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. 

CHAPTERI. The Polar ShipII. A Mysterious RobberyIII. Off for the South PoleIV. A Message from the AirV. A Tragedy of the SkiesVI. A Strange CollisionVII. Adrift on a Floating IslandVIII. Caught in the FlamesIX. A Queer AccidentX. The Professor is KidnappedXI. A Battle in the AirXII. AdriftXIII. The Ship of Olaf the VikingXIV. Marooned on an Ice FloeXV. Dynamiting the ReefXVI. A Polar StormXVII. The Great BarrierXVIII. The Professor Takes a Cold BathXIX. Facing the Polar NightXX. A Mysterious LightXXI. A Penguin HuntXXII. The Flaming MountainXXIII. Adrift Above the SnowsXXIV. Swallowed by a CrevasseXXV. The Viking's ShipXXVI. Caught in a TrapXXVII. The Fate of the DirigibleXXVIII. 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 thepole, yo, ho! heave ho!"

"Is that you, Harry?" asked a lad of about seventeen, without lookingup from some curious-looking frames and apparatus over which he wasworking in the garage workshop back of his New York home on MadisonAvenue. 

"Ay! ay! my hearty, " responded his brother, giving his trousers anautical hitch; "you seem to have forgotten that to-day is the day weare to see the polar ship. "

"Not likely, " exclaimed Frank Chester, flinging down his wrench andpassing 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 theGolden 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 ofthings. "

Arm in arm the two boys left the garage on the upper floor of whichthey had fitted up their aeronautical workshop. There the GoldenEagle, their big twin-screw aeroplane, had been planned and partiallybuilt, and here, too, they were now working on a motor-sledge for theexpedition which now occupied most of their waking--andsleeping--thoughts. 

The Erie Basin is an enclosed body of water which forms at once arepair shop and a graveyard for every conceivable variety of vessel, steam and sail, and is not the warmest place in the world on a chillday in late November, yet to the two lads, as they hurried along anarrow string-piece in the direction of a big three-masted steamer, which lay at a small pier projecting in an L-shaped formation, fromthe main wharf, the bitter blasts that swept round warehouse cornersappeared to be of not the slightest consequence--at least to judge bytheir 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, tobe as clean swept as a drawing-room, would you?"

As Harry Chester had said, the wharf was "a muss. " Everywhere werecases and barrels all stenciled "Ship Southern Cross, U. S. SouthPolar Expedition. " As fast as a gang of stevedores, their laboringbodies steaming in the sharp air, could handle the muddle, thenumerous cases and crates were hauled aboard the vessel we havenoticed and lowered into her capacious holds by a rattling, fussycargo winch. The shouts of the freight handlers and the sharp shrieksof the whistle of the boss stevedore, as he started or stopped thehoisting engine, all combined to form a picture as confused as couldwell be imagined, and yet one which was in reality merely an orderlyloading of a ship of whose existence, much less her destination, fewwere aware. 

As the readers of The Boy Aviators in Record Flight; or, The RivalAeroplane, will recall, the Chester boys, in their overland trip forthe big newspaper prize, encountered Captain Robert Hazzard, a youngarmy officer in pursuit of a band of renegade Indians. On thatoccasion he displayed much interest in the aeroplane in which theywere voyaging over plains, mountains and rivers on their remarkabletrip. They in turn were equally absorbed in what he had to tell themabout his hopes of being selected for the post of commander of theexpedition to the South Pole, which the government was thenconsidering fitting out for the purpose of obtaining meteorologicaland geographical data. The actual attainment of the pole was, ofcourse, the main object of the dash southward, but the expedition waslikewise to do all in its power to add to the slender stock of theworld's knowledge concerning the great silences south of the 80thparallel. About a month before this story opens the young captain hadrealized his wish and the Southern Cross--formerly a stanchbark-rigged whaler--had been purchased for uses of the expedition. 

Their friend had not forgotten the boys and their aeroplane and infact had lost no time in communicating with them, and a series ofconsultations and councils of war had ended in the boys being signedon as the aviators of the expedition. They also had had assigned totheir care the mechanical details of the equipment, including a motorsledge, which latter will be more fully described later. 

That the consent of the boys' parents to their long and hazardous triphad not been gained without a lot of coaxing and persuasion goeswithout saying. Mrs. Chester had held out till the last against whatshe termed "a hare-brained project, " but the boys with learneddiscourses on the inestimable benefits that would redound tohumanity's benefit from the discovery of the South Pole, had overborneeven her rather bewildered opposition, and the day before they stoodon the wharf in the Erie Basin, watching the Southern Cross swallowingher cargo, like a mighty sea monster demolishing a gigantic meal, theyhad received their duly signed and witnessed commissions as aviatorsto 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 thehail had proceeded. In the figure that had addressed them they had atfirst no little difficulty in recognizing Captain Hazzard. In grimyoveralls, with a battered woolen cap of the Tam o' Shanter variety onhis head, and his face liberally smudged with grime and dust, --for onthe opposite side of the Southern Cross three lighters were at workcoaling her, --a figure more unlike that of the usually trim and trigofficer could scarcely be imagined. 

The lads' confusion was only momentary, however, and ended in a heartylaugh as they nimbly ascended the narrow gangway and gained the deckby their friend's side. After a warm handshake, Frank exclaimedmerrily:

"I suppose we are now another part of the miscellaneous cargo, sir. Ifwe 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 thebreak in the poop, you'll find some more overalls, put them on andthen I'll set you both to work as tallyers. "

Harry looked blank at this. He had counted on rambling over the shipand examining her at his leisure. It seemed, however, that they wereto be allowed no time for skylarking. Frank, however, obeyed withalacrity. 

"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 takeorders 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, followedhis brother to the stern of the ship. 

Once on board there was no room to doubt that the Southern Cross hadonce been a whaler under the prosaic name of Eben A. Thayer. In factif there had been any indecision about the matter the strong smell ofoil and blubber which still clung to her, despite new coats of paintand a thorough cleaning, would have dispelled it. 

The engine-room, as is usual in vessels of the type of the convertedwhaler, was as far aft as it could be placed, and the boys noticedwith satisfaction as they entered the officers' quarters aft, that theradiators had been connected with the boilers and had warmed the placeup to a comfortable temperature. A Japanese steward showed them intoCaptain Hazzard's cabin, and they selected a suit of overalls eachfrom a higgledy-piggledy collection of oil-skins, rough pilot-clothsuits and all manner of headgear hanging on one of the cabinbulkheads. 

They had encased themselves in them, and were laughing at thewhimsical appearance they made in the clumsy garments, when thecaptain himself entered the cabin. 

"The stevedores have knocked off for a rest spell and a smoke and thelighters are emptied, " he announced, "so I might as well show you boysround a bit. Would you care to?"

Would they care to? Two hearty shouts of assent left the youngcommander no doubt on this score. 

The former Eben A. Thayer had been a beamy ship, and the livingquarters of her officers astern left nothing to be desired in the wayof 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, werethe four cabins to be occupied by Captain Hazzard, the chief engineer, a middle-aged Scotchman named Gavin MacKenzie, Professor SimeonSandburr, the scientist of the expedition, and the surgeon, a DoctorWatson 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 secondengineer and the mate were berthed next to them. Then came the cabinof Captain Pent Barrington, the navigating officer of the ship, andhis first mate, a New Englander, as dry as salt cod, named DariusGreen. The fourth stateroom was empty. The steward bunked forward in alittle cabin rigged up in the same deck-house as the galley whichsnuggled up to the foot of the foremast. 

Summing up what the boys saw as they followed their conductor over theship they found her to be a three-masted, bark-rigged vessel with acro' nest, like a small barrel, perched atop of her mainmast. Heralready large coal bunkers had been added to until she was enabled tocarry enough coal to give her a tremendous cruising radius. It was inorder to economize on fuel she was rigged for the carrying of sailwhen she encountered a good slant of wind. Her forecastle, originallythe dark, wet hole common to whalers, had been built up till it was acommodious chamber fitted with bunks at the sides and a swinging tablein the center, which could be hoisted up out of the way when not inuse. Like the officers' cabins, it was warmed by radiators fed fromthe 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 deckwas piled high with a strange miscellany of articles. There weresledges, bales of canvas, which on investigation proved to be tents, coils of rope, pick-axes, shovels, five portable houses in knock-downform, a couple of specially constructed whale boats, so made as toresist any ordinary pressure that might be brought to bear on them inthe polar drift, and nail-kegs and tool-chests everywhere. 

Peeping into the hold the boys saw that each side of it had been builtup with big partitions, something like the pigeon-holes in which boltsof cloth are stored in dry-goods shops--only much larger. Each ofthese spaces was labeled in plain letters with the nature of thestores to be placed there so that those in charge of the supplieswould have no difficulty in laying their hands at once on whateverhappened to be needed. Each space was provided with a swiveled bar ofstout timber which could be pulled across the front of the opening inheavy weather, and which prevented anything plunging out. 

Captain Hazzard explained that the heavy stores were stowed forwardand the provisions aft. A gallery ran between the shelves from stem tostern and provided ready access to any part of the holds. A system ofhot steam-pipes had been rigged in the holds so that in the antarctican equable temperature could be maintained. The great water tanks wereforward immediately below the forecastle. The inspection of theengines came last. The Southern Cross had been fitted with newwater-tube boilers--two of them--that steamed readily on small fuelconsumption. Her engine was triple expansion, especially installed, asthe boilers had been, to take the place of the antiquated machineryboasted 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 theirexpedition over the vessel, which was destined to be their home formany months. 

"Some day, " said Frank, "every vessel will be equipped with gasolinemotors and all this clumsy arrangement of boilers and complicatedpiping 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-soupbowls 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 ofwaste. 

"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 thatled 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 icehas a wonderful way with lads as cocksure as them twa. "

CHAPTER II. 

A MYSTERIOUS ROBBERY. 

Their inspection of the Southern Cross completed, the delighted boysaccompanied Captain Hazzard back to the main cabin, where he unfoldedbefore them a huge chart of the polar regions. 

The chart was traced over in many places with tiny red lines whichmade zig-zags and curves over the blankness of the region south of theeightieth parallel. 

"These lines mark the points reached by different explorers, "explained the captain. "See, here is Scott's furthest south, and herethe most recent advance into south polar regions, that of Sir ErnestShackleton. In my opinion Shackleton might have reached his goal if hehad used a motor sledge, capable of carrying heavy weights, and notplaced his sole dependence on ponies. "

The boys nodded; Frank had read the explorer's narrative and realizedthat what Captain Hazzard said was in all probability correct. 

"It remains for your expedition to carry the Stars and Stripes furtherto the southward yet, " exclaimed Frank, enthusiastically, as CaptainHazzard 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 LieutenantSaki is to set out from Yokahama for Wilkes Land. 

"They are to be towed by a man-of-war until they are in the polarregions so as to save the supply of coal on the small steamer they areusing, " went on the captain. "Everything has been conducted with theutmost secrecy and it is their intention to beat us there ifpossible--hence all this haste. "

"How did our government get wind of the fact that the Japs are gettingready another expedition?" inquired Frank, somewhat puzzled. 

"By means of our secret service men. I don't doubt that the Japanesesecret service men in this country have also notified their governmentof our expedition. England also is in the race but the Scottexpedition will not be ready for some time yet. "

"You think, then, that the Japs have secret agents keeping track ofus?" was Frank's next question. 

The captain's reply was cut short by a loud crash. They all started upat the interruption. So intent had they been in their conversationthat they had not noticed the Jap steward standing close behind themand his soft slippers had prevented them hearing his approach. Thecrash had been caused by a metal tray he had let drop. He now stoodwith as much vexation on his impassive countenance as it ever waspossible for it to betray. 

"What on earth are you doing, Oyama?" sharply questioned CaptainHazzard. 

"I was but about to inquire if the cap-it-an and the boys would nothave some refreshments, " rejoined the Jap. 

"Not now, we are busy, " replied Captain Hazzard, with what was for himsome show of irritation. "Be off to your pantry now. I will ring if Iwant you. "

With an obsequious bow the Jap withdrew; but if they could have seenhis face as he turned into his small pantry, a cubby-hole for dishesand glasses, they would have noticed that it bore a most singularexpression. 

"It seems curious that while we were talking of Jap secret service menthat your man should have been right behind us, " commented Frank. "Idon't know that I ought to ask such a question--but can you trusthim?"

The captain laughed. 

"Oh, implicitly, " he said easily, "Oyama was with me in thePhilippines, and has always been a model of all that a good servantshould be. "

Soon after this the conference broke up, the boys having promised tohave their aeroplane on board early the next day. Frank explained thatthe machine was all ready and in shape for shipping and all thatremained to do was to "knock it down, " encase it in its boxes and geta wagon to haul it to the pier. 

"Say, Harry, " said Frank earnestly, as the boys, having bade theirleave of Captain Hazzard, who remained on board owing to press ofbusiness on the ship, made their way along the maze of wharves andtoward a street car. 

"Say it, " responded Harry cheerfully, his spirits at the tip-top ofexcitement at the idea of an almost immediate start for the polarregions. 

"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 soeasily dismissed from my mind as all that. I'm pretty sure that he hadsome stronger reason than the one he gave for coming up behind us assilently as a cat while we were talking. "

"But Captain Hazzard says that he has had him for years. That he cantrust him implicitly, " protested Harry. 

"Just the same I can't get it out of my mind that there is somethingwrong about the fellow. I wish he hadn't seen that map and theproposed route of our expedition. "

"Oh bosh, you are thinking of what Captain Hazzard said about the Japsecret service. Our friend Oyama is much too thick to be a secretservice man. "

"He simply looks unimpressive, " rejoined Frank. "For that reason alonehe would make a good man for any such purpose. "

"Well, here comes a car, " interrupted Harry, "so let's board it andforget our Japanese friend. Depend upon it you'll find out that he isall O. K. Long before we sight an iceberg. "

"I hope so, I'm sure, " agreed Frank; but there was a troubled look onhis face as he spoke. 

However, not later than the next morning, as they were screwing up thelast of the big blue cases that contained the various parts of theGolden Eagle, Billy Barnes, the young reporter who had accompanied thetwo 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 theInsurgents, --Billy Barnes, the irrepressible, bounced into the garagewhich they used as a workshop, and which was situated in the rear oftheir house on Madison Avenue, with what proved to be important newsof the Jap. 

"Aha, my young Scotts and Shackletons, I behold you on the verge ofyour departure for the land of perpetual ice, polar bears andEsquimaux, " exclaimed the reporter, striking an attitude like thatassumed by Commander Peary in some of his pictures. 

"Hullo, Billy Barnes, " exclaimed both boys, continuing their work, asthey were pretty well used to the young reporter's unceremoniouscalls, "What brings you out so early?"

"Oh, a little story to cover in the Yorkville Court and I thought as Iwas up this way I'd drop off and pay my respects. Say, bring me back apolar bear skin, will you?"

"A polar bear skin?" laughed Frank, "why there aren't any polar bearsat the South Pole. "

"No polar bears, " repeated Billy lugubriously, "what's the good of apole without polar bears. Me for the frozen north then. I supposeyou'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 jokingtone, "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 aboutthat?" he demanded. 

"That's so, " assented Harry, abashed, "but I just wanted to show thisyoung person here that he can't treat our expedition with levity. "

"The ship of Olaf, eh?" mused the young reporter, "sounds like astory. Who was Olaf, if I may ask?"

"You may not ask, " was Frank's rejoinder. "As you know, Billy, we havebeen frank with you, of course under the pledge of secrecy which weknow you too well to dream of your breaking. You know we are bound forthe South Polar regions. You know also that the object of CaptainHazzard is to discover the pole, if possible; in any event to bringback scientific data of inestimable value; but there's one thing youdon't know and of which we ourselves know very little, and that is thething that Harry let slip. "

"All right, Frank, " said the young reporter, readily, "I won't say anymore 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 ofpins. A Jap who was arrested last night, more for safe-keeping thananything else, I guess. He was found near the consulate of his countryand appeared to be under the influence of some drug. Anyhow, hecouldn't look after himself, so a policeman took him to astation-house. Of course, there might be a story back of it and that'swhy 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 inthe workshop in order to keep out noise when anyone was conversingover the wire. 

"Wait a second, I'll see what that call is, " exclaimed Frank, boltinginto the booth. He was in it several seconds and when he came out hisface was flushed and he seemed excited. 

"What's the matter--trouble?" inquired Billy, noting his apparentperturbation. 

"Yes, it is trouble in a way, " assented Frank, "I guess we'll take arun 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 amysterious 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 withBilly's police card they soon made their way through a rail thatseparated the main body of the place from the space within which themagistrate was seated. On the way over Frank had related hisconversation over the wire with Captain Hazzard. It appeared thatOyama, the Jap, was missing and that several papers bearing on theobjects of the expedition which were, --except in a general way, --amystery to the boys themselves, had been stolen. 

Putting two and two together, Frank had made up his mind that the Japwhose case Billy had been assigned to investigate was none other thanOyama himself, and as they entered the space described above his eyeseagerly swept the row of prisoners seated in the "Pen. "

"I was sure of it, " the boy exclaimed as his eyes encountered anabject, huddled-up figure seated next a ragged, besotted-lookingtramp. 

"Sure of what?" demanded Harry. 

"Why, that Oyama was the man who stole the papers from the SouthernCross. "

"Well?"

"Well, there he is now. "

Frank indicated the abject object in the corner who at the same momentraised a yellow face and bloodshot eyes and gazed blearily at him. There was no sign of recognition in the face, however. In fact the Japappeared 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 wasregarding 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 amDr. McGuire, the prison surgeon, and I take a professional interest inhis case. The man is stupefied with opium or some drug that seems tohave numbed his senses. "

"Do you think it was self-administered?" asked the boy. 

"Oh, undoubtedly. Those fellows go on regular opium debauchessometimes. In this case perhaps it is very fortunate for some one thathe was imprudent enough to take such heavy doses of the drug that thepoliceman picked him up, for a lot of papers were found on him. Theyare meaningless to me, but perhaps you can throw some light on them. "

"The papers, we believe, are the property of Captain Hazzard, the headof the government's South Polar expedition, " exclaimed Frank, whosesuspicions had rapidly become convictions at the sight of the Jap. "Wehave no right to examine into their contents, but I suppose therewould be no harm in our looking at them to make sure. I can thennotify the Captain. "

"You are friends of his?"

"We are attached to the expedition, " replied Frank, "but I must askyou not to mention it, as I do not know but we are breaking ourpromise of secrecy even in such an important matter as this. "

"You can depend that I shall not violate your confidence, " promisedDr. McGuire. 

It was the matter of few moments only to secure the papers from thecourt clerk. There was quite a bundle of them, some of them sealed. Apparently the thief, elated over his success in stealing them, hadindulged himself in his beloved drug before he had even taken thetrouble to examine fully into his finds. One paper, however, had beenopened and seemed to be, as Frank could not help noticing, a sort ofdocument containing "General Orders" to the expedition. 

It consisted of several closely typewritten pages, and on the firstone Frank lit on the magic words, --"--AND CONCERNING THE SHIP OF OLAF, THE VIKING ROVER, YOU WILL PROCEED ACROSS THE BARRIER, USING ALLDISCRETION, AS A RIVAL NATION HAS ALSO SOME INKLING OF THE PRESENCE OFTHE LONG-LOST VESSEL AND, --"

Though the boy would have given a good deal to do so he felt that hecould not honorably read more. He resolutely, therefore, closed thepaper and restored it to its place in the mass of other documents. There was, of course, no question that the papers were the property ofCaptain Hazzard, and that the Jap had stolen them. The latter wastherefore sentenced to spend the next six weeks on Blackwell's Island, by the expiration of which time the Southern Cross would be well onher voyage toward The Great Barrier. 

As the boys left the court, having been told that Captain Hazzard'spapers would be sealed and restored him when he called for them andmade a formal demand for their delivery, they were deep in excitedtalk. 

"Well, if this doesn't beat all, " exclaimed Frank, "we always seem tobe getting snarled up with those chaps. You remember what a tusslethey 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, " putin Billy. 

"Well, boys, exciting as our experiences were down there, I think thatwe are on the verge of adventures and perils that will make them lookinsignificant, " exclaimed Frank. 

"Don't, " groaned Billy. 

"Don't what?"

"Don't talk that way. Here am I a contented reporter working hard andhoping that some day my opportunity will come and I shall be a greatwriter or statesman or something and then you throw me off my base bytalking about adventure, " was the indignant response. 

"Upon my word, Billy Barnes, I think you are hinting that you wouldlike to come along. "

"Well, would that be so very curious. Oh cracky! If I only could get achance. "

"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 Polarbears--oh, I forgot, there aren't any, --well, anyhow, while you'rehaving a fine time, --just my luck. "

"If you aren't the most contrary chap, " laughed Frank. "Here a shorttime ago you never even dreamed of coming and now you talk as if you'dbeen expecting to go right along, and had been meanly deprived of yourrights. "

"I wonder if the Captain----, " hesitated Harry. 

"Would take Billy along?" Frank finished for him, "well, we will dothis much. We have got to go over to the Erie Basin now and tellCaptain Hazzard about the recovery of his papers. Billy can come alongif he wants and we will state his case for him, it will take threeboys to manage that sledge anyway, " went on Frank, warming up to thenew plan. "I think we can promise you to fix it somehow, Billy. "

"You think you can, " burst out the delighted reporter, "oh, Frank, ifyou do, I'll--I'll make you famous. I'll write you up as thediscoverer of the ship of Olaf and--"

"That's enough, " suddenly interrupted Frank, "if you want to do me afavor, Billy, never mention any more about that till Captain Hazzardhimself decides to tell us about it. We only let what we know of thesecret slip out by accident and we have no right to speculate on whatCaptain Hazzard evidently wishes kept a mystery till the time comes toreveal it. "

"I'm sorry, Frank, " contritely said Billy, "I won't speak any moreabout it; but, " he added to himself, "you can't keep me from thinkingabout it. "

As Frank had anticipated, Captain Hazzard agreed to ship Billy Barnesas a member of the expedition. He was to be a sort of generalsecretary and assist the boys with the aeroplane and motor sledge whenthe time came. The reporter's face, when after a brief conference itwas announced to him that he might consider himself one of theSouthern Cross's ship's company, was a study. It was all he could doto keep from shouting at the top of his voice. The contrast betweenthe dignity he felt he ought to assume before Captain Hazzard and thedesire he felt to skip about and express his feelings in some activeway produced such a ludicrous mixture of emotions on Billy's face thatboth the boys and the captain himself had to burst into uncontrollablelaughter at it. Laughter in which the good natured Billy, withoutexactly understanding its cause, heartily joined. 

A week later the final good-byes were said and the Southern Cross wasready for sea. She was to meet a coal-ship at Monte Video in theArgentine Republic which would tow her as far as the Great Barrier. This was to conserve her own coal supply. The other vessel would thendischarge her cargo of coal, --thus leaving the adventurers a plentifulsupply of fuel in case the worst came to worst, and they were frozenin for a second winter. 

In case nothing was heard of them by the following fall a relief shipwas to be despatched which would reach them roughly about thebeginning of December, when the Antarctic summer is beginning to drawto a close. The commander of the Southern Cross expected to reach thegreat southern ice-barrier in about the beginning of February, whenthe winter, which reaches its climax in August, would be just closingin. The winter months were to be devoted to establishing a camp, fromwhich in the following spring--answering to our fall--the expeditionwould be sent out. 

"Hurray! a winter in the Polar ice, " shouted the boys as the programwas explained to them. 

"And a dash for the pole to cap it off, " shouted the usuallyunemotional Frank, his face shining at the prospect. 

As has been said, the Southern Cross was an old whaler. Built ratherfor staunchness than beauty, she was no ideal of a mariner's dream asshe unobtrusively cleared from her wharf one gray, chilly morningwhich held a promise of snow in its leaden sky. There were few but thestevedores, who always hang about "the Basin, " and some idlers, towatch her as she cast off her lines and a tug pulled her head roundtill she pointed for the opening of the berth in which she had lain solong. Of these onlookers not one had any more than a hazy idea ofwhere the vessel was bound and why. 

As the Southern Cross steamed steadily on down the bay, past the bleakhills of Staten Island, on by Sandy Hook, reaching out its long, desolate finger as if pointing ships out to the ocean beyond, thethree boys stood together in a delighted group in the lee of a pile ofsteel drums, each containing twenty gallons of gasolene. 

"Well, old fellow, we're off at last, " cried Frank, his eye kindlingas the Southern Cross altered her course a bit and stood due southdown 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 heaveof the ever restless Atlantic. She slid over the shoulder of one bigwave and into the trough of another with a steady rhythmic glide thatspoke well for her seaworthy qualities. Frank, snugly out of thenipping wind in the shelter of the gasolene drums, was silent forseveral minutes musing over the adventurous voyage on which they weresetting out. Thus he had not noticed a change coming over Harry andBilly. Suddenly a groan fell on his ear. Startled, the boy lookedround. 

On the edge of the hatch sat Billy and beside him, his head sunk inhis hands, was Harry. 

"What's the matter with you fellows?" demanded Frank. 

At that instant an unusually large breaker came rolling towards theSouthern 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 cametumbling and sweeping along the decks. Frank avoided it by leapingupward and seizing a stanchion used to secure the framework holdingdown the deck load. 

But neither Harry nor Billy moved, except a few minutes later whenanother 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 beenat sea for several years, came up to where the two boys weresuffering. 

"Breakfast's ready, " he announced, "there's some nice fat bacon andfried eggs and jam and----"

It was too much. With what strength they had left Billy and Harrytumbled to their feet and aimed simultaneous blows at him. 

It was a final effort and as the Southern Cross plunged onward towardher mysterious goal she carried with her two of the most sea-sick boysever 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 wasnow in sub-tropic waters, steaming steadily along under blue skies andthrough smooth azure water flecked here and there with masses ofyellow gulf weed. 

