "This will be most +interesting to scientists and will make my name famous. 'The Sandburr +albatross, which flew many scores of miles with my lasso round its +neck.' Wonderful. Poor creature. I suppose as it dipped into the waves +for its food a thin film of ice formed on the cord till it grew too +heavy for it to carry." + +"That's right," said Ben, who had cut the lasso and released the +creature from its hampering weight. "I'll bet this weighs ten or +twelve pounds." + +He held out a huge chunk of ice for their inspection. + +"That's great weight for a bird to carry so many miles," said Frank. + +"It is, indeed," said the professor, patting the bound albatross on +the head. "That makes it all the more remarkable." + +"What are you going to do with the albatross, now that you have him?" +inquired Billy Barnes. + +"I must make a cage for him out of packing cases, and perhaps we can +tame him," said the professor. + +All agreed that this would be an interesting experiment, and the boat +pulled back to the ship with one passenger more than she had left it +with. As for the professor, he was in the seventh heaven of delight +all the way back. + +He sat on a stern seat by the albatross, which was looking wildly +about, and kept talking to it as if he thought it could understand +him. + +"Ah, my beauty, I'll astonish Professor Tapper with you when I get +home," he said; "you are worthy to be ranked with the fur-bearing +South Polar pollywog. I will feed you till your feathers shine and you +are the envied of all birds. I am the most fortunate man in the +world." + +All hands enjoyed a hearty laugh as, on the return to the ship, their +adventures were narrated. + +"The poor professor never seems to go out but what he gets into some +pickle or other," laughed Captain Barrington, who was joined in his +merriment by Captain Hazzard. "But, dear me," he went on, "where is +the professor?" + +They ran out on deck and found the man of science seated in the boat, +which had not yet been hauled up, as the vessels were not to weigh +anchor till the next day,--the berth where they lay being a snug one. + +"Why don't you come on board, professor?" asked Captain Hazzard, +indicating the accommodation ladder, which had been lowered. + +"I-I'd like to, but I can't," responded the professor. + +"You can't? Why, what on earth do you mean? You'll freeze to death +down there," roared Captain Barrington. + +"I wish you'd send down a small stove," wailed the scientist. + +"A small stove; why, what do you want with that?" + +"Why the fact is, I'm sozzen to the feet--I mean frozen to the seat, +and if you can't send down a stove, send down another pair of +trousers!" was the calm reply. + +When the perfect tempest of laughter at the poor professor's expense +had subsided, he was hauled to the deck in the boat and handed a long +coat. Only till then would he consent to get up from the seat, an +operation which was attended by a loud sound of ripping and tearing. + +"Ha, ha, ha," roared Captain Hazzard. "First the professor nearly +loses his life, and then he loses his trousers!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +FACING THE POLAR NIGHT. + + +After steaming for several hours the next day, the Great Barrier +opened into a small bight with shelving shores, which seemed to +promise an easy landing place. A boat party, including the professor +and the boys, was organized and the pull to the shore begun, after the +two ships had swung to anchor. + +The beach was a shelving one, formed of what seemed broken-off +portions of volcanic rock. A short distance back from the shore there +were several rocky plateaus, clear of snow, which seemed to offer a +good site for pitching camp. From the height, too, the boys could see, +at no great distance, stretched out on the snow, several dark forms +that looked not unlike garden slugs at that distance. + +"What are they?" asked Billy. + +"Seals," replied the professor; "though of what variety I do not know, +and it is impossible to tell at this distance." + +Captain Barrington and Captain Hazzard, after viewing the landing +place and its surroundings, decided that a better spot could hardly be +found, and the men were set to work at once marking out a site for the +portable hut, which was to form the main eating and dwelling place, +and the smaller structure in which the officers of the expedition were +to make their homes. + +The work of setting up the main hut, which had double walls, the space +between being filled with cork dust and felt, was soon accomplished, +and it was then divided off into small rooms. In the center a big +table was set up and at one end a huge stove was placed for heating +and cooking. At the other end the acetylene gas-plant, for providing +light during the antarctic night, was provided. A big porch provided +means of entrance and egress. This porch was fitted with double doors +to prevent any cold air or snow being driven into the house when it +was opened. + +Captain Barrington and Captain Hazzard each had a small hut, another +was shared by Doctor Gregg and the first officer, while the boys and +the professor occupied still another. The engineer and Ben Stubbs were +placed in charge of the main hut, in which the twelve men who were to +be left behind after the Brutus sailed north, were to find quarters. + +When everything had been fixed in position, a task that took more than +a week, the work of unloading the provisions and supplies was begun. +The cases which did not hold perishable goods, or ones likely to be +affected by cold, were piled about the walls of the main hut as an +additional protection against snow and cold. The glass jars of fruit +and others of the supplies were stored inside the main hut, where they +could be kept from freezing. The various scientific instruments of the +expedition were stored in the huts occupied by Captain Barrington and +Captain Hazzard. These huts, as well as the one occupied by the boys +and Professor Sandburr, were all warmed by a system of hot-air pipes +leading from the main stove in the hut. Specially designed oil heaters +were also provided. A short distance away the aeroplane shed or +"hanger" was set up. + +The coal, wood, oil and fuel the expedition would need in its long +sojourn were stored in a canvas and wood shelter some distance from +the main camp, so as to avoid any danger of fire. When all was +completed and big steel stays passed above the roofs of the huts to +keep them in position, even in the wildest gale, a tall flag-pole, +brought for the purpose, was set up and the Stars and Stripes hoisted. + +While all these preparations had been going on, the boys and the +professor had made several hunting trips over the ice and snow in the +neighborhood of the camp. Some little distance back from the barrier +they had been delighted to find two small lakes, connected by a narrow +neck of water, which they promptly christened Green Lake. The water in +these was warmish, and the professor said he had little doubt it was +fed by volcanic springs. + +The lakes swarmed with seals, and the boys' first seal hunt was an +experience they were not likely to forget. Armed with light rifles, +they and the professor set out for the seal grounds one morning on +which the thermometer recorded seven degrees below zero. All wore +their antarctic suits, however, and none felt the cold, severe as it +was. + +As they neared the seal grounds the soft-eyed creatures raised their +heads and regarded them with mild astonishment. A few of them dived +into the waters of Green Lake, but the rest stood their ground. + +"There is one with a young one," shouted the professor, suddenly. "I +must have it. I will tame it." + +He dashed upon the mother seal, who promptly raised herself up and +struck the professor a violent blow with her fin. + +The professor was caught off his guard and, losing his footing, +staggered back several steps. As he did so Frank cried a note of +warning. The steep icy bank above Green Lake was below the scientist's +heel. Before he had time to heed the boys' warning cry the professor, +with a yell of amazement, slid backwards into the green pool, from +which he emerged, blowing and puffing as if he had been a seal. +Luckily, the water was warm and he suffered no serious consequences, +but thereafter he was much more careful. + +The boys could not bring themselves to kill the seals that seemed so +gentle and helpless, but some of the men acted as butchers later on, +for seal meat is a valuable ration in the antarctic. + +"Wait till you lads encounter a leopard seal, or a sea elephant," said +Captain Hazzard, when the boys confided their scruples to him. + +"Sea leopards!" exclaimed Frank. + +"Sea elephants!" echoed Harry. + +"Yes, certainly," laughed the captain. "The creatures are well named, +too. The sea leopard is as formidable as his namesake on land. The sea +elephant is his big brother in size and ferocity." + +"I shall give them a wide berth," said the professor. "That killer +whale was enough for me." + +"You will be wise, too," was the rejoinder, and the captain turned to +busy himself with his books and papers, for this conversation occurred +about noon in his hut. + +The next day there were good-byes to be said. The polar winter was +near at hand, when the sea for miles beyond the barrier would freeze +solid and it would have been foolhardy for the Brutus, which had +discharged all her coal but that necessary to steam north with, to +have remained longer. She sailed early in the morning, bearing with +her letters to their friends in the north, which the boys could not +help thinking might be the last they would ever write them. Unknown +perils and adventures lay before them. How they would emerge from them +they did not know. + +All experienced a feeling of sadness as the ship that had gallantly +towed them into their polar berth lessened on the horizon, and then +vanished altogether in the direction of the north. The Southern Cross +alone remained now, but she was no longer their floating home, most of +her stores and comforts having been removed to the shore. Her boilers +were emptied and piping disconnected in preparation for her sojourn in +the ice. + +With so much to be done, however, the adventurers could not long feel +melancholy, even though they knew their letters from home would not +reach them till the arrival of the relief ship late in the next +autumn. + +The first duty tackled by Captain Hazzard was to call all the members +of the expedition into the main hut and give them a little talk on the +dangers, difficulties and responsibilities that lay before them. The +men cheered him to the echo when he had finished, and each set about +the duties assigned to him. Ben Stubbs was ordered to set the watches +for the nights and adjust any minor details that might occur to him. + +"I want to speak to you boys for a minute," said Captain Hazzard, as +he left the hut and returned to his own. + +Wondering what he could have to say to them the boys followed him. + +"As you boys know, we are not alone in our anxiety to reach the pole," +he began. "There is another nation anxious to achieve the glory also. +How much of our plans they have gained possession of, I do not know. +No doubt, not as much as they would have in their possession if the +Jap had not been captured. I am pretty confident that they know +nothing of the treasure ship, for instance. But it is probable that +they will watch us, as they have some suspicion that we are after more +than the pole itself, and have an ulterior object." + +"Then you think that the Japanese expedition has landed?" asked Frank. + +"They must have, if they made any sort of time," replied Captain +Hazzard. "Our own progress down the coast was very slow, and they have +probably established a camp already." + +"Where?" + +"That, of course, I have no means of knowing," was the reply. "I +suppose that they are somewhere to the west of us, however. What I +wanted to impress on you, however, is that some time ago a big +dirigible was purchased abroad, and it is believed that it was for the +use of the Japanese polar expedition, as it had means provided +specially to warm the gas and prevent its condensation in extremely +cold climates." + +The boys nodded, but did not interrupt. + +"It would be an easy matter for them to scout in such a ship and maybe +discover our camp," said the captain. "For that reason I want to ask +you boys to set an extra night watch of your own. Nobody else need +know anything about it. I feel that I can rely on you more than any of +the other subordinates of the expedition, excepting Ben Stubbs, and he +is too busy to do everything." + +The boys willingly agreed to keep out a watch for any airship that +might appear, although privately they thought it was a bit of extra +caution that was unnecessary. + +"I don't see why any one who could keep out of the cold at night, +would want to go scooting around in an airship in the dark for," said +Billy, when they were all seated in their own hut. + +"Captain Hazzard knows best," said Frank, shortly. "You and Harry had +better take the first watch tonight, and I and--" + +He stopped, puzzled. Who was to take the other watch with him? After +some reflection they decided on asking the captain if a colored man, +who acted as cook, couldn't be placed on to be Frank's companion. He +was the only person they could think of whose duties would permit him +to take the job, as his duties were only to cook for the officers, and +were consequently light. + +Moreover, he was a trustworthy man and not likely to gossip if he saw +anything strange. Captain Hazzard readily gave his consent to the +colored man, whose name was Rastus Redwing, being Frank's companion on +the night watch. + +"We can have our breakfast cooked by the other man," he said, "and +then all Rastus will have to do will be to prepare lunch and dinner +and extra pay." + +But Rastus, when the plan was broached to him, was by no means so +willing. + +"Wha' me tramp, tramp, tramp roun' in dat dar ice and snow all de +night time?" he gasped. "Laws a me Massa Frank, wha' kin' of man yo +all tink dese yar darky am?" + +"It only means a few hours' more work, and you get double pay for it," +said Frank. + +"Oh-ho, dat alters de circumference ob de question," said Rastus, +scratching his head, when this had been explained to him. "All right, +Massa Frank, yo' count on me at twelve to-night fo' sho." + +"Very well," said Frank. "I shall--and see that you are there." + +"Ah'll be dar, don' you nebbe fear fo' dat," chuckled the colored man. +"Huh-huh double pay and no brakfus' ter git. Dat's what I calls +LIVIN'--yas, sah." + +As Frank, well pleased at having adjusted the business of the night +watches so easily, was striding over the snow-powdered rocks toward +the boys' hut, he heard a sudden disturbance behind the main hut and +loud cries of: + +"Help! help!" + +The person who was uttering them seemed to be in great distress and +was apparently in dire need of aid. + +"It's the professor," shouted Frank, as the cries were repeated. +"Whatever can have happened to him now." + +As he spoke, the professor came dashing toward the camp, his arms were +outstretched as if in entreaty, and his long legs going up and down +like piston rods, at such speed was he running. + +"Whatever is that caught to his coat tails?" exclaimed Frank, as he +saw that a large, heavy creature of some kind was clinging fast to the +flying professor's garment. