“Then this will come as somewhat of a surprise,” smiled Mathews. “We’ll leave at sunrise and every member of the crew has been ordered on board tonight.”
“It certainly is a surprise,” gasped Harry, “but I’ll be aboard ship tonight.”
“You’re leaving almost two weeks earlier than you had first planned,” said Andy.
“Conditions in the Arctic are more open than they have been for a number of years,” replied the explorer, “and I am anxious to get the Neptune into the ice as soon as possible.”
“We probably will not see you again,” said Andy, “but we wish you every good fortune and we’ll see you at the North pole.”
“Thank you for your good wishes,” replied Mathews. “In return, I wish the Goliath a fair voyage and a fast one.”
The explorer left them and hurried down the ladder to supervise the final preparations for the departure of the Neptune.
Harry was busy the remainder of the day, finishing the task of getting his kit together and sending goodbye telegrams to relatives, for his parents lived in Illinois and would not be able to reach New York before sailing time.
Hotel reporters learned that the assistant pilot of the Goliath was in the city and when they returned to the hotel in late afternoon, half a dozen were waiting for Andy.
They plied him with questions. How long would it be before the Goliath was ready to take the air; what would the big ship do; where would it go on its trial flights; was it true that attempts had been made to destroy the ship in its hangar; when would it start on the cruise into the Arctic regions?