The boys were in a group forward watching the flying fish that fledlike coveys of frightened birds as the bow of the polar ship cutthrough the water. Under Dr. Gregg's care Billy and Harry had quiterecovered from their sea-sickness. 

"Off there to the southeast somewhere is the treasure galleon and theSargasso Sea, " said Harry, indicating the purplish haze that hung onthe 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 duesouth, "I wish the old Southern Cross could make better speed, I'mimpatient to be there. "

"And I'm impatient to solve some of the mystery of this voyage, " putin Billy, "here we've been at sea a week and Captain Hazzard hasn'ttold us yet anything about that--that, --well you know, that ship youspoke about, Frank. "

"He will tell us all in good time, " rejoined the other, "and nowinstead of wasting speculation on something we are bound not to findout till we do find it out, let's go aft to the wireless room andpolish up a bit. "

The Southern Cross carried a wireless apparatus which had beenspecially installed for her polar voyage. The aerials stretched fromher main to mizzen mast and a small room, formerly a storeroom, belowthe raised poop containing the cabins had been fitted up for awireless room. In this the boys had spent a good deal of time duringtheir convalescence from sea-sickness and had managed to "pick-up"many vessels within their radius, --which was fifteen hundred milesunder favorable conditions. 

Frank was the first to clap on the head-receiver this morning and hesat silently for a while absently clicking out calls, to none of whichhe 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 hadbuzzed and purred its message into his ear. 

The others looked their questions. 

"There's something funny about this message, " he went on. "I cannotunderstand it. Whoever is calling has a very weak sending current. Ican hardly hear it. One thing is certain though, it's someone indistress. "

The others leaned forward eagerly, but their curiosity was notsatisfied immediately by Frank. Instead his face became set inconcentration once more. After some moments of silence, broken only bythe slight noise of the receiver, he pressed his hand on the sendingapparatus and the Southern Cross's wireless began to crackle and spitand emit a leaping blue flame. 

"What's he sending?" asked Billy, turning to Harry. 

"Wait a second, " was the rejoinder. The wireless continued to crackleand flash. 

"Cracky, " suddenly cried Harry, "hark at that, Billy. "

"What, " sputtered the reporter, "that stuff doesn't mean anything tome. 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 adirigible balloon that has been blown out to sea. They tried to giveme their position, and as near as I can comprehend their message, theyare between us and the shore somewhere within a radius of about twentymiles. "

"Are they in distress?" demanded Billy. 

"Yes. The heat has expanded their gas and they fear that the bag ofthe ship may explode at any moment. They cut off suddenly. Theaccident may have occurred already. "

"Why don't they open the valve?"

"I suppose because in that case they'd stand every chance of droppinginto the sea, " responded Frank, disconnecting the instrument andremoving the head-piece. "I have sent word to them that we will try torescue them, but I'm afraid it's a slim chance. I must tell CaptainHazzard at once. "

Followed by the other two, Frank dashed up the few steps leading tothe deck and unceremoniously burst into the captain's cabin where thelatter was busy with a mass of charts and documents in company withCaptain 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 theirposition?" he added quickly. 

"Yes, " replied the boy, and rapidly repeated the latitude andlongitude as he had noted it. 

"That means they are to the west of us, " exclaimed Captain Barringtonas the boy concluded. He hastily picked up a speaking tube and hailedthe wheel-house, giving instructions to change the course. He thenemerged on deck followed by Captain Hazzard and the boys. The nexthour was spent in anxiously scanning the surrounding sea. 

Suddenly a man who had been sent into the crow's nest on the main mastgave 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, CaptainBarrington himself clambered into the main shrouds. When he hadclimbed above the cross-trees he drew out his glasses and gazed in thedirection the lookout indicated. The next minute he gave a shout oftriumph. 

"There's your dirigible, boys, " he exclaimed, and even Billy overcamehis dislike to clambering into the rigging for a chance to get a lookat the airship they hoped to save. 

Viewed even through the glasses she seemed a speck, no larger than ashoe button, drifting aimlessly toward the south, but as the SouthernCross drew nearer to her she stood out in more detail. The watcherscould then see that she was a large air craft for her type and carriedtwo men, who were running back and forth in apparent panic on hersuspended deck. Suddenly one of them swung himself into the riggingand began climbing up the distended sides of the big cigar-shaped gasbag. 

"What can he be going to do?" asked Captain Hazzard. 

"I think I know, " said Frank. "The valve must be stuck and they havedecided now that as we are so near they will take a chance and open itand risk a drop into the sea rather than have the over-distended bagblow up. "

"Of course. I never thought of that, " rejoined the captain, "that'sjust what they are doing. "

"That man is taking a desperate chance, " put in Professor SimeonSandburr, who had climbed up and joined the party and looked with hislong legs and big round glasses, like some queer sort of a birdperched in the rigging. "Hydrogen gas is deadly and if he shouldinhale 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 ofthe dirigible. Even the old chief engineer had left his engines andwiping his hands with a bit of waste, stood gazing at the distressedcloud clipper. 

"The mon moost be daft, " he exclaimed, "any mon that wud go tae sea insic a craft moost be daft. It's fair temptin' o' providence. "

At that instant there was a sharp and sudden collapse of the balloonbag. It seemed to shrivel like a bit of burned paper, and thestructure below it fell like a stone into the ocean, carrying with itthe man who had remained on it. Of the other, the one who had climbedthe bag, not a trace could be seen. Even as the onlookers gazedhorror-stricken at the sudden blotting out of the dirigible beforetheir eyes the loud roar of the explosion of its superheated gasreached their ears. 

"Every pound of steam you've got, chief, " sharply commanded CaptainBarrington, almost before the dirigible vanished, "we must save themyet. "

The old engineer dived into his engine room and the Southern Cross, with her gauges registering every pound of steam her boilers couldcarry, rushed through the water as she never had before in all herplodding 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 theycan 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 andif they can only keep up we can save them. "

"The peril of drowning is not so imminent as another grave danger theyface, " 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 thewater. Their heads made black dots on the surface beneath which theheavy deck structure of the dirigible had vanished. Through theglasses it could be seen that they were swimming about awaiting thearrival 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 buoyswere hastily cast over the side. But even as one of the men grasped arope'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 thenthere was a whitish gleam as the monster shark turned on its back withits 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 hiscabin for his magazine weapon but when he reappeared there was only acrimson circle on the water to mark where the terrible, man-killingshark had vanished with his prey. Attracted, no doubt, by themysterious sense that tells these sea tigers where they can snap up ameal, other dark fins now began to cut through the water in alldirections. 

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 fewseconds he had been hauled to the vessel's side and several of thecrew were preparing to hoist him on board when two of the monstersmade a simultaneous rush at him, Frank's revolver cracked at the sameinstant 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 inhis half famished condition and with the great beard that he worethere was something very familiar--strangely so--about him to theboys. Frank was the first to solve the mystery. 

"Ben Stubbs, " he exclaimed. 

"Who's that that called Ben Stubbs, " exclaimed the man over whom adozen 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 boysin Africa and the Everglades and shared their perils in the SargassoSea, was comical to behold. 

"Well, what in the name of the great horn-spoon air you boys doinghere, " he gasped, for Harry and Billy had now come forward and werewarmly 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 somethingto eat while he talks, " suggested Captain Hazzard to the boys. 

All agreed that that would be a good idea and the castaway wasescorted to the cabin table on which Hiram Scroggs the Vermonter soonspread 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 aroundin a dirigible?"

"That's it, " cried Billy. 

"It's just this way, " resumed the old sailor drawing out his agedpipe. "Yer see, my pardner, James Melville, --that's the poor fellerthat's dead, --and me was trying out his new air-craft when we gotblown out ter sea. We'd been goin' fer two days when you picked up thewireless call for help he was sending out. I used ter say thatwireless was a fool thing ter have on an air-ship, but I owe my lifeter it all right. 

"Ter go back a bit, I met Melville soon after we got back from thetreasure hunt. He was a friend of my sister's husband and as full ofideas as a bird dog of fleas. But he didn't have no money to carry outhis inventions and as I had a pocketful I couldn't exactly figure howto use, I agreed to back him in his wireless dirigible. We tried herout several times ashore and then shipped her to Floridy, meaning totry to fly to Cuba. But day afore yesterday while we was up on a trialflight the wind got up in a hurry and at the same moment somethingbusted on the engine and, before we knew where we was, we was out atsea. "

"You must have been scared to death, " put in Professor Sandburr whowas an interested listener. 

"Not at first we wasn't. Poor Melville in fact seemed to think it wasa fine chance to test his ship. He managed to tinker up the engineafter working all night and part of yesterday on it and as we hadplenty to eat and drink on board--for we had stocked the boat uppreparatory to flying to Cuba--we didn't worry much. 

"Howsomever, early this morning, after we'd had the engine going allnight we found we was still in the same position and for a mighty goodreason--one of the blades of the propeller had snapped off and therewe were, --practically just where we'd been the night before and withno chance doing anything but drift about and wait for help. Melvillenever lost his nerve though. 

"'We'll be all right, Ben, ' says he to me, and though I didn't feelnear so confident, still I chirped up a little for I had been feelingpretty blue, I tell you. 

"Right after we had had a bite to eat he starts in hammering away atthe wireless, sending out calls for help while I just sat around andhoped something would turn up. Some observations we took showed thatwe had not drifted very much further from land in the night on accountof there being no wind. This looked good for it meant that we were, orshould be, in the path of ships. The only thing that worried me wasthat mighty few coasting vessels carry wireless, and I was surprisedwhen 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 thebag. The air had grown hot as an oven as the sun rose higher and aboutnoon I looked up just to see if there wasn't a cloud in the sky thatmight mean a storm, and perhaps a change of wind that maybe would blowus back over land again. What I saw scared me. The bag was blown outas tight as the skin of a sausage, and it didn't look to me as if itcould swell much more without busting. 

"I pointed it out to Melville and he went up in the air--worried todeath. 

"'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, 'whenthe evening comes and the gas condenses, with what we've lost, if wepull the valve open, we won't have enough to keep the ship in theair. '

"'There's only one thing to do, ' he went on, 'we must wait till thisship I've been speaking to by wireless comes in sight. Then we'll takea chance. If the worst comes to worst we can float about till theypick 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 bustin a second's time and we tried to open the valve--we couldn't. Thehalliards that work it had got twisted in the gale that blew us out tosea and they wouldn't come untangled. 

"Melville takes a look at the pressure gauge. Then he gave a longwhistle. 

"'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 Ikicked 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, " putin Billy. 

"Wall, " continued the old sailor, "I managed fine at first, althoughthat thar gas sausage was stretched as smooth and tight as a drum. Thenetwork around it gave me a foothold though, and once I was half-wayround the lower bulge of the bag--where I was clinging on upsidedown, --I was all right. 

"I had the valve lever in my hand and was just going to open it when Ifelt everything cave in around me like something had been pulled fromunder my feet--or as if I had been sitting on a cloud and it hadmelted. 

"The dirigible had blown up. 

"Luckily I kept my wits about me and deliberately made a dive for thesea. It was a good height but I struck it clean. Down and down I wenttill I thought I'd never come up again. My ear-drums felt like they'dbust and my head seemed to have been hit with an axe. But come up Idid 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. Therest you know. "

Ben's voice shook a little as he reached the latter part of hisnarrative. The rugged sailor's face grew soft and he winked back atear. The others said nothing for a few seconds and then CaptainHazzard looked up. 

"Since you have become one of us in such a strange way, I presume youwould like to know where we are bound for?"

"Wall, if it ain't askin' too much I would, " rejoined the ruggedadventurer. 

"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 needa bos'n, will you sign on? If you do not care to we will put youashore at the first convenient port or hail a homeward-bound ship andhave you transferred. "

The old sailor looked positively hurt. 

"What; me lose an opportunity to see the South Pole, to shoot Polarbears--"

"There aren't any, " put in Billy. 

"Wall, whatever kind of critters there are there, " went on the oldman, "no, sir; Ben Stubbs ain't the man to hold back on a venture likethis. Sign me on as bos'n, and if I don't help nail Uncle Sam's colorsto the South Pole call me a doodle-bug. "

"A doodle-bug, " exclaimed Professor Sandburr, "What kind of a bug isthat? If you know where to find them I hope you will catch one andforward 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 signatureon the ship's books. 

On and on toward the Pole plied the Southern Cross. One night when shewas about two hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the Amazon, theboys, as it was one of the soft tropical nights peculiar to thoseregions, were all grouped forward trying to keep cool and keeping asharp lookout for the real Southern Cross. This wonderful, heavenlybody might be expected to be visible almost any night now, CaptainHazzard had told them. Old Ben shared their watch. 

The little group was seated right on the forefoot or "over-hang" ofthe polar ship, their legs dangling over the bow above the water. Beneath their feet they could see the bright phosphorous gleam as theship ploughed onward. They were rather silent. In fact, except fordesultory conversation, the throb of the engines and the regularsounding of the ship's bell as it marked the hours were the onlysounds to be heard. 

It was past eight bells and everyone on the ship but the helmsman hadturned in, leaving the boys and Ben on watch, when there came aterrific shock that caused the vessel to quiver and creak as if shehad run bow on into solid land. Captain Hazzard was thrown from hisbunk and all over the vessel there was the wildest confusion. 

Shouts and cries filled the air as Captain Hazzard, not able toimagine what had happened rushed out on deck in his night clothes. Thesky had become overcast and it was terribly black. It was hardlypossible for one to see his hand before his face. A heavy sulphuroussmell was in the air. 

"What is it? What has happened? Did we hit another ship?" shoutedCaptain Barrington, appearing from his cabin. 

The helmsman could give no explanation. There had been a sudden shockand he had been knocked off his feet. What had struck the ship or whatshe had struck he could not make out. Captain Barrington knew therewere no rocks so far out at sea and he also knew that he could not benear land. The only explanation was a collision with another ship, buthad that been the case surely, he argued, they would have heard shoutsand cries on the other vessel. 

"Send forward for the boys and Ben Stubbs, they had the watch, " hecommanded. 

A man hurried forward to execute his order but he was soon back with awhite scared face. 

"The young lads and Bos'n Stubbs aren't there, " he exclaimed in afrightened tone. 

"Not there, " repeated Captain Hazzard. 

"No, sir. Not a trace of them. Beggin' your pardon, sir, I think it'sghosts. "

"Don't talk nonsense, " sharply commanded his superior. "Have the shipsearched for them. "

"Very good, sir, " and the man, with a tug at his forelock, hastenedaway to spread the word. 

But a search of every nook and cranny of the ship only added to themystery. 

Neither the boys nor Ben were to be found. 

Had ghosts indeed snatched them into aerial regions, as some of themore superstitious men seemed inclined to believe they could not havevanished more utterly. 

CHAPTER VI. 

A STRANGE COLLISION. 

We must now turn back and ascertain what has become of our youngadventurers and their rugged old companion. We left them sitting onthe bow--or rather perched there in positions none too secure in caseof a sudden lurch of the ship. 

"I smell land, " had been Ben's sudden exclamation after one of theprolonged 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 oldsailor. 

"Maybe the wind is off shore and that's the reason, " suggested Billy. 

"A sensible suggestion, youngster, " approved Ben. "I guess that is thereason for there is no island in this part of the world that I everheard tell of. But say, " he broke off suddenly, "what's come over theweather. It's getting black and the stars are blotted out. There's astorm brewing and a bad one, or I'm mistaken. "

The boys agreed that there did seem to be every indication of anapproaching tropical disturbance of some kind. The air had suddenlygrown 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 onor 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 hadaroused Captain Hazzard and terrified the whole ship's company hurledhim headlong into the night and the boys, balanced as they were on theprow of the trembling ship, were shot after him into the darkness asif they had been hurled out of catapults. 

Frank's feelings as he fell through the darkness he could notafterward describe, still less his amazement when, instead of fallinginto the sea, fully prepared to swim for his life, he found himselfinstead plunged into a sticky ooze. For several seconds, in fact, hewas too amazed to utter a sound or move. It seemed he must bedreaming. 

Then he extended his hands and almost gave a cry so great was hisamazement. 

He had encountered an unmistakable tree trunk!

He was on land--not dry land--for the boy was mired to the knees insticky mud, --but nevertheless land. Land in midocean. 

Hardly had he recovered from his first shock of surprise when he hearda 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 oneat 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 adeep throated hail, which proceeded from Ben Stubbs. 

"Thank heaven we are all safe anyhow, " cried Frank, "this mud ismighty uncomfortable, though. "

"Well, if it hadn't been here we'd have been eaten by sharks by thistime, " 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 evenmissed us and even if they have it's so black they could never findus. "

"Let's see where we are, " suggested Ben, "anyhow I'm going to try toget out of this mud. It's like a pig-pen. "

His observation struck the boys as a good suggestion and they allwallowed in a direction they deemed was forward and soon were rewardedfor their efforts by finding themselves on real dry land. Bystretching out their hands they could feel tree trunks and dense brushall 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 thecoast of Brazil, " suggested Harry. 

"Not likely, " corrected Ben, "and besides if we'd hit land the shipwould 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 inthe waterproof boxes they had used on their previous expeditions theywere dry. Some were soon struck and a bonfire built of the brush andwood they found about them. 

It was a strange tropical scene the glare illuminated. All about werepalm trees and tropic growth of various kinds; many of the plantsbearing fruits unfamiliar to the boys. Some large birds, scared by thelight, flapped screaming out of the boughs above them as the bonfireblazed up. They could now see that they had been pitched out of theship onto a muddy beach, the ooze of which stuck to their clothes likeclay. 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, " saidFrank, "we had better sleep as well as we can and start out to try andfind 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 hehad an uneasy feeling that something or somebody was prowling aboutthe "camp. " Once he could have sworn he saw a pair of eyes, like twoflaming points of fire, glare at him out of the blackness; but as itwas not repeated, he assured himself that it was only his nervousimagination and composed himself to sleep once more. 

A sharp thunder storm raged above them shortly before daybreak andthey were compelled to seek what shelter they could under a fallentree trunk. The storm was the one that had blackened the sky somehours before. Luckily it was as short as it was sharp, and when thesun 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 voicingthe general question that beset them all after they had washed offsome 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 towhich bunches of the bivalves were clinging. 

"I've got some biscuits in my pocket, " said Frank, "I brought them ondeck with me last night in case I got hungry on watch. "

"Well, we'll do fine, " cheerfully said Ben, as having heated somestones he set the oysters to broil on them. 

Despite his cheerful tone, however, not one of the little party wasthere that did not think with longing regrets of the snowy linen andbountiful meals aboard the Southern Cross. 

Breakfast over, Ben announced that the first thing to do was to try tofind out where they could be. It was agreed for this purpose toadvance along the beach for five miles or so in opposite directions, the group being formed into two parties for the purpose. Harry andFrank paired off in one party and Ben Stubbs and Billy formed theother. They were to meet at noon or as soon thereafter as possible andcompare notes. 

Frank and Harry tramped resolutely along the beach under a baking hotsun till they felt as if they were going to drop, but they heldpluckily on, fortunately having found several springs along their lineof march. 

From time to time they eagerly scanned the expanse of sparkling seathat 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 weare gone by this time and will naturally conclude that we felloverboard and were drowned or eaten by sharks. "

Both agreed that such was probably likely to be the fact and that ifthe coast on which they were cast away proved to be uninhabited theirsituation 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 escapeI can't make out. "

"I've been puzzling over that, too, " replied Frank, "there's a lotthat's very mysterious about this whole thing. The Southern Cross is, as you know, equipped with a submarine bell which should give warningwhen she approaches shallow water. Why didn't it sound last night?"

"Because there must be deep water right up to this coast, " was theonly explanation Harry could offer. 

"That's just it, " argued his brother. "But what is a coast doing hereat 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 oceanare encountered there. "

"Then the ship must have been off her course. "

"It seems impossible. She is in charge of experienced navigators. Hercompasses and other instruments are the most perfect of their kind. "

"Maybe it is a dream after all, and we'll wake up and find ourselvesin our bunks, " was all Harry could say. 

Before Frank could find anything to reply to this extraordinarysuggestion he gave a sudden tense cry of:

"Hark!"

Both boys stopped and above their quick breathing they could hear thebeating of their hearts. 

Human voices were coming toward them. 

Luckily Frank had his revolver, having been using it the day before inshooting at huge turtles that floated lazily by. He had by a luckyoversight neglected to take it off when he had finished his targetpractice, merely thrusting it back into its holster. He drew theweapon now, and grasping Harry by the arm pulled him down beside himinto 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 hisown name mentioned. The next moment both lads broke into a loudexclamation of surprise. 

Those approaching their place of concealment were Billy Barnes and BenStubbs. 

It would be difficult to say which pair of adventurers were moreastonished as they met on the beach. 

"Shiver my timbers!" exclaimed Ben, "whar did you boys come from? Didyou 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 hugesections of forest torn from the banks of the Amazon when it is inflood 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 lookingabout him. 

"Not much fear of that; but it's moving, all right, " replied the oldsailor, "just fix your eyes on that cloud for a minute. "

The boys did as directed, and, sure enough, the island, as they nowknew it, was moving slowly along, doubtless urged by some current ofthe 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 outof them. What we had best do now is to gather up some of those bigcocoanuts that's scattered about there and make waterholders out ofthem. "

"But there's plenty of water flowing from the springs. We passedseveral of them, " objected Harry. 

"That's just the water that has soaked into the ground after therain, " said Ben. "It will soon dry up as the day goes on. "

The adventurers at once set to work gathering up cocoanuts and withtheir knives scooping out their shells so as to form sort of pots outof them. These were filled with water at the nearest of the littlesprings 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 numberof the improvised pots. 

The boys set to work at the task at once, stripping from the lowhanging branches the oysters that clung to them. These were roasted inthe same manner as the previous night and washed down with water andcocoanut milk. 

"Well, we shan't starve for a while, anyhow, " said Ben, as theyconcluded their meal. "If the worst comes to the worst I guess we canlive on cocoanuts for a while. "

After some talk about their situation and the prospects of their beingrescued from it Ben announced that he was going to explore theinterior of the island and see if he could find some tree up which itwould be possible to swarm and attach a sort of signal or at any rateobtain an extended view of the sea. 

The boys, who felt tired and dispirited, said that they would remainin the camp--if camp it could be called. 

Ben had been gone perhaps half an hour, when they were aroused by asudden shout. At the sound they all sprang to their feet from therestful 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 theshouter 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 yourknives ready, we may need all the weapons we have. "

They plunged into the forest in the direction from which they judgedthe cries had proceeded and after a few minutes pushing through thedense brush, which greatly hampered their progress, they heard atremendous noise of breaking tree limbs and a violent threshing aboutas if some huge body was rushing through the woods. 

"What can it be?" gasped Frank, his face pale at the sound of thestruggle. 

In almost the same breath his question was answered. Pushing asidesome brush the boys saw before them a small glade or clearing. 

In the midst of this stood Ben, his face transfixed with horror andbrandishing a seaman's knife. 

Facing him, and seemingly about to dart forward, was the largestserpent they had ever seen; the sunlight checkered its bright coloredfolds. Its red tongue darted wickedly in and out as it faced the braveseaman. 

"Shoot, Frank. Shoot and kill it, " implored Harry. 

With a white, tense face the elder boy leveled his revolver. He pulledthe 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 horrorbroke from the boys. In its struggles the monster had convulsed itsfolds till Frank, who was caught off his guard, was within theirreach. 

In a second he was wrapped in the giant reptile's grip without havingtime to utter even an outcry. 

Powerless, with only their puny knives with which to give battle tothe serpent, the boys stood petrified with terror. Even Ben, to whomhis rescue and Frank's peril had been unfolded so swiftly that he washalf-dazed, seemed unable to determine what to do. 

But indecision only held for a moment. Then with a cry he jumpedforward and picked up Frank's revolver, which the boy had dropped whenthe serpent seized him. With a prayer on his lips the old sailorfired. 

Almost with the rapidity of a single bullet the whole contents of theautomatic's magazine poured out and every missile took effect in thereptile's huge head. In its death agony it straightened out its foldsand Frank's senseless body dropped from them, seemingly limp andlifeless. 

The boys started to rush in, but Ben held them back with a warninghand. 

"Hold on; it may not be dead yet, " he warned. 

But a brief inspection proved that the great snake had succumbed toBen'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 wasnot long before the boy opened his eyes and in a short time hedeclared he felt as well as ever. 

The serpent on being measured with Frank's pocket rule proved to be atrifle over twenty feet long and of great girth. 

"It's an anaconda, " said Ben, "there are lots of 'em up along theAmazon and they are as deadly a snake as there is. I've heard tellthey 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 otherdangerous creatures here, too. This island, as I should judge, must beall of six miles around and there's room for a lot of ugly critters inthat space. "

Leaving the dead body of the snake the adventurers made their way backto camp. The first thing that all wanted was a drink of water. Theymade for the place in which the drinking fluid had been left. 

As soon as his eyes fell on the row of improvised water pots Frankgave an exclamation of dismay. 

"Look here, " he shouted, "there's some one on this island besidesourselves. "

"What!" was the amazed chorus. 

"There must be, " went on the lad, "see here, there were twentycocoanut shells of water when we went away, and now there are onlyfifteen. "

"Five gone!" exclaimed Ben in an alarmed voice, "and the spring hasalready dried up. "

"Hullo! What's that?" suddenly cried Billy, as something came crashingthrough the branches. 

The next moment one of the missing shells was rolled with greatviolence into the middle of the group of adventurers. Before they hadrecovered from their astonishment a strange sharp scream filled theforest. 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 considerablystartled by the inexplicable occurrence himself, "you know there areno such things as ghosts, Ben. "

"And if there were they wouldn't throw cocoanut shells at us, " went onHarry. 

"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 cartridgesleft and the others had only their knives. These would be smallprotection against savages if any of the forest dwellers had reallygone adrift on the floating island. It was not a cheerful party thatsat down to another meal of oysters and fruit that evening. Moreoverthe water supply of the little party was almost exhausted and withoutwater they faced a terrible death. 