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +A MYSTERIOUS LIGHT. + + +"Take him off,--take him off. If I were not running he'll bite me," +shrieked the scientist as he sped along. + +"Whatever is it?" shouted Frank, regarding the strange sight with +amazement. + +"It's a sea-leopard. Ouch!--he bit me then. Shoot him or something," +screamed the professor, scooting round in circles like a professional +runner; for he knew that if he stopped the creature would surely nip +him hard. + +Frank hastily ran into the hut for his rifle and returned in a moment +followed by the others. Half the occupants of the camp were out by +this time to watch the outcome of the professor's quandary. + +Frank raised his rifle and took careful aim--or as careful aim as he +could with the professor rushing along at such a pace, but even as the +rifle cracked the professor tripped on a snow hummock and down he +came. The yell he set up echoed back from the naked, rocky crags that +towered at the back of the camp. + +"Don't holler so, the creature's dead," cried Frank, as he and the +boys came running up to where the recumbent professor lay howling in +the snow. + +"Oh, dear, I do seem to have the worst luck," moaned the scientist. +"First, I'm nearly drowned by a killer whale, then I'm almost pollowed +by a swenguin--no, I mean swallowed by a penguin, and now a sea +leopard attacks me." + +As he spoke the professor got to his feet and the dead sea-leopard, as +he called it, fell over on the snow. It was a ponderous creature, much +like a seal, but with huge tusks and a savage expression, even in +death. It was about five feet in length. + +"What made it tackle you?" asked Harry. + +"I was down by the beach collecting some curious specimens of polar +sea-slugs, when I felt a tug at my coat-tails," said the scientist. "I +looked round and saw this creature glaring at me." + +"Why didn't you shoot at it?" asked Billy, noting the outline of the +professor's revolver under his coattail. + +"I had placed a specimen of antarctic star-moss in the barrel of my +revolver for safe-keeping, and didn't wish to disturb it," explained +the professor; "so I thought the best thing to do under the +circumstances was to run. I never dreamed the creature would cling +on." + +"Well it did, and like a bull-dog, too," said Billy. + +"We'll have to be careful and not get snarled up with any +sea-leopards," said Harry, who had been examining the dead animal. +"Look at the monster's tusks." + +"Yes, he could make a fine meal off any of you boys," remarked the +professor. + +Suddenly he fell on his knees beside the sea-leopard and began +examining it carefully. + +"What in the world are you doing, now?" asked Frank. + +"I thought I might find a sea-leopard flea," was the response of the +engrossed scientist. + +"Ah," he exclaimed, making a sudden dart; "here is one, a beauty, too. +Ah, ha, my fine fellow, no use your wriggling, I have you fast." + +As he spoke he drew out one of the bottles of which receptacles his +pockets seemed to be always full, and popped the sea-leopard flea into +it. + +"That will be a very valuable addition to science," he said, looking +round triumphantly. + +A few days after this incident the polar night began to shut down in +grim earnest. Sometimes for days the boys and the other adventurers +would be confined to the huts. Entertainments were organized and +phonograph concerts given, and, when it was possible to venture out, +hunting trips in a neighboring seal-ground were attempted. All these +things helped to while away the monotony of the long darkness. In the +meantime the commanders of the expedition laid their plans for the +spring campaign, when the boys' aerial dash was to be made. + +On one of the milder nights, when Frank and Rastus were on watch, +their first intimation that a strange and mysterious presence shared +their lonely vigil was made manifest. It was Rastus who called Frank's +attention to what was eventually to prove a perplexing puzzle to the +pole hunters. + +As the colored man and Frank were pacing outside the huts, keeping +their watch, the negro suddenly gripped the boy's arm. + +"Fo' de lub ob goodness, man, wha's dat?" he exclaimed, getting as +pale as it is possible for a negro to become. + +"What?" demanded the boy. "I can't see anything." + +He stared about him in the gloom. + +"Ain't nuffin ter SEE," rejoined Rastus, in a low, awed tone. "But, +hark!" + +The negro's ears, sharper than those of the white boy, had caught a +sound that later became audible to Frank. + +It was a most peculiar sound. + +Coming from no one direction that one could indicate with certainty, +it seemed to fill the whole air with a buzzing noise that beat almost +painfully on the eardrums. + +While he gazed about, in perplexity at the phenomenon, Frank suddenly +descried something that almost startled him into an outcry. + +In the sky far to the westward and, seemingly, high in the air, there +hovered a bright light! + +The next instant it vanished so suddenly as to leave some doubt in the +boy's mind as to whether he had really seen it,--and, if he had, if it +might not have been a star or some other heavenly body. + +He turned to his companion. + +"Rastus, did you see a light in the sky there a second ago?" + +The boy pointed in the direction in which the mystery had appeared. + +"A light--?" repeated the puzzled negro, still scared at the buzzing +sound, which had now ceased. "You done say a light--a reg'lar LIGHT, +light?" + +"Yes, yes," impatiently; "did you see one?" + +"No, sah, no, indeedy," was the indignant response; "ah don' see no +lights." + +"That's strange," said Frank, half to himself. "You are quite sure?" + +Again the negro denied all knowledge of having beheld such a thing. + +"Ef ah'd done seed anyfing lak dat," he declared; "ah'd hev bin +skedaddlin' fer ther hut lak er chicken wif a hungry coon afta' +it,--yas, sah." + +Thoroughly convinced that his imagination had played him a trick, +Frank did not mention the incident, to his fellow adventurers and soon +almost forgot it. It was recalled to his mind in a startling manner a +few nights later. + +This time it was Rastus that saw the strange light, and the yell that +he set up alarmed the entire camp. + +"Oh, Lordy--oo-o-o-o-ow, Lawdy!" he shrieked; "ah done see a ghosess +way up in dar sky, Massa Frank!" + +Frank seized the black by the arm, as he started to run. + +"What do you mean, you big black coward," he exclaimed. "What's the +matter with you?" + +"Oh, dat dar light," wailed Rastus. "Dat ain't no human light dat +ain't; dat light's a way up in dar sky. It's a polar ghosess, dat's +wha' dat is--de ghos' ob some dead sailor." + +"Don't talk nonsense," sharply ordered Frank, as the others, hastily +bundled in their furs, came rushing out. + +"Whatever is the matter?" demanded Captain Hazzard, gazing sternly at +the trembling negro. + +"Oh, Massa Hazzard, ah done see a ghos' light in dar sky," he yelled. + +"Silence, sir, and stop that abominable noise. Frank, what do you know +about this?" + +"Only that I really believe he saw such a thing, sir." + +"What, a light in the sky!" echoed Captain Barrington. "Did you see +it, too?" + +"Not to-night, sir." + +"Then it has appeared before?" + +"Yes, it has," was the reply. + +"But you said nothing of it," exclaimed Captain Hazzard. + +"No; I thought it might be imagination. It appeared for such a short +time that I could not be certain if it was not a trick of the +imagination." + +"Well, it begins to look as if Rastus is telling the truth," was the +officer's comment. + +"Yas, sah, yas sah, I'se tellin' de truf, de whole truf, and +everything but de truf," eagerly stuttered the negro. + +"Where did you first see the light?" demanded Captain Hazzard. + +"Right ober de grable (gable) ob de ruuf ob de big hut," was the +reply. + +"That's about where I saw it," burst out Frank. + +"Was it stationary?" asked Captain Hazzard. + +"Yas, sah; it's station was airy, dat's a fac'," grinned Rastus. "It +was high up in de air." + +"That's not what I mean, at all," snapped Captain Hazzard. "Was it +moving or standing still?" + +"Oh, ah see what yo' mean, Captain Hazzard,--no, sir, der was no +circumlocution ob de objec', in fac', sah, it was standin' still." + +"For how long did you watch it?" + +"Wall, sah, it jes flash lak de wink ob an eye and den it was gone." + +"Possibly it was some sort of antarctic lightning-bug," ventured the +professor, who had been intently listening to the account of the +strange light. + +"Hardly likely," smiled Captain Barrington. "Tell us, Rastus, what it +looked most like to you--what did it resemble?" + +"Wall, sah, it presembled mos'ly dat big laight what yo' see on a +snortermobile befo' it runs ober you. Yas, sah, Cap't Barranton, dat's +what it looked lak, fo' sho." + +"Does that tally with your impression of it, Frank?" asked Captain +Hazzard. + +"Yes, sir, Rastus has put it very well. It was more like an automobile +headlight than anything else." + +"Well, nobody could be driving an automobile in the sky," put in the +professor, decisively, as if the matter were disposed of in this way +without any more argument being wasted. + +"No, but there are other vehicles that are capable of rising above the +earth," spoke Captain Hazzard, thoughtfully. + +"For instance--?" breathed Frank, with a half-formed idea of what he +meant. + +"For instance, airships," was the quiet reply. + +"Airships," exclaimed Captain Barrington. "Then you think---?" + +"That we have some very undesirable neighbors at close quarters," +rejoined Captain Hazzard. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A PENGUIN HUNT. + + +Although, as may be imagined, a closer watch than ever was kept during +the period of darkness, nothing more was seen that winter of the +mysterious light. The dim twilight preceding spring began to appear in +February without there being any recurrence of the mysterious +incident. The coming of the season in which they hoped to accomplish +such great things, found the camp of the adventurers in splendid trim. +Everyone from Captain Hazzard down to the professor's albatross, which +by this time had become quite tame, was in fine health, and there had +been not the slightest trace of illness among the adventurers. + +The motor-sledge was put together as soon as the September spring +began to advance, and was found to work perfectly. As it has not been +described in detail hitherto, a few words may be devoted to it at this +point. + +It was a contrivance, about twenty feet long by three wide, supported +on hollow "barrels" of aluminum. The sledge itself was formed of a +vanadium steel frame with spruce planking, and was capable of carrying +a load of a thousand pounds at thirty miles an hour over even the +softest snow, as its cylindrical supports did not sink into the snow +as ordinary wheels would have done. The motor was a forty-horse power +automobile machine with a crank-case enclosed in an outer case in +which a vacuum had been created--on the principle of the bottles which +keep liquids cold or warm. In this instance the vacuum served to keep +the oil in the crank-case, which was poured in warm, at an even +temperature. The gasolene tank, which held twenty gallons, was also +vacuum-enclosed, and as an additional precaution the warm gases from +the exhaust were inducted around it, and the space used for storing +extra cans of fuel. + +Specially prepared oils and a liberal mixing of alcohol with the +gasolene afforded a safeguard against any sudden freezing of the vital +fluids. The engine was, of course, jacketed, but was air-cooled, as +water circulation would have been impracticable in the polar regions. + +The test of the weird-looking contrivance was made on a day in early +spring, when, as far as the eye could reach, a great solid sea of ice +spread to the northward, and to the south only a vast expanse of snowy +level was visible,--with far in the distance the outlines of some +mountains which, in Captain Hazzard's belief, guarded the plateau on +the summit of which perhaps lay the South Pole. + +The Southern Cross lay sheathed in ice, and the open sea, through +which she had approached the Great Barrier, was now a solid ocean of +glacial ice. If it did not break up as the spring advanced the +prospect was bad for the adventurers getting out that year, but at +this time they were too engrossed with other projects to give their +ultimate release much thought. + +But to return to the motor-sledge. With Frank at the steering wheel in +front and Harry, Billy Barnes, the professor, and Rastus distributed +about its "deck," it was started across the snow, amid a cheer from +the men, without a hitch. So splendidly did it answer that the boys +drove on and on over the white wastes without giving much thought to +the distance they traversed. + +With the return of spring, Skua gulls and penguins had become +plentiful and in answer to the professor's entreaties the boys finally +stopped the sledge near a rookery of the latter, in which the queer +birds were busy over the nests. These nests are rough piles of stones, +on which the eggs are laid. Soon the chickens--fuzzy little brown +creatures--appear, and there is a lot of fuss in the rookery; the +penguins getting their families mixed and fighting furiously over each +small, bewildered chick. + +It was egg-laying time, however, when the boys rolled up on their +queer motor-sledge to the neighborhood of the breeding ground the +professor had espied. The man of science was off the sledge in a +trice, and while the boys, who wished to examine the motor, remained +with the vehicle, he darted off for the penguins' habitat. + +With him went Rastus, carrying a large basket, which the professor had +ordered him to bring in case they needed it to carry back any finds of +interest. + +"Perfusser, is dem dar penguins good ter eat?" asked Rastus, as he and +his learned companion strode through the snow to the rookery. + +"They are highly esteemed as food," was the reply. "Former expeditions +to the South Pole have eaten them and declare that their flesh is as +good as chicken." + +"As good as chicking!" exclaimed Rastus, delightedly. "My, my, yo' +make mah mouf watah. Don' you fink we could ketch one an' hev a +fricassee, perfusser?" + +"I am only going in search of eggs and would, of course, like to catch +a flea--a penguin-flea, I mean," said the professor; "and I should not +advise you to meddle with any of the creatures, Rastus." + +"Why, dey look as tame as elingfants in de Zoo," protested the colored +man, as he gazed at the penguins, who in turn gazed back at him with +their beady black eyes. + +"Yes, and ordinarily they are, but in the breeding season they get +savage if molested, although it is safe enough to walk among them." + +"Huh," grunted Rastus to himself; "dis yer perfusser am a fusser fer +sho. Ef dem birds tas' lak chicking ah'm a-goin 'ter ketch one while +he's a huntin' fer fleas and other foolishnesseses." + +"What's that you said, Rastus?" inquired the professor, as they began +to thread their way among the piles of stones, each of which marked a +nest. + +"Ah said de perfusser am a wonderful man wid his fleas and other +scientificnesses," rejoined the colored man. + +"Ah, Rastus," cried the professor, highly flattered; "if I can only +catch the fur-bearing pollywog, then I