"As I stated before, I don't want to say too much about it yet, for if I do, I'll have all sorts of curiosity seekers at my heels. If some folks knew what I had in mind to do, they'd be crazy to be taken along."

"Well, I presume I am one of the crazy ones," returned Professor Jeffer.

"With you, Professor, it is different. You have been to the far north, and know what to expect,--and besides, you are learned, and your knowledge might prove valuable."

"Ah! then you will agree that I shall go?" demanded the scientist, eagerly.

"That depends. I have not told you all yet. I am going to the far north to hunt, but I am likewise going for something else--something of greater importance."

"And that is?" asked the professor, while the boys listened in wonder.

"I am going to try to reach the North Pole."

CHAPTER IX

SOMETHING ABOUT THE NORTH POLE

It was with much amazement that Andy and Chet, as well as Professor Upham Jeffer, listened to the words of Barwell Dawson.

"Going to try to reach the North Pole!" repeated Andy.

"Yes."

"It's never been done--at least, not by anybody who came back alive,"

said Chet.

"A grand project, nevertheless," were Professor Jeffer's words. "A truly grand project. But have you counted the cost?--I do not mean in money. It may cost you your life."

"I shall be as careful in my plans as possible," answered Barwell Dawson. His eyes lit up, and he arose to his feet. "I don't mind telling you that to reach the North Pole has been my ambition ever since I first went hunting in the Arctic regions."

"It has been the dream of many men," said Professor Jeffer. "I once had the dream myself--I presume all those who go to the north have it."

"It's a good long journey from Maine," said Andy.

"How do you expect to get there?" asked Chet. "You can't take a ship that far, no matter how strongly she is built."

"I shall do as the majority of North Pole explorers do," was Barwell Dawson's answer. "I shall sail as far north as the ship will go, then winter in the ice, and as soon as summer comes again, make a dash over the ice for the Pole with dogs, sledges, and Esquimaux."

"It will a.s.suredly be a grand trip," said Professor Jeffer. "I envy you."

"You would like to go with me?"

"Very much, sir. I have absolutely nothing to keep me here, being alone in the world."

"Then, perhaps, it can be arranged."

"I have here some books and maps relating to Polar discoveries,"

continued the professor. "Perhaps you won't mind pointing out on the maps what you hope to do."

He brought from the bookcase several books and maps, and placed them on the table. The boys, who were sitting on the floor near the open fireplace, took them down and gazed at them with interest. Here was something that was surely new and novel.

"I have a larger map in my bedroom," went on Professor Jeffer. "I'll get that."

While he was gone, the two boys and Mr. Dawson pored over the books and maps, and the hunter mentioned a place on one of the maps where he had once gone hunting.

"Here is the coast of Greenland," he said, pointing it out. "I shall take my vessel up Baffin Bay as far as Cape York, and possibly to Etah,--and maybe further, if the ice will permit. There we shall have to spend the long Arctic night."

"How long?" asked Andy.

"From October to February."

"What, as long as that?" cried Chet. "Won't there be any sun at all during that time?"

"No sunshine, but I think we can look for good moonlight, especially when the moon is full."

"And how long is it going to take to get to the North Pole from Etah?"

asked Andy. "That is, what do you calculate?"

"I haven't any idea, excepting that I shall try to carry enough food to last for the entire summer. And I shall also do all the hunting possible, so long as there is any game in sight. I do not expect to find any in the vicinity of the Pole."

"And what do you think is at the Pole?" questioned Chet.

"Ice and snow princ.i.p.ally," answered Barwell Dawson, smiling. "I do not look for anything out of the ordinary. It is only the honor of having been able to reach that point."

"And a great honor it will be," said Professor Jeffer, as he re-entered with another map.

"I suppose a whole lot of men have tried to reach the Pole," said Chet.

"Yes, explorers from all over Europe as well as from America have tried their hand at it," answered Barwell Dawson.

"One of the books I have here tells of the various American expeditions," said Professor Jeffer, thumbing over a volume rapidly.

"Ah, here it is. You ought to read it--it is very interesting."

"I have read over the accounts many times,--trying to map out a route of my own," said Barwell Dawson.

Then he told the boys of what had been done by various explorers to lift the mystery of the frozen north.

"One of the well-known Arctic explorers was Sir John Franklin, an Englishman," said he. "Franklin was lost somewhere up north, and when he did not return, various expeditions were sent out for his relief. The first from America was that commanded by Lieutenant E. J. De Haven, of the United States Navy, in 1851. De Haven reached 78 N. He was followed, three years later, by Elisha Kent Kane, who sailed north by way of Smith Sound, and gained 80 35' N. lat."

"How far was that from the Pole?" questioned Chet, whose knowledge of degrees and lat.i.tude was rather hazy.

"The highest degree is ninety, which is at the Pole," explained the professor. "Roughly speaking, a degree of lat.i.tude is equal to seventy miles."

"Then Kane was still nearly seven hundred miles from the Pole."