Because of the unknown dangers which, it was felt, surrounded them itwas decided to set a watch that night and keep the fire burningthrough the dark hours. Harry and Ben were to share the first watchand Frank and Billy agreed to take the second one. Nothing hadoccurred when Ben, at midnight, aroused Frank and the young reporterand told them it was time to go on duty. 

The boys had been on sentry duty for perhaps an hour with nothing butthe lapping of the waves against the shore of the floating island tobreak the deep stillness, when suddenly both were startled by astrange and terrible cry that rang through the forest. 

With beating hearts they leaped to their feet and strained their earsto see if they could ascertain the origin of the uncanny cry, but theyheard nothing more. 

Hardly had they resumed their places by the fire, however, before thewild screams rang out again. 

"It's some human being, " cried Frank. 

"They are being killed or something!" cried the affrighted BillyBarnes. 

By this time Ben Stubbs and Harry had awakened and were sitting upwith 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 wasechoed by the boys as a dozen or more dark forms dashed out of thedark shades of the forest and rushed toward them. Half unnerved withalarm at this sudden and inexplicable attack, Frank fired point-blankinto the onrush, and two of the dark forms fell. Their comrades, withthe same wild shrieks that had so alarmed the boys, instantly turnedand fled, awakening the echoes of the woods with their terrifyingclamor. 

"A good thing I killed those two, " cried Frank; "throw some wood onthe 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 thatlay on the ground as they had fallen. 

"Why, they're great apes!" exclaimed Frank in amazement; "whatmonsters!"

"Howling monkeys, that's what they call 'em, " declared Ben, "I'veheard of 'em. No wonder we were scared, though. Did you ever hear suchcries?"

"I wonder why they attacked the camp?" asked Billy. 

"I don't suppose it was an attack at all, " said Frank, "most likelythey smelled the food and thought they'd come and help themselves tosome broiled oysters. "

"I'll bet it was the monkeys that took our water and then threw theshells at us, " cried Harry. 

"I guess you are right, boy, " said Ben; "them monkeys are terrors formischief. "

"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 andthe sight of them two mates of theirs falling dead scared them out oftwo years' growth. "

Ben's surmise was right. The adventurers passed the remainder of thenight in peace. 

As soon as day broke over a sea unmarred by a single ripple, there wasan eager scrutiny of the horizon by all the castaways, but to theirbitter disappointment not a sign of the Southern Cross, or any othervessel, 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 comparativesilence, and after the meal was concluded, at Frank's suggestion, itwas decided to explore the island for a spring that could be tappedfor further water supply. The boys all admitted to themselves that thechance of finding one was remote, but they determined to try andlocate one in any event. At any rate Frank felt it would keep theirminds off their troubles to have something to do. 

The best part of the morning was spent in the search and although theycame across occasional driblets of water, --the remnants of springsstarted by the heavy rain that marked their first night on theisland, --they found nothing that promised an available supply. At noonthey sat down in the shade of a huge palm to rest and made a meal offthe nuts that lay at its foot. The milk of these proved cool andrefreshing and was drunk out of the shell after one end of it had beenhacked off with Frank's hunting knife. 

"Well, we might as well make a start back for our camp, " suggestedFrank, after some moments had passed in silence. 

"Camp, " repeated Harry, bitterly, "that's a fine camp. Why, there'snothing there but trees and sand and howling monkeys. "

Nevertheless a start was made for the resting place of the previousnight, the party trudging along the narrow beach in Indian file. Allat 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 acrossthe island overhead. 

The smoke scudded across the sky like small fleecy clouds, but itmomentarily grew thicker and blacker. 

"She's smoking up all right, " laughed Billy Barnes, all his fears gonenow 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 awhole lot of smoke for a steamer to be making, and"--sniff--"I don'tlike 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 thesailor feared. 

The island was on fire!

A few minutes later the smell of the burning trees and the crash asthey 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 andall they could see above them was a thick canopy of smoke. It rose ina 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 cutoff. 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 theircarelessness in not extinguishing their camp fire, came leaping androaring through the forest. 

Suddenly out of the woods directly in front of them leaped a lithespotted form, and without glancing to right or left, the creature shotinto the sea. It swam quite a distance and then sank. 

"A jaguar, " exclaimed Ben; "a good thing it was too scared to attackus. "

"Yes, I haven't got a cartridge left, " said Frank, gazing ruefully athis empty revolver. 

"I don't think that would do us much good if you had; we might as welldie by a jaguar's teeth and claws as by being burned to death, " saidHarry. 

The boys were now witnesses of a strange scene. Driven by the heat ofthe fire scores of terrified animals passed them. There were smallagoutis or wild pigs, monkeys, birds of various kinds, --including hugemacaws and numerous snakes. The creatures paid not the least attentionto the boys, but, crazed with fear, made for the sea. The birds alonesoared 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 aplan. "

For a minute or two the boys regarded him as one might an insaneperson, but as he went on to explain his plan they grasped at it as alast resort. Two large tree trunks lay near to where they stood. Theyhad fallen apparently in some tropical storm, so that their bulkrested 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 feelits ardent breath. Sparks were falling about them in red-hot showersand already some of the brush in their vicinity was beginning tosmoke. Soon it would burst into flame and then they were doomed. 

Feverishly they worked and soon had the two trunks lashed togetherfirmly with long "lianas" or creepers of tough fibre that grew ingreat profusion everywhere. The work of getting the trunks into thewater was, thanks to the natural rollers, not so hard as might havebeen anticipated. Ben and Frank managed the placing of the rollers, which were carried in front of the logs as fast as its hinder endcleared some of them. In this manner their "raft, " if such it could becalled, 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 whichthey had worked, was now one raging furnace, and had their situationnot been so critical, the party would have been compelled to admirethe wild magnificence of the spectacle. Great red tongues of flameshot up through the blanket of dark smoke, dying it crimson. Occasionally there would be a dull crash as some huge forest monarchfell prostrate, or the dying scream of some creature overtaken by theflames rang out. 

"Quick, onto the raft, " shouted Frank as the clumsy craft floated atlast. 

It did not take the adventurers long to follow his directions. Theheat from the fire was now intense and they lost no time in puttingthe two branches they had cut to use as paddles into action. It washard work but they found to their delight that their raft moved whenthey 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 andno 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 beenable to, for while he was still speaking a startling thing happened. 

The raft was about twenty feet from the shore, but despite thedistance a dusky form that had rushed out of the wood with a wildhowl, 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, dullyellow hide, catlike form, and twitching tail, the boys had nodifficulty in recognizing it for what it was. 

A giant panther. 

There was no possibility of escape. As the creature growled menacinglythe boys realized that they were practically without means ofprotection against this new enemy. 

As the panther, too, realized its position, it drew back on itshaunches 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 whathad happened, the savage creature that had taken refuge from theflames on their frail craft, launched its yellow body at them in agreat 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 afighting chance now. "

Hastily the boys, though they felt skeptical as to the effectivenessof these small weapons against such a formidable enemy, got out theirhunting knives. But they were not destined to use them. 

The howl of dismay which the panther had uttered as it found itselfplunged into the water was quickly changed to a shrill scream ofterror from its huge throat. At the same instant a number oftriangular fins dashed through the water toward it. 

"Sharks!" shouted Harry. 

Attracted by the number of animals that had taken to the water toescape the fire the creatures had gathered in great numbers about theisland and were devouring the fugitives right and left. Fully a dozenof the monsters rushed at the panther which, formidable as it was onland, was, like most of the cat tribe, at a great disadvantage in thewater. 

It could make no resistance but a few feeble snaps to the avalanche ofsharks that rushed at it, and a few seconds after the onslaught thewater was crimsoned with the blood of the panther and the boys weresafe from that peril. But the sharks now offered almost as great adanger as had the land monster. 

Made furious by the taste of so much food they cruised alongside therickety raft gazing with their little eyes at its occupants tillshudders ran through them. The boys tried to scare them away byflourishing the branches used as oars, but this, while it scared themat first, soon lost its effect on the sea-tigers, who seemeddetermined to keep alongside the raft, evidently hoping that sooner orlater they would get a meal. 

All the afternoon the boys took turns paddling with their branches andby this means, and impelled also by one of the ocean currents thatabound in this latitude, the smoking island gradually drew further andfurther away. But the sharks still cruised alongside and now and againone bolder than the others would turn partly on his back and nose upagainst the raft, showing his cruel, saw-like teeth and monstrousmouth as he did so. 

"I don't wonder they call them sea-tigers, " said Frank, "more terriblelooking monsters I never saw. "

The tropic night soon closed and darkness shut down with greatrapidity. Far off the boys could see the red glare cast by the flamingisland. 

"That's queer, " exclaimed Frank suddenly. He had been regarding theisland intensely for some time. 

"What's queer?" demanded Billy. 

"Why, do you see that long wavering ray of light shooting up near theisland, " he cried, pointing in that direction, "what can it be?"

The others looked and to their amazement, as soon as Ben's eyes fellon the strange ray of white light, the old sailor began dancing a sortof jig to the imminent danger of his tumbling in among the sharks. 

"Hurray! hurray!" he shouted, "douse my topsails and keel-haul mymain-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 youcall it--yonder is a ship's searchlight. The Southern Cross like asnot. "

"She must have seen the smoke from the burning island and sailed inthat 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 forsome matches and we'll make a night signal. "

The matches were soon produced and the old sailor set fire to thegarment. It flared up brightly and made a fine illumination, but asthe flare died out there was nothing about the movement of thesearchlight 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 notime in ripping it off. As Frank prepared to light it, however, anunfortunate--or even disastrous--accident occurred. 

The waterproof box of matches slipped from his fingers in hisexcitement, and before any of them could recover it, it was overboard. The rush of a great body through the water at the same instant toldthem 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. Aprolonged scrutiny resulted in yielding just one match. It came fromBen's pocket. 

Frank lit it with great care. For one terrible moment, as they allhung breathless over it, it seemed as if it was going out. It finallycaught, however, and flared up bravely. 

"Now the shirt, " cried Frank. 

It was thrust into his hands and he waved the blazing garment abovehis 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 sweepingabout near the island, suddenly shot its long finger of light in theirdirection. As the vessel bearing it neared them a bright glowenveloped the figures on the raft, who were alternately hugging eachother and shaking hands over the prospect of their speedy deliverance. 

A few minutes later all doubt was dissolved. The approaching vesselwas the Southern Cross, and the adventurers were soon answering toexcited hails from her bridge. To lower a boat and get them on boardonce 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 twentytimes, they managed to get to their old bunks. 

Never had the mattresses seemed so soft or the sheets so comfortableas they did to the tired boys. Their heads had hardly touched thepillows before they were off in dreamland--a region in which, on thatnight at least, fires, panthers and sharks raged in inextricableconfusion. 

Before they retired they heard from the lips of Captain Hazzard thepuzzle their disappearance from the ship had proved. The SouthernCross, it appeared, on the day following her collision with thefloating island, had cruised in the vicinity in the hope of findingsome trace of the castaways. Her search was kept up until hope hadbeen about abandoned. The sight of the glare of the blazing islandhad, however, determined her commander to ascertain its cause, withthe result that while her searchlight was centered on the strangephenomenon the boys' tiny fire signal had been seen by a lookout inthe crow's nest and the ship at once headed for the little point oflight. 

For his part the commander was much interested in hearing of thefloating island. It cleared up what had been a great mystery, namely, the nature of the obstruction they had struck, and proved interestingfrom a scientific point of view. Captain Hazzard told the boys thatthese great tracts of land were, as Ben had said, not uncommon off themouth of the Amazon, but that it was rarely one ever got so far out tosea. 

Two weeks later, after an uneventful voyage through tropic waters, during which the boys had had the interesting experience of crossingthe equator, and had been initiated by being ducked in a huge canvaspool full of salt water placed on the fore deck, the Southern Crosssteamed into the harbor of Monte Video, where she was to meet herconsort, the Brutus, which vessel was to tow her down into the polarregions. 

A few interesting days were spent in Monte Video and the boys sentmany letters home and Captain Hazzard forwarded his log books and dataas obtained up to date. Professor Sandburr spent his time among thenatives collecting memoranda about their habits while the boys roamedat their leisure about the city. They saw a bull fight, a spectaclethat speedily disgusted them, and witnessed the driving into thestock-yards of a huge herd of cattle rounded up by wild andsavage-looking gauchos on wiry ponies. 

One day, while they were walking through a back street leading to somehandsome buildings, they heard terrible cries coming from a small hutin 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 whichthe cries had issued. As they neared it a terrible-looking figuredashed out. Its white duck suit was streaming with red and the samecolor 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 thecrimson-daubed figure; "whatever is the matter?"

"Oh-oh-oh-oh, " howled the professor, dancing about, "it's a woman inthat hut. She threw some stinging stuff all over me. "

"Why, it's chile con-carne!" exclaimed Frank, examining the red stuffthat daubed the unfortunate professor from head to foot; "goodgracious, what a scare you gave us; we thought you had been attackedwith knives and terribly cut. "

There was a trough of water near by and to it the boys conducted theprofessor, who was half-blinded by the stinging Spanish dish, which isa sort of pepper stew. It took a long time to clean him, during whichquite a crowd gathered and laughed and jeered, but at last they hadthe luckless scientist looking more presentable. 

"Now tell us what happened?" asked Frank, as they started back towardthe city in a hired "volante, " or native carriage, that had beenpassing, by good luck, as they finished their cleaning process. 

"Well, my dear boys, it's an outrage. I will see the mayor or thepresident about it, or whoever is in charge of those things in thisland. I saw a fine looking specimen of a hopping sand-toad going intothat house and I dashed in after it with my net extended. As soon as Irushed in I upset a sort of baby carriage that stood by the door. Twochildren, who were in it, started howling in a terrible manner. I knowa little Spanish and I tried to explain, but before I could do so themother threw a whole pot of that hot stuff over me and called me akidnapper, a robber, a thief. Upon my word I think I may be consideredlucky that she didn't shoot me. "

"I think you may, indeed, " agreed the boys, who could hardly keep fromlaughing at the comical sight the professor presented with his headcocked 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 SouthernCross 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 theshores grew dim behind them and the long ocean swell made itself felt. 

"Yes, " rejoined the professor, who was busy getting specimens ofjelly-fish in a bucket he lowered overboard by a line. "I wonder whatsort of creatures I can catch in the ice there. I don't care so muchabout 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 theprofessor gravely. 

"A sort of fur overcoat, " suggested Billy, nudging Frankmischievously. 

"Exactly, " said the professor gravely; "if you see one will you catchit for me?"

"I certainly will, " replied Billy gravely. 

For several days the Brutus and the vessel she was towing kept on downthe coast. At last one morning the captain announced that they wereoff the coast of Patagonia, where the famous giant tribes ofaborigines and a kind of ostrich are to be found. The professor wasgreatly excited at this and begged to have the ships stopped and beallowed to go ashore. 

"I am afraid that will be impossible, " rejoined Captain Hazzard; "wemust get into the Polar regions before the winter sets in, and if wedelay we shall not be able to do so. No, we must keep on, I amafraid. "

The Brutus was making good speed at the moment, and her tow wascutting obediently through the water after her. Sail had been set onall the masts, as there was a favoring breeze. Suddenly there came ajarring shock that threw everybody from their feet. The tow-lineparted 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 atall disturbed. 

"Is there any danger?" asked Billy with rather a white face. 

"We cannot tell yet till the ship has been examined, " replied thecaptain. He gave orders to sound the well and sent some men forward toexamine the vessel's bow. 

Soon the ship's carpenter and Ben Stubbs came hurrying aft with scaredfaces. 

"What is it?" demanded the captain, "are we seriously damaged?"

"We have sprung a leak forward and the water is pouring in, " was thealarming reply. 

CHAPTER X. 

THE PROFESSOR IS KIDNAPPED. 

The faces of all grew grave. A leak at sea is a serious menace. Thepoint at which the water was entering the Southern Cross was soonfound to be through a sprained plank a little below the water line. Captain Hazzard ordered canvas weighted and dropped overboard aroundthe leak so that the pressure of water would hold it there. Thecarpenter's gang then set to work to calk the hole temporarily. 

In the meantime the Brutus had put back, blowing her whistleinquiringly. 

"Send them a wireless message telling them what has happened, " thecommander ordered Frank, who hastened to obey. 

The captain of the Brutus ordered out his boat as soon as Frank'smessage had been conveyed to him and came aboard the Southern Cross. He agreed, after a consultation with Captain Hazzard, that it would benecessary to put in somewhere to refit. 

"We are now off the mouth of the Santa Cruz river in Patagonia, " saidCaptain Barrington, "it is a good place to lie to. I was there once ona passenger steamer that met with an accident. We can shift the cargoto the stern till we have raised the bow of the Southern Cross, andthen 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 allstrangers. In view of the large force of men on board the two ships, however, and the numerous weapons carried, it was agreed that therewas not much to be feared from the Patagonians. 

The broken steel hawser was at once detached and a new one put inplace and the two vessels headed for the shore, about one hundred andfifty miles distant. They arrived off the mouth of the Santa Cruzriver the next day and the boys, who had been up before dawn in theiranxiety to get their first glimpse of "The Land of the Giants, " wererather disappointed to see stretched before them a dreary lookingcoast with a few bare hills rising a short distance inland. There wereno trees or grass ashore, but a sort of dull-colored bush grewabundantly. 

"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, spectacledface 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 himhome in a cage. The Patagonian dog-flea, too, I understand, is verycurious. "

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 cagedup a Patagonian where he could have studied him at his leisure. 

The Brutus, with leadsmen stationed in her bows to test the depth ofthe water, proceeded cautiously up the river and finally came toanchor with her tow behind her about two miles from its mouth. Thework of shifting some of the cargo of the Southern Cross to the sternso as to elevate her bow, was begun at once; as time was an importantconsideration. Soon all was declared ready for the carpenters to startwork and they were lowered on stages over the side and at once beganto rectify the trouble. Some of them worked from a boat secured to thebow. 

"Do you think you can persuade the captain to let us go ashore withyou?" asked Frank of the professor, who was busy at once getting outall his paraphernalia in anticipation of going on what Billy called "abug hunt. "

"Certainly, " declared the scientist confidently, "come along. I shouldlike above all things to have you boys go ashore with me. Besides, Imay 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 notassume the responsibility of allowing you to risk your lives. "

Nor did any persuasion of which the boys or the professor could makehave any effect in causing the commander to change his mind. He wasfirm as adamant and reluctantly the boys made their way forward andwatched the carpenters fix the leak, and when that palled they werecompelled to fall back on fishing for an amusement. 

The professor joined ardently in this sport despite his disappointmentat not being allowed to go ashore. He managed to fix up a net attachedto an iron ring with which he scooped up all kinds of queer fish outof the river, many of which were so ugly as to be repulsive to theboys. But the professor seemed to be delighted with them all. 

"Ah, there, my beautiful 'Piscatorius Animata Catfisio, '" he wouldsay, as he seized a struggling sea monster with a firm grip andplunged it into one of his tin tanks. "I'll dissect you to-night. Youare the finest specimen of your kind I have ever seen. "

The boys were suddenly interrupted in their fishing by blood-curdlingyells from the old scientist. Looking up in alarm they saw him dancingabout on the deck holding his arm as if in great pain, while in frontof him on the deck a queer-looking, flat fish with a long barbed tailflopped about, its great goggle eyes projecting hideously. 

Frank ran forward to pick up the creature and throw it overboard, butas he grasped it he experienced a shock that knocked him head overheels. As he fell backward he collided with the professor and the twosprawled on the deck with the professor howling louder than ever. 

"No wonder they're hurt, " shouted Ben Stubbs, coming up with a longboat-hook, "that's an electric ray. "

"An electric what?" asked Billy. 

"An electric ray. They carry enough electricity in them to run a smalllamp, and when they wish they can give you a powerful shock. They killtheir prey that way. "

"Ouch--, " exclaimed the professor, who had by this time got up, "theray nearly killed me. Let me look at the brute so that I'll know oneof 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 professorindignantly, and ordered Ben to throw the creature overboard with hisboat-hook. 

After supper that night the boys hung about the decks till bedtime. The hours passed slowly and they amused themselves by watching themoonlit 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 blacklyin the moonlight. 

Behind the low eminence Frank could distinctly see a head cautiouslymoving about, seemingly reconnoitering the two ships. In a few secondsit 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, " sighedthe professor, who was one of the group. "I wonder if they have anydogs with them?"

"I have a good mind to go, anyway, " said the old man, suddenly, "Iwould like to write a paper on the habits of the Patagonians and howcan 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 superiorsmile. "I have a friend who lived with them for a time and then wrotea book about them. According to him Captain Hazzard is wrong; they arenot 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 mistakenjust like I was about the electric ray, which I thought was a SouthAtlantic skate. Just the same, I mean to find out for myself, " he wenton. "To-night when everyone is asleep but the man on duty, I am goingto watch my opportunity and go ashore in the boat the carpenters leftat the bow this afternoon. There are ropes hanging from the prow downwhich I can climb. "

Soon after this the boys determined to turn in and, naturally, theprofessor's decision occupied a great deal of their conversation. 

"Do you think we ought to tell the captain about what ProfessorSandburr means to do?" asked Frank of the others. 

"I don't think so, " said Billy. "He is much older than we are anddoubtless he knows what he is about. At the same time, though, I thinkwe should watch and if he gets into trouble should try and help himout 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 intentionto go ashore in the boat we will try and stop him. If he stillpersists we shall have to tell the captain. "

The others agreed that the course that Frank recommended was the bestone, and they all decided to adopt his plan. 

But the boys were heavy sleepers and besides were tired out when theysought 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 boyjumped out of bed and hastily called the others. 

"We may not be too late yet, " he said, as he hastily slipped intotrousers, shirt and slippers. 

But the boys WERE too late. When they reached the bow they could seeby peering over that the boat had gone and that the professor hadpenetrated 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 thistime. "

CHAPTER XI. 

A BATTLE IN THE AIR. 

To raise an alarm throughout the ship was the work of a few minutesand the watchman, whose carelessness had allowed the professor to slipaway unnoticed, aroused the indignation of Captain Hazzard, who blamedhim bitterly for his oversight. Several shots followed the one theboys had heard and more cries, but they grew rapidly fainter and atthe same time the sound of horses galloping away in the distance washeard. 

"They have carried him off, " cried Captain Hazzard. 

"Can we not chase them and rescue him?" asked Billy, "we've got plentyof men and arms. "

"That would be of little use to us, " was the reply, "the Patagoniansare mounted and by this time they have got such a start on us that wecould 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 youwill 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 knowthat I ought to let you assume such responsibility. "

"We will be in no greater danger than the professor is; much less, infact, " urged Frank. "Please let us go. If we can save his life it isworth running the risk. "

"Perhaps you are right, my boy, " said Captain Hazzard at length, "atany rate, promise me to run no unnecessary danger. "

The promise was readily given and with a cheer the men set to work tohoist the cases containing the sections of the aeroplane over the sideand row them ashore. The work was carried on under the glare of thesearchlights of the two ships. In two hours' time the Golden Eagle wasready for an engine test which showed her machinery to be in perfectlygood trim. 

"She is fit for the flight of her life, " declared Frank, as he stoppedthe engine. 

"Is everything ready?" asked Captain Hazzard. 

"Yes, " was the reply, "except for two canteens of water, somecondensed soup tablets and two tins of biscuit. "

"You have your weapons?"

"I have sent to the ship for two 'Express' rifles, each carrying aheavy charge and explosive bullets. In addition we have our revolversand some dynamite bombs--the ones that were designed to be used inblasting 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, "sendup a rocket. They are made so that they are visible by day as well asnight. In the daylight their explosion produces a dense cloud of blacksmoke visible at several miles. They also make a terrific report thatis audible for a long distance. "

The same boat that brought the boys' weapons carried the rockets andtheir provisions and at about four a. M. They were ready for theirdash through the air. At the last minute it was decided to take BillyBarnes along as he knew something about handling an aeroplane and in apinch could make himself useful. 

"Good-bye and good luck, " said Captain Hazzard fervently as the enginewas once more started, with a roar like the discharge of a battery ofgatling guns. From the exhausts blue flames shot out and the air wasfilled with the pungent odor of exploding gasolene. 

With a wave of the hand and amid a cheer that seemed to rend the skythe Golden Eagle shot forward as Frank set the starting lever andrushed along over the level plane like a thing of life. After a shortrun she rose skyward in a long level sweep, just as the daylight beganto show in a faint glow in the east. 

It rapidly grew lighter as the boys rose and as they attained a heightof 1, 500 feet and flew forward at sixty miles an hour above the vastlevel tract of gravelly desert, by looking backward they could see theforms of the two ships, like tiny toys, far behind and below them. Onand on they flew, without seeing a trace of the professor or the bandthat had undoubtedly made him prisoner. 

"We must have overshot the mark, " said Frank, as he set a lever so asto swing the aeroplane round. "We shall have to fly in circles till wecan locate the spot where the Patagonians have taken him. "

They flew in this manner for some time, sometimes above rugged brokenland with great sun-baked clefts in it, and sometimes above levelplains overgrown with the same dull colored brush they had noticedfringing the coast. 

Suddenly Billy called attention to a strange thing. All about themwere circling the forms of huge birds. Some of them measured fully tenfeet from wing tip to wing tip. They had bald, evil-looking heads andhuge, hooked beaks. 

"They are South American condors, the largest birds in existence, "cried Harry, as the monstrous fowls, of which fully a hundred were nowcircling about the invaders of their realm, seemed to grow bolder andclosed 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 headoutstretched as if it meant to tear him with its hooked beak. The boystruck at it with one arm while he controlled the aeroplane with theother and the monstrous bird seemed nonplussed for a moment. With ascream of rage it rejoined its mates and they continued to circleabout the aeroplane, every minute growing, it seemed, more numerousand bold. 