shall, indeed, have some claim +on fortune and fame, till then--let us hunt penguin eggs." + +In the meantime the boys were busy examining the motor. They found +that the specially prepared oil worked perfectly and that, although it +changed color in the low temperature, it showed no disposition to +freeze. The gasolene, too, was successfully kept at the right +temperature by means of the vacuum casing of the tank. + +"We could go to the pole itself in this motor-sledge," cried Billy, +enthusiastically. + +"How would we pass the mountains?" asked Frank, pointing to the south, +where stood the snowy sentinels guarding the mystery of the Antarctic. + +"That's so," agreed Billy, hurriedly. "That's a job for the Golden +Eagle." + +"And she's going to do it, too," rejoined Frank, earnestly. "That is +if it is humanly possible." + +"You bet she is," began Harry, enthusiastically. + +"Hullo, what's happened to the professor now?" he broke off. + +Indeed, it seemed that some serious trouble had again overtaken the +luckless naturalist. + +"Oh, boys! boys!" came his cries from the direction of the penguin +rookery. "Help! The menguins are plurdering us--I mean the penguins +are murdering us!" + +"Fo' de Lawd's sake, come quick!" came a yell in Rastus's tones. +"We're done bin eated alive by dese yar pencilguins." + +The rookery lay in a slight depression and was not visible from where +the boys stood, so that they were unable to imagine what was taking +place. + +"They are in serious trouble of some sort again," cried Frank. "Come +on, boys, let's go to their rescue." + +The motor-sledge was soon speeding over the snow and in a few minutes +was at the edge of the declivity in which lay the penguin rookery. +Gazing down into it the boys could hardly keep from laughing. + +Indeed, Billy did burst into loud roars of merriment as he beheld the +strange figures cut by the professor and Rastus, as they strove to +escape the onslaught of the whole colony of penguins, which, with +sharp shrieks of rage were attacking them with their beaks and beating +them with their wings. + +[Illustration: "They Strove to Escape the Onslaught of the Penguins."] + +"Oh, please, good Mistah Pencilguins, I didn't mean no harm," roared +Rastus, who seemed to think the human-looking birds could understand +him. "Go afta' de perfusser, it was him dat tole me youalls tasted lak +chicking." + +"Stop that, you greedy black rascal," retorted the professor, laying +about him with the egg-basket. "If you hadn't tried to grab that +penguin we wouldn't have been in this trouble." + +This was true enough. The penguins had not seemed to resent their +nests being interfered with at all, but had gathered round the +invaders with much curiosity. The trouble all originated when Rastus +had sneaked up to a small penguin while the professor was busy +extracting an egg from a nest, and with a cry of: + +"Oh, you lubly lilly chickin, ah hev yo fer supper, sho nuff," had +grabbed the creature. + +It instantly sent up a loud cry of fear and rage, which its mates +seemed to regard as a battle cry, for they all fell on the rash +invaders of their realm at once. + +As the boys dashed down the snowbank into the rookery, with their +revolvers drawn, the professor, with a loud yell, fell backward into a +well-filled nest. He arose with yellow yolks streaming from him and +covered with down, feathers and eggshell, that made him look like a +spectacled penguin himself. Rastus fared no better and was being +beaten and pecked unmercifully when the boys rushed down to the +rescue. + +"Fire your revolvers in the air!" cried Frank. "Don't kill the poor +things." + +"Fo' goodness sake kill dis big feller dat's a-peckin' mah nose off!" +yelled Rastus, struggling on the ground in the midst of a mass of +broken eggs. + +The fusillade that went up from the boys' pistols made the penguins +stop their attack and waddle off in affright, while the professor and +Rastus, both sorry figures, scrambled to their feet and tried to brush +off some of the eggshells and yellow yolks that covered them from head +to foot. + +"Come on back to the auto," cried Frank, when he saw they were safe. + +"What, aren't you going to kill some of the birds?" demanded the +professor. + +"No, certainly not," replied Frank. "What for?" + +"Why they attacked us and frightened the life out of me," protested +the professor. + +"An' dem pesky pencilguins mos' bited mah nose off," roared Rastus, +rubbing that not over prominent feature. + +"Well, you had no business in their rookery, anyhow," rejoined Frank, +unfeelingly. "Why did you go?" + +"Why, my dear sir," said the professor, regarding him with sorrowful +egg-stained countenance; "in the interests of science, of course. We +would not have been attacked at all if Rastus had not tried to catch a +penguin. What for, I cannot imagine." + +"Why, perfusser, you done say dey tas' lak chickin," ruefully cried +the black man. + +"Did I?" exclaimed the man of science. "Well, bless my soul, so I did. +That was very foolish of me. I ought to have known that Rastus would +not be able to resist such an idea." + +"Ah dunno 'bout de idah," observed Rastus, as he cranked up the +machine, and the boys and the professor climbed on board; "but ah +couldn' resis' de chicking." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE FLAMING MOUNTAIN. + + +A few days after the events described in the last chapter, Captain +Hazzard summoned the boys to him and informed them that it was time to +start out and establish "depots" for the storing of food and blankets +as far as was practicable, in the direction of the pole. This was in +order that any parties sent out to explore might not run the chance of +being lost in the antarctic snows without having some place to which +they could retreat. The "depots" were to be marked as rapidly as they +were made with tall bamboo poles, each of which bore a black flag. + +The boys pitched in to this occupation with great enthusiasm and, with +the aid of the motor-sledge, soon had established three depots, +covering a radius of some eighty miles from the camp. This work +brought them to the verge of the chain of snow-mountains, beyond whose +white crests they believed lay the pole. Somewhere along the coast +line of this chain of mountains, too, so the lieutenant calculated, +lay the Viking ship, which, in the years that had elapsed since the +whalemen had seen her, must have drifted towards their bases on the +ever-shifting polar currents. For the Great Barrier, solid as it +seems, is not stationary, and many scientists hold that it is subject +to violent earthquakes, caused by the subsidence of great areas of icy +land into the boiling craters of polar volcanoes. + +A careful study of the position, in which the whalemen set down they +had spied the ship, and a calculation of the polar drift during the +time that had elapsed from their discovery, had enabled Captain +Hazzard to come, as he believed, very nearly locating the exact +situation of the mysterious vessel. + +"Somewhere to the southeast, at the foot of the snow-mountains, I +firmly believe that we shall find her," he said. + +It was a week after the establishment of the last depot that the boys +were ready to make their first flight in polar regions. The Golden +Eagle's vacuum tank and crank-case were attached and a supply of +non-freezing oils and gasolene drums, carefully covered with warm +felt, taken on board. + +"Your instructions are," were Captain Hazzard's parting words, "to fly +to the southward for a distance of a hundred miles or so, but no +further. You will report the nature of the country and bring back your +observations made with the instruments." + +The Golden Eagle, which had been assembled earlier in the spring, was +wheeled out of her shed and, after a brief "grooming," was ready for +her first flight in the antarctic regions. + +"It seems queer," observed Frank, "to be flying an aeroplane, that has +been through so many tropical adventures, in the frozen regions of the +south pole." + +"It does, indeed," said the professor, who, with Billy Barnes, had +obtained permission to accompany the boys. + +Captain Hazzard, himself, would have come but that he and Captain +Barrington had determined to make surveys of the ice surrounding the +Southern Cross, in order to decide whether the ship had a speedy +chance of delivery from her frozen bondage. + +The Golden Eagle shot into the icy air at exactly ten minutes past +nine on the morning of the 28th of September. It was a perfect day, +with the thermometer registering 22 above zero. So accustomed had they +become to the bitter cold of the polar winter that even this low +temperature seemed oppressive to the boys, and they wore only their +ordinary leather aviation garments and warm underclothes. A plentiful +supply of warm clothing was, however, taken along in case of need. +Plenty of provisions and a specially contrived stove for melting snow +into water were also carried, as well as blankets and sleeping bags. + +The shout of farewell from the sojourners at the camp had hardly died +out before the aviators found themselves flying at a height of three +hundred feet above the frozen wastes. Viewed from that height, the +aspect stretched below them was, indeed, a desolate one. As far as the +eye could reach was nothing but the great whiteness. Had it not been +for the colored snow goggles they wore the boys might have been +blinded by the brilliancy of the expanse, as cases of snow blindness +are by no means uncommon in the Antarctic. + +On and on they flew toward the mighty snow mountains which towered +like guardian giants ahead of them. The barograph showed that after +some hours of flying they had now attained a height of two thousand +feet, which was sufficient to enable them to clear the ridge. Viewed +from above, the snow mountains looked like any other mountains. They +were scarred by gullies and valleys in the snow, and only the lack of +vegetation betrayed them as frozen heaps. Perhaps not mountains in the +ordinary sense at all, but simply mighty masses of ice thrown up by +the action of the polar drift. + +"Look, look," quavered Billy Barnes, as they cleared the range and +their eyes fell on the expanse beyond. + +The boy's exclamation had been called forth by the sight of an immense +mountain far to the southward of them. + +From its summit was emerging a cloud of black smoke. + +"A volcano!" exclaimed Frank, in blank astonishment. + +"Such another as Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, also within the +antarctic circle, but not either of which is as big as this one. I +should imagine," said the professor. "Boys, let us head for it," he +exclaimed; "it must be warm in the vicinity of the crater and perhaps +we may find some sort of life existent there. Even the fur-bearing +pollywog may reside there. Who knows?" + +All agreed, without much argument, that it came within the scope of +their duties to investigate the volcano, and they soon were winging +toward it. As they neared the smoking cone they observed that its +sides were formed of some sort of black stone, and with that, mingled +with the smoke that erupted from its mouth, came an occasional burst +of flame. + +"It's in eruption," gasped Billy. "We'd better not get too near to +it." + +"I apprehend no danger," said the professor. "Both Scott and +Shackleton and our own Wilkes examined the craters of Mounts Erebus +and Terror, when steam and flames were occasionally spurting from +them, without suffering any bad consequences." + +Acting on the professor's advice the aeroplane was grounded at a point +some distance from the summit of the mountain, on a small flat +plateau. The warmth was perceptible, and some few stunted bushes and +trees clung to the sides of the flaming mountain. The professor was +delighted to find, flitting among the vegetation, a small fly with +pink and blue wings, which he promptly christened the Sanburritis +Antarcticitis Americanus. He netted it without difficulty and popped +it into a camphor bottle and turned, with the boys, to regarding the +mountain. + +"Let's climb it and examine the crater," exclaimed Frank, suddenly, +the instinct of the explorer strong in him. + +"Bully," cried Billy; "I'm on." + +"And me," exploded Harry. + +"I should dearly love to," spoke the professor; "perhaps we can +discover some more strange insects at the summit." + +The climb was a tedious one, even with the aid of the rope they had +brought with them from the Golden Eagle; and with which part of the +party hauled the others over seemingly impassable places. At last, +panting, and actually perspiring in the warm air, they stood on the +lip of the crater and gazed down. + +It was an awe-inspiring sight. + +The crater was about half-a-mile across the top, and its rocky sides +glowed everywhere with the glare of the subterranean fires. A reek of +sulphurous fumes filled the air and made the adventurers feel dizzy. +They, therefore, worked round on the windward side of the crater, and +after that felt no ill consequences. + +For a long time they stood regarding the depths from which the heavy +black smoke rolled up. + +"There's no danger of an eruption, is there?" asked Billy, somewhat +apprehensively. + +"I don't apprehend so," rejoined the professor. "A survey of the sides +of the crater convinces me that it is many years since the volcano was +active." + +"It is a wonderful feeling to think that we are the first human beings +who have ever seen it," exclaimed Frank, impulsively. + +"It is, indeed," agreed the professor. "This is a great discovery and +we must take possession of it in the name of the United States. Let us +call it Mount Hazzard in commemoration of this expedition." + +And so with a cheer the great antarctic volcano was named in honor of +the leader of the expedition. + +At the foot of the flaming mountain, originated no doubt by the +warmth, were numerous large lakes filled with water of a deep greenish +blue hue. + +"I wonder if there aren't some fish in those lakes?" wondered the +professor, gazing at the bodies of water so far below them. "At any +rate there may be some kinds of creatures there that are very +uncommon. Conditions such as they must exist under would make them +unlike any others on earth, provided the waters are inhabited." + +"It's easy enough to see," said Frank. + +"How so?" + +"We can clamber down the mountain side and get in the aeroplane and +fly down to examine the lakes," said the boy. + +"Bless my soul, that's so," ejaculated the man of science. "Do you +know, for a moment I had quite forgotten how it was possible to get +here. That is a wonderful machine that you boys have there." + +The climb down the mountain side was almost more difficult and +dangerous than the ascent, but at last all, even the professor, were +once more at the side of the Golden Eagle. They were soon on board, +and in long spirals, Frank dropped to the earth, landing not far from +the edge of one of the small lakes. + +"How curiously honeycombed the rocks are," exclaimed Frank, as they +got out of the craft. + +Indeed the face of the cliff that towered above the lakes did present +a singular appearance, there being myriads of holes in its face at a +height of a few inches above the surface of the water. + +"Doubtless some freak of the volcanic nature of the earth hereabouts," +explained the professor; "but they do, indeed, look curious." + +The water