What was the name of the place he had said they would be near? Baffin Land! He had heard of it, and he knew enough about its location to know that they were no longer approaching the Frozen North, but that they were actually in it.
Suppose Takyak’s information had been wrong? Suppose they should not pass close to Baffin Land on the following evening? Suppose—always supposing that they had been able to procure the longboat and provision it—suppose upon casting themselves adrift on the ocean they were to find that, after all, they were too far from land to reach it before being overtaken by any one of the terrible dangers that menaced them there in that unknown land?
Suppose—but with an impatient movement Bobby shook off the unwelcome thoughts that crowded his mind. If they were to embark on the adventure at all he must put all such doubts behind him.
There would be danger, of course, plenty of it, but not much more than if they remained here on this ship under the ugly eye of a suspicious captain.
Some way or other Bobby managed to get through the hours that had to pass before he could hope to meet his chums. When the time came at last he hurried, as fast as caution would permit, to the rendezvous.
He found two figures there before him. Fred and Mouser had evidently been more impatient than he.
When he saw Bobby, Fred opened his mouth to shout a greeting, but thought better of it just in the nick of time.
“I’ll spill the beans yet,” he said, in a sheepish whisper, and at that moment another silent figure approached them through the shadows.
It was Billy, excited and eager, and their number was complete.
“Now let’s get down to business, Bobby, and tell these fellows why we called a meeting,” suggested Fred.