"We shall have to fire at them, " cried Frank at last. "If they keep onincreasing in numbers they may attack us all at once and wreck ourairship. "

Hastily Harry and Billy unslung their heavy "Express" rifles and beganfiring. Ordinarily it is no easy task to hit a bird on the wing with arifle, but so large a target did the huge bodies present that fourfell at the first volley. As they dropped some of their cannibalcompanions fell on them and tore them to ribbons in midair. It was ahorrible sight, but the boys had little time to observe it. Theirattention was now fully occupied with beating off the infuriated matesof the dead birds, who beat the air about the aeroplane with theirhuge wings until the air-storm created threatened to overbalance it. 

Again and again the boys fired, but failed to hit any more of thebirds, although feathers flew from some of the great bodies as thebullets 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 undertheir attack till it seemed it must turn over. Still, so far, Frankmanaged to keep it on an even keel. 

"Bang! bang!" cracked the rifles again and again, but the loud angrycries 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'sfliers. 

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 encounteredany solid substance, as, for instance, when they struck the earth, buta small, mechanical contrivance enabled them to be adjusted also sothat they could be exploded in midair. 

"Isn't there danger of upsetting the aeroplane?" gasped Billy, as hesaw the preparations. 

"We'll have to chance that, " was Harry's brisk response, "the birdsare too much for us. "

As he spoke he leaned out from the chassis and hurled the bomb high inthe air. As he cast it out there was a slight click as the automaticexploder set itself. 

"Hold tight, " shouted Frank, setting the sinking planes. 

The aeroplane rushed downward like a stone. Suddenly a terrific roarfilled the air and the boys felt as if their ear drums would befractured. The aeroplane swayed dizzily and Frank worked desperatelyat his levers and adjusters. 

For one terrible moment it seemed that the Golden Eagle was doomed todestruction, 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 abare dozen or so remained. The rest had been killed or wounded by thebomb. The survivors were far too terrified to think of pursuing theboys and their craft further. 

"Thank goodness we have escaped that peril, " exclaimed Harry, as theysailed onward through the air; "who would ever have thought that suchbirds would have attacked an aeroplane. "

"They frequently, so naturalists say, carry off babies and smallanimals to their rocky nests, " was Frank's response, "and birds asbold as that I suppose resented the appearance of what seemed anotherand larger bird in their realm. "

For an hour more the aeroplane soared and wheeled above the baking hotplains intersected by their deep gullies, but without result. The boyswith sinking hearts were beginning to conclude that the professor hadbeen carried off and hidden beyond hope of recovery, when Harry, whohad been peering ahead through the glasses, indicated a distant spotbehind 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 alldoubt that they were in the vicinity of a band of Patagoniansvanished. As the air craft rushed forward several tethered horsesbecame visible and a column of smoke was seen rising from a deep gullybehind the ridge. No doubt the Patagonians thought themselves wellhid. 

So secure did they feel, seemingly, that not even a sentry wasvisible. 

"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 aeroplaneshot directly above the encampment of the giant Patagonians. Gazingdownward the boys could see one of the savages, a huge figure morethan six feet tall, in a feather mantle and armed with a formidablelooking spear, pacing up and down, as if he were a chief of some kind. This belief was confirmed when one of the other tribesmen approachedthe man in the long cloak and addressed something to him with a lowobeisance. Frank had by this time put the muffler in operation andthrottled down the engine so that the aeroplane swung in lazy circlesabove the Patagonians, entirely unnoticed by them. 

While they gazed the boys saw a figure led from a rude tent by severalof the Patagonians, of whom there seemed to be two or three hundred inthe camp. Instantly a loud yelling went up and several of the nativesbegan a sort of dance, shaking their spears menacingly and wrappingtheir feather cloaks tightly about their tall figures. 

"It's the professor!" shouted Frank, indicating the captive who hadbeen taken from the tent. 

"They are going to burn him alive!" shouted Harry in a voice of horrorthe next moment, pointing to the fire. 

Indeed, it seemed so. The Patagonians began piling fresh bundles ofwood 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 wasbound hand and foot, and were preparing to carry him toward the firewhen there came a startling interruption to their plans. 

With a roar as if the desolate mountains about them were topplingabout their ears one of the dynamite bombs carried by the boys wasdropped and exploded a short distance from the camp. A huge hole wastorn 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 uptheir nests. Suddenly one of them happened to look upwards and gave awild yell. 

Instantly the tribesmen, without waiting to pick up any of theirpossessions, fled for their horses and mounting them rode out of sightwithout daring to look round. To accelerate their progress the boyssent another dynamite bomb and two rockets after them, and thendescended to pick up the professor who, bound as he was, had been lefton the ground and was quite as much in the dark as to what he owed hisescape to as the Indians were. 

"Oh, boys!" he exclaimed, as the machine glided to earth and the boysstepped out, "you were just in time. I really believe they meant tomake soup out of me. They were worse than the electric ray, a greatdeal. Oh, dear, I wish I had obeyed Captain Hazzard, but I wanted toget a specimen of a Patagonian dog-flea. They are very rare. "

"Did you get one?" asked Frank, laughing in spite of himself at thewoe-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 overhis failure to collect the rare specimen than he did over his ownnarrow 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 hadexplored the camp and picked up some fine feather robes and curiousweapons which the Patagonians had left behind them in their hurry toescape. 

"The Patagonians might take it into their heads to come back andattack 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 soa few minutes later the Golden Eagle was sent into the air again, thistime with an added passenger. 

"Dear me, this is very remarkable, " said the professor, "quite likeflying. I feel like a bird, " and he flapped his long arms till theboys had to laugh once more at the comical man of learning. 

As they flew along the professor explained to them that after he hadtaken the boat he had heard a dog barking ashore, and being confidentthat the Patagonians were friendly people and that it was a Patagoniandog he heard, he determined to do some exploring in search of thePatagonian dog-flea. He had only crawled a few steps from the riverbank, however, when he felt himself seized and carried swiftly away. It was then that he had fired the shot the boys heard. Later he hadmanaged 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 horseand rapidly borne him into the interior. They might not have meant anyharm to him at first, he thought, but when they found him examining adog with great care they were convinced the simple-minded old man wasa witch doctor and at once sentenced him to be burned to death. 

"How about your friend that said that the Patagonians were a friendlyrace?" asked Billy, as the professor concluded his narrative. 

"I shall write a book exposing his book, " said the professor, withgreat dignity. 

Nothing more occurred till, as they drew near the ships, Frank wavedhis handkerchief and the others fired their revolvers in token of thefact that they had been successful in their quest. In reply to thesejoyous signals the rapid-fire gun of the Southern Cross was fired andthe air was so full of noise that any Patagonians within twenty milesmust have fled in terror. 

The professor, looking very shamefaced, was summoned to CaptainHazzard's cabin soon after he had arrived on board and put on cleangarments. What was said to him nobody ever knew, but he lookeddowncast as one of his own bottled specimens when he left the cabin. By sundown, however, he had quite recovered his spirits and had to berescued from the claws of a big lobster he had caught and whichgrabbed him by the toe as soon as he landed it on deck. 

In the meantime the aeroplane was "taken down" and packed up once morewhile the boys came in for warm congratulations on the successfuloutcome of their aerial dash to the rescue. Captain Hazzard himselfsent for them and complimented them highly on their skill and courage. 

"I shall mention your achievement in the despatches I shall send northby the Brutus, " he said in conclusion to the happy boys. 

The damage to her bow being repaired, there was nothing more to keepthe Southern Cross and her escort in the dreary river, and with noregrets 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 andwarm garments were served out to the men from the storerooms of theSouthern Cross. To the boys the cold was welcome, as it meant thatthey were approaching the goal of their journey. 

Captain Barrington doubled watches day and night now, for at anymoment they might expect an encounter with a huge iceberg. In theantarctic these great ice mountains attain such bulk that they couldcrush the most powerful ship like an eggshell. It behooves allmariners venturing into those regions, therefore, to keep a mostcareful lookout for them. 

One day soon after dinner, while the boys were on the fore peakchatting 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 anothermemorable occasion, the boys checked their disposition to laugh, although the professor, who was trying to dissect a strange littlefish 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 muchsolemnity. 

"All right, professor, " said Ben, with a wink at the boys, "maybe iceain't as easy to tell as an electric ray, but just the same I'm an oldwhaling man and I can smell ice as far as you can smell beefsteakfrying. "

This was touching on the scientist's weak spot, for like many men ofeminence, he was nevertheless fond of a good dinner and his alacrityin answering meal calls had become a joke on board. 

"You are arguing 'ad hominum, ' my dear sir, " spoke the professor withdignity. "Ice and beefsteak have no affinity for one another, nor dothey partake of the same qualities or analyses. "

Whatever Ben might have said to this crushing rejoinder was lostforever, for at this moment there was a great disturbance in the watera short distance from the ship. The boys saw a whale's huge dark formleap from the waves not forty feet from the bow and settle back with acrash that sent the water flying up in the air like a fountain. 

"Whale ho!" shouted Ben, greatly excited. "Hullo, " he exclaimed thenext instant, "now you'll see some fighting worth seeing. "

As he spoke, a form dimly seen, so near to the surface was it, rushedthrough 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 tofight. "

The water grew crimson as the sword-fish plunged his cruel weapon intothe great whale's side, but the monster itself, maddened by its wound, the next instant charged the sword-fish. Its great jaws opened wide asit rushed at its smaller enemy, for which however, it was nomatch, --for the sword-fish doubled and swam rapidly away. The nextinstant it dived, and coming up rammed the whale with its sword oncemore. With a mighty leap the sea monster mounted clear of the wateronce more, the blood spouting from its wounds. 

But its strength was gone and it crashed heavily downward while it wasin mid-spring. A warning shout from Ben called the attention ofeverybody who had been watching the fight to a more imminent danger tothe ship. The giant cetacean in falling to its death had struck thetowing cable and snapped it under its huge bulk as if the stout hawserhad been a pack thread. 

"We are adrift, " shouted Captain Barrington, rushing forward withCaptain 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 driftingtoward them, was a mighty structure of ice--the first berg the boyshad ever seen. With its slow advance came another peril. The air grewdeathly cold and a mist began to rise from the chilled sea. 

"Signal the Brutus!" shouted Captain Barrington, but the fires hadbeen extinguished on the Southern Cross when she was taken in tow, andshe had nothing to signal with but her rapid firing gun. This wasfired again and again and soon through the mist there came back thelow moan of the siren of the Brutus. 

"They won't dare to put back after us in this, " exclaimed CaptainBarrington, as he stood on the bridge with the boys beside him, "weshall have to drift helplessly here till the iceberg passes or--"

"Until we are crushed, " put in Captain Hazzard quietly, "wouldn't itbe as well to have the boats made ready for lowering, " he went on. 

"A good idea, " agreed Captain Barrington. Ben Stubbs was summoned aftand told to give the necessary orders, and soon the men were at workclearing the life-boats in case things should come to the worst. 

The mist grew momentarily denser and the cold more intense, yet socritical was the situation that nobody thought of leaving the decks todon warmer clothing. The fog, caused by the immense berg chilling thewarmer ocean currents, was now so thick that of the mighty berg itselfthey could perceive nothing. The knowledge that the peril wasinvisible did not make the minds of those on board the drifting vesselany the easier. 

"If only we had steam we could get out of the berg's path, " saidCaptain Barrington, stamping his foot. 

"Couldn't we hoist sail, " suggested Frank. 

"There is no wind. I wish there were, " replied the captain, "then itwould blow this mist away and we could at least see where we aredriving to. "

In breathless silence and surrounded by the dense curtain of freezingmist the polar ship drifted helplessly on, those on board realizingthat at any moment there might come the crash and disaster that wouldfollow a collision with the monster berg. 

Suddenly there came a shock that almost threw those on the bridge offtheir feet. 

Hoarse cries and shouts sounded through the mist from the bow of theship, 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 hismegaphone, which he had snatched from its place on the bridge. 

Silence instantly followed, only to be succeeded by a tearing andrending sound. 

The rigging of the foremast had caught in a projecting ridge of theberg and was being torn out. The ship trembled and shook as if a gianthand was crushing her, but so far her heavy timbers seemed to havestood the shock. Presently the noises ceased and the air began to growless 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 pallabout the seemingly doomed ship confirmed this belief. By great goodfortune the Southern Cross had been spared the fate of many ships thatventure into the polar seas, and the boys gazing backward from thebridge could see the mighty berg, looking as huge as a cathedral, slowly increasing its distance from them, as it was borne along on thecurrent. 

"Hurrah, we are safe!" cried Harry. 

"Don't be too sure, " warned Captain Barrington. "I hope we are, butthe vessel will have to be examined before we can be certain. In anyevent 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 onthe port or left hand side of the vessel, and her jibboom had beensnapped 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 CaptainBarrington, "we have just gone through the deadliest peril anantarctic ship can undergo. "

The Brutus now came gliding up, and after congratulations had beenexchanged between the two ships, a new hawser was rigged and theSouthern Cross was once more taken in tow. 

"I don't want any more encounters with icebergs, " said Billy, as theship 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, whowas varnishing dried fish in the cabin, where this conversation tookplace. 

"Why?" asked Frank. 

"Because, if it had been, there might have been a polar bear on thaticeberg. I have read that sometimes they drift away on bergs thatbecome detached and are sighted by steamers quite far south. "

"Why, --do you want a polar bear skin, " asked Billy, "you can buy lotsof 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 suchinsignificant things as fleas, the boys all had to laugh. Theprofessor, who was very good-natured, was not at all offended. 

"Small animals are sometimes quite as interesting as large ones, " wasall he said. 

The next day the rigging and bowsprit were refitted and further andfurther south steamed the Brutus with the polar ship in tow. The firesof the Southern Cross had now been started and her acetylene gas plantstarted going as the heat and light were needed. Icebergs were nowfrequently 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 incooler water the bergs did not create a fog as they did in the warmerregion further north. By keeping a sharp lookout during the day andusing the searchlights at night, Captain Barrington felt fairlyconfident of avoiding another encounter with an ice mountain. Thedamage the ship had sustained in her narrow escape from annihilationhad proved quite difficult to repair, though before the vessel reachedthe sixtieth parallel it had been adjusted. 

"Well, boys, " announced Captain Hazzard one day at noon, "we are nownot 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 timeas any for telling you boys the secret of this voyage. Come to mycabin and I will tell you one of the objects of our expedition, whichhitherto has been kept a secret from all but the officers. "

The excitement of the boys may be imagined as they followed thecaptain to his cabin and seated themselves on a seat arranged abovethe radiator. 

"It's the ship of Olaf, " whispered Billy to Harry. 

"Of course, " began Captain Hazzard, "the main object of thisexpedition is to plant the flag of the United States at 'furthestsouth, ' even if not at the pole itself. "

"And to capture a South Polar flea and a fur-bearing pollywog, " put inthe professor, who had included himself in the invitation to the boys. 

"Exactly, " smiled the captain, "but there is still another objectscarcely 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 centuriesago 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 ofour great scientific bodies, while traveling in Sweden, discovered ina remote village an odd legend concerning some sailors who claimed tohave seen an old Viking ship frozen in the ice near the Great Barrier. They were poor and superstitious whalemen and did not dare to disturbit, 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 thatit is, " rejoined the lieutenant. "In the ice anything might bepreserved almost indefinitely. Providing the yarn of the whalemen istrue, we now come to the most interesting part of the story. Thescientist, who has a large acquaintance among librarians andcustodians of old manuscripts in European libraries, happened tomention one night to a friend what he had heard in the littleNorwegian fishing village. His friend instantly surprised him bydeclaring that he had an idea what the ship was. 

"To make a long story short, he told him that years before, whileexamining some manuscripts in Stockholm, he had read an account of aViking ship that in company with another had sailed for what must havebeen the extreme South Pacific. One of the ships returned laden withivory and gold, which latter may have been obtained from some minewhose location has long since been lost, but the other never cameback. That missing ship was the ship of Olaf the Rover, and as herconsort said, she had last been seen in the South Pacific. Themanuscript said that the returned rovers stated that they had becomeparted from the ship of Olaf in a terrific gale amid much ice andgreat ice mountains. That must have meant the antarctic regions. Thismuch they do know, that Olaf's ship was stripped of her sails andhelpless 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, whohas authorized me to make this search, that the ship of Olaf wascaught in a polar current and that the story heard so many years afterabout the frozen ship in the ice is true. "

"Then somewhere down there along the Great Barrier there is a Vikingship 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 asshe 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 thefrozen vessel?" asked Frank. 

"I have them, yes, " replied the captain, "and when the winter is overwe will set out on a search for it. On our march toward the pole thatwill make only a slight detour. "

"Was it for this that you wanted to have our aeroplane along?" askedFrank, his eyes sparkling. 

"Yes, " was the reply, "in an airship you can skim high above theice-fields and at a pace that would make an attempt to cover unknowntracts on foot ridiculous. If the Viking ship is to be found it willhave 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 swingingcabin table. 

"Boys, will you take me along when you go?" asked the professoranxiously. "If there is any chance of getting a Viking flea I wouldlike 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. "Howeverthat can wait. A Viking flea would be a novelty indeed. "

At this moment loud tramplings on the deck overhead and shoutsapprised them that something out of the ordinary must be occurring. Just as they were about to emerge from the cabin the captain rushedin. He seemed much excited. 

"My fur coat, quick, " he cried, seizing the garment from Frank, whohad 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 terriblegrinding and jarring and the Southern Cross came to a standstill. Herbow seemed to tilt up, while her stern sank, till the cabin floorattained quite a steep slope. 

"What can be the matter?" cried the professor, as he dashed out afterthe boys and the captain, the latter of whom had been much too excitedto 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 briefexamination. 

"Do you think we will be able to get off?" Frank asked Ben Stubbs, whowith the boys and the rest of the crew was in the bow peering down atwhat appeared to be rocks beneath the vessel's bow, except that theirglitter in the lanterns that were hung over the side showed that theship was aground on solid ice. 

"Hard to say, " pronounced Ben. "These polar reefs are bad things. Theyfloat along a little below the surface and many a ship that has struckthem has had her bottom ripped off before you could say 'knife. '"

"Are we seriously damaged?" asked Billy, anxiously gazing at thescared faces around him. 

"I hope not, " said the old salt; "there is one thing in our favor andthat is that we were being towed so that our bow was raised quite abit, and instead of hitting the ice fair and square we glided up ontop of it. "

Another point in favor of the ship's getting off was that there hadbeen no time to reshift the cargo, which, it will be recalled, hadbeen stowed astern when her bow was sprung off Patagonia, so that sherode "high by the head, " as sailors say. So far as they could see inthe darkness about twenty feet of her bow had driven up onto the polarreef. The Brutus had stopped towing in response to the signal gun ofthe Southern Cross in time to prevent the towing-bitts being rootedout bodily or the cable parting. 

"There is nothing to be done till daylight, " pronounced CaptainBarrington, after an examination of the hold had shown that the vesselwas perfectly dry. "The glass indicates fair weather and we'll have tostay where we are till we get daylight. "

Little sleep was had by any aboard that night, and bright and early inthe morning the boys, together with most of the crew, were on deck andpeering over the bow. The day was a glorious one with the temperatureat two below zero. The sun sparkled and flashed on the great ice-reefon which they had grounded, and which in places raised crested headsabove the greenish surface of the sea. 

No water had been taken on in the night, to the great relief of thecaptain, and soon a string of gaudy signal flags were set whichnotified 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 tosteam to any position her captain thought advisable. As soon as thesignalling was completed he heaved anchor and stood for a point abouthalf-a-mile to the leeward of the Southern Cross, where he came toanchor once more. 

Breakfast, a solid meal as befitted the latitude in which they were, was hastily despatched and the boys bundled themselves up in polarclothes and hurried out on deck to see what was going forward. CaptainBarrington, after a short consultation with Captain Hazzard, decidedto order out boat parties to explore the length and depth of theice-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 andso did the professor. Their requests were finally acceded to by thetwo captains and they formed part of the crew of Boat No. 3, in chargeof Ben Stubbs. 

"Wait a minute, " shouted the professor, as, after the boat to whichthey were assigned lay ready for lowering, the boys clambered intoher. 

"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 outbehind him like the tail of some queer bird. He reappeared in a secondwith the bucket, an ordinary galvanized affair, but with a wire-netbottom and a long rope attached, to allow of it being dragged alongthe 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 waterwith a splash, almost upsetting the professor, who was peering overthe side through his thick spectacles as if he expected to see somequeer polar fish at once. The crew swarmed down the "falls, " and asBen gave the order, pulled away for the outer end of the reef, thestation assigned to them. 

In accordance with their instructions when they arrived at the end ofthe reef, the crew, headed by Ben Stubbs, left the boat and trampingabout on the slippery ice tried to ascertain its thickness and how farunder water it extended. The boys soon tired of sitting idle in theboat and, as they had been forbidden to land on the treacherous ice ofthe reef, cast about for something to do. The professor soon provideda digression. 

"Look there, " he suddenly shouted, pointing at a black triangularshaped object that was moving about on the green water a shortdistance 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 theboat were far too busy sounding and poking about on the reef to noticethem, they rowed off unobserved. 

The triangular object proved elusive, and after rowing some time, theboys found they had come quite a distance from the ship withoutgetting much nearer to it. Suddenly a great, shining black back curveditself out of the water and the boys saw that the sharp triangularthing was an immense dorsal fin attached to the back of a species ofwhale they had not so far seen, although they had sighted manyvarieties since entering the Antarctic regions. 

"Let's give it a shot, " cried Billy, and before any one could stophim, the young reporter fired at the creature. 

To their amazement, instead of diving, as do most whales when injuredby a bullet or otherwise, the creature raised its blunt head and gazedat 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 thewhite foam spread all about it, slightly flecked with red here andthere, in token that Billy's shot had struck it. 

"I'm afraid that we are in for serious trouble, " suddenly said theprofessor. 

"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 andfar more bold. I should have recognized what it was when I saw thatsharp fin cruising about. "

"We must row back, " shouted Frank, and he and Harry sprang to theoars. 

But they were too late. With a flashing whisk of its tail theferocious killer whale dived, and when it came up its head was withintwenty feet of the boat. 

"Pull for that floe!" shouted the professor, pointing to a smallisland of ice floating about not far from them. It was their onlychance of escape, and the boys gave way with a will. But pull as theywould their enemy was faster than they. Just as the nose of their boatscraped the floe the great "killer" charged. 

Frank had just time to spring onto the floe and drag Harry after himwhen the monster's head rammed the boat, splitting it to kindling woodwith a terrible crackling sound. The stout timbers might as well havebeen a matchbox, so far as resistance to the terrific onslaught wasconcerned. 

Billy jumped just as the boat collapsed under him, and gained thefloe. But where was the professor?

For an instant the terrible thought that he had perished flashedacross the boys' minds, but just then a cry made them look round, andthey saw the unfortunate scientist, blue with cold and dripping withicy water, come clambering over the other side of the little floe onwhich they stood. He had been hurled out of the boat when the whalecharged and cast into the water. His teeth were chattering so that hecould hardly speak, but he still had his bucket, and insisted onexamining it to see if any creatures had been caught in it when hetook his involuntary plunge. 

The whale, after its charge and the terrific bump with which it struckthe boat, seemed to be stunned and lay quietly on the water a few feetfrom 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 thisfloe unless we can attract the attention of the ship, and we aredrifting 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 minein 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?" shiveredthe 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 northernlatitudes, and there was no response. 

All the time the floe, slowly revolving in the current like a floatingbottle, was drifting further and further from the ships. The situationwas serious, and, moreover, the scientist was evidently sufferingacutely, although he made no complaint, not wishing to add to theiranxieties. Frank, however, insisted on their each shedding a garmentfor the professor's benefit, and although the scientist at firstrefused them, he finally consented to don the articles of dry appareland seemed to be much comforted by their warmth. 

Faster and faster the floe drifted, and they were now almost out ofsight of the ships. The boys' faces, although they tried not to showtheir fear, grew very pale. There seemed to be no prospect of theirbeing saved, and in the rigorous cold of that climate they knew theycould not survive many hours without food or drink. 

Suddenly Frank, who had been gloomily watching the progress of thefloe, 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 ourbeing saved!"

"Have they seen us from the ships?" asked Billy. 

"No, but the floe has struck a different current and we are driftingback. "

"Are you s-s-s-sure of t-t-t-this?" asked the professor. 

"Certain, " replied Frank; "I have been watching the progress of otherpieces of drifting ice and the current seems to take a distinct curvehere and radiate backward toward the pole. "

"Then we are saved--hurray!" shouted Billy, dancing about on theslippery ice, and falling headlong, in his excitement, on thetreacherous footing it afforded. 

"No use hollering till we are out of the woods, " said Frank; "thecurrent may make another turn before we land near the ships. "

This checked the enthusiasm and the boys all fell to anxiouslywatching the course their floe was likely to pursue. 

"There's our whale, " shouted Billy, suddenly. "Look what a smash onthe nose he got. "

The great monster seemed to have recovered from its swoon and was nowswimming in slow circles round the floe, eyeing the boys malevolently, but not offering to attack them. Evidently it was wondering, in itsown mind, what it had struck when it collided with the boat and thefloe. 

The floe drifted onward, with the vessels' forms every moment growinglarger to the boys' view. All at once a welcome sound rang out on thenipping 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 terriblelecture when we get back on board, too. "

Soon the floe, drifting steadily southward, by the strange freak ofthe antarctic current, came in view of the lookouts on the ships, whohad been posted as soon as the boys were missed. The boats were atonce despatched, and headed for the little ice island. 

The killer whale suddenly took it into his head, as the boats drewnear, to try one more attack, but Dr. Watson Gregg, the ship'ssurgeon, who stood in the bow of the first boat, saw the ferociousmonster coming and, with three quick bullets from a magazine rifle, ended the great brute's career forever. His huge, black bulk, with itswhitish belly and great jaws, floated on the surface for a fewminutes, and the boys estimated his length at about thirty feet. 