of the lake, on being tested, was found to be quite fresh +and agreeable to the taste though it was warmish and seemed to have an +admixture of iron in it. All about them--strangest freak of all--small +geysers of hot water bubbled, sending up clouds of steam into the air. + +"This is like an enchanted land," was Billy's comment, as he gazed +about him. Indeed, what with the towering black mountain above them +with its perpetual cloud of smoke hovering above its crest, the green +lakes of warm water and the bubbling, steaming geysers, it did seem +like another world than ours. + +Some time was occupied by a thorough investigation of the small lake +and the boys and their scientific companion then advanced on a larger +one that lay at some distance. + +"Do you think it is wise to go so far from the aeroplane?" asked +Harry. + +"Why, there's nothing here that could attack us," the professor was +beginning, when he stopped short suddenly with an exclamation. + +"Look there!" he exclaimed, pointing down at the ground. "A human +track." + +The boys looked and saw the imprint of a foot! + +Yet, on inspection, it was unlike a human foot and seemed more like +the track of a bear. Several other prints of a similar nature became +visible now that they examined the spongy soil carefully. + +"Whatever do you think it is?" Frank asked of the professor, who was +examining the imprints with some care. + +"I don't know, my dear boy," he replied. "It looks like the foot of a +bear, and yet it appears to be webbed as if it might be that of some +huge water animal." + +"Yes, but look at the size of it," argued Billy. "Why, the animal +whose foot that is must be an immense creature." + +"It's certainly strange," mused the professor, "and suggests to me +that we had better be getting back to our aeroplane." + +"You think it is dangerous to remain here, then?" asked Harry, with +some dismay. + +"I do, yes," was the naturalist's prompt reply. "I do not know what +manner of animal it can be that left that track, and I know the tracks +of every known species of mammal." + +"Perhaps some hitherto unknown creature made it," suggested Billy. + +"That's just what I think, my boy," was the reply. "I have, as I said, +not the remotest conception of what sort of a creature it could be, +but I have an idea from the size of that track that it must be the +imprint of a most formidable brute." + +"Might it not be some prehistoric sort of creature like the mammoths +of the north pole or the dinosauras, or huge flying-lizard?" suggested +Frank. + +"I'm inclined to think that that is what the creature is," rejoined +the scientist. "It would be most interesting to remain here and try to +get a specimen, but in the position we are in at present we should be +cut off from the aeroplane in case an attack came from in front of +us." + +"That's so," agreed Frank. "Come on, boys, let's get a move on. We can +come back here with heavy rifles some day, and then we can afford to +take chances. I don't like the idea of facing what are possibly +formidable monsters with only a pistol." + +"My revolver can--," began Billy, drawing the weapon in question--when +he stopped short. + +The faces of all blanched as they, too, noted the cause of the +interruption. + +A harsh roar had suddenly filled the air, booming and reverberating +against the gloomy cliffs like distant thunder. + +Suddenly Billy, with a shout that was half a scream, called attention +to the holes they had noticed at the foot of the acclivity. + +"Look, look at that!" he chattered, his teeth clicking like castanets +with sheer terror. + +"We are lost!" shouted the professor, starting back with blanched +cheeks. + +From the strange holes they had previously noticed at the foot of the +cliffs, dozens of huge creatures of a form and variety unknown to any +in the party, were crawling and flopping into the lake. + +That their intentions were hostile was evident. As they advanced in a +line that would bring them between the boys and their aeroplane, they +emitted the same harsh, menacing roar that had first started the +adventurers. + +"Run for your lives," shouted Frank, as the monsters cleaved the +water, every minute bringing them nearer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ADRIFT ABOVE THE SNOWS. + + +"Whatever are they?" gasped Billy, as they ran for the aeroplane. + +"Prehistoric monsters," rejoined the professor, who was almost out of +breath. + +The next minute he stumbled on a bit of basalt and fell headlong. Had +it not been for this accident they could have gained the aeroplane in +time, but, as it was, the brief space it took to aid the scientist to +his feet gave the creatures of the cliff a chance to intercept the +little party. + +As the creatures drew themselves out of the green warm water of the +lake with hideous snarls the boys saw that the animals were great +creatures that must have weighed several hundred pounds each and were +coated with shaggy hair. Their heads and bodies were shaped not unlike +seals except that they had huge tusks; but each monster had two short +legs in front and a pair of large flippers behind. Their appearance +was sufficiently hideous to alarm the most callous venturer into the +Antarctic. + +"We've got to make the aeroplane," exclaimed Frank, "come on, get your +guns out and fire when I give the word. If we can only kill a few of +them perhaps the rest will take fright." + +"A good idea," assented the professor producing his revolver, a weapon +that might have proved fatal to a butterfly, but certainly would not +be of any effect against the shaggy foes they now faced. + +"Fire!" cried Frank, when the others had their heavy magazine weapons +ready. + +A volley of lead poured into the ranks of the monsters and several of +them, with horribly human shrieks, fled wounded toward the lake. A +strong sickening odor of musk filled the air as the creatures bled. + +But far from alarming the rest of the monsters the attack seemed to +render them ten times more savage than before. With roars of rage they +advanced toward the boys, making wonderful speed on their legs and +flippers. + +"Let 'em have it again," shouted Frank as he noted with anxiety that +the first fusillade had been a failure, the rough coats and thick hide +of the monsters deflecting the bullets. + +Once more the adventurers emptied their pistols, but the shaggy coats +of the great creatures still seemed to prevent the bullets doing any +serious injury. + +The boys' position was ominous indeed. An order from Frank to reload +resulted in the discovery that he alone of any of the party had a belt +full of cartridges; the others had all used up the few they had +carried. + +"We're goners sure," gasped Billy as the creatures hesitated before +another scattering discharge of bullets, but still advanced, despite +the fact that this time two were killed. Suddenly, however, their +leader with a strange cry threw his head upward and seemed to sniff at +the air as if in apprehension. + +At the same instant a slight trembling of the ground on which the +adventurers stood was perceptible. + +"It's an earthquake," cried Billy, recollecting his experience in +Nicaragua. + +With wild cries the monsters all plunged into the lake. They seemed to +be in terror. Behind them they left several of their wounded, the +latter making pitiful efforts to reach the water. + +"Whatever is going to happen?" cried Billy in dismay, at the animals' +evident terror of some mysterious event that was about to transpire, +and the now marked disturbance of the earth. + +As he spoke, the earth shook violently once more and a rumbling sound +like subterranean thunder filled the air. + +"It's the mountain!" shouted the professor, who had been gazing about, +"it's going to erupt." + +From the crater they had explored there were now rolling up great +masses of bright, yellow smoke in sharp contrast to the dark vapors +that had hitherto poured from it. A mighty rumbling and roaring +proceeded from its throat as the smoke poured out, and vivid, blue +flames shot through the sulphurous smother from time to time. + +"We've no time to lose," cried Frank, "come on, we must get to the +aeroplane in a hurry." + +They all took to their heels over the trembling ground, not stopping +to gaze behind them. The monsters had all disappeared, and as they had +not been seen to re-enter their holes they were assumed to be hiding +at the bottom of the lake. + +As the boys gained the aeroplane and clambered in, Frank uttered an +exclamation: + +"Where's the professor?" + +In a few seconds they espied him carefully bending over the dead body +of one of the slain monsters several yards away. + +"Come on, professor," they shouted, "there's no time to lose." + +"One second and I have him," the scientist called back. + +At the same instant he made a dart at the dead creature's shaggy fur +and appeared to grasp something. He hastily drew out a bottle and +dropped whatever he had seized into it and then started leaping and +bounding toward the aeroplane, his long legs looking like stilts as he +advanced over the uneven ground. + +He was just in time. + +As the aeroplane left the ground the water in the lakes became +violently agitated and steam arose from fissures in the mountain side. +Flames shot up to a considerable height above the crater and a torrent +of black lava began to flow toward the lakes, falling into them with a +loud hissing sound that was audible to the boys, even after they had +put many miles between themselves and the burning mountain. + +"That will be the last of those monsters, I expect," remarked Harry as +they flew steadily northward. + +"I don't know," observed the professor, "they may have caves under +water where they can keep cool. They evidently knew what to expect +when they felt the first rumblings and shaking of the earth and must +have had previous experience. I guess I was mistaken in thinking the +volcano inactive." + +"It was a piece of great good luck for us that the eruption came when +it did," said Frank. + +"It was a terrific one," commented Billy. + +The professor laughed. + +"Terrific," he echoed, "why, my boy, you ought to see a real eruption. +This was nothing. See, the smoke is already dying down. It is over." + +"Well, it may not have been a big one, but you were in a mighty hurry +to get to the aeroplane," said Billy with a grin. + +"That was so that I could get my volcano monster's flea back safe and +sound," exclaimed the man of science. "See here." + +He took from his pocket and held up a small bottle. + +"Look there," he exclaimed in triumph. + +"Well," said the others, who, all but Frank, who was steering, were +regarding the naturalist. + +"Well," he repeated somewhat querulously, "don't you see it?" + +"See what?" asked Billy, after a prolonged scrutiny of the bottle. + +"Why, the flea, the little insect I caught in the shaggy fur of the +volcano monster?" + +"No," cried both boys simultaneously. + +The professor gazed at the bottle in a puzzled way. + +"Bless my soul, you are right," he exclaimed, angrily, "the little +creature eluded me. Oh, dear, this is a bitter day for science. I was +in such a hurry to pop my specimen into the bottle that I held him +carelessly and he evidently hopped away. Oh, this is a terrible, an +irreparable, loss." + +Although the boys tried to comfort him they could not. He seemed +overcome by grief. + +"Cheer up," said Billy at length, "remember there is always the +fur-bearing pollywog to be captured." + +"Ah, yes," agreed the professor, "but a bug in the hand is worth two +in the air." + +As they talked, there suddenly came a loud explosion from the engine +and two of the cylinders went out of commission. The speed of the +aeroplane at once decreased and she began to drop. + +The dismay of the boys may be imagined. They were several miles from +the camp and below them was nothing but the desolate expanse of the +snow wastes that lay at the foot of the barrier range. + +"Shall we have to go down?" asked Billy. + +"Nothing else to do," said Frank with a grave face, "there's something +wrong with the engine and we can't repair it up here. If we were not +in this rarified atmosphere we could fly on the cylinders that are +firing all right, but this atmosphere would not support us." + +"Do you think it is anything serious?" asked the professor. + +"I can't tell yet," was the grave reply, "that explosion sounded like +a back-fire and that may be all that's the matter. In such a case we +can drain the crank case and put in fresh oil; for if it was really a +back-fire it was most likely caused by 'flooding.'" + +Ten minutes later they landed on the firm, hard snow and lost no time +in getting things in shape to spend the night where they were; for it +was unlikely that repairs could be effected in time for them to fly +back to the camp before dark. The canvas curtains at the sides of the +aeroplane's body were drawn up, forming a snug tent. The stove was set +going and soup and canned meats and vegetables warmed and eaten by the +light of a lantern. + +In the meantime Frank had discovered that the breakdown had been +caused by a defect in the ignition apparatus which it would take some +time to repair. Both he and Harry went to work on it after supper, +however, and by midnight they had it adjusted. + +They were just preparing to turn in, the professor and Billy having +wrapped themselves in their blankets some time before, when a sudden +sound, breaking on the stillness of the Antarctic night, made them +pause. Both boys strained their ears intently and the sound came once +more. + +This time there was no mistaking it. + +It was the same sound to which Rastus had called Frank's attention the +night they were on watch outside the hut. + +Pulling the curtain open, the boys gazed out, determined to unravel +the mystery once and for all. The night was perfectly still except for +the buzzing noise, and a bright moon showed them the snow lying white +and undisturbed about them. + +The sound did not proceed from the ground, that was evident, but from +the air. The atmosphere seemed filled with it. + +"What can it be?" exclaimed Harry. + +"Look--look there!" shouted Frank, at the same instant clutching his +brother's arm in his excitement. + +Both boys gazed upward and as they did so a dark, shadowy form passed +above them far overhead. For an instant a brilliant light gleamed from +it and then it vanished, going steadily eastward with the strange +thrumming sound growing fainter as it receded. + +The boys looked at each other in amazement and the words of Captain +Hazzard flashed across Frank's mind. + +"WE HAVE SOME VERY UNDESIRABLE NEIGHBORS AT CLOSE QUARTERS," the +captain had said. Undoubtedly he was right. + +"What did you make it out for?" asked Harry at length. + +"A dirigible and no small one," was the reply, "and you?" + +"Same here. You can't mistake the sound of an airship's engine. The +question is what is the explanation of it all?" + +"Simple." + +"Simple, well I--" + +"That aeroplane is the one which was bought in Europe. It is specially +provided with radiators which electrically heat its gas, allowing it +to navigate in these regions without fear of the gas condensing and +causing the ship to descend." + +"Yes, but whose is it? What are they doing in it?" + +"The first question is easy to answer. That ship is the ship of the +rival expedition." + +"The Japanese one, you mean?" + +"That's it. It must have been the light of it that I saw during the +winter. I suppose they were experimenting with it then." + +"Experimenting--what for?" + +"For the work they are using it on to-night." + +"And that is?" + +"To forestall us in the discovery of the Viking ship and the South +Pole." