“I shall do as the majority of North Pole explorers do,” was Barwell Dawson’s answer. “I shall sail as far north as the ship will go, then winter in the ice, and as soon as summer comes again, make a dash over the ice for the Pole with dogs, sledges, and Esquimaux.”
“It will assuredly be a grand trip,” said Professor Jeffer. “I envy you.”
“You would like to go with me?”
“Very much, sir. I have absolutely nothing to keep me here, being alone in the world.”
“Then, perhaps, it can be arranged.”
“I have here some books and maps relating to Polar discoveries,” continued the professor. “Perhaps you won’t mind pointing out on the maps what you hope to do.”
He brought from the bookcase several books and maps, and placed them on the table. The boys, who were sitting on the floor near the open fireplace, took them down and gazed at them with interest. Here was something that was surely new and novel.
“I have a larger map in my bedroom,” went on Professor Jeffer. “I’ll get that.”
While he was gone, the two boys and Mr. Dawson pored over the books and maps, and the hunter mentioned a place on one of the maps where he had once gone hunting.
“Here is the coast of Greenland,” he said, pointing it out. “I shall take my vessel up Baffin Bay as far as Cape York, and possibly to Etah,—and maybe further, if the ice will permit. There we shall have to spend the long Arctic night.”