"Room enough there to have swallowed us all up, " commented Billy, asthey 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 twosailors assisted the half-frozen professor into it. They realized thatthey had been guilty of a breach of discipline in taking off the boat, and that, moreover, their disobedience had cost the expedition one ofits valuable assets, for there was no hope of ever putting the smashedcraft 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 inyou. "

However, after a hearty dinner and a change of clothing, they all, even the professor--who seemed none the worse for the effects of hiscold bath--cheered up a bit, more especially as Captain Barrington hadannounced that he had a plan for getting the ship off the reef. BenStubbs, who had, with his crew, been taken off the end of theobstruction by another boat, had announced that the depth of theobstruction did not seem to exceed twenty feet and its greatest widthforty. Where the ship's bow rested the breadth was about thirty feetand the depth not more than twenty. 

"My gracious, " suddenly cried the professor as the boys came out fromdinner; "I have suffered a terrible loss!"

His face was so grave, and he seemed so worried, that the boysinquired sympathetically what it was that he had lost. 

"My bucket, my dredging bucket, " wailed the scientist. "I was too coldto examine it thoroughly and I recollect now that I am sure it hadsome sort of sea-creatures in the bottom of it. "

"What has become of it?" asked Frank, hardly able to keep fromlaughing. 

"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, " remarkedFrank. "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 lookfor it, " hopefully exclaimed the collector, suddenly. 

"I shouldn't advise you to ask him, " remarked Ben Stubbs, who justthen came up, his arms laden with packages. "We've lost one boatthrough 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 SouthPole. "

He seemed quite cheered up at this reflection and smiled happily atthe thought of achieving his dream. 

"What have you got there, Ben?" asked Billy, pointing to thequeer-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 upthe 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 theyfollowed the boatswain forward and watched while he and several of thecrew drilled holes in the ice and adjusted the dynamite on either sideof the bow, at a distance of about two hundred feet from the ship ineither direction. 

Caps of fulminate of mercury were then affixed to the explosive andwires led from it to the battery boxes. 

"How will that free us?" asked the professor, who, like most men whodevote all their time to one subject, was profoundly ignorant ofanything but deep sea life and natural history. 

"It is the nature of dynamite to explode downwards, " said Frank. "Whenthat charge is set off it will blow the ice away on either side and weshall float freely once more. "

"Wonderful, " exclaimed the professor. "I had better get my deep seanet. The explosion may kill some curious fish when it goes off. "

He hurried away to get the article in question, while the boys stoodbeside Captain Hazzard, who was about to explode the heavy charges. Everybody was ordered to hold tight to something, and then thecommander pushed the switch. 

"Click!"

A mighty roar followed and the ship seemed to rise in the air. Butonly for an instant. The next minute she settled back and those onboard her broke out in a cheer as they realized that they once morefloated 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 theSouthern Cross, and went scraping and bumping beneath her to bob upharmlessly to the surface at her stern. 

There was only one dissenting voice in the general enthusiasm thatreigned on board at the thought that they were now able to proceed, and that was the professor's. He had been untangling a forgotten rarespecimen of deep-sea lobster from his net, when the explosion came. 

In his agitation at the vessel's sudden heave and the unexpectednoise, he had let his hand slip and the creature had seized him by thethumb. With a roar of pain the professor flung it from him and itflopped overboard. 

"Hurray! we are off the reef, professor, " shouted Frank, running aftto help adjust a stern cable that had been thrown out when theSouthern 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 ifthere were any hope of recapturing his prize. 

The anchor of the Southern Cross was dropped to hold her firmly whilethe steel hawser was reconnected with the Brutus, and soon the coalship and her consort were steaming steadily onward toward the Barrierand the polar night. 

It grew steadily colder, but the boys did not mind the exhilaratingatmosphere. 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 themat these games, but a tumble from halfway up the slippery main shroudsinto a pile of snow, in which he was half smothered, soon checked hisenthusiasm, and he thereafter devoted himself to classifying hisspecimens. 

Great albatross now began to wheel round the vessel and the sailorscaught some of the monster white and gray birds with long strings towhich they had attached bits of bread and other bait. These were flungout 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 strictorders that the birds were to be released after their capture, andthis was always done. The birds, however, seemed in no wise to profitby their lessons, for one bird, on the leg of which a copper ring hadbeen placed to identify him, was captured again and again. 

The professor, particularly, was interested in this sport, and deviseda sort of lasso with a wire ring in it, with which he designed tocapture the largest of the great birds, a monster with a wing spreadof fully ten feet. Day after day he patiently coaxed the creature nearwith bits of bread, but the bird, with great cunning, came quite closeto get the bread, but as soon as it saw the professor getting ready toswing his "lariat" it vanished. 

"Ah-ha, my beauty, I'll get you yet, " was all the professor said onthese occasions. His patience was marvelous. 

One day, as the ships were plunging along through ice-strewn seas, notfar to the eastward of the inhospitable and bleak Shetland Islands, the professor accomplished his wish, and nearly ended his own careersimultaneously. 

The boys, who were amidships talking to Ben Stubbs, were apprised by aloud yell that something unusual was occurring aft, and ran quickly inthat direction. There they saw a strange sight. The professor, withhis feet hooked into a deck ring, was holding with both hands to theend of his lasso, while the albatross, which he had at last succeededin 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 werehastening up the ladder leading to the raised stern. It did not look, however, as if they could reach there before the professor was carriedoverboard like the tail of a kite, by the huge bird he had lassoed. 

Suddenly, with a howl of terror, the professor, who never seemed toentertain the thought of letting go of the bird, was jerked from hisfoothold by a sudden lurch of the ship. 

Ben Stubbs was just in time. He sprang forward with wonderful agilityand seized the professor's long legs just as the man of science wasbeing pulled over the rail into space by the great albatross. 

"Let go, dod gast you!" he bellowed, jerking the lasso out of theprofessor's hands, while the albatross went flapping off, a longstreamer of rope hanging from its neck. 

"I've lost my albatross, " wailed the scientist. 

"And blamed near lost yer own life, " angrily exclaimed Ben. "Whydidn't you let go?"

"Why, then I'd have lost the bird, " said the professor, simply. "But Ithank you for saving my life. "

"Well, don't go doin' such fool things again, " said Ben, angrily, forhe had feared that he would not be in time to save the bigotedscientist's life. 

The professor, however, was quite unruffled, and went about for somehours lamenting the loss of the huge antarctic bird. He consoledhimself later, however, by shooting a beautiful little snow petrel, which he stuffed and mounted and presented to Ben Stubbs, who wasquite 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, foundthemselves in a veritable sea of "Pancake ice. " Everywhere in amonotonous waste the vast white field seemed to stretch, with only afew albatrosses and petrels dotting its lonely surface. Thethermometer dropped to ten below zero, and the boys found the snugwarmth of the steam-heated cabins very desirable. There was a fairwind, and sail had been set on the Southern Cross to aid the work oftowing her, and she was driving through the ice with a continuousrushing and crashing sound that at first was alarming, but to whichher company soon grew accustomed. 

Captain Barrington announced at noon that day that they were then inlat. 60 degrees 28 minutes, and longitude 59 degrees 20 minutesWest--bearings which showed that they would be, before many days hadpast, at the Great Barrier itself. Excitement ran high among the boysat the receipt of this news, and Frank and Harry, who had fitted up akind of work-room in the warmed hold, worked eagerly at theirauto-sledge, which was expected to be of much use in transportingheavy loads to and from the ship to the winter quarters. 

Before the two vessels reached the Barrier, however, they weredestined to encounter a spell of bad weather. 

One evening Ben Stubbs announced to the boys, who had been admiring asunset of a beauty seldom seen in northern climes, that they were infor a hard blow, and before midnight his prediction was realized. Frank awoke in his bunk, to find himself alternately standing, as itseemed, on his head and his feet. The Southern Cross was evidentlylaboring heavily and every plank and bolt in her was complaining. Nowand again a heavy sea would hit the rudder with a force thatthreatened to tear it from its pintles, solidly though it wascontrived. 

Somewhat alarmed, the boy aroused the others, and they hastened out ondeck. As they emerged from the cabin the wind seemed to blow theirbreath back into their bodies and an icy hand seemed to grip them. Itwas 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 theBrutus. Only for a second, however, for the next minute she wouldvanish in the trough of a huge comber, and then they could hear thestrained 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 itelasticity and lessen the effect of sudden strains, but themountainous seas that pounded against the blunt bows of the SouthernCross were proving the stout steel strand to the uttermost. 

The boys tried to speak, but their words were torn from their lips bythe wind and sent scattering. In the dim light they could see theforms of the sailors hurrying about the decks fastening additionallashings to the deck cargo and making things as snug as possible. 

Suddenly there came a shout forward, followed by a loud "bang!" thatmade itself audible even above the roar of the hurricane. 

The cable had parted!

Considering the mountainous seas in which they were laboring and theviolence of the storm, this was a terrifying piece of intelligence. 

It meant that at any moment they might drift helplessly into somemighty berg and be crushed like an egg-shell on its icy sides. CaptainBarrington muffled up in polar clothes and oilskins, rushed past theboys like a ghost and ran forward shouting some order. The first andsecond officers followed him. 

Presently the voice of the rapid-fire gun was heard, and the boyscould see its sharp needles of white fire splitting the black night. 

A blue glare far away answered the explosions. It was the Brutussignaling her consort. But that was all she could do. In the terrificsea that was running it would have been impossible to rig a freshcable. The only thing for the two ships to do was to keep burningflare lights, in order that they might keep apart and not crashtogether in the tempest. 

"Shall we go down, do you think?" asked Billy, shivering in spite ofhimself, as a huge wave towered above them as if it would engulf thepolar ship, and then as she rose gallantly to its threatening bulk, went careening away to leeward as if angry at being cheated of itsprey. 

"We can only hope for the best, " said a voice at his elbow. It wasCaptain Hazzard. "I have implicit confidence in Captain Barrington. Heis a sailor of rare mettle. "

These remarks were shouted at the top of the two speakers' voices, butthey sounded, in the midst of the turbulent uproar that raged aboutthem, like the merest whispers. 

Time and again it seemed that one of the great waves that camesweeping out of the darkness must engulf them, but so far the SouthernCross rode them like a race-horse, rising pluckily to them as theyrushed at her. Captain Barrington and his officers were trying to getsome 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 outon the plunging bowsprit, that was now reared heavenward and againplunged downward as if pointing to the bottom of the sea. 

Ben Stubbs it was who finally volunteered to crawl out, and two otherAmerican seamen followed him. They succeeded, although in deadly perilhalf a dozen times, in getting the jib gaskets cast loose, and thencrawled back half frozen to receive the warm plaudits of the officersand more substantial rewards later on. With her jib hoisted, theSouthern Cross made better weather of it, but the seas were fastbecoming more mountainous and threatening. The wind screeched throughthe rigging like a legion of demons. To add to the turmoil some casksgot loose and went rolling and crashing about till they finally wentoverboard 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 andcosy with its light and warmth after the turmoil of the terrificbattle of the elements outside. 

But a prolonged search failed to reveal any trace of the man ofscience. 

Where could he be?

A scrutiny of his cabin, even looking under the bunk, failed to revealhim. The boys began to fear he might have been swept overboard, whensuddenly 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, isno coward, " rejoined Frank. 

"No, his search for the Patagonian dog-flea proved that, " agreedHarry. 

Frank lost no time in opening the trap-door in the floor of the maincabin, which led into what had formerly been the "valuables room" ofthe Southern Cross, but which had been fitted up now as a laboratoryfor the professor. 

"There's a light burning in it, " announced Frank, as he peered down. 

"Oh, professor--Professor Sandburr, are you there?" he shouted thenext moment. 

"What is it? Is the ship going down?" came back from the depths in thevoice 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 theboy. 

"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 downhere for a minute? I want to see you. "

Wondering what their eccentric friend could possibly wish in the wayof 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 securehis bottles and jars, every one of which held some queer creaturepreserved in alcohol. The boys aided him in adjusting emergency racksarranged for such a purpose, but not before several bottles had brokenand several strange-looking snakes and water animals, emitting a mostevil smell, had fallen on the floor. These the professor carefullygathered 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; "weare in a serious position. Practically helpless, we may drift into aberg 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 readilyto the old scientist's wish. Thereupon he drew out three slips ofpaper. He handed one to each of the boys. 

"I wrote these out when I first thought there was danger of oursinking, " 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 atraitor to science. I, Professor Simeon Sandburr, brand him a tellerof untruths. For Professor Thomas Tapper, who told me about thefur-bearing pollywog of the South Polar seas, I have the warmestrespect. I leave all my books, bottled fishes and reptiles to theSmithsonian Institute. My servant, James, may have my stuffedWogoliensuarious. My sister is to have my entire personal and realestate. 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, evenin the serious situation in which they then were, to keep fromlaughing. 

"One of you boys may escape, even if the ship does go down, " said theprofessor, gravely: "If any of us should get back to civilization Iwant the world to know that the Patagonians are not a friendly race, and that I died hoping to capture the fur-bearing pollywog of theSouth Polar seas. "

At this moment a sudden shock hurled them headlong against theglass-filled shelves, smashing several bottles and releasing theslimy, 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 lastwill and testament. "

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE GREAT BARRIER. 

To rush on deck was the work of a few moments. If it was a scene ofconfusion the boys had left, the sight that now met their eyes was farmore 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 windseemed to have died down, though the sea still ran high, and soundswere now more audible. Off to the starboard side of the ship the boysperceived a mighty towering form, which they knew must be the icebergthey 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 steadyinghimself against the rail. In his hands gleamed two revolvers. Besidehim 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 thehelpless 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. "Youought 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 himselfreassured the panic-stricken crew and they withdrew to the forecastle. Their shame was the more keen when it was found that, while theSouthern Cross had been severely bumped by the iceberg, her stouttimbers had sustained no damage. 

By daybreak the sea had calmed down somewhat, and the wind had stillfurther moderated. But the danger was by no means over till they couldget in communication with the Brutus. Frank was set to work on thewireless and soon "raised" the towing ship, the captain of which wasdelighted to hear of his consort's safety. The position of theSouthern Cross being ascertained, her bearings were wirelessed to theBrutus, and she then cast anchor to await the arrival of the towingship. 

As the line was once more made fast, having been spliced till it wasas strong as new, the professor came up to the boys. He looked rathersheepish. 

"Would you mind giving me back those papers I gave you last night, " hesaid. 

"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 Patagonianfellow in a book. "

The professor, as he received the little slips of paper, scatteredthem into tiny bits and threw them overboard. 

"You are quite sure you have not been fooled also on the fur-bearingpollywog?" asked Frank. 

"Quite, " replied the professor, solemnly. "Professor Tapper is one ofour greatest savants. "

"But so was your friend who told you the Patagonians were a friendlytribe, " 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?" askedBilly, seriously. 

"Why, no, " admitted the professor; "but he has proved that there mustbe 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 Congressionallibrary. Then he contributed a prize-essay on it to the SmithsonianInstitute, which has bound it up with my report on the Canadian BullFrog. 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 forme to gain the honor of positively proving the strange creature'sexistence. "

"And if there should be no such thing in existence?" asked Frank. 

"Then I shall write a book denouncing Professor Tapper, " said theprofessor, with an air of finality, and turning away to examine thewater through a pair of binoculars. 

On moved the ships and at last, early one day, Captain Barringtoncalled the boys on deck and, with a wave of the hand, indicated a hugewhite cliff, or palisade, which rose abruptly from the green water andseemed 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 itglittered in the sunlight. It was, indeed, a Great Barrier. At thepoint where they lay it rose to a height of 130 feet or more from thewater, which was filled with great detached masses of ice. Further onit seemed to sweep to even greater heights. 

This was the barrier at which Lieutenant Wilkes, on his unluckyexpedition, had gazed. The mighty wall that Shackleton and Scott, theEnglishmen, 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 beyondit? Would their airship be successful in wresting forth the secret ofthe great white silence?

"Well?" said Captain Barrington, breaking the silence at length, witha smile; "pretty big proposition, eh?"

The boys gazed up at him awe-struck. 

"We never dreamed it was anything like this, " said Frank. "I alwayspictured the Great Barrier as something more or less imaginary. "

"Pretty solid bit of imagination, that ice-wall yonder, " laughedCaptain 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 itshelves, " 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 issimple. We must look for one of those spots. "

"What is the nature of the country beyond?" asked Frank, deeplyinterested. 

"Ice and snow in great plateaus, with here and there monsterglaciers, " was the reply of Captain Hazzard. "In places, too, immenserocky cliffs tower up, seeming to bar all further progress into themystery of the South Pole. "

"Mountains?" gasped Billy. 

"Yes, and even volcanoes. This has given rise to a supposition that atthe pole itself there may be flaming mountains, the warmth of whichwould have caused an open polar sea to form. "

"Nobody knows for certain, then?" asked Frank. 

"No, nobody knows for certain, " repeated Captain Hazzard, his eyesfixed 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, 000feet above sea level. Shackleton got within a hundred miles of it hebelieves. "

"And then he had to turn back, " added Captain Barrington. 

"Yes; lack of provisions and the impossibility of traveling quicklyafter his Manchurian ponies had died compelled him to leave themystery unsolved. Let us hope it remains for the American flag to beplanted at the pole. "

"Are there any animals or sea-creatures there, do you know?" inquiredthe professor, who had been an interested listener. 

"If there is an open polar sea there is no doubt that there is life init, " was the answer, with a smile; "but what form such creatures wouldassume we cannot tell. "

"Perhaps hideous monsters?" suggested the imaginative Billy. 

"More likely creatures like whales or seals, " returned CaptainHazzard. 

"If there is such a thing as a creature with a South Polar flea in itsfur 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. "Iwould 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 theinhospitable barrier that seemed, as Frank said, to have been erectedby nature to keep intruders away from the South Polar regions. As theprofessor 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 directionindicated. The boys, too, brought binoculars to bear. They weregreatly excited to see what seemed to be four men standing up andwaving 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 thestanch 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, underBen's careful steering, the great floes of ice which were driftingabout. 

The boys and the professor were in the bow, eagerly scanning the raftwith the four black figures upon it. The castaways kept waving theirarms 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 anold raft, " returned Ben Stubbs. 

All the men laughed at this and the professor said no more. But hescanned the "castaways" carefully, and so did the boys. As they drewnearer, the latter also began to observe that they were the funniestlooking men they had ever seen. 

"They've got on long black coats with white waistcoats to theirknees, " cried Billy. 

"So they have, " exclaimed Harry. "If it wasn't too ridiculous, you'dsay they had on evening clothes. "

"They're not men at all, " suddenly shouted the professor, with an airof 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 arepenguins. "

All the men turned at this, and one of them, who had sailed in thepolar regions before, announced, with a shout of laughter:

"The doc is right. Them's Emperor penguins, sure enough--taking ajoy-ride through the ice. "

The queer birds betrayed not the slightest excitement at the approachof the boat, but stood gazing solemnly at it, waving their littleflippers, --somewhat like those of a seal, only feathered, --up and downin a rhythmic way. 

"They act like band leaders, " was Frank's remark. 

"Better go back to the ship, " said Ben, much disgusted at the upshootof the expedition, and somewhat chagrined, too, if the truth must betold, at the professor's triumph over him. 

"No, let us catch one, " urged the professor. "I would like to see ifit 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 solemnlyat them as if to say:

"And who may you be?"

As they bobbed up and down on the piece of drift wood the boys hadmistaken for a raft, the sight was so ludicrous that the boys burstinto a hearty laugh. 

"Hush, " warned the professor, holding up his hand; "you may scarethem. "

They were big birds of their kind, standing fully four feet, and itwas not strange that from the ship they had been mistaken forshipwrecked men; indeed, it is not the first time such an incident hasoccurred in the South Polar climes. 

"Steady now, men, " said the professor, bowing his lean form over thebow 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 theboat, --the men rowing as silently as possible, --glided alongside. 

The birds made no sign of moving, and evidently had not the slightestfear of the strange beings, such as the newcomers must have seemed tothem. Instead, they seemed mildly curious and stretched their necksout inquiringly. 

"Here, chick-chick-chicky, " called the professor, by an oddinspiration, as if he were calling to the chickens in the barnyard athome. 

"Here, chick-chick-chicky. Pretty chick-chick-chicky. "

Suddenly he made a grab for the nearest penguin, and at the sameinstant the boys gave a shout of dismay. As he seized it, thecreature--affrighted when it felt the professor's bony arms aboutit, --had dived and the scientist, losing his balance, had followed itinto the water. 

This might not have been so serious, but the other penguins, seeingthe professor's plight, started to attack him, beating him back intothe icy water every time he came to the surface. 

"Ouch, you brute--oh, boys, help--o-o-o-h, this water is cold. Get meout, somebody. Scat, get away, you penguins. "

These were some of the cries uttered by the luckless professor, as hestruggled to get to the inside of the boat. 

When they could, for laughing at the ludicrous plight, the men and theboys beat off the big penguins with the oars and hauled the professorinto the boat. His nose was pecked badly and was of a ruddy hue fromhis misadventure. Fortunately, one of the men had some stimulant withhim and this was given to the professor to drink and the strong stuffquickly revived him. He sat up in the boat and talked with animationwhile the boat was being rowed back to the ship. 

"Bless my soul, what an adventure, " he puffed. "Ouch, my poor nose. Ithought the penguins would peck it off. Boys, that penguin was asslippery as a greased pig and as fat as butter. Oh, dear, what amisadventure, and I've ruined a good suit of clothes and broken abottle of specimens I had in the pockets. Never mind, I can catch somemore. "

Thus the professor rattled on, from time to time feeling his veryprominent nose, apparently in some doubt as to whether he stillretained 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'senthusiasm. 

"Hullo, what's that?" cried Billy, suddenly pointing. 

"What?" chorused the boys. 

"Why that creature off there on the ice flapping about, --it seems tobe 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 thefloes at no great distance from them. 

"Other birds are attacking it!" cried Billy. 

It was so, indeed. Numerous albatrosses and other large sea birds andgulls were hovering above the struggling creature, from time to timediving 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 tothe ship, " said Ben. 

"Oh, my dear sir, don't mind me, " demurred that individual. "If Icould have a little more of the stimulant--ah, thank you--as I wassaying, I am never in a hurry to go anywhere when there is aninteresting question of natural history to be solved. "

"Very well, then, " said Ben, heading the boat about; "if you catchcold, 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 boatdrew near to the object the other birds were attacking. 

"So it is, " cried Harry. 

"A monster, too, " supplemented the professor. "It would be a greatfind 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 tobits. "

The boat flew through the water, and soon they were near enough todrive the other birds away. The wounded albatross, however, did notrise, 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 theanswer. 

"It's a string!" suddenly cried Ben, standing up in the stern of theboat. 

"A string?" echoed the professor. 

"Sure enough, " was the reply. 

And so it proved. The albatross was held down by a bit of stringencircling its neck so tightly as to almost choke it, and which hadbecome caked with ice till it was quite heavy. 

"I know that bird, " shouted the professor, suddenly, as they drewalongside it. 

"You know it?" echoed the others, thinking the old man had taken leaveof his senses. 

"Yes, yes, " cried the professor. "It's the one that nearly dragged meoverboard. See whether the wire loop is still round its neck. "

"It sure is, " exclaimed Ben, as, disregarding the pecks of the bigbird, 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 mostinteresting to scientists and will make my name famous. 'The Sandburralbatross, which flew many scores of miles with my lasso round itsneck. ' Wonderful. Poor creature. I suppose as it dipped into the wavesfor its food a thin film of ice formed on the cord till it grew tooheavy for it to carry. "

"That's right, " said Ben, who had cut the lasso and released thecreature from its hampering weight. "I'll bet this weighs ten ortwelve 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 onthe 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 cantame him, " said the professor. 

All agreed that this would be an interesting experiment, and the boatpulled back to the ship with one passenger more than she had left itwith. As for the professor, he was in the seventh heaven of delightall the way back. 

He sat on a stern seat by the albatross, which was looking wildlyabout, and kept talking to it as if he thought it could understandhim. 

"Ah, my beauty, I'll astonish Professor Tapper with you when I gethome, " he said; "you are worthy to be ranked with the fur-bearingSouth Polar pollywog. I will feed you till your feathers shine and youare the envied of all birds. I am the most fortunate man in theworld. "

All hands enjoyed a hearty laugh as, on the return to the ship, theiradventures were narrated. 

"The poor professor never seems to go out but what he gets into somepickle or other, " laughed Captain Barrington, who was joined in hismerriment by Captain Hazzard. "But, dear me, " he went on, "where isthe 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 weighanchor 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 deathdown 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 oftrousers!" was the calm reply. 

When the perfect tempest of laughter at the poor professor's expensehad subsided, he was hauled to the deck in the boat and handed a longcoat. Only till then would he consent to get up from the seat, anoperation which was attended by a loud sound of ripping and tearing. 

"Ha, ha, ha, " roared Captain Hazzard. "First the professor nearlyloses his life, and then he loses his trousers!"

CHAPTER XIX. 

FACING THE POLAR NIGHT. 

After steaming for several hours the next day, the Great Barrieropened into a small bight with shelving shores, which seemed topromise an easy landing place. A boat party, including the professorand the boys, was organized and the pull to the shore begun, after thetwo ships had swung to anchor. 

The beach was a shelving one, formed of what seemed broken-offportions of volcanic rock. A short distance back from the shore therewere several rocky plateaus, clear of snow, which seemed to offer agood site for pitching camp. From the height, too, the boys could see, at no great distance, stretched out on the snow, several dark formsthat 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 landingplace and its surroundings, decided that a better spot could hardly befound, and the men were set to work at once marking out a site for theportable hut, which was to form the main eating and dwelling place, and the smaller structure in which the officers of the expedition wereto make their homes. 