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +SWALLOWED BY A CREVASSE. + + +The early morning following the discovery of the night trip of the +dirigible saw the Golden Eagle rising into the chill air and winging +her way to the camp. The boys, as soon as they descended, hastened to +Captain Hazzard's hut and detailed their adventures. As may be +supposed, while both the leader of the expedition and the captain of +the Southern Cross were deeply interested in the account of the +flaming mountain and the prehistoric seal-like creatures, they were +more deeply concerned over the boys' sighting of the airship. + +"It means we have earnest rivals to deal with," was Captain Hazzard's +comment, "we must set about finding the Viking ship at once. The +search will not take long, for if she is not somewhere near where I +have calculated she ought to be it would be waste of time to seek her +at all." + +Full of excitement at the prospect of embarking on the search for the +ship, before long the boys dispersed for breakfast only to gather +later on in Captain Hazzard's hut. The officer informed them that they +were to fly to the position he indicated the next day and institute a +thorough search for the lost craft. The Golden Eagle was to carry her +wireless and a message was to be flashed to the camp's wireless +receiving station if important discoveries were made. + +In the event of treasure being found, the boys were to at once +"wireless" full details and bearings of the find and a relay of men +and apparatus for saving the treasure would be sent from the ship to +their aid on the motor-sledge. In the event of their not discovering +the Viking ship they were to spend not more than three days on the +search, wirelessing the camp at the end of the third day for further +instructions. + +The rest of that day was spent in putting the Golden Eagle's wireless +in working order and stretching the long "aerials" above her upper +plane. The instruments were then tested till they were in tune for +transmitting messages from a long distance. The apparatus, after a +little adjustment, was found to work perfectly. + +Captain Hazzard warned the boys that, in the event of the rival +expedition discovering them, they were on no account to resort to +violence but to "wireless" the camp at once and he would decide on the +best course to pursue. + +"But if they attack us?" urged Frank. + +"In that case you will have to defend yourselves as effectively as +possible till aid arrives," said the commander. + +Early the next day, with a plentiful supply of cordite bombs and +dynamite on board for blasting the Viking ship free of the ice casing +which it was to be expected surrounded her, the Golden Eagle soared +away from the camp. + +The boys were off at last on the expedition they had longed for. The +professor accompanied them with a formidable collection of nets and +bottles and bags. He had had prepared a lot of other miscellaneous +lumber which it had been explained to him he could not transport on an +aeroplane and which he had therefore reluctantly left behind. The +engine worked perfectly and Frank anticipated no further trouble from +it. + +As they sped along Harry from time to time tested the wireless and +sent short messages back to the camp. It worked perfectly and the +spark was as strong as if only a few miles separated airship and camp. +Nor did there seem to be any weakening as the distance between the two +grew greater. + +They passed high above snow-barrens and seal-rookeries and colonies of +penguins, the inhabitants of which latter cocked their heads up +inquiringly at the big bird flying by far above them. Their course +carried them to the eastward and as they advanced the character of the +scenery changed. What were evidently bays opened up into the land and +some of them seemed to run back for miles, cutting deep into the many +ranges that supported the plateau of the interior on which they had +found the volcano. + +These bays or inlets were ice covered but it was easy to see that with +the advance of summer they would be free of ice. At noon, Frank landed +the aeroplane and made an observation. It showed him they were still +some distance from the spot near which Captain Hazzard believed the +Viking ship was imprisoned. After a hasty lunch, cooked on the stove, +the aeroplane once more ascended and kept steadily on her course till +nightfall. + +As dark set in, the boys found themselves at a spot in which the water +that lapped the foot of the great Barrier washed--or would when the +ice left it--at the very bases of the mountains, which here were no +more than mere hills. They were cut into in all directions by deep +gulches into which during the summer it was evident the sea must +penetrate. + +"We are now not more than one hundred and fifty miles from the spot in +which Captain Hazzard believes the ship is ice-bound," announced Frank +that night as they turned in inside the snugly curtained chassis. +Sleep that night was fitful. The thought of the discovery of which +they might be even then on the brink precluded all thought of sound +sleep. Even the usually calm professor was excited. He hoped to find +some strange creatures amid the mouldering timbers of the Viking ship +if they ever found her. + +Dawn found the adventurers up and busily disposing of breakfast. As +soon as possible the Golden Eagle rose once more and penetrated +further into the unknown on her search. Several wireless messages were +sent out that day and the camp managed to "catch" every one of them. +The wireless seemed to work better in that dry, cold air than in the +humid atmosphere of the northern climes. + +The character of the country had not changed. Deep gullies still +scarred the white hills that fringed the barrier, but not one of these +yielded the secret the boys had come so far to unravel. + +"I'm beginning to think this is a wild goose chase," began Billy, as +at noon Frank landed, took his bearings, and then announced that they +were within a few minutes of the spot in which the ship ought to lie. + +"She seems as elusive as the fur-bearing pollywog," announced the +professor. + +"You still believe there is such a creature?" asked Harry. + +"Professor Tapper says so," was the reply, "I must believe it. I will +search everywhere till I can find it." + +"I think he was mistaken," said Billy, "I can't imagine what such a +creature could look like." + +"You may think he was mistaken," rejoined the professor, "but I do +not. Professor Tapper is never wrong." + +"But suppose you cannot find such an animal?" + +"If I don't find one before we leave the South Polar regions, then, +and not till then, will I believe that he was mistaken," returned the +man of science with considerable dignity. + +This colloquy took place while they were getting ready to reascend +after a hasty lunch and was interrupted by a sudden cry from Frank, +who had been gazing about while the others talked. + +"What's that sticking above the snow hill yonder?" he exclaimed, +pointing to a spot where a deep gully "valleyed" the hills at a spot +not very far from where they stood. + +"It looks like the stump of a tree," observed the professor, squinting +through his spectacles. + +"Or-or-the mast of a ship," quavered Harry, trembling with excitement. +"It's the Viking ship--hurray!" + +"Don't go so fast," said Frank, though his voice shook, "it may be +nothing but a plank set up there by some former explorer, but it +certainly does look like the top of a mast." + +"The best way is to go and see," suggested the professor, whose calm +alone remained unruffled. + +The distance between the boys and the object that had excited their +attention was not considerable and the snow was smooth and unmarked by +impassable gullies. The professor's suggestion was therefore at once +adopted and the young adventurers were soon on their way across the +white expanse which luckily was frozen hard and not difficult to +traverse. + +The boys all talked in excited tones as they made their way forward. +If the object sticking above the gully's edge proved actually to be a +mast it was in all probability a spar of the ship they sought. The +thought put new life into every one and they hurried forward over the +hard snow at their swiftest pace. + +The professor was in the lead, talking away at a great rate, his long +legs opening and shutting like scissor blades. + +"Perhaps I may find a fur-bearing pollywog after all," he cried; "if +you boys have found your ship surely it is reasonable to suppose that +I can find my pollywog?" + +"Wouldn't you rather find a Viking ship filled with gold and ivory, +and frozen in the ice for hundreds of years, than an old fur-bearing +pollywog?" demanded Billy. + +"I would not," rejoined the professor with much dignity; "the one is +only of a passing interest to science and a curious public. The other +is an achievement that will go ringing down the corridors of time +making famous the name of the man who braved with his life the rigors +of the South Polar regions to bring back alive a specimen of the +strange creature whose existence was surmised by Professor Thomas +Tapper, A.M., F.R.G.S., M.Z., and F.O.X.I.--Ow! Great Heavens!" + +As the professor uttered this exclamation an amazing thing happened. + +The snow seemed to open under his feet and with a cry of real terror +which was echoed by the boys, who a second before had been listening +with somewhat amused faces to his oratory, he vanished as utterly as +if the earth had swallowed him--which it seemed it had indeed. + +"The professor has fallen into a crevasse!" shouted Frank, who was the +first of the group to realize what had occurred. + +Billy and Harry were darting forward toward the hole in the snow +through which the scientist had vanished when a sharp cry from the +elder boy stopped them. + +"Don't go a step further," he cried. + +"Why not,--the professor is down that hole," cried Harry, "we must do +something to save him." + +"You can do more by keeping cool-headed than any other way," rejoined +Frank. "A crevasse, into one of which the professor has fallen, is not +'a hole' as you call it, but a long rift in the earth above which snow +has drifted. Sometimes they are so covered up that persons can cross +in safety, at other times the snow 'bridge' gives way under their +weight and they are precipitated into the crevasse itself,--an +ice-walled chasm." + +"Then we may never get the professor out," cried Billy in dismay. "How +deep is that crevasse likely to be?" + +"Perhaps only ten or twenty feet. Perhaps several hundred," was the +alarming reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE VIKING'S SHIP. + + +Suddenly, from the depths as it seemed, there came a faint cry. + +It was the professor's voice feebly calling for aid. Frank hastened +forward but dared not venture too near the edge of the hole through +which the scientist had vanished. + +"Are you hurt, professor?" he cried, eagerly, and hung on the answer. + +"No," came back the reply, "not much, but I can't hold on much +longer." + +"Are you at the bottom of the chasm?" + +"No, I am clinging to a ledge. It is very slippery and if I should +fall it would be to the bottom of the rift, which seems several +hundred feet deep." + +Even in his extreme danger the professor seemed cool and Frank took +heart from him. + +Luckily they had with them a coil of rope brought from the Golden +Eagle for the purpose of lowering one of their number over the edge of +the gulf onto the Viking ship--if the mast they had seen proved to be +hers. + +It was the work of a moment to form a loop in this and then Frank +hailed the professor once more. + +"We are going to lower a rope to you. Can you grasp it?" + +"I think so. I'll try," came up the almost inaudible response. + +The rope was lowered over the edge of the rift and soon to their joy +the boys felt it jerked this way and that as the professor caught it. + +"Tie it under your arms," enjoined Frank. + +"All right," came the answer a few seconds later. "Haul away. I can't +endure the cold down here much longer." + +The three boys were strong and they pulled with all their might, but +for a time it seemed doubtful if they could lift the professor out of +the crevasse as, despite his leanness, he was a fairly heavy man. He +aided them, however, by digging his heels in the wall of the crevasse +as they hoisted and in ten minutes' time they were able to grasp his +hands and pull him into safety. + +A draught from the vacuum bottle containing hot coffee which Frank +carried soon restored the professor and he was able to describe to +them how, as he was walking along, declaiming concerning the +fur-bearing pollywog, the ground seemed to suddenly open under his +feet and he felt himself tumbling into an abyss of unknown depth. + +As the chasm narrowed, he managed to jam himself partially across the +rift and in this way encountered an ice-coated ledge. One glance down +showed him that if he had not succeeded in doing this his plunge would +have ended in death, for the crevasse seemed to exist to an unknown +depth beneath the surface of the earth. + +"And now that I am safe and sound," said the professor, "let us hurry +on. The fall hasn't reduced my eagerness to see the wrecked Viking +ship." + +"But the crevasse, how are we to pass that?" asked Frank. + +"We must make a detour to the south," said the professor, "I noticed +when I was down there that the rift did not extend more than a few +feet in that direction. In fact, had I dared to move I might have +clambered out." + +The boys, not without some apprehension, stepped forward in +continuance of their journey, and a few minutes later, after they had +made the detour suggested by the professor, realized to their joy that +they had passed the dangerous abyss in safety. + +"And now," shouted Frank, "forward for the Viking ship or--" + +"Or a sell!" shouted the irrepressible Billy. + +"Or a sell," echoed Frank. + +With fast beating hearts they dashed on and a few minutes later stood +on the edge of the mastmarked abyss, gazing downward into it. + +As they did so a shout--such a shout as had never disturbed the great +silences of that region--rent the air-- + +"The Viking ship at last. Hurray!" + +The gully was about thirty feet deep and at the bottom of it, glazed +with the thick ice that covered it, lay a queerly formed ship with a +high prow,--carved like a raven's head. + +IT WAS THE VIKING SHIP. + +After all the centuries that had elapsed since she went adrift she was +at last found, and to be ransacked of the treasure her dead sailors +had amassed. + +The first flush of the excitement over the discovery quickly passed +and the boys grew serious. The problem of how to blast the precious +derelict out of the glassy coat of ice without sinking her was a +serious one. Frank, after a brief survey, concluded, however, that the +ice "cradle" about her hull was sufficiently thick to hold her steady +while they blasted a way from above to her decks and hold. + +It was useless to linger there, as they had not brought the needful +apparatus with them, so they at once started