“You need not, young sir, if it be honourable,” said Brace.
Ingomar, as we may continue to call him, had been walking up and down the deck so rapidly, that it was difficult to keep pace with his gigantic strides.
But he hove to now suddenly, and confronted the captain.
“Listen,” he said. “The Americans have done as much as any other nation save Britain to solve the mystery that hangs around the Pole yonder. The veil will soon be raised. I would go farther; I would venture to aid in the attempts that are now about to be made by you Britishers and by the Germans, to wrench its secrets from the Great Unknown, from the Antarctic itself, to