The work of setting up the main hut, which had double walls, the spacebetween being filled with cork dust and felt, was soon accomplished, and it was then divided off into small rooms. In the center a bigtable was set up and at one end a huge stove was placed for heatingand cooking. At the other end the acetylene gas-plant, for providinglight during the antarctic night, was provided. A big porch providedmeans of entrance and egress. This porch was fitted with double doorsto prevent any cold air or snow being driven into the house when itwas opened. 

Captain Barrington and Captain Hazzard each had a small hut, anotherwas shared by Doctor Gregg and the first officer, while the boys andthe professor occupied still another. The engineer and Ben Stubbs wereplaced in charge of the main hut, in which the twelve men who were tobe left behind after the Brutus sailed north, were to find quarters. 

When everything had been fixed in position, a task that took more thana week, the work of unloading the provisions and supplies was begun. The cases which did not hold perishable goods, or ones likely to beaffected by cold, were piled about the walls of the main hut as anadditional protection against snow and cold. The glass jars of fruitand others of the supplies were stored inside the main hut, where theycould be kept from freezing. The various scientific instruments of theexpedition were stored in the huts occupied by Captain Barrington andCaptain Hazzard. These huts, as well as the one occupied by the boysand Professor Sandburr, were all warmed by a system of hot-air pipesleading from the main stove in the hut. Specially designed oil heaterswere 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 longsojourn were stored in a canvas and wood shelter some distance fromthe main camp, so as to avoid any danger of fire. When all wascompleted and big steel stays passed above the roofs of the huts tokeep 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 theprofessor had made several hunting trips over the ice and snow in theneighborhood of the camp. Some little distance back from the barrierthey had been delighted to find two small lakes, connected by a narrowneck of water, which they promptly christened Green Lake. The water inthese was warmish, and the professor said he had little doubt it wasfed by volcanic springs. 

The lakes swarmed with seals, and the boys' first seal hunt was anexperience they were not likely to forget. Armed with light rifles, they and the professor set out for the seal grounds one morning onwhich the thermometer recorded seven degrees below zero. All woretheir antarctic suits, however, and none felt the cold, severe as itwas. 

As they neared the seal grounds the soft-eyed creatures raised theirheads and regarded them with mild astonishment. A few of them divedinto the waters of Green Lake, but the rest stood their ground. 

"There is one with a young one, " shouted the professor, suddenly. "Imust have it. I will tame it. "

He dashed upon the mother seal, who promptly raised herself up andstruck 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 ofwarning. The steep icy bank above Green Lake was below the scientist'sheel. Before he had time to heed the boys' warning cry the professor, with a yell of amazement, slid backwards into the green pool, fromwhich 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 sogentle 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, " saidCaptain 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 seaelephant is his big brother in size and ferocity. "

"I shall give them a wide berth, " said the professor. "That killerwhale was enough for me. "

"You will be wise, too, " was the rejoinder, and the captain turned tobusy himself with his books and papers, for this conversation occurredabout noon in his hut. 

The next day there were good-byes to be said. The polar winter wasnear at hand, when the sea for miles beyond the barrier would freezesolid and it would have been foolhardy for the Brutus, which haddischarged all her coal but that necessary to steam north with, tohave remained longer. She sailed early in the morning, bearing withher letters to their friends in the north, which the boys could nothelp thinking might be the last they would ever write them. Unknownperils and adventures lay before them. How they would emerge from themthey did not know. 

All experienced a feeling of sadness as the ship that had gallantlytowed them into their polar berth lessened on the horizon, and thenvanished altogether in the direction of the north. The Southern Crossalone remained now, but she was no longer their floating home, most ofher stores and comforts having been removed to the shore. Her boilerswere emptied and piping disconnected in preparation for her sojourn inthe ice. 

With so much to be done, however, the adventurers could not long feelmelancholy, even though they knew their letters from home would notreach them till the arrival of the relief ship late in the nextautumn. 

The first duty tackled by Captain Hazzard was to call all the membersof the expedition into the main hut and give them a little talk on thedangers, difficulties and responsibilities that lay before them. Themen cheered him to the echo when he had finished, and each set aboutthe duties assigned to him. Ben Stubbs was ordered to set the watchesfor 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, ashe 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 theJap had not been captured. I am pretty confident that they knownothing of the treasure ship, for instance. But it is probable thatthey will watch us, as they have some suspicion that we are after morethan 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 CaptainHazzard. "Our own progress down the coast was very slow, and they haveprobably established a camp already. "

"Where?"

"That, of course, I have no means of knowing, " was the reply. "Isuppose that they are somewhere to the west of us, however. What Iwanted to impress on you, however, is that some time ago a bigdirigible was purchased abroad, and it is believed that it was for theuse of the Japanese polar expedition, as it had means providedspecially to warm the gas and prevent its condensation in extremelycold climates. "

The boys nodded, but did not interrupt. 

"It would be an easy matter for them to scout in such a ship and maybediscover our camp, " said the captain. "For that reason I want to askyou boys to set an extra night watch of your own. Nobody else needknow anything about it. I feel that I can rely on you more than any ofthe other subordinates of the expedition, excepting Ben Stubbs, and heis too busy to do everything. "

The boys willingly agreed to keep out a watch for any airship thatmight appear, although privately they thought it was a bit of extracaution 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, " saidBilly, when they were all seated in their own hut. 

"Captain Hazzard knows best, " said Frank, shortly. "You and Harry hadbetter take the first watch tonight, and I and--"

He stopped, puzzled. Who was to take the other watch with him? Aftersome 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. Hewas the only person they could think of whose duties would permit himto take the job, as his duties were only to cook for the officers, andwere consequently light. 

Moreover, he was a trustworthy man and not likely to gossip if he sawanything strange. Captain Hazzard readily gave his consent to thecolored man, whose name was Rastus Redwing, being Frank's companion onthe night watch. 

"We can have our breakfast cooked by the other man, " he said, "andthen all Rastus will have to do will be to prepare lunch and dinnerand extra pay. "

But Rastus, when the plan was broached to him, was by no means sowilling. 

"Wha' me tramp, tramp, tramp roun' in dat dar ice and snow all denight time?" he gasped. "Laws a me Massa Frank, wha' kin' of man yoall 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 callsLIVIN'--yas, sah. "

As Frank, well pleased at having adjusted the business of the nightwatches so easily, was striding over the snow-powdered rocks towardthe boys' hut, he heard a sudden disturbance behind the main hut andloud cries of:

"Help! help!"

The person who was uttering them seemed to be in great distress andwas 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 wereoutstretched as if in entreaty, and his long legs going up and downlike piston rods, at such speed was he running. 

"Whatever is that caught to his coat tails?" exclaimed Frank, as hesaw that a large, heavy creature of some kind was clinging fast to theflying 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 withamazement. 

"It's a sea-leopard. Ouch!--he bit me then. Shoot him or something, "screamed the professor, scooting round in circles like a professionalrunner; for he knew that if he stopped the creature would surely niphim hard. 

Frank hastily ran into the hut for his rifle and returned in a momentfollowed by the others. Half the occupants of the camp were out bythis time to watch the outcome of the professor's quandary. 

Frank raised his rifle and took careful aim--or as careful aim as hecould with the professor rushing along at such a pace, but even as therifle cracked the professor tripped on a snow hummock and down hecame. The yell he set up echoed back from the naked, rocky crags thattowered at the back of the camp. 

"Don't holler so, the creature's dead, " cried Frank, as he and theboys came running up to where the recumbent professor lay howling inthe 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 pollowedby a swenguin--no, I mean swallowed by a penguin, and now a sealeopard attacks me. "

As he spoke the professor got to his feet and the dead sea-leopard, ashe called it, fell over on the snow. It was a ponderous creature, muchlike a seal, but with huge tusks and a savage expression, even indeath. 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 polarsea-slugs, when I felt a tug at my coat-tails, " said the scientist. "Ilooked round and saw this creature glaring at me. "

"Why didn't you shoot at it?" asked Billy, noting the outline of theprofessor's revolver under his coattail. 

"I had placed a specimen of antarctic star-moss in the barrel of myrevolver for safe-keeping, and didn't wish to disturb it, " explainedthe professor; "so I thought the best thing to do under thecircumstances was to run. I never dreamed the creature would clingon. "

"Well it did, and like a bull-dog, too, " said Billy. 

"We'll have to be careful and not get snarled up with anysea-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 theprofessor. 

Suddenly he fell on his knees beside the sea-leopard and beganexamining 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 theengrossed 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 hispockets seemed to be always full, and popped the sea-leopard flea intoit. 

"That will be a very valuable addition to science, " he said, lookinground triumphantly. 

A few days after this incident the polar night began to shut down ingrim earnest. Sometimes for days the boys and the other adventurerswould be confined to the huts. Entertainments were organized andphonograph concerts given, and, when it was possible to venture out, hunting trips in a neighboring seal-ground were attempted. All thesethings helped to while away the monotony of the long darkness. In themeantime the commanders of the expedition laid their plans for thespring 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 sharedtheir lonely vigil was made manifest. It was Rastus who called Frank'sattention to what was eventually to prove a perplexing puzzle to thepole hunters. 

As the colored man and Frank were pacing outside the huts, keepingtheir watch, the negro suddenly gripped the boy's arm. 

"Fo' de lub ob goodness, man, wha's dat?" he exclaimed, getting aspale 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 asound 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 almostpainfully on the eardrums. 

While he gazed about, in perplexity at the phenomenon, Frank suddenlydescried something that almost startled him into an outcry. 

In the sky far to the westward and, seemingly, high in the air, therehovered a bright light!

The next instant it vanished so suddenly as to leave some doubt in theboy's mind as to whether he had really seen it, --and, if he had, if itmight 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 buzzingsound, 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 nolights. "

"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 binskedaddlin' 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 soonalmost forgot it. It was recalled to his mind in a startling manner afew nights later. 

This time it was Rastus that saw the strange light, and the yell thathe set up alarmed the entire camp. 

"Oh, Lordy--oo-o-o-o-ow, Lawdy!" he shrieked; "ah done see a ghosessway 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 thematter with you?"

"Oh, dat dar light, " wailed Rastus. "Dat ain't no human light datain't; dat light's a way up in dar sky. It's a polar ghosess, dat'swha' dat is--de ghos' ob some dead sailor. "

"Don't talk nonsense, " sharply ordered Frank, as the others, hastilybundled in their furs, came rushing out. 

"Whatever is the matter?" demanded Captain Hazzard, gazing sternly atthe 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 knowabout this?"

"Only that I really believe he saw such a thing, sir. "

"What, a light in the sky!" echoed Captain Barrington. "Did you seeit, 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 shorttime that I could not be certain if it was not a trick of theimagination. "

"Well, it begins to look as if Rastus is telling the truth, " was theofficer's comment. 

"Yas, sah, yas sah, I'se tellin' de truf, de whole truf, andeverything 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 thereply. 

"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. "Itwas high up in de air. "

"That's not what I mean, at all, " snapped Captain Hazzard. "Was itmoving or standing still?"

"Oh, ah see what yo' mean, Captain Hazzard, --no, sir, der was nocircumlocution 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 theprofessor, who had been intently listening to the account of thestrange light. 

"Hardly likely, " smiled Captain Barrington. "Tell us, Rastus, what itlooked most like to you--what did it resemble?"

"Wall, sah, it presembled mos'ly dat big laight what yo' see on asnortermobile befo' it runs ober you. Yas, sah, Cap't Barranton, dat'swhat it looked lak, fo' sho. "

"Does that tally with your impression of it, Frank?" asked CaptainHazzard. 

"Yes, sir, Rastus has put it very well. It was more like an automobileheadlight than anything else. "

"Well, nobody could be driving an automobile in the sky, " put in theprofessor, decisively, as if the matter were disposed of in this waywithout any more argument being wasted. 

"No, but there are other vehicles that are capable of rising above theearth, " spoke Captain Hazzard, thoughtfully. 

"For instance--?" breathed Frank, with a half-formed idea of what hemeant. 

"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 duringthe period of darkness, nothing more was seen that winter of themysterious light. The dim twilight preceding spring began to appear inFebruary without there being any recurrence of the mysteriousincident. The coming of the season in which they hoped to accomplishsuch great things, found the camp of the adventurers in splendid trim. Everyone from Captain Hazzard down to the professor's albatross, whichby this time had become quite tame, was in fine health, and there hadbeen not the slightest trace of illness among the adventurers. 

The motor-sledge was put together as soon as the September springbegan to advance, and was found to work perfectly. As it has not beendescribed in detail hitherto, a few words may be devoted to it at thispoint. 

It was a contrivance, about twenty feet long by three wide, supportedon hollow "barrels" of aluminum. The sledge itself was formed of avanadium steel frame with spruce planking, and was capable of carryinga load of a thousand pounds at thirty miles an hour over even thesoftest snow, as its cylindrical supports did not sink into the snowas ordinary wheels would have done. The motor was a forty-horse powerautomobile machine with a crank-case enclosed in an outer case inwhich a vacuum had been created--on the principle of the bottles whichkeep liquids cold or warm. In this instance the vacuum served to keepthe oil in the crank-case, which was poured in warm, at an eventemperature. The gasolene tank, which held twenty gallons, was alsovacuum-enclosed, and as an additional precaution the warm gases fromthe exhaust were inducted around it, and the space used for storingextra cans of fuel. 

Specially prepared oils and a liberal mixing of alcohol with thegasolene afforded a safeguard against any sudden freezing of the vitalfluids. The engine was, of course, jacketed, but was air-cooled, aswater circulation would have been impracticable in the polar regions. 

The test of the weird-looking contrivance was made on a day in earlyspring, when, as far as the eye could reach, a great solid sea of icespread to the northward, and to the south only a vast expanse of snowylevel was visible, --with far in the distance the outlines of somemountains which, in Captain Hazzard's belief, guarded the plateau onthe summit of which perhaps lay the South Pole. 

The Southern Cross lay sheathed in ice, and the open sea, throughwhich she had approached the Great Barrier, was now a solid ocean ofglacial ice. If it did not break up as the spring advanced theprospect was bad for the adventurers getting out that year, but atthis time they were too engrossed with other projects to give theirultimate release much thought. 

But to return to the motor-sledge. With Frank at the steering wheel infront and Harry, Billy Barnes, the professor, and Rastus distributedabout its "deck, " it was started across the snow, amid a cheer fromthe men, without a hitch. So splendidly did it answer that the boysdrove on and on over the white wastes without giving much thought tothe distance they traversed. 

With the return of spring, Skua gulls and penguins had becomeplentiful and in answer to the professor's entreaties the boys finallystopped the sledge near a rookery of the latter, in which the queerbirds were busy over the nests. These nests are rough piles of stones, on which the eggs are laid. Soon the chickens--fuzzy little browncreatures--appear, and there is a lot of fuss in the rookery; thepenguins getting their families mixed and fighting furiously over eachsmall, bewildered chick. 

It was egg-laying time, however, when the boys rolled up on theirqueer motor-sledge to the neighborhood of the breeding ground theprofessor had espied. The man of science was off the sledge in atrice, and while the boys, who wished to examine the motor, remainedwith the vehicle, he darted off for the penguins' habitat. 

With him went Rastus, carrying a large basket, which the professor hadordered him to bring in case they needed it to carry back any finds ofinterest. 

"Perfusser, is dem dar penguins good ter eat?" asked Rastus, as he andhis learned companion strode through the snow to the rookery. 

"They are highly esteemed as food, " was the reply. "Former expeditionsto the South Pole have eaten them and declare that their flesh is asgood 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 africassee, perfusser?"

"I am only going in search of eggs and would, of course, like to catcha flea--a penguin-flea, I mean, " said the professor; "and I should notadvise you to meddle with any of the creatures, Rastus. "

"Why, dey look as tame as elingfants in de Zoo, " protested the coloredman, as he gazed at the penguins, who in turn gazed back at him withtheir beady black eyes. 

"Yes, and ordinarily they are, but in the breeding season they getsavage if molested, although it is safe enough to walk among them. "

"Huh, " grunted Rastus to himself; "dis yer perfusser am a fusser fersho. Ef dem birds tas' lak chicking ah'm a-goin 'ter ketch one whilehe's a huntin' fer fleas and other foolishnesseses. "

"What's that you said, Rastus?" inquired the professor, as they beganto thread their way among the piles of stones, each of which marked anest. 

"Ah said de perfusser am a wonderful man wid his fleas and otherscientificnesses, " rejoined the colored man. 

"Ah, Rastus, " cried the professor, highly flattered; "if I can onlycatch the fur-bearing pollywog, then I shall, indeed, have some claimon fortune and fame, till then--let us hunt penguin eggs. "

In the meantime the boys were busy examining the motor. They foundthat the specially prepared oil worked perfectly and that, although itchanged color in the low temperature, it showed no disposition tofreeze. The gasolene, too, was successfully kept at the righttemperature 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 GoldenEagle. "

"And she's going to do it, too, " rejoined Frank, earnestly. "That isif 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 theluckless naturalist. 

"Oh, boys! boys!" came his cries from the direction of the penguinrookery. "Help! The menguins are plurdering us--I mean the penguinsare 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 wherethe boys stood, so that they were unable to imagine what was takingplace. 

"They are in serious trouble of some sort again, " cried Frank. "Comeon, boys, let's go to their rescue. "

The motor-sledge was soon speeding over the snow and in a few minuteswas 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 thestrange figures cut by the professor and Rastus, as they strove toescape the onslaught of the whole colony of penguins, which, withsharp shrieks of rage were attacking them with their beaks and beatingthem with their wings. 

[Illustration: "They Strove to Escape the Onslaught of the Penguins. "]

"Oh, please, good Mistah Pencilguins, I didn't mean no harm, " roaredRastus, who seemed to think the human-looking birds could understandhim. "Go afta' de perfusser, it was him dat tole me youalls tasted lakchicking. "

"Stop that, you greedy black rascal, " retorted the professor, layingabout him with the egg-basket. "If you hadn't tried to grab thatpenguin we wouldn't have been in this trouble. "

This was true enough. The penguins had not seemed to resent theirnests being interfered with at all, but had gathered round theinvaders with much curiosity. The trouble all originated when Rastushad sneaked up to a small penguin while the professor was busyextracting an egg from a nest, and with a cry of:

"Oh, you lubly lilly chickin, ah hev yo fer supper, sho nuff, " hadgrabbed the creature. 

It instantly sent up a loud cry of fear and rage, which its matesseemed to regard as a battle cry, for they all fell on the rashinvaders of their realm at once. 

As the boys dashed down the snowbank into the rookery, with theirrevolvers drawn, the professor, with a loud yell, fell backward into awell-filled nest. He arose with yellow yolks streaming from him andcovered with down, feathers and eggshell, that made him look like aspectacled penguin himself. Rastus fared no better and was beingbeaten and pecked unmercifully when the boys rushed down to therescue. 

"Fire your revolvers in the air!" cried Frank. "Don't kill the poorthings. "

"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 ofbroken eggs. 

The fusillade that went up from the boys' pistols made the penguinsstop their attack and waddle off in affright, while the professor andRastus, both sorry figures, scrambled to their feet and tried to brushoff some of the eggshells and yellow yolks that covered them from headto 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 theprofessor. 

"No, certainly not, " replied Frank. "What for?"

"Why they attacked us and frightened the life out of me, " protestedthe 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 sorrowfulegg-stained countenance; "in the interests of science, of course. Wewould not have been attacked at all if Rastus had not tried to catch apenguin. What for, I cannot imagine. "

"Why, perfusser, you done say dey tas' lak chickin, " ruefully criedthe 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 wouldnot be able to resist such an idea. "

"Ah dunno 'bout de idah, " observed Rastus, as he cranked up themachine, and the boys and the professor climbed on board; "but ahcouldn' resis' de chicking. "

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE FLAMING MOUNTAIN. 

A few days after the events described in the last chapter, CaptainHazzard summoned the boys to him and informed them that it was time tostart out and establish "depots" for the storing of food and blanketsas far as was practicable, in the direction of the pole. This was inorder that any parties sent out to explore might not run the chance ofbeing lost in the antarctic snows without having some place to whichthey could retreat. The "depots" were to be marked as rapidly as theywere made with tall bamboo poles, each of which bore a black flag. 

The boys pitched in to this occupation with great enthusiasm and, withthe aid of the motor-sledge, soon had established three depots, covering a radius of some eighty miles from the camp. This workbrought them to the verge of the chain of snow-mountains, beyond whosewhite crests they believed lay the pole. Somewhere along the coastline of this chain of mountains, too, so the lieutenant calculated, lay the Viking ship, which, in the years that had elapsed since thewhalemen had seen her, must have drifted towards their bases on theever-shifting polar currents. For the Great Barrier, solid as itseems, is not stationary, and many scientists hold that it is subjectto violent earthquakes, caused by the subsidence of great areas of icyland into the boiling craters of polar volcanoes. 

A careful study of the position, in which the whalemen set down theyhad spied the ship, and a calculation of the polar drift during thetime that had elapsed from their discovery, had enabled CaptainHazzard to come, as he believed, very nearly locating the exactsituation of the mysterious vessel. 

"Somewhere to the southeast, at the foot of the snow-mountains, Ifirmly believe that we shall find her, " he said. 

It was a week after the establishment of the last depot that the boyswere ready to make their first flight in polar regions. The GoldenEagle's vacuum tank and crank-case were attached and a supply ofnon-freezing oils and gasolene drums, carefully covered with warmfelt, taken on board. 

"Your instructions are, " were Captain Hazzard's parting words, "to flyto the southward for a distance of a hundred miles or so, but nofurther. You will report the nature of the country and bring back yourobservations made with the instruments. "

The Golden Eagle, which had been assembled earlier in the spring, waswheeled out of her shed and, after a brief "grooming, " was ready forher first flight in the antarctic regions. 

"It seems queer, " observed Frank, "to be flying an aeroplane, that hasbeen through so many tropical adventures, in the frozen regions of thesouth pole. "

"It does, indeed, " said the professor, who, with Billy Barnes, hadobtained permission to accompany the boys. 

Captain Hazzard, himself, would have come but that he and CaptainBarrington had determined to make surveys of the ice surrounding theSouthern Cross, in order to decide whether the ship had a speedychance of delivery from her frozen bondage. 

The Golden Eagle shot into the icy air at exactly ten minutes pastnine on the morning of the 28th of September. It was a perfect day, with the thermometer registering 22 above zero. So accustomed had theybecome to the bitter cold of the polar winter that even this lowtemperature seemed oppressive to the boys, and they wore only theirordinary leather aviation garments and warm underclothes. A plentifulsupply of warm clothing was, however, taken along in case of need. Plenty of provisions and a specially contrived stove for melting snowinto water were also carried, as well as blankets and sleeping bags. 

The shout of farewell from the sojourners at the camp had hardly diedout before the aviators found themselves flying at a height of threehundred feet above the frozen wastes. Viewed from that height, theaspect stretched below them was, indeed, a desolate one. As far as theeye could reach was nothing but the great whiteness. Had it not beenfor the colored snow goggles they wore the boys might have beenblinded by the brilliancy of the expanse, as cases of snow blindnessare by no means uncommon in the Antarctic. 

On and on they flew toward the mighty snow mountains which toweredlike guardian giants ahead of them. The barograph showed that aftersome hours of flying they had now attained a height of two thousandfeet, which was sufficient to enable them to clear the ridge. Viewedfrom above, the snow mountains looked like any other mountains. Theywere scarred by gullies and valleys in the snow, and only the lack ofvegetation betrayed them as frozen heaps. Perhaps not mountains in theordinary sense at all, but simply mighty masses of ice thrown up bythe action of the polar drift. 

"Look, look, " quavered Billy Barnes, as they cleared the range andtheir eyes fell on the expanse beyond. 

The boy's exclamation had been called forth by the sight of an immensemountain 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 theantarctic circle, but not either of which is as big as this one. Ishould imagine, " said the professor. "Boys, let us head for it, " heexclaimed; "it must be warm in the vicinity of the crater and perhapswe may find some sort of life existent there. Even the fur-bearingpollywog may reside there. Who knows?"

All agreed, without much argument, that it came within the scope oftheir duties to investigate the volcano, and they soon were wingingtoward it. As they neared the smoking cone they observed that itssides were formed of some sort of black stone, and with that, mingledwith the smoke that erupted from its mouth, came an occasional burstof flame. 

"It's in eruption, " gasped Billy. "We'd better not get too near toit. "

"I apprehend no danger, " said the professor. "Both Scott andShackleton and our own Wilkes examined the craters of Mounts Erebusand Terror, when steam and flames were occasionally spurting fromthem, without suffering any bad consequences. "

Acting on the professor's advice the aeroplane was grounded at a pointsome distance from the summit of the mountain, on a small flatplateau. The warmth was perceptible, and some few stunted bushes andtrees clung to the sides of the flaming mountain. The professor wasdelighted to find, flitting among the vegetation, a small fly withpink and blue wings, which he promptly christened the SanburritisAntarcticitis Americanus. He netted it without difficulty and poppedit into a camphor bottle and turned, with the boys, to regarding themountain. 

"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 candiscover some more strange insects at the summit. "

The climb was a tedious one, even with the aid of the rope they hadbrought with them from the Golden Eagle; and with which part of theparty hauled the others over seemingly impassable places. At last, panting, and actually perspiring in the warm air, they stood on thelip 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 sidesglowed everywhere with the glare of the subterranean fires. A reek ofsulphurous fumes filled the air and made the adventurers feel dizzy. They, therefore, worked round on the windward side of the crater, andafter that felt no ill consequences. 

For a long time they stood regarding the depths from which the heavyblack smoke rolled up. 

"There's no danger of an eruption, is there?" asked Billy, somewhatapprehensively. 

"I don't apprehend so, " rejoined the professor. "A survey of the sidesof the crater convinces me that it is many years since the volcano wasactive. "

"It is a wonderful feeling to think that we are the first human beingswho have ever seen it, " exclaimed Frank, impulsively. 