back for the Golden +Eagle. Frank's first care, arrived once more at the aeroplane, was to +send out the good news, and it was received with "wireless acclaim" by +those at Camp Hazzard. + +"Will be there in two days by motor-sledge. Commence operations at +once," was the order that was flashed back after congratulations had +been extended. As it was too late to do anything more that night, the +boys decided to commence work on the derelict in the morning. After a +hearty supper they retired to bed in the chassis of the aeroplane, all +as tired out as it is possible for healthy boys to be. Nevertheless, +Frank, who always--as he put it--"slept with one eye open," was +awakened at about midnight by a repetition of the noise of the +mysterious airship. + +There was no mistaking it. It was the same droning "burr" they had +heard on the night following their discovery of the flaming mountain. +Waking Harry, the two lads peered upward and saw the stars blotted out +as the shadowy form of the air-ship passed above them--between the sky +and themselves. All at once a bright ray of light shot downward and, +after shifting about over the frozen surface for a time, it suddenly +glared full on to the boys' camp. + +Both lads almost uttered a cry as the bright light bathed them and +made it certain that their rivals had discovered their aeroplane; but +before they could utter a word the mysterious craft had extinguished +the search glare and was off with the rapidity of the wind toward the +west. + +"They must be scared of us," said Harry at length, after a long +awe-stricken silence. + +"Not much, I'm afraid," rejoined Frank, with a woeful smile. + +"Well, they hauled off and darted away as soon as they saw us," +objected Harry. + +"I'm afraid that that is no guarantee they won't come back," remarked +Frank, with a serious face. + +"You mean that they--" + +"Have gone to get reinforcements and attack us," was the instant +reply, "they must have trailed us with the powerful lenses of which +the Japanese have the secret and which are used in their telescopes. +They are now certain that we have found the ship and are coming back. +It's simple, isn't it?" + +The professor, when he and Billy awakened in the morning, fully shared +the boys' apprehensions over the nocturnal visitor. + +"If they think we have discovered the ship they won't rest till they +have wrested it from us," he said soberly. + +"I'm afraid that we are indeed in for serious trouble," said Frank, in +a worried tone. "You see, Captain Hazzard and his men can't get here, +even with the motor-sledge, for two days." + +"Well, don't you think we had better abandon the ship and fly back to +the camp?" suggested Billy. + +"And leave that ship for them to rifle at their leisure--no," rejoined +Frank, with lips compressed in determination, "we won't do that. We'll +just go ahead and do the best we can--that's all." + +"That's the way to talk," approved the professor, "now as soon as you +boys have had breakfast we'll start for the ship, for, from what you +have related, there is clearly no time to be lost." + +The thought that their mysterious enemies might return at any time +caused the boys to despatch the meal consisting of hot chocolate, +canned fruit, pemmican, and salt beef, with even more haste than +usual. Before they sat down to eat, however, Frank flashed a message +to the camp telling them of their plight. + +"Will start at once," was the reply, "keep up your courage. We are +coming to the rescue." + +This message cheered the boys up a good deal and they set out for the +Viking ship with lighter hearts than they had had since the sighting +of the night-flier. They packed with them plenty of stout rope, drills +and dynamite. Harry carried the battery boxes and the rolls of wire to +be used in setting off the charges when they were placed. + +Arrived at the edge of the gully, a hole was drilled in the ice and an +upright steel brace, one of the extra parts of the aeroplane, was +imbedded in it as an upright, to which to attach the rope. It was soon +adjusted and Frank, after they had drawn lots for the honor of being +the first on board, climbed down it. He was quickly followed by the +others, but any intention they might have had of exploring the ship at +that time was precluded by the ice that coated her deck with the +accumulation of centuries of drifting in the polar currents. + +With the drill several holes were soon bored in the glassy coating and +sticks of dynamite inserted. These were then capped with fulminate of +mercury caps, and Harry climbed the rope to the surface of the narrow +gully with the wires which were to carry the explosive spark. The +others followed, and then, carrying the battery box to which the wires +had been attached, withdrew to what was considered a safe distance. + +"Ready?" asked Frank, his hand on the switch, when all had been +adjusted. + +"Let 'er go," cried Billy. + +There was a click, and a split of blue flame followed by a roar that +shook the ground under their feet. From the gully a great fountain of +ice shot up mingled with smoke. + +"I'm afraid I gave her too much," regretted Frank apprehensively, as +the noise subsided and the smoke blew away. "I hope we haven't sunk +her." + +"That would be a calamity," exclaimed the professor, "but I imagine +the ice beneath her was too thick to release her, even with such a +heavy charge as you fired." + +"Let's hope so," was the rejoinder. + +Billy led the others on the rush back to the gulf. + +All uttered a cry of amazement as they gazed over its edge. + +The explosion had shattered the coating of ice above the vessel's +decks and had also exposed her hold at a spot at which the deck itself +had been blown in. + +"I can't believe my eyes," shouted Billy, as he gazed. + +"It's there, right enough," gasped Frank, "the old manuscript was +right after all." + +As for the professor and Harry, they stood speechless, literally +petrified with astonishment. + +Below them, exposed to view, where the deck had been torn away, was +revealed the vessel's hold packed full, apparently, of yellow walrus +ivory and among the tusks there glittered dully bars of what seemed +solid gold. + +Frank was the first down the rope. The explosion had certainly done +enough damage, and if the ice "cradle" beneath the vessel's keel had +not been so thick she must have been sunk with the shock of the +detonation. The ice "blanket" that covered her though had been +shattered like a pane of glass--and, with picks thrown down onto the +decks from above the boys soon cleared a path to the door of a sort of +raised cabin aft. + +Then they paused. + +A nameless dread was on them of disturbing the secrets of the long +dead Vikings. Before them was the cabin door which they longed to open +but somehow none of them seemed to have the courage to do so. The +portal was of massive oak but had been sprung by the explosion till it +hung on its hinges weakly. One good push would have shoved it down. + +"Say, Billy, come and open this door," cried Harry, but Billy was +intently gazing into the hold, now and then jumping down into it and +handling the ivory and bar gold with an awe-stricken face. + +"Well, are you boys going to open that door?" asked the professor at +last. He had been busy in another part of the ship examining the +rotten wood to see if he could find any sort of insects in it. + +"Well--er, you see, professor--" stammered Harry. + +"What--you are scared," exclaimed the professor, laughing. + +"No; not exactly scared, but--," quavered Frank, "it doesn't seem just +right to invade that place. It's like breaking open a tomb." + +"Nonsense," exclaimed the scientist, who had no more sentiment about +him than a steel hack-saw, "watch me." + +He bounded forward and put his shoulder to the mouldering door. It +fell inward with a dull crash and as it did so the professor leaped +backward with a startled cry, stumbling over a deck beam and sprawling +in a heap. + +"W-w-what's the matter?" gasped Harry, with a queer feeling at the +back of his scalp and down his spine. + +"T-T-THERE'S SOMEONE IN THERE!" was the startling reply from the +recumbent scientist. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +CAUGHT IN A TRAP. + + +"Someone in there?" Frank echoed the exclamation in amazed tones. + +"Y-y-yes," stammered the scared professor, "he's sitting at a table." + +"It must be one of the long dead Vikings," said Frank, after a +moment's thought, "in these frozen regions and incased in ice as the +ship has been, I suppose that a human body could be kept in perfect +preservation indefinitely." + +"I reckon that's it," exclaimed the professor, much relieved at this +explanation, "but, boys, it gave me a dreadful start. He was looking +right at me and I thought I saw his head move. Perhaps it was Olaf +himself." + +"Nonsense," said Frank sharply, who, now that the door was actually +open, had lost his queer feeling of scare; "come on, let's explore the +cabin. That poor dead Viking can't hurt us." + +Followed by the others he entered the dark, mouldy cabin and could +himself hardly repress a start as he found himself facing a man who +must have been of gigantic stature. The dead sea rover was seated at a +rough oak table with his head resting on his hand as if in deep +thought. He had a mighty yellow beard reaching almost to his waist and +wore a loose garment of some rough material. Had it not been for a +green-mold on his features he must have seemed a living man. + +The cabin contained some rude couches and rough bunks of dark wood +lined its sides, but otherwise, with the exception of the table and +chairs, it was bare of furniture. Some curious looking weapons, +including several shields and battle axes, were littered about the +place and some quaint instruments of navigation which Frank guessed +were crude foreshadows of the sextent and the patent log, lay on a +shelf. + +"How do you suppose he died?" asked Billy in an awed whisper, +indicating the dead man. + +"I don't know--frozen to death perhaps," was Frank's reply. + +"But where are the others? The crew,--his companions?" + +"Perhaps they rowed away; perhaps they went out to seek for food and +never came back--we can't tell and never shall be able to," was the +rejoinder. + +The bare, dark cabin was soon explored and the boys, marveling a good +deal at the temerity of the old-time sailors who made their way across +unknown seas in such frail ships, emerged into the air once more. They +determined to throw off in work the gloomy feelings that had oppressed +them in the moldering cabin of the Viking ship. + +"The first thing to do," announced Frank, "is to get all we can of +this stuff to the surface." He indicated the hold. + +With this end in view a block and tackle was rigged on the surface of +the plateau, and the ivory and gold hauled out as fast as the boys +could load it. The professor at the top attended to the hauling and +dumping of each load. Soon a good pile of the valuable stuff lay +beside him and he hailed the boys and suggested that it was time for a +rest. + +Nothing loath to knock off their fatiguing task for a while, the boys +clambered up to the surface by the rope and soon were busy eating the +lunch they had brought with them. They washed it down with smoking hot +chocolate which they had poured into their vacuum bottles at breakfast +time. The hot stuff was grateful and invigorating in the chill air, +and they ate and drank with keen appetites. + +So excited were they by the events of the morning, and so much was +there to talk about, that the big dirigible had entirely slipped from +their minds till they suddenly were jolted into abrupt recollection by +a happening that brought them all to their feet with a shout of alarm. + +FROM HIGH IN THE AIR A VOICE HAD HAILED THEM. + +They looked up with startled eyes to see hovering directly over them +the mysterious dirigible. + +Her deck seemed to be supporting several men, some of whom gazed +curiously at the boys; but what caught the adventurers' attention, and +riveted it, was the sight of several rifles aimed at them. + +"Keep still, and we will not shoot," shouted a man who appeared to be +in command, "we do not wish to harm you." + +"Hum," said Billy, "I don't see what they want to aim those shooting +irons at us for, then." + +"It would be useless to try to run, I suppose," said the professor. + +"It would be dangerous to try it," decided Frank, "those fellows +evidently mean to kill us if we try to disobey their orders." + +As he spoke the dirigible was brought to the ground by her operators +and as she touched the snow several of her crew gave a shout of +surprise at the sight of the pile of treasure already excavated by the +boys. They started to run toward it; but were checked by a sharp cry +from their officer. They obeyed him instantly and marshaled in a +motionless line waiting his next command, but he left them and strode +through the snow toward the boys. + +He was a dapper little brown man, dressed in the uniform of the +Mikado's Manchurian troops. A heavy, fur collar encircled his neck and +a fur cap was pulled over his ears. + +"Don't make any hostile move or it will mean your death," he warned as +he advanced toward them. + +The boys stood motionless, but the professor, in a high, angry voice, +broke out: + +"What do you mean, sir, by approaching American citizens in this +manner? If it is the Viking ship you are after we have already claimed +it in the name of the United States." + +"That matters little here,--where we are," said the little officer, +with a smile, "we are now in a country where might is right; and I +think you will acknowledge that we have the might on our side." + +The boys gazed at the twelve men who stood facing them with leveled +rifles and could not help but acknowledge the truth of these words. It +seemed that they were utterly in the power of the Japanese. + +"Your government shall hear about this," sputtered the professor +angrily. "It will not countenance such a high-handed proceeding. We +are not at war with your country. You have no right under the law of +nations, or any other law, to interfere with us." + +"You will oblige me by stepping into the cabin of my dirigible," was +the response in an even tone. The others had paid not the slightest +attention to the professor's harangue. + +"And if we refuse?" demanded the professor. + +"If you refuse you will be shot, and do not, I beg, make the mistake +of thinking that I don't mean what I say." + +There was nothing to do, under the circumstances, but to obey and, +with sinking hearts, they advanced in the direction of the big +air-ship. With great courtesy the interloper ushered them inside. + +They found a warm and comfortable interior, well cushioned and even +luxurious in its appointments. Once they were well inside the little +man, with a bow, remarked: + +"I now beg to be excused. You will find books and the professor +something to smoke if he wishes it. Don't make any attempt to escape +as I should regret to be compelled to have any of you shot." + +He was gone. Closing the door behind him with a "click," that told the +boys that they were locked in. + +"Prisoners," exclaimed Billy. + +"That's it, and just as we have accomplished our wish," said Frank +bitterly; "it's too bad." + +"Well, it can't be helped," said the professor, "let's look about and +see if there is not some way we can get out if an opportunity presents +itself." + +They approached a window and through it could see the new arrivals +examining the edge of the gulf and peeping down at the Viking ship. +But as soon as they opened the casement and peered out a man with a +rifle appeared, as if from out of the earth, and sharply told them to +get inside. + +"Well, we've got to spend the time somehow, we might as well examine +the ship," said the professor closing the window. + +Somewhat cheered by his philosophical manner, the boys followed him as +he led the way from the main cabin through a steel door which they +found led into the engine-room. The engines were cut off, but a small +motor was operating a dynamo with a familiar buzzing sound. This was +the sound the boys had heard when the ship passed above them at night. + +"What have they got the dynamo going for?" demanded Harry. + +"I don't know. To warm the ship by electric current, or something I +suppose," said Frank listlessly. "I wonder where the engineer is? The +ship seems deserted." + +"I guess he's out with the rest looking over OUR treasure," said the +professor bitterly. + +"Ours no longer,--might is right, you know," quoted Harry miserably. + +Frank had been examining the machinery with some care. Even as a +prisoner he felt some interest in the completeness of the engine room +of the Japanese dirigible. He bent over her twin fifty-horse-power +motors with admiring appreciation and examined the other machinery +with intense interest. + +The purring dynamo next came in for his attention and he was puzzling +over the utility of several wires that led from it through the engine +room roof when a sudden thought flashed into his mind. With a cry of +triumph he bent over a small lever marked "accelerator," beside which +was a small gauge. He rapidly adjusted the gauge, so that it would not +register any more than the pressure it recorded at that moment and +then shoved the lever over to its furthest extent. + +"Whatever are you doing?" demanded Harry, much mystified at these +actions, at the conclusion of which he had strolled up. + +"You know that the gas in the bag of this dirigible is heated by +electric radiators in order to avoid condensation of the gas?" was the +seemingly incoherent reply. + +"Yes," was the astonished answer, "but what has that--?" + +"Hold on a minute," cried Frank, raising his hand, "and that gas when +expanded by heat soon becomes too buoyant for its container, and will, +if allowed to continue expanding, burst its confines." + +Harry nodded his head. + +"Well, then," Frank went on, "that's what's going to happen on this +ship." + +"Whatever do you mean? I suppose I'm dense, but I don't see yet." + +"I mean," said Frank, "that I've fixed the gas-heating radiators so +that in a few hours the bag above our head will be ripped into tatters +by a gas explosion. The resistance coils are now heating and expanding +the gas at a rate of ten times above the normal and the gauge I have +adjusted so that an inspection of it will show nothing to be the +matter." + +"But what good will that do us?" urged Harry. + +"It may save our lives. In any event the Viking treasure will never be +taken from here by another nation." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE FATE OF THE DIRIGIBLE. + + +"Have you any idea what time the explosion will take place?" asked +Harry, anxiously, almost dumbfounded by the other's cool manner. + +"Soon after dark has fallen. Don't be scared, it won't hurt us; at +least I think not, but in the confusion that is certain to follow we +must make a dash for the Golden Eagle." + +"It's a desperate chance." + +"We are in a desperate fix," was the brief reply. + +An hour later something occurred which caused Frank, who had in the +meantime communicated his plan to the others, considerable anxiety. +The despoilers of the adventurers' treasure hoard returned to the ship +laden down with bar gold and ivory and, from what the captain was +saying to his minor officers, it seemed, though he spoke in a low +tone, that it was planned to sail right off back to the camp of the +men the boys had now come justifiably to regard as their enemies. + +"If they do that, we are lost," said Frank, after he had whispered his +fears to Harry. + +"You mean they will discover the trick we have played on them?" + +"No, I mean that the explosion will come off in midair and we shall +all be dashed to death together." + +"Phew!--Would it not be better to tell them what we have done and take +our chances?" + +"If the worst comes to the worst I shall do that. It would be +imperiling our lives uselessly to go aloft with the overheated gas +that is now in the bag." + +But the "worst did not come to the worst." The little captain who had +paid small or no attention to his prisoners, evidently realizing that +they could not get away, didn't like the look of the weather, it +seemed, and made frequent consultations of the barometer with his +fellows. The glass was falling fast and there was evidently a blizzard +or sharp storm of some kind approaching. + +At this time a fresh fear crossed Frank's mind. What if the Japs had +destroyed the Golden Eagle? So far as he could judge they had not +molested her, evidently not thinking it worth while to waste time they +judged better spent on looting the Viking ship of its treasure. But if +they had disabled her, the boy knew that in the event of his +companions escaping they faced an alternative between death by +freezing and starvation, or being shot down by the rifles of their +captors. However, Frank resolved to put such gloomy speculations out +of his mind. It was useless to worry. Things, if they were as he half +feared, would not mend for thinking about them. + +Supper, a well-cooked, well-served meal, was eaten under this painful +strain. The boys and the professor put the best countenance they could +on things, considering that their minds were riveted on the great +gasbag above them which even now, as they knew, was swollen almost to +bursting point with its superheated gases. + +"It is too bad that the weather threatens so," remarked their captor, +who was politeness itself, to his prisoners; "otherwise we should now +be in the air on our way back to my camp. In three more trips we shall +be able, however, to carry off the rest of the treasure. We were well +repaid for keeping our eyes on you." + +The boys answered something, they hardly knew what. Frank in his +nervousness looked at his watch. The strain was becoming painful. At +last, to their intense relief, they rose from supper and the little +officer shut himself in his own cabin. Outside, the boys could hear +the feet of the two armed sentries crunching on the snow. + +"The outrush of gas will stupefy them," whispered Frank, "we shall +have nothing to fear from them after the explosion takes place." + +"When is it due?" gasped Billy, with a ghastly attempt at a smile. + +"At any moment now. It is impossible to calculate the exact time. But +within half an hour we should know our fate." + +Silently the boys and the professor waited, although the scientist was +so nervous that he strode up and down the cabin floor. + +Suddenly the silence was shattered by a loud shout from the engine +room. + +"The gas! The gas! We are--" + +The sentence was never finished. + +There was a sudden convulsion of the entire fabric of the big +dirigible--as if a giant hand from without were shaking her like a +puppy shakes a rat. + +She seemed to lift from the ground in a convulsive leap and settled +back with a crash that smashed every pane of glass and split her stout +sides. + +At the same instant, there was an ear-splitting roar as if a boiler +had exploded and a flash of ruddy flame. + +The exploding gas had caught fire--possibly from a spark from the +electric radiators as the bag and their supporting framework was +ripped apart by the explosion. + +Dazed and half stunned, the boys groped about in total darkness; for +the explosion had extinguished every light on the ship. + +"Boys, where are you?" + +It was Frank calling. + +"Great heavens, what a sensation!" gasped the professor, half choked +by the powerful fumes of the hydrogen gas which filled the air. + +Rapidly the others answered to Frank and groped through the darkness +toward his voice. Before them was the shattered side of the cabin. +Through the gap was the sky. They could see the bright antarctic stars +gleaming. Beyond the rent they knew lay freedom, provided the +marauders had not molested their aeroplane. + +It was the work of a second to stagger through the opening made by the +explosion and gain the fresh air, which they inhaled in great +mouthfuls. Then began the dash for the aeroplane. + +In the wild confusion that reigned following the explosion, their +absence, so far as they could perceive, had not been noticed. As Frank +had guessed, the two sentries were knocked senseless by the explosion +and the fugitives stumbled over their unconscious figures recumbent on +the snow. + +Gasping and staggering they plunged on in the direction they knew the +Golden Eagle lay. It was not more than a mile distant, but before they +reached their goal the professor gave out and the boys had to +half-drag, half-carry him over the frozen surface. They were bitterly +cold, too, and the thought of the blankets and warm clothing aboard +the Golden Eagle lent them additional strength--as much so, in fact, +as the peril that lay behind them. + +"Can you see her?" gasped Harry, after about fifteen minutes of this +heart-breaking work. + +"Yes. I think so at least. There seems to be a dark object on the snow +ahead. If only they have not molested her," panted Frank. + +"If they have, it's all up," exclaimed Billy Barnes. At the same +moment Harry breathed: + +"Hark!" + +Borne over the frozen ground they could hear shouts. + +"They have discovered our escape!" exclaimed Frank, "it's a race for +life now." + +[Illustration: "It's a Race for Life Now."] + +His words threw fresh determination into all. Even the professor made +a desperate struggle. A few more paces and there was no doubt that the +dark object ahead was the Golden Eagle. Only one anxiety now remained. +Was she unharmed? + +Bang! + +It was a shot from the men of the dirigible. + +"They are firing after us," exclaimed Billy. + +"They can fire all they want to if they come as wide of the mark as +that," said Frank; "they are shooting at random to scare us." + +A few seconds later they gained the side of the Golden Eagle and, worn +and harried as they were, they could not forbear setting up a cheer as +they found that the aeroplane was in perfect shape. + +Hastily they cranked the Golden Eagle motor up, blue flame and sharp +reports bursting from her exhausts as they did so. The engine was +working perfectly,--every cylinder taking up its work as the sparks +began to occur rhythmically. + +"We've put the fat in the fire now," exclaimed Frank, as he took his +seat at the steering wheel. "If they could not locate us before, the +noise of the exhaust and the blue flame will betray us to them." + +"Well, it can't be helped," shouted Harry, above the roar of the +engine. "We've got to get every ounce of power out of her to-night." + +The other lad nodded and as he did so a sound like a bee in flight +fell on the adventurers' ears--a bullet. + +It was followed by several reports. + +"They've got the range," cried Harry. + +"They won't have it long," said his brother as he threw in the clutch +and rapidly the Golden Eagle sped forward, crashing faster and faster +over the frozen surface as her young driver worked the engine up to +full speed. + +In a few seconds more they felt the aeroplane begin to lift and soar +into the night air. + +They were exploding skyward to safety, while far below them their +baffled captors were firing aimlessly in the hope of a random shot +shattering some vital part of the aeroplane. + +But no such thing happened and as the boys sped toward the west, bound +for Camp Hazzard, they sent out a wireless message. Again and again +they tried but without success. They could not raise an answer. + +"Of course we can't raise them. They are on the march!" shouted Frank +suddenly. + +"On the motor-sledge bound for the Viking ship," cried Billy, "they +should be there to-morrow." + +"Say, fellows, we have done it now," cried Frank, with a sudden +twinge. + +"What's the matter?" inquired the professor. + +"Why, they will arrive there to find the others in possession and no +sign of us. They'll think we ran away without even putting up a +fight." + +"We'll have to try to pick them up in the daylight," was the reply; +"we know about the route along which they'll drive and from this +altitude we can't miss them if they are anywhere within miles of us." + +The boys were then at a height of about 1,500 feet. The air was bitter +chill and warm wraps and furs had been donned long before. Suddenly +the aeroplane gave a sickening sidewise dip and seemed about to +capsize. Frank caught and righted her just in time. The gyroscopic +balance whizzed furiously. + +A curious moaning sound became perceptible in the rigging and a wind, +which they had not noticed before, lashed their faces with a stinging +sensation. The recollection of the falling barometer flashed across +Frank's mind. They were in for a storm. + +The boy gazed at the compass beneath its binnacle light. As he did so +he gave a gasp. + +"We are way off our course," he cried, "the wind is out of the north +and it is blowing us due south." + +"Due south!" exclaimed Harry. + +"That's it. And the worst of it is I can do nothing. With this load on +board I don't dare try to buck the wind and it's freshening every +minute." + +"But if we are being blown due south from here, where on earth will we +fetch up?" cried Billy, in dismayed tones. + +They all looked blank as they awaited the reply. Frank glanced at his +watch and then at the compass and made a rapid mental calculation. + +"At the rate we are going we should be over the South Pole, roughly +speaking, at about midnight," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC. + + +The professor was the first to break the tense silence that followed +Frank's words. + +"Into the heart of the Antarctic," he breathed. + +There seemed to be something in the words that threw a spell of awed +silence over them all. Little was said as on and on through the polar +night the aeroplane drove,--the great wind of the roof of the world +harassing her savagely, viciously,--as if it resented her intrusion +into the long hidden arcana of the polar Plateau. + +It grew so bitter cold that the chill ate even through their furs and +air-proofed clothing. The canvas curtains were hoisted for a short +distance to keep off the freezing gale. They dared not set them fully +for fear they might act as sails and drive the ship before the gale so +fast that all control would be lost. + +At ten o'clock Frank, his hands frozen almost rigid, surrendered the +wheel to Harry. + +It now began to snow. Not a heavy snowfall but a sort of frozen flurry +more like hail in its texture. Frank glanced at his watch. + +Eleven o'clock. + +"How's she headed?" shouted Harry, above the song of the polar gale. + +"Due south," was the short reply as the other boy bent over the +compass. + +"Well, wherever we are going, we are bound for the pole, there's some +grim satisfaction in that," remarked Frank. + +On and on through the cold they