"It is, indeed, " agreed the professor. "This is a great discovery andwe must take possession of it in the name of the United States. Let uscall it Mount Hazzard in commemoration of this expedition. "

And so with a cheer the great antarctic volcano was named in honor ofthe leader of the expedition. 

At the foot of the flaming mountain, originated no doubt by thewarmth, were numerous large lakes filled with water of a deep greenishblue hue. 

"I wonder if there aren't some fish in those lakes?" wondered theprofessor, gazing at the bodies of water so far below them. "At anyrate there may be some kinds of creatures there that are veryuncommon. Conditions such as they must exist under would make themunlike 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 andfly down to examine the lakes, " said the boy. 

"Bless my soul, that's so, " ejaculated the man of science. "Do youknow, for a moment I had quite forgotten how it was possible to gethere. That is a wonderful machine that you boys have there. "

The climb down the mountain side was almost more difficult anddangerous than the ascent, but at last all, even the professor, wereonce 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 fromthe edge of one of the small lakes. 

"How curiously honeycombed the rocks are, " exclaimed Frank, as theygot out of the craft. 

Indeed the face of the cliff that towered above the lakes did presenta singular appearance, there being myriads of holes in its face at aheight 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 freshand agreeable to the taste though it was warmish and seemed to have anadmixture of iron in it. All about them--strangest freak of all--smallgeysers of hot water bubbled, sending up clouds of steam into the air. 

"This is like an enchanted land, " was Billy's comment, as he gazedabout him. Indeed, what with the towering black mountain above themwith its perpetual cloud of smoke hovering above its crest, the greenlakes of warm water and the bubbling, steaming geysers, it did seemlike another world than ours. 

Some time was occupied by a thorough investigation of the small lakeand the boys and their scientific companion then advanced on a largerone that lay at some distance. 

"Do you think it is wise to go so far from the aeroplane?" askedHarry. 

"Why, there's nothing here that could attack us, " the professor wasbeginning, when he stopped short suddenly with an exclamation. 

"Look there!" he exclaimed, pointing down at the ground. "A humantrack. "

The boys looked and saw the imprint of a foot!

Yet, on inspection, it was unlike a human foot and seemed more likethe track of a bear. Several other prints of a similar nature becamevisible now that they examined the spongy soil carefully. 

"Whatever do you think it is?" Frank asked of the professor, who wasexamining the imprints with some care. 

"I don't know, my dear boy, " he replied. "It looks like the foot of abear, and yet it appears to be webbed as if it might be that of somehuge water animal. "

"Yes, but look at the size of it, " argued Billy. "Why, the animalwhose foot that is must be an immense creature. "

"It's certainly strange, " mused the professor, "and suggests to methat we had better be getting back to our aeroplane. "

"You think it is dangerous to remain here, then?" asked Harry, withsome dismay. 

"I do, yes, " was the naturalist's prompt reply. "I do not know whatmanner of animal it can be that left that track, and I know the tracksof 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 theimprint of a most formidable brute. "

"Might it not be some prehistoric sort of creature like the mammothsof the north pole or the dinosauras, or huge flying-lizard?" suggestedFrank. 

"I'm inclined to think that that is what the creature is, " rejoinedthe scientist. "It would be most interesting to remain here and try toget a specimen, but in the position we are in at present we should becut off from the aeroplane in case an attack came from in front ofus. "

"That's so, " agreed Frank. "Come on, boys, let's get a move on. We cancome back here with heavy rifles some day, and then we can afford totake chances. I don't like the idea of facing what are possiblyformidable monsters with only a pistol. "

"My revolver can--, " began Billy, drawing the weapon in question--whenhe stopped short. 

The faces of all blanched as they, too, noted the cause of theinterruption. 

A harsh roar had suddenly filled the air, booming and reverberatingagainst the gloomy cliffs like distant thunder. 

Suddenly Billy, with a shout that was half a scream, called attentionto the holes they had noticed at the foot of the acclivity. 

"Look, look at that!" he chattered, his teeth clicking like castanetswith sheer terror. 

"We are lost!" shouted the professor, starting back with blanchedcheeks. 

From the strange holes they had previously noticed at the foot of thecliffs, dozens of huge creatures of a form and variety unknown to anyin the party, were crawling and flopping into the lake. 

That their intentions were hostile was evident. As they advanced in aline that would bring them between the boys and their aeroplane, theyemitted the same harsh, menacing roar that had first started theadventurers. 

"Run for your lives, " shouted Frank, as the monsters cleaved thewater, 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 ofbreath. 

The next minute he stumbled on a bit of basalt and fell headlong. Hadit not been for this accident they could have gained the aeroplane intime, but, as it was, the brief space it took to aid the scientist tohis feet gave the creatures of the cliff a chance to intercept thelittle party. 

As the creatures drew themselves out of the green warm water of thelake with hideous snarls the boys saw that the animals were greatcreatures that must have weighed several hundred pounds each and werecoated with shaggy hair. Their heads and bodies were shaped not unlikeseals except that they had huge tusks; but each monster had two shortlegs in front and a pair of large flippers behind. Their appearancewas sufficiently hideous to alarm the most callous venturer into theAntarctic. 

"We've got to make the aeroplane, " exclaimed Frank, "come on, get yourguns out and fire when I give the word. If we can only kill a few ofthem perhaps the rest will take fright. "

"A good idea, " assented the professor producing his revolver, a weaponthat might have proved fatal to a butterfly, but certainly would notbe of any effect against the shaggy foes they now faced. 

"Fire!" cried Frank, when the others had their heavy magazine weaponsready. 

A volley of lead poured into the ranks of the monsters and several ofthem, with horribly human shrieks, fled wounded toward the lake. Astrong sickening odor of musk filled the air as the creatures bled. 

But far from alarming the rest of the monsters the attack seemed torender them ten times more savage than before. With roars of rage theyadvanced toward the boys, making wonderful speed on their legs andflippers. 

"Let 'em have it again, " shouted Frank as he noted with anxiety thatthe first fusillade had been a failure, the rough coats and thick hideof the monsters deflecting the bullets. 

Once more the adventurers emptied their pistols, but the shaggy coatsof the great creatures still seemed to prevent the bullets doing anyserious injury. 

The boys' position was ominous indeed. An order from Frank to reloadresulted in the discovery that he alone of any of the party had a beltfull of cartridges; the others had all used up the few they hadcarried. 

"We're goners sure, " gasped Billy as the creatures hesitated beforeanother scattering discharge of bullets, but still advanced, despitethe fact that this time two were killed. Suddenly, however, theirleader with a strange cry threw his head upward and seemed to sniff atthe air as if in apprehension. 

At the same instant a slight trembling of the ground on which theadventurers stood was perceptible. 

"It's an earthquake, " cried Billy, recollecting his experience inNicaragua. 

With wild cries the monsters all plunged into the lake. They seemed tobe in terror. Behind them they left several of their wounded, thelatter 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 soundlike 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 greatmasses of bright, yellow smoke in sharp contrast to the dark vaporsthat had hitherto poured from it. A mighty rumbling and roaringproceeded from its throat as the smoke poured out, and vivid, blueflames shot through the sulphurous smother from time to time. 

"We've no time to lose, " cried Frank, "come on, we must get to theaeroplane in a hurry. "

They all took to their heels over the trembling ground, not stoppingto gaze behind them. The monsters had all disappeared, and as they hadnot been seen to re-enter their holes they were assumed to be hidingat the bottom of the lake. 

As the boys gained the aeroplane and clambered in, Frank uttered anexclamation:

"Where's the professor?"

In a few seconds they espied him carefully bending over the dead bodyof 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 furand appeared to grasp something. He hastily drew out a bottle anddropped whatever he had seized into it and then started leaping andbounding toward the aeroplane, his long legs looking like stilts as headvanced over the uneven ground. 

He was just in time. 

As the aeroplane left the ground the water in the lakes becameviolently agitated and steam arose from fissures in the mountain side. Flames shot up to a considerable height above the crater and a torrentof black lava began to flow toward the lakes, falling into them with aloud hissing sound that was audible to the boys, even after they hadput many miles between themselves and the burning mountain. 

"That will be the last of those monsters, I expect, " remarked Harry asthey flew steadily northward. 

"I don't know, " observed the professor, "they may have caves underwater where they can keep cool. They evidently knew what to expectwhen they felt the first rumblings and shaking of the earth and musthave had previous experience. I guess I was mistaken in thinking thevolcano inactive. "

"It was a piece of great good luck for us that the eruption came whenit 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 hurryto get to the aeroplane, " said Billy with a grin. 

"That was so that I could get my volcano monster's flea back safe andsound, " 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, wereregarding 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 thevolcano 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 littlecreature eluded me. Oh, dear, this is a bitter day for science. I wasin such a hurry to pop my specimen into the bottle that I held himcarelessly and he evidently hopped away. Oh, this is a terrible, anirreparable, loss. "

Although the boys tried to comfort him they could not. He seemedovercome by grief. 

"Cheer up, " said Billy at length, "remember there is always thefur-bearing pollywog to be captured. "

"Ah, yes, " agreed the professor, "but a bug in the hand is worth twoin the air. "

As they talked, there suddenly came a loud explosion from the engineand two of the cylinders went out of commission. The speed of theaeroplane at once decreased and she began to drop. 

The dismay of the boys may be imagined. They were several miles fromthe camp and below them was nothing but the desolate expanse of thesnow 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 somethingwrong with the engine and we can't repair it up here. If we were notin this rarified atmosphere we could fly on the cylinders that arefiring 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 likea back-fire and that may be all that's the matter. In such a case wecan drain the crank case and put in fresh oil; for if it was really aback-fire it was most likely caused by 'flooding. '"

Ten minutes later they landed on the firm, hard snow and lost no timein getting things in shape to spend the night where they were; for itwas unlikely that repairs could be effected in time for them to flyback to the camp before dark. The canvas curtains at the sides of theaeroplane's body were drawn up, forming a snug tent. The stove was setgoing and soup and canned meats and vegetables warmed and eaten by thelight of a lantern. 

In the meantime Frank had discovered that the breakdown had beencaused by a defect in the ignition apparatus which it would take sometime 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 havingwrapped themselves in their blankets some time before, when a suddensound, breaking on the stillness of the Antarctic night, made thempause. Both boys strained their ears intently and the sound came oncemore. 

This time there was no mistaking it. 

It was the same sound to which Rastus had called Frank's attention thenight they were on watch outside the hut. 

Pulling the curtain open, the boys gazed out, determined to unravelthe mystery once and for all. The night was perfectly still except forthe buzzing noise, and a bright moon showed them the snow lying whiteand undisturbed about them. 

The sound did not proceed from the ground, that was evident, but fromthe air. The atmosphere seemed filled with it. 

"What can it be?" exclaimed Harry. 

"Look--look there!" shouted Frank, at the same instant clutching hisbrother's arm in his excitement. 

Both boys gazed upward and as they did so a dark, shadowy form passedabove them far overhead. For an instant a brilliant light gleamed fromit and then it vanished, going steadily eastward with the strangethrumming sound growing fainter as it receded. 

The boys looked at each other in amazement and the words of CaptainHazzard flashed across Frank's mind. 

"WE HAVE SOME VERY UNDESIRABLE NEIGHBORS AT CLOSE QUARTERS, " thecaptain 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. Thequestion is what is the explanation of it all?"

"Simple. "

"Simple, well I--"

"That aeroplane is the one which was bought in Europe. It is speciallyprovided with radiators which electrically heat its gas, allowing itto navigate in these regions without fear of the gas condensing andcausing 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 therival expedition. "

"The Japanese one, you mean?"

"That's it. It must have been the light of it that I saw during thewinter. 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 SouthPole. "

CHAPTER XXIV. 

SWALLOWED BY A CREVASSE. 

The early morning following the discovery of the night trip of thedirigible saw the Golden Eagle rising into the chill air and wingingher way to the camp. The boys, as soon as they descended, hastened toCaptain Hazzard's hut and detailed their adventures. As may besupposed, while both the leader of the expedition and the captain ofthe Southern Cross were deeply interested in the account of theflaming mountain and the prehistoric seal-like creatures, they weremore deeply concerned over the boys' sighting of the airship. 

"It means we have earnest rivals to deal with, " was Captain Hazzard'scomment, "we must set about finding the Viking ship at once. Thesearch will not take long, for if she is not somewhere near where Ihave calculated she ought to be it would be waste of time to seek herat all. "

Full of excitement at the prospect of embarking on the search for theship, before long the boys dispersed for breakfast only to gatherlater on in Captain Hazzard's hut. The officer informed them that theywere to fly to the position he indicated the next day and institute athorough search for the lost craft. The Golden Eagle was to carry herwireless and a message was to be flashed to the camp's wirelessreceiving 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 menand apparatus for saving the treasure would be sent from the ship totheir aid on the motor-sledge. In the event of their not discoveringthe Viking ship they were to spend not more than three days on thesearch, wirelessing the camp at the end of the third day for furtherinstructions. 

The rest of that day was spent in putting the Golden Eagle's wirelessin working order and stretching the long "aerials" above her upperplane. The instruments were then tested till they were in tune fortransmitting messages from a long distance. The apparatus, after alittle adjustment, was found to work perfectly. 

Captain Hazzard warned the boys that, in the event of the rivalexpedition discovering them, they were on no account to resort toviolence but to "wireless" the camp at once and he would decide on thebest course to pursue. 

"But if they attack us?" urged Frank. 

"In that case you will have to defend yourselves as effectively aspossible till aid arrives, " said the commander. 

Early the next day, with a plentiful supply of cordite bombs anddynamite on board for blasting the Viking ship free of the ice casingwhich it was to be expected surrounded her, the Golden Eagle soaredaway from the camp. 

The boys were off at last on the expedition they had longed for. Theprofessor accompanied them with a formidable collection of nets andbottles and bags. He had had prepared a lot of other miscellaneouslumber which it had been explained to him he could not transport on anaeroplane and which he had therefore reluctantly left behind. Theengine worked perfectly and Frank anticipated no further trouble fromit. 

As they sped along Harry from time to time tested the wireless andsent short messages back to the camp. It worked perfectly and thespark 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 twogrew greater. 

They passed high above snow-barrens and seal-rookeries and colonies ofpenguins, the inhabitants of which latter cocked their heads upinquiringly at the big bird flying by far above them. Their coursecarried them to the eastward and as they advanced the character of thescenery changed. What were evidently bays opened up into the land andsome of them seemed to run back for miles, cutting deep into the manyranges that supported the plateau of the interior on which they hadfound the volcano. 

These bays or inlets were ice covered but it was easy to see that withthe advance of summer they would be free of ice. At noon, Frank landedthe aeroplane and made an observation. It showed him they were stillsome distance from the spot near which Captain Hazzard believed theViking ship was imprisoned. After a hasty lunch, cooked on the stove, the aeroplane once more ascended and kept steadily on her course tillnightfall. 

As dark set in, the boys found themselves at a spot in which the waterthat lapped the foot of the great Barrier washed--or would when theice left it--at the very bases of the mountains, which here were nomore than mere hills. They were cut into in all directions by deepgulches into which during the summer it was evident the sea mustpenetrate. 

"We are now not more than one hundred and fifty miles from the spot inwhich Captain Hazzard believes the ship is ice-bound, " announced Frankthat night as they turned in inside the snugly curtained chassis. Sleep that night was fitful. The thought of the discovery of whichthey might be even then on the brink precluded all thought of soundsleep. Even the usually calm professor was excited. He hoped to findsome strange creatures amid the mouldering timbers of the Viking shipif they ever found her. 

Dawn found the adventurers up and busily disposing of breakfast. Assoon as possible the Golden Eagle rose once more and penetratedfurther into the unknown on her search. Several wireless messages weresent 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 thehumid atmosphere of the northern climes. 

The character of the country had not changed. Deep gullies stillscarred the white hills that fringed the barrier, but not one of theseyielded the secret the boys had come so far to unravel. 

"I'm beginning to think this is a wild goose chase, " began Billy, asat noon Frank landed, took his bearings, and then announced that theywere within a few minutes of the spot in which the ship ought to lie. 

"She seems as elusive as the fur-bearing pollywog, " announced theprofessor. 

"You still believe there is such a creature?" asked Harry. 

"Professor Tapper says so, " was the reply, "I must believe it. I willsearch everywhere till I can find it. "

"I think he was mistaken, " said Billy, "I can't imagine what such acreature could look like. "

"You may think he was mistaken, " rejoined the professor, "but I donot. 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 theman of science with considerable dignity. 

This colloquy took place while they were getting ready to reascendafter 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 spotnot very far from where they stood. 

"It looks like the stump of a tree, " observed the professor, squintingthrough 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 benothing but a plank set up there by some former explorer, but itcertainly does look like the top of a mast. "

"The best way is to go and see, " suggested the professor, whose calmalone remained unruffled. 

The distance between the boys and the object that had excited theirattention was not considerable and the snow was smooth and unmarked byimpassable gullies. The professor's suggestion was therefore at onceadopted and the young adventurers were soon on their way across thewhite expanse which luckily was frozen hard and not difficult totraverse. 

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 amast it was in all probability a spar of the ship they sought. Thethought put new life into every one and they hurried forward over thehard snow at their swiftest pace. 

The professor was in the lead, talking away at a great rate, his longlegs opening and shutting like scissor blades. 

"Perhaps I may find a fur-bearing pollywog after all, " he cried; "ifyou boys have found your ship surely it is reasonable to suppose thatI 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-bearingpollywog?" demanded Billy. 

"I would not, " rejoined the professor with much dignity; "the one isonly of a passing interest to science and a curious public. The otheris an achievement that will go ringing down the corridors of timemaking famous the name of the man who braved with his life the rigorsof the South Polar regions to bring back alive a specimen of thestrange creature whose existence was surmised by Professor ThomasTapper, 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 terrorwhich was echoed by the boys, who a second before had been listeningwith somewhat amused faces to his oratory, he vanished as utterly asif the earth had swallowed him--which it seemed it had indeed. 

"The professor has fallen into a crevasse!" shouted Frank, who was thefirst of the group to realize what had occurred. 

Billy and Harry were darting forward toward the hole in the snowthrough which the scientist had vanished when a sharp cry from theelder boy stopped them. 

"Don't go a step further, " he cried. 

"Why not, --the professor is down that hole, " cried Harry, "we must dosomething to save him. "

"You can do more by keeping cool-headed than any other way, " rejoinedFrank. "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 snowhas drifted. Sometimes they are so covered up that persons can crossin safety, at other times the snow 'bridge' gives way under theirweight and they are precipitated into the crevasse itself, --anice-walled chasm. "

"Then we may never get the professor out, " cried Billy in dismay. "Howdeep is that crevasse likely to be?"

"Perhaps only ten or twenty feet. Perhaps several hundred, " was thealarming 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 hastenedforward but dared not venture too near the edge of the hole throughwhich 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 muchlonger. "

"Are you at the bottom of the chasm?"

"No, I am clinging to a ledge. It is very slippery and if I shouldfall it would be to the bottom of the rift, which seems severalhundred feet deep. "

Even in his extreme danger the professor seemed cool and Frank tookheart from him. 

Luckily they had with them a coil of rope brought from the GoldenEagle for the purpose of lowering one of their number over the edge ofthe gulf onto the Viking ship--if the mast they had seen proved to behers. 

It was the work of a moment to form a loop in this and then Frankhailed 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 joythe 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'tendure the cold down here much longer. "

The three boys were strong and they pulled with all their might, butfor a time it seemed doubtful if they could lift the professor out ofthe crevasse as, despite his leanness, he was a fairly heavy man. Heaided them, however, by digging his heels in the wall of the crevasseas they hoisted and in ten minutes' time they were able to grasp hishands and pull him into safety. 

A draught from the vacuum bottle containing hot coffee which Frankcarried soon restored the professor and he was able to describe tothem how, as he was walking along, declaiming concerning thefur-bearing pollywog, the ground seemed to suddenly open under hisfeet and he felt himself tumbling into an abyss of unknown depth. 

As the chasm narrowed, he managed to jam himself partially across therift and in this way encountered an ice-coated ledge. One glance downshowed him that if he had not succeeded in doing this his plunge wouldhave ended in death, for the crevasse seemed to exist to an unknowndepth beneath the surface of the earth. 

"And now that I am safe and sound, " said the professor, "let us hurryon. The fall hasn't reduced my eagerness to see the wrecked Vikingship. "

"But the crevasse, how are we to pass that?" asked Frank. 

"We must make a detour to the south, " said the professor, "I noticedwhen I was down there that the rift did not extend more than a fewfeet in that direction. In fact, had I dared to move I might haveclambered out. "

The boys, not without some apprehension, stepped forward incontinuance of their journey, and a few minutes later, after they hadmade the detour suggested by the professor, realized to their joy thatthey 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 stoodon the edge of the mastmarked abyss, gazing downward into it. 

As they did so a shout--such a shout as had never disturbed the greatsilences 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, glazedwith the thick ice that covered it, lay a queerly formed ship with ahigh prow, --carved like a raven's head. 

IT WAS THE VIKING SHIP. 

After all the centuries that had elapsed since she went adrift she wasat last found, and to be ransacked of the treasure her dead sailorshad amassed. 

The first flush of the excitement over the discovery quickly passedand the boys grew serious. The problem of how to blast the preciousderelict out of the glassy coat of ice without sinking her was aserious one. Frank, after a brief survey, concluded, however, that theice "cradle" about her hull was sufficiently thick to hold her steadywhile they blasted a way from above to her decks and hold. 

It was useless to linger there, as they had not brought the needfulapparatus with them, so they at once started back for the GoldenEagle. Frank's first care, arrived once more at the aeroplane, was tosend out the good news, and it was received with "wireless acclaim" bythose at Camp Hazzard. 

"Will be there in two days by motor-sledge. Commence operations atonce, " was the order that was flashed back after congratulations hadbeen extended. As it was too late to do anything more that night, theboys decided to commence work on the derelict in the morning. After ahearty supper they retired to bed in the chassis of the aeroplane, allas tired out as it is possible for healthy boys to be. Nevertheless, Frank, who always--as he put it--"slept with one eye open, " wasawakened at about midnight by a repetition of the noise of themysterious airship. 

There was no mistaking it. It was the same droning "burr" they hadheard on the night following their discovery of the flaming mountain. Waking Harry, the two lads peered upward and saw the stars blotted outas the shadowy form of the air-ship passed above them--between the skyand themselves. All at once a bright ray of light shot downward and, after shifting about over the frozen surface for a time, it suddenlyglared full on to the boys' camp. 

Both lads almost uttered a cry as the bright light bathed them andmade it certain that their rivals had discovered their aeroplane; butbefore they could utter a word the mysterious craft had extinguishedthe search glare and was off with the rapidity of the wind toward thewest. 

"They must be scared of us, " said Harry at length, after a longawe-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, " remarkedFrank, with a serious face. 

"You mean that they--"

"Have gone to get reinforcements and attack us, " was the instantreply, "they must have trailed us with the powerful lenses of whichthe 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 sharedthe boys' apprehensions over the nocturnal visitor. 

"If they think we have discovered the ship they won't rest till theyhave wrested it from us, " he said soberly. 

"I'm afraid that we are indeed in for serious trouble, " said Frank, ina 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 tothe camp?" suggested Billy. 

"And leave that ship for them to rifle at their leisure--no, " rejoinedFrank, with lips compressed in determination, "we won't do that. We'lljust go ahead and do the best we can--that's all. "

"That's the way to talk, " approved the professor, "now as soon as youboys have had breakfast we'll start for the ship, for, from what youhave related, there is clearly no time to be lost. "

The thought that their mysterious enemies might return at any timecaused the boys to despatch the meal consisting of hot chocolate, canned fruit, pemmican, and salt beef, with even more haste thanusual. Before they sat down to eat, however, Frank flashed a messageto the camp telling them of their plight. 

"Will start at once, " was the reply, "keep up your courage. We arecoming to the rescue. "

This message cheered the boys up a good deal and they set out for theViking ship with lighter hearts than they had had since the sightingof the night-flier. They packed with them plenty of stout rope, drillsand dynamite. Harry carried the battery boxes and the rolls of wire tobe 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 anupright steel brace, one of the extra parts of the aeroplane, wasimbedded in it as an upright, to which to attach the rope. It was soonadjusted and Frank, after they had drawn lots for the honor of beingthe first on board, climbed down it. He was quickly followed by theothers, but any intention they might have had of exploring the ship atthat time was precluded by the ice that coated her deck with theaccumulation of centuries of drifting in the polar currents. 

With the drill several holes were soon bored in the glassy coating andsticks of dynamite inserted. These were then capped with fulminate ofmercury caps, and Harry climbed the rope to the surface of the narrowgully with the wires which were to carry the explosive spark. Theothers followed, and then, carrying the battery box to which the wireshad been attached, withdrew to what was considered a safe distance. 

"Ready?" asked Frank, his hand on the switch, when all had beenadjusted. 

"Let 'er go, " cried Billy. 

There was a click, and a split of blue flame followed by a roar thatshook the ground under their feet. From the gully a great fountain ofice shot up mingled with smoke. 

"I'm afraid I gave her too much, " regretted Frank apprehensively, asthe noise subsided and the smoke blew away. "I hope we haven't sunkher. "

"That would be a calamity, " exclaimed the professor, "but I imaginethe ice beneath her was too thick to release her, even with such aheavy 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'sdecks and had also exposed her hold at a spot at which the deck itselfhad been blown in. 

"I can't believe my eyes, " shouted Billy, as he gazed. 

"It's there, right enough, " gasped Frank, "the old manuscript wasright after all. "

As for the professor and Harry, they stood speechless, literallypetrified with astonishment. 

Below them, exposed to view, where the deck had been torn away, wasrevealed the vessel's hold packed full, apparently, of yellow walrusivory and among the tusks there glittered dully bars of what seemedsolid gold. 