drove. The snow had stopped now and +suddenly Billy called attention to a strange phenomenon in the +southern sky. + +It became lit with prismatic colors like a huge curtain, gorgeously +illuminated in its ample folds by the rays of myriad colored +searchlights. + +"Whatever is it?" gasped Billy in an awed tone as the mystic lights +glowed and danced in almost blinding radiance and cast strange colored +lights about the laboring aeroplane. + +"The Aurora Australis," said the professor in an almost equally +subdued voice, "the most beautiful of all the polar sky displays." + +"The Aurora Australis," cried Frank, "then we are near the pole +indeed." + +Half past eleven. + +The lights in the sky began to dim and soon the aeroplane was driving +on through solid blackness. The suspense was cruel. Not one of the +adventurers had any idea of the conditions they were going to meet. A +nameless dread oppressed all. + +Suddenly Frank, after a prolonged scrutiny of the compass, voiced what +was becoming a general fear. + +"What if we are being drawn by magnetic force toward the pole?" + +"And be dashed to destruction as we reach it?" the professor finished +for him. + +Brave as they were, the adventurers gave a shudder that was not born +of the gnawing cold as the possibility occurred to them. Frank glanced +at the barograph. Fifteen hundred feet. They were then holding their +own in altitude. This was a cheering sign. + +Ten minutes to twelve. + +The strange lights began to reappear. Glowing in fantastic forms they +seemed alive with lambent fire. As the boys gazed at each other they +could see that their features were tinted with the weird fires of the +polar sky. + +Twelve o'clock. + +Frank gave a hurried dash toward the compass and drew back with a +shout. + +"Look," he shouted, "we are within the polar influence." + +The needle of the instrument was spinning round and round at an almost +perpendicular angle in the binnacle with tremendous velocity. The +pointer tore round its points like the hands of a crazy clock. + +"What does it mean?" quavered Harry. + +"The South Pole, or as near to it as we are ever likely to get," +exclaimed Frank, peering over the side. + +Far below illuminated fantastically by the lights of the dancing, +flickering aurora he could see a vast level plain of snow stretching, +so it seemed, to infinity. There was no open sea. No strange land. +Nothing but a vast plateau of silent snow. + +"Fire your revolvers, boys," shouted Frank, as, suiting the action to +the word, he drew from his holster his magazine weapon and saluted the +silent skies. + +"The South Pole--Hurrah!" + +It was a quavering cry, but the first human sound that had ever broken +the peace of the mysterious solitudes above which they were winging. + +Suddenly in the midst of the "celebration" the aeroplane was violently +twisted about. Every bolt and stay in her creaked and strained under +the stress, but so well and truly had she been built that nothing +started despite Frank's fears that the voyage to the pole was to end +right there in disaster. + +The adventurers were thrown about violently. All, that is, but Frank, +who had now resumed the wheel and steadied himself with it. As they +scrambled to their feet Billy chattered: + +"Whatever happened--did a cyclone strike us?" + +For answer Frank bent over the compass and gave a puzzled cry. + +"I don't understand this," he exclaimed. + +"Don't understand what?" asked Harry, coming to his side. + +"Why look here--what do you make of that?" + +"The needle has steadied and is pointing north!" cried Harry, as he +gazed at the compass. + +"North," echoed the professor. + +"There's no question about it," rejoined Frank, knitting his brows. + +"What is your explanation of this sudden reversal of the wind?" asked +the professor. + +"I know no more than you," replied the puzzled young aviator, "the +only reason I can advance is that at the polar cap some strange +influences rule the wind currents and that we are caught in a polar +eddy, as it were." + +"If it holds we are saved," cried the professor, who had begun to fear +that they might never be able to emerge from their newly discovered +region. + +Hold it did and daybreak found the aeroplane above the same +illimitable expanse of snow that marked the pole, but several miles to +the north. + +"I'm going down to take an observation," said Frank, suddenly, "and +also, has it occurred to you fellows that we haven't eaten a bite +since last night?" + +"Jiminy crickets," exclaimed Billy Barnes, his natural flow of spirits +now restored, "that's so. I'm hungry enough to eat even a fur-bearing +pollywog, if there's one around here." + +"Boys," began the professor solemnly as Billy concluded, "I have a +confession to make." + +"A confession?" cried Harry, "what about?" + +"Why for some time I have entertained a doubt in my mind and that +doubt has now crystallized to a certainty. I don't believe there is +such a creature as the fur-bearing pollywog." + +"Then Professor Tapper is wrong?" asked Harry, amazed at the +scientist's tone. + +"I am convinced he is. I shall expose him when we return--if we ever +do," declared the scientist. + +A few minutes later they landed on the firm snow and soon a hearty +meal of hot canned mutton, vegetables, soup, and even a can of plum +pudding, warmed on their stove and washed down with boiling tea, was +being disposed of. + +"And now," said Frank, as he absorbed the last morsels on his plate, +"let's see whereabouts on the ridgepole of the earth we have lighted." + +The boy's observation showed that they were at a point some two +hundred miles to the southwest of the spot in which they had left the +crippled dirigible and the Viking ship. The wind had dropped, however, +and conditions were favorable for making a fast flight to the place +they were now all impatient to reach Frank, after a few minutes' +figuring, announced that dusk ought to find them at the Viking ship +and, if all went well, in communication with their friends. + +No time was lost in replenishing the gasolene tank from the reserve +"drums," and carefully inspecting the engine and then a long farewell +was bade to the Polar plateau. Without a stop the Golden Eagle winged +steadily toward the northeast, and as the wonderful polar sunset was +beginning to paint the western sky they made out the black form of the +disabled dirigible on the snow barrens not far from the Viking ship's +gully. + +As they gazed they broke into a cheer, for advancing toward the other +dark object at a rapid rate was another blot on the white expanse, +which a moment's scrutiny through the glasses showed them was the +motor-sledge packed with men on whose rifles the setting sun glinted +brightly. The Golden Eagle ten minutes later swooped to earth at a +spot not twenty yards from her original landing place and a few +moments later the boys were shaking hands and executing a sort of war +dance about Captain Barrington and Captain Hazzard, while Ben Stubbs +was imploring some one to "shiver his timbers" or "carry away his +top-sails" or "keel-haul him" or something to relieve his feelings. + +Eagerly the officers pressed for details of the polar discovery, but +Frank, after a rapid sketching of conditions as they had observed them +at the world's southern axis, went on to describe the events that had +led up to their wild flight and urged immediate negotiations with the +rival explorers. Both leaders agreed to advance at once, convinced +that their force was sufficiently formidable to overcome the Japs. + +"Steady, men, and be ready for trouble but make no hostile move till +you get the word," warned Captain Hazzard, as the somewhat formidable +looking party advanced on the stricken dirigible. At first no sign of +life was visible about her, but as they neared the ship Frank saw that +the wrecked cabin had been patched up with canvas, and parts of the +balloon bag that had not burned, till it formed a fairly snug tent. +They were within a hundred paces of it before anyone appeared to have +taken any notice of their arrival and then the little officer, who had +directed the capture of the adventurers, appeared. + +As Billy said afterward, he "never turned a hair," over the conditions +that confronted him. He was a beaten man and knew it; but his manner +was perfectly suave and calm. + +"Good evening, gentlemen," was all he said, with a wave of his hand +toward the Viking ship and the pile of ivory and gold that still lay +on the edge of the gully, "to the victors belong the spoils and you +are without doubt the victors." + +He gazed at the array of armed men that backed up the two officers and +the boys. + +"We have come to take formal possession in the name of the United +States, of the remains of the Viking ship," said Captain Hazzard, +somewhat coldly, for, after what he had heard from the boys, he felt +in no way amiably disposed toward the smiling, suave, little man. + +"If you have pen and ink and paper in your cabin we will draw up a +formal agreement which will hold good in an international court," +supplemented Captain Barrington. + +A flash of resentment passed across the other's face but it was gone +in an instant. + +"Certainly, sir, if you wish it," he said, "but, if it had not been +for those boys we should by this time have been far away." + +"I do not doubt it," said Captain Barrington, dryly, "and, now, if you +please, we will draw up and sign the paper." + +Ten minutes later, with the boys' signatures on it as witnesses, the +important document was drawn up and sealed with a bit of wax that +Captain Hazzard had in his pocket writing-set. And so ended the +episode of the attempt to seize the treasure of the Viking ship. + +Now only remains to be told the manner of its transporting to the +Southern Cross and the last preparations before bidding farewell to +the inhospitable land in which they had spent so much time. First, +however, the castaways of the dirigible were given transportation on +the motor-sledge to their ship which, to the astonishment of all the +American party, they found was snugly quartered in a deep gulf, not +more than twenty miles to the westward of the berth of the Southern +Cross. This accounted for the light and the buzzing of the air-ship +being heard so plainly by the Southern Crucians. The defeated Japs +sailed at once for the north, departing as silently as they had +arrived. + +It took many trips of the motor-sledge before the last load of the +Viking ship's strange cargo was snugly stored in the hold of the +Southern Cross. At Captain Hazzard's command the dead Viking was +buried with military honors and his tomb still stands in the "White +silence." Then came the dismantling of the Golden Eagle and the +packing of the aeroplane in its big boxes. + +"Like putting it in a coffin," grunted Billy, as he watched the last +cover being screwed on. + +All the time this work was going forward the nights and days were +disturbed with mighty reports like those of a heavy gun. + +The ice was breaking up. + +The frozen sea was beginning to be instinct with life. The time for +the release of the Southern Cross was close at hand. + +At last the tedious period of waiting passed and one night with a +mighty crash the ice "cradle" in which the Southern Cross rested +parted from the ice-field and the ship floated free. The engineers' +force had been busy for a week and in the engine-room all was ready +for the start north, but another tedious wait occurred while they +waited for the field-ice to commence its weary annual drift. + +At last, one morning in early December, Captain Barrington and Captain +Hazzard gave the magic order: + +"Weigh anchor!" + +"Homeward bound!" shouted Ben Stubbs, racing forward like a boy. + +A week later, as the Southern Cross was ploughing steadily northward, +a dark cloud of smoke appeared on the horizon. It was not made out +positively for the relief ship Brutus till an hour had passed and then +the rapid-fire gun crackled and the remainder of the daylight rockets +were shot off in joyous celebration. + +In the midst of the uproar Billy Barnes appeared with a broom. + +"Whatever are you going to do with that?" demanded Captain Hazzard, +with a smile, as the lad, his eyes shining with eagerness, approached. + +"Please, Captain Hazzard, have it run up to the main-mast head," +beseeched Billy. + +"Have halliards reeved and run it up, Hazzard," said Captain +Barrington, who came up at this moment, "the lads have certainly made +a clean sweep." + +So it came about that a strange emblem that much puzzled the captain +of the Brutus was run up to the main-mast head as the two ships drew +together. + +"That's the Boy Aviators' standard," said Billy, proudly surveying it. +"We win." + +Shortly afterward a boat from the Brutus came alongside with the mail. +"Letters from home," what magic there is in these words to adventurers +who have long sojourned in the solitary places of the earth! Eagerly +the boys seized theirs and bore them off to quiet corners of the deck. + +"Hurrah," cried Billy, after he had skimmed through his epistles. "I'm +commissioned to write up the trip for two newspapers and a magazine. +How's your news, boys, good?" + +The boys looked up from their pile of correspondence. + +"I'm afraid we're going to have a regular reception when we get home," +said Frank rather apprehensively. + +"Hurray! Brass-bands--speeches--red-fire and big-talk," cried Billy. + +"None of that for us," said Harry, "I guess we'll retire to the +country for a while, till it blows over." + +But they did not escape, for on the arrival of the Polar ships in New +York the boys and the commanders of the expedition were seized on and +lionized till newer idols caught the popular taste. Then, and not till +then, were they allowed to settle down in peace and quiet to tabulate +the important scientific results of the expedition. + +As for the Professor, what he wrote about Professor Tapper--a screed +by the way that nearly caused a mortal combat between the two +savants--may be read in his massive volume entitled "The Confutation +of the Tapper Theory of a South Polar Fur-Bearing Pollywog, by +Professor Simeon Sandburr." It weighs twelve pounds, and can be found +in any large library. + + + + +CONCLUSION. + + +And here, although the author would dearly like to detail their +further adventures, we must bid the Boy Aviators "Farewell." Those who +have followed this series know, however, that the lads were not likely +to remain long inactive without seeking further aerial adventures. +Whether the tale of these will ever be set down cannot at this time be +forecast. The Chester boys adventures have been recorded, not as the +deeds of paragons or phenomenons, but as examples of what pluck, energy, +and a mixture of brains, can accomplish,--and with this valedictory we +will once more bid "God speed" to "The Boy Aviators." + + +THE END. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Aviators' Polar +Dash +Or +Facing Death in the Antarctic, by Captain Wilbur Lawton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH *** + +This file should be named tbapd10.txt or tbapd10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, tbapd11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, tbapd10a.txt + +Produced by Paul Hollander, Juliet Sutherland, Ben Byer, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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