Frank was the first down the rope. The explosion had certainly doneenough damage, and if the ice "cradle" beneath the vessel's keel hadnot been so thick she must have been sunk with the shock of thedetonation. The ice "blanket" that covered her though had beenshattered like a pane of glass--and, with picks thrown down onto thedecks from above the boys soon cleared a path to the door of a sort ofraised cabin aft. 

Then they paused. 

A nameless dread was on them of disturbing the secrets of the longdead Vikings. Before them was the cabin door which they longed to openbut somehow none of them seemed to have the courage to do so. Theportal was of massive oak but had been sprung by the explosion till ithung on its hinges weakly. One good push would have shoved it down. 

"Say, Billy, come and open this door, " cried Harry, but Billy wasintently gazing into the hold, now and then jumping down into it andhandling the ivory and bar gold with an awe-stricken face. 

"Well, are you boys going to open that door?" asked the professor atlast. He had been busy in another part of the ship examining therotten 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 justright to invade that place. It's like breaking open a tomb. "

"Nonsense, " exclaimed the scientist, who had no more sentiment abouthim than a steel hack-saw, "watch me. "

He bounded forward and put his shoulder to the mouldering door. Itfell inward with a dull crash and as it did so the professor leapedbackward with a startled cry, stumbling over a deck beam and sprawlingin a heap. 

"W-w-what's the matter?" gasped Harry, with a queer feeling at theback of his scalp and down his spine. 

"T-T-THERE'S SOMEONE IN THERE!" was the startling reply from therecumbent 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 amoment's thought, "in these frozen regions and incased in ice as theship has been, I suppose that a human body could be kept in perfectpreservation indefinitely. "

"I reckon that's it, " exclaimed the professor, much relieved at thisexplanation, "but, boys, it gave me a dreadful start. He was lookingright at me and I thought I saw his head move. Perhaps it was Olafhimself. "

"Nonsense, " said Frank sharply, who, now that the door was actuallyopen, had lost his queer feeling of scare; "come on, let's explore thecabin. That poor dead Viking can't hurt us. "

Followed by the others he entered the dark, mouldy cabin and couldhimself hardly repress a start as he found himself facing a man whomust have been of gigantic stature. The dead sea rover was seated at arough oak table with his head resting on his hand as if in deepthought. He had a mighty yellow beard reaching almost to his waist andwore a loose garment of some rough material. Had it not been for agreen-mold on his features he must have seemed a living man. 

The cabin contained some rude couches and rough bunks of dark woodlined its sides, but otherwise, with the exception of the table andchairs, it was bare of furniture. Some curious looking weapons, including several shields and battle axes, were littered about theplace and some quaint instruments of navigation which Frank guessedwere crude foreshadows of the sextent and the patent log, lay on ashelf. 

"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 andnever came back--we can't tell and never shall be able to, " was therejoinder. 

The bare, dark cabin was soon explored and the boys, marveling a gooddeal at the temerity of the old-time sailors who made their way acrossunknown seas in such frail ships, emerged into the air once more. Theydetermined to throw off in work the gloomy feelings that had oppressedthem in the moldering cabin of the Viking ship. 

"The first thing to do, " announced Frank, "is to get all we can ofthis stuff to the surface. " He indicated the hold. 

With this end in view a block and tackle was rigged on the surface ofthe plateau, and the ivory and gold hauled out as fast as the boyscould load it. The professor at the top attended to the hauling anddumping of each load. Soon a good pile of the valuable stuff laybeside him and he hailed the boys and suggested that it was time for arest. 

Nothing loath to knock off their fatiguing task for a while, the boysclambered up to the surface by the rope and soon were busy eating thelunch they had brought with them. They washed it down with smoking hotchocolate which they had poured into their vacuum bottles at breakfasttime. 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 wasthere to talk about, that the big dirigible had entirely slipped fromtheir minds till they suddenly were jolted into abrupt recollection bya 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 themthe mysterious dirigible. 

Her deck seemed to be supporting several men, some of whom gazedcuriously at the boys; but what caught the adventurers' attention, andriveted it, was the sight of several rifles aimed at them. 

"Keep still, and we will not shoot, " shouted a man who appeared to bein command, "we do not wish to harm you. "

"Hum, " said Billy, "I don't see what they want to aim those shootingirons 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 fellowsevidently mean to kill us if we try to disobey their orders. "

As he spoke the dirigible was brought to the ground by her operatorsand as she touched the snow several of her crew gave a shout ofsurprise at the sight of the pile of treasure already excavated by theboys. They started to run toward it; but were checked by a sharp cryfrom their officer. They obeyed him instantly and marshaled in amotionless line waiting his next command, but he left them and strodethrough the snow toward the boys. 

He was a dapper little brown man, dressed in the uniform of theMikado's Manchurian troops. A heavy, fur collar encircled his neck anda fur cap was pulled over his ears. 

"Don't make any hostile move or it will mean your death, " he warned ashe 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 thismanner? If it is the Viking ship you are after we have already claimedit 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 Ithink you will acknowledge that we have the might on our side. "

The boys gazed at the twelve men who stood facing them with leveledrifles and could not help but acknowledge the truth of these words. Itseemed that they were utterly in the power of the Japanese. 

"Your government shall hear about this, " sputtered the professorangrily. "It will not countenance such a high-handed proceeding. Weare not at war with your country. You have no right under the law ofnations, or any other law, to interfere with us. "

"You will oblige me by stepping into the cabin of my dirigible, " wasthe response in an even tone. The others had paid not the slightestattention 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 mistakeof 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 bigair-ship. With great courtesy the interloper ushered them inside. 

They found a warm and comfortable interior, well cushioned and evenluxurious in its appointments. Once they were well inside the littleman, with a bow, remarked:

"I now beg to be excused. You will find books and the professorsomething to smoke if he wishes it. Don't make any attempt to escapeas 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 theboys that they were locked in. 

"Prisoners, " exclaimed Billy. 

"That's it, and just as we have accomplished our wish, " said Frankbitterly; "it's too bad. "

"Well, it can't be helped, " said the professor, "let's look about andsee if there is not some way we can get out if an opportunity presentsitself. "

They approached a window and through it could see the new arrivalsexamining 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 arifle appeared, as if from out of the earth, and sharply told them toget inside. 

"Well, we've got to spend the time somehow, we might as well examinethe ship, " said the professor closing the window. 

Somewhat cheered by his philosophical manner, the boys followed him ashe led the way from the main cabin through a steel door which theyfound led into the engine-room. The engines were cut off, but a smallmotor was operating a dynamo with a familiar buzzing sound. This wasthe 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 Isuppose, " said Frank listlessly. "I wonder where the engineer is? Theship seems deserted. "

"I guess he's out with the rest looking over OUR treasure, " said theprofessor bitterly. 

"Ours no longer, --might is right, you know, " quoted Harry miserably. 

Frank had been examining the machinery with some care. Even as aprisoner he felt some interest in the completeness of the engine roomof the Japanese dirigible. He bent over her twin fifty-horse-powermotors with admiring appreciation and examined the other machinerywith intense interest. 

The purring dynamo next came in for his attention and he was puzzlingover the utility of several wires that led from it through the engineroom roof when a sudden thought flashed into his mind. With a cry oftriumph he bent over a small lever marked "accelerator, " beside whichwas a small gauge. He rapidly adjusted the gauge, so that it would notregister any more than the pressure it recorded at that moment andthen shoved the lever over to its furthest extent. 

"Whatever are you doing?" demanded Harry, much mystified at theseactions, at the conclusion of which he had strolled up. 

"You know that the gas in the bag of this dirigible is heated byelectric radiators in order to avoid condensation of the gas?" was theseemingly incoherent reply. 

"Yes, " was the astonished answer, "but what has that--?"

"Hold on a minute, " cried Frank, raising his hand, "and that gas whenexpanded 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 thisship. "

"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 sothat in a few hours the bag above our head will be ripped into tattersby a gas explosion. The resistance coils are now heating and expandingthe gas at a rate of ten times above the normal and the gauge I haveadjusted so that an inspection of it will show nothing to be thematter. "

"But what good will that do us?" urged Harry. 

"It may save our lives. In any event the Viking treasure will never betaken from here by another nation. "

CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE FATE OF THE DIRIGIBLE. 

"Have you any idea what time the explosion will take place?" askedHarry, anxiously, almost dumbfounded by the other's cool manner. 

"Soon after dark has fallen. Don't be scared, it won't hurt us; atleast I think not, but in the confusion that is certain to follow wemust 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 themeantime communicated his plan to the others, considerable anxiety. The despoilers of the adventurers' treasure hoard returned to the shipladen down with bar gold and ivory and, from what the captain wassaying to his minor officers, it seemed, though he spoke in a lowtone, that it was planned to sail right off back to the camp of themen the boys had now come justifiably to regard as their enemies. 

"If they do that, we are lost, " said Frank, after he had whispered hisfears 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 shallall be dashed to death together. "

"Phew!--Would it not be better to tell them what we have done and takeour chances?"

"If the worst comes to the worst I shall do that. It would beimperiling our lives uselessly to go aloft with the overheated gasthat is now in the bag. "

But the "worst did not come to the worst. " The little captain who hadpaid small or no attention to his prisoners, evidently realizing thatthey could not get away, didn't like the look of the weather, itseemed, and made frequent consultations of the barometer with hisfellows. The glass was falling fast and there was evidently a blizzardor sharp storm of some kind approaching. 

At this time a fresh fear crossed Frank's mind. What if the Japs haddestroyed the Golden Eagle? So far as he could judge they had notmolested her, evidently not thinking it worth while to waste time theyjudged better spent on looting the Viking ship of its treasure. But ifthey had disabled her, the boy knew that in the event of hiscompanions escaping they faced an alternative between death byfreezing and starvation, or being shot down by the rifles of theircaptors. However, Frank resolved to put such gloomy speculations outof his mind. It was useless to worry. Things, if they were as he halffeared, would not mend for thinking about them. 

Supper, a well-cooked, well-served meal, was eaten under this painfulstrain. The boys and the professor put the best countenance they couldon things, considering that their minds were riveted on the greatgasbag above them which even now, as they knew, was swollen almost tobursting 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 nowbe in the air on our way back to my camp. In three more trips we shallbe able, however, to carry off the rest of the treasure. We were wellrepaid for keeping our eyes on you. "

The boys answered something, they hardly knew what. Frank in hisnervousness looked at his watch. The strain was becoming painful. Atlast, to their intense relief, they rose from supper and the littleofficer shut himself in his own cabin. Outside, the boys could hearthe feet of the two armed sentries crunching on the snow. 

"The outrush of gas will stupefy them, " whispered Frank, "we shallhave 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. Butwithin half an hour we should know our fate. "

Silently the boys and the professor waited, although the scientist wasso nervous that he strode up and down the cabin floor. 

Suddenly the silence was shattered by a loud shout from the engineroom. 

"The gas! The gas! We are--"

The sentence was never finished. 

There was a sudden convulsion of the entire fabric of the bigdirigible--as if a giant hand from without were shaking her like apuppy shakes a rat. 

She seemed to lift from the ground in a convulsive leap and settledback with a crash that smashed every pane of glass and split her stoutsides. 

At the same instant, there was an ear-splitting roar as if a boilerhad exploded and a flash of ruddy flame. 

The exploding gas had caught fire--possibly from a spark from theelectric radiators as the bag and their supporting framework wasripped apart by the explosion. 

Dazed and half stunned, the boys groped about in total darkness; forthe 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 chokedby the powerful fumes of the hydrogen gas which filled the air. 

Rapidly the others answered to Frank and groped through the darknesstoward his voice. Before them was the shattered side of the cabin. Through the gap was the sky. They could see the bright antarctic starsgleaming. Beyond the rent they knew lay freedom, provided themarauders had not molested their aeroplane. 

It was the work of a second to stagger through the opening made by theexplosion and gain the fresh air, which they inhaled in greatmouthfuls. Then began the dash for the aeroplane. 

In the wild confusion that reigned following the explosion, theirabsence, so far as they could perceive, had not been noticed. As Frankhad guessed, the two sentries were knocked senseless by the explosionand the fugitives stumbled over their unconscious figures recumbent onthe snow. 

Gasping and staggering they plunged on in the direction they knew theGolden Eagle lay. It was not more than a mile distant, but before theyreached their goal the professor gave out and the boys had tohalf-drag, half-carry him over the frozen surface. They were bitterlycold, too, and the thought of the blankets and warm clothing aboardthe 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 thisheart-breaking work. 

"Yes. I think so at least. There seems to be a dark object on the snowahead. If only they have not molested her, " panted Frank. 

"If they have, it's all up, " exclaimed Billy Barnes. At the samemoment Harry breathed:

"Hark!"

Borne over the frozen ground they could hear shouts. 

"They have discovered our escape!" exclaimed Frank, "it's a race forlife now. "

[Illustration: "It's a Race for Life Now. "]

His words threw fresh determination into all. Even the professor madea desperate struggle. A few more paces and there was no doubt that thedark 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 asthat, " said Frank; "they are shooting at random to scare us. "

A few seconds later they gained the side of the Golden Eagle and, wornand harried as they were, they could not forbear setting up a cheer asthey found that the aeroplane was in perfect shape. 

Hastily they cranked the Golden Eagle motor up, blue flame and sharpreports bursting from her exhausts as they did so. The engine wasworking perfectly, --every cylinder taking up its work as the sparksbegan to occur rhythmically. 

"We've put the fat in the fire now, " exclaimed Frank, as he took hisseat at the steering wheel. "If they could not locate us before, thenoise of the exhaust and the blue flame will betray us to them. "

"Well, it can't be helped, " shouted Harry, above the roar of theengine. "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 flightfell 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 clutchand rapidly the Golden Eagle sped forward, crashing faster and fasterover the frozen surface as her young driver worked the engine up tofull speed. 

In a few seconds more they felt the aeroplane begin to lift and soarinto the night air. 

They were exploding skyward to safety, while far below them theirbaffled captors were firing aimlessly in the hope of a random shotshattering some vital part of the aeroplane. 

But no such thing happened and as the boys sped toward the west, boundfor Camp Hazzard, they sent out a wireless message. Again and againthey tried but without success. They could not raise an answer. 

"Of course we can't raise them. They are on the march!" shouted Franksuddenly. 

"On the motor-sledge bound for the Viking ship, " cried Billy, "theyshould be there to-morrow. "

"Say, fellows, we have done it now, " cried Frank, with a suddentwinge. 

"What's the matter?" inquired the professor. 

"Why, they will arrive there to find the others in possession and nosign of us. They'll think we ran away without even putting up afight. "

"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 thisaltitude 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 bitterchill and warm wraps and furs had been donned long before. Suddenlythe aeroplane gave a sickening sidewise dip and seemed about tocapsize. Frank caught and righted her just in time. The gyroscopicbalance 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 stingingsensation. The recollection of the falling barometer flashed acrossFrank's mind. They were in for a storm. 

The boy gazed at the compass beneath its binnacle light. As he did sohe gave a gasp. 

"We are way off our course, " he cried, "the wind is out of the northand 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 onboard I don't dare try to buck the wind and it's freshening everyminute. "

"But if we are being blown due south from here, where on earth will wefetch up?" cried Billy, in dismayed tones. 

They all looked blank as they awaited the reply. Frank glanced at hiswatch and then at the compass and made a rapid mental calculation. 

"At the rate we are going we should be over the South Pole, roughlyspeaking, at about midnight, " he said. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC. 

The professor was the first to break the tense silence that followedFrank's words. 

"Into the heart of the Antarctic, " he breathed. 

There seemed to be something in the words that threw a spell of awedsilence over them all. Little was said as on and on through the polarnight the aeroplane drove, --the great wind of the roof of the worldharassing her savagely, viciously, --as if it resented her intrusioninto the long hidden arcana of the polar Plateau. 

It grew so bitter cold that the chill ate even through their furs andair-proofed clothing. The canvas curtains were hoisted for a shortdistance to keep off the freezing gale. They dared not set them fullyfor fear they might act as sails and drive the ship before the gale sofast that all control would be lost. 

At ten o'clock Frank, his hands frozen almost rigid, surrendered thewheel to Harry. 

It now began to snow. Not a heavy snowfall but a sort of frozen flurrymore 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 thecompass. 

"Well, wherever we are going, we are bound for the pole, there's somegrim satisfaction in that, " remarked Frank. 

On and on through the cold they drove. The snow had stopped now andsuddenly Billy called attention to a strange phenomenon in thesouthern sky. 

It became lit with prismatic colors like a huge curtain, gorgeouslyilluminated in its ample folds by the rays of myriad coloredsearchlights. 

"Whatever is it?" gasped Billy in an awed tone as the mystic lightsglowed and danced in almost blinding radiance and cast strange coloredlights about the laboring aeroplane. 

"The Aurora Australis, " said the professor in an almost equallysubdued voice, "the most beautiful of all the polar sky displays. "

"The Aurora Australis, " cried Frank, "then we are near the poleindeed. "

Half past eleven. 

The lights in the sky began to dim and soon the aeroplane was drivingon through solid blackness. The suspense was cruel. Not one of theadventurers had any idea of the conditions they were going to meet. Anameless dread oppressed all. 

Suddenly Frank, after a prolonged scrutiny of the compass, voiced whatwas 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 finishedfor him. 

Brave as they were, the adventurers gave a shudder that was not bornof the gnawing cold as the possibility occurred to them. Frank glancedat the barograph. Fifteen hundred feet. They were then holding theirown in altitude. This was a cheering sign. 

Ten minutes to twelve. 

The strange lights began to reappear. Glowing in fantastic forms theyseemed alive with lambent fire. As the boys gazed at each other theycould see that their features were tinted with the weird fires of thepolar sky. 

Twelve o'clock. 

Frank gave a hurried dash toward the compass and drew back with ashout. 

"Look, " he shouted, "we are within the polar influence. "

The needle of the instrument was spinning round and round at an almostperpendicular angle in the binnacle with tremendous velocity. Thepointer 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 tothe word, he drew from his holster his magazine weapon and saluted thesilent skies. 

"The South Pole--Hurrah!"

It was a quavering cry, but the first human sound that had ever brokenthe peace of the mysterious solitudes above which they were winging. 

Suddenly in the midst of the "celebration" the aeroplane was violentlytwisted about. Every bolt and stay in her creaked and strained underthe stress, but so well and truly had she been built that nothingstarted despite Frank's fears that the voyage to the pole was to endright 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 theyscrambled 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 hegazed 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?" askedthe professor. 

"I know no more than you, " replied the puzzled young aviator, "theonly reason I can advance is that at the polar cap some strangeinfluences rule the wind currents and that we are caught in a polareddy, as it were. "

"If it holds we are saved, " cried the professor, who had begun to fearthat they might never be able to emerge from their newly discoveredregion. 

Hold it did and daybreak found the aeroplane above the sameillimitable expanse of snow that marked the pole, but several miles tothe north. 

"I'm going down to take an observation, " said Frank, suddenly, "andalso, has it occurred to you fellows that we haven't eaten a bitesince last night?"

"Jiminy crickets, " exclaimed Billy Barnes, his natural flow of spiritsnow restored, "that's so. I'm hungry enough to eat even a fur-bearingpollywog, if there's one around here. "

"Boys, " began the professor solemnly as Billy concluded, "I have aconfession to make. "

"A confession?" cried Harry, "what about?"

"Why for some time I have entertained a doubt in my mind and thatdoubt has now crystallized to a certainty. I don't believe there issuch a creature as the fur-bearing pollywog. "

"Then Professor Tapper is wrong?" asked Harry, amazed at thescientist's tone. 

"I am convinced he is. I shall expose him when we return--if we everdo, " declared the scientist. 

A few minutes later they landed on the firm snow and soon a heartymeal of hot canned mutton, vegetables, soup, and even a can of plumpudding, warmed on their stove and washed down with boiling tea, wasbeing 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 twohundred miles to the southwest of the spot in which they had left thecrippled dirigible and the Viking ship. The wind had dropped, however, and conditions were favorable for making a fast flight to the placethey were now all impatient to reach Frank, after a few minutes'figuring, announced that dusk ought to find them at the Viking shipand, 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 farewellwas bade to the Polar plateau. Without a stop the Golden Eagle wingedsteadily toward the northeast, and as the wonderful polar sunset wasbeginning to paint the western sky they made out the black form of thedisabled dirigible on the snow barrens not far from the Viking ship'sgully. 

As they gazed they broke into a cheer, for advancing toward the otherdark object at a rapid rate was another blot on the white expanse, which a moment's scrutiny through the glasses showed them was themotor-sledge packed with men on whose rifles the setting sun glintedbrightly. The Golden Eagle ten minutes later swooped to earth at aspot not twenty yards from her original landing place and a fewmoments later the boys were shaking hands and executing a sort of wardance about Captain Barrington and Captain Hazzard, while Ben Stubbswas imploring some one to "shiver his timbers" or "carry away histop-sails" or "keel-haul him" or something to relieve his feelings. 

Eagerly the officers pressed for details of the polar discovery, butFrank, after a rapid sketching of conditions as they had observed themat the world's southern axis, went on to describe the events that hadled up to their wild flight and urged immediate negotiations with therival explorers. Both leaders agreed to advance at once, convincedthat their force was sufficiently formidable to overcome the Japs. 

"Steady, men, and be ready for trouble but make no hostile move tillyou get the word, " warned Captain Hazzard, as the somewhat formidablelooking party advanced on the stricken dirigible. At first no sign oflife was visible about her, but as they neared the ship Frank saw thatthe wrecked cabin had been patched up with canvas, and parts of theballoon bag that had not burned, till it formed a fairly snug tent. They were within a hundred paces of it before anyone appeared to havetaken any notice of their arrival and then the little officer, who haddirected the capture of the adventurers, appeared. 

As Billy said afterward, he "never turned a hair, " over the conditionsthat confronted him. He was a beaten man and knew it; but his mannerwas perfectly suave and calm. 

"Good evening, gentlemen, " was all he said, with a wave of his handtoward the Viking ship and the pile of ivory and gold that still layon the edge of the gully, "to the victors belong the spoils and youare without doubt the victors. "

He gazed at the array of armed men that backed up the two officers andthe boys. 

"We have come to take formal possession in the name of the UnitedStates, of the remains of the Viking ship, " said Captain Hazzard, somewhat coldly, for, after what he had heard from the boys, he feltin 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 aformal 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 gonein an instant. 

"Certainly, sir, if you wish it, " he said, "but, if it had not beenfor those boys we should by this time have been far away. "

"I do not doubt it, " said Captain Barrington, dryly, "and, now, if youplease, we will draw up and sign the paper. "

Ten minutes later, with the boys' signatures on it as witnesses, theimportant document was drawn up and sealed with a bit of wax thatCaptain Hazzard had in his pocket writing-set. And so ended theepisode of the attempt to seize the treasure of the Viking ship. 

Now only remains to be told the manner of its transporting to theSouthern Cross and the last preparations before bidding farewell tothe inhospitable land in which they had spent so much time. First, however, the castaways of the dirigible were given transportation onthe motor-sledge to their ship which, to the astonishment of all theAmerican party, they found was snugly quartered in a deep gulf, notmore than twenty miles to the westward of the berth of the SouthernCross. This accounted for the light and the buzzing of the air-shipbeing heard so plainly by the Southern Crucians. The defeated Japssailed at once for the north, departing as silently as they hadarrived. 

It took many trips of the motor-sledge before the last load of theViking ship's strange cargo was snugly stored in the hold of theSouthern Cross. At Captain Hazzard's command the dead Viking wasburied with military honors and his tomb still stands in the "Whitesilence. " Then came the dismantling of the Golden Eagle and thepacking of the aeroplane in its big boxes. 

"Like putting it in a coffin, " grunted Billy, as he watched the lastcover being screwed on. 

All the time this work was going forward the nights and days weredisturbed 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 forthe release of the Southern Cross was close at hand. 

At last the tedious period of waiting passed and one night with amighty crash the ice "cradle" in which the Southern Cross restedparted 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 readyfor the start north, but another tedious wait occurred while theywaited for the field-ice to commence its weary annual drift. 

At last, one morning in early December, Captain Barrington and CaptainHazzard 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 outpositively for the relief ship Brutus till an hour had passed and thenthe rapid-fire gun crackled and the remainder of the daylight rocketswere 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 CaptainBarrington, who came up at this moment, "the lads have certainly madea clean sweep. "

So it came about that a strange emblem that much puzzled the captainof the Brutus was run up to the main-mast head as the two ships drewtogether. 

"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 adventurerswho have long sojourned in the solitary places of the earth! Eagerlythe boys seized theirs and bore them off to quiet corners of the deck. 

"Hurrah, " cried Billy, after he had skimmed through his epistles. "I'mcommissioned 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 thecountry for a while, till it blows over. "

But they did not escape, for on the arrival of the Polar ships in NewYork the boys and the commanders of the expedition were seized on andlionized till newer idols caught the popular taste. Then, and not tillthen, were they allowed to settle down in peace and quiet to tabulatethe important scientific results of the expedition. 

As for the Professor, what he wrote about Professor Tapper--a screedby the way that nearly caused a mortal combat between the twosavants--may be read in his massive volume entitled "The Confutationof the Tapper Theory of a South Polar Fur-Bearing Pollywog, byProfessor Simeon Sandburr. " It weighs twelve pounds, and can be foundin any large library. 

CONCLUSION. 

And here, although the author would dearly like to detail theirfurther adventures, we must bid the Boy Aviators "Farewell. " Those whohave followed this series know, however, that the lads were not likelyto remain long inactive without seeking further aerial adventures. Whether the tale of these will ever be set down cannot at this time beforecast. The Chester boys adventures have been recorded, not as thedeeds of paragons or phenomenons, but as examples of what pluck, energy, and a mixture of brains, can accomplish, --and with this valedictory wewill once more bid "God speed" to "The Boy Aviators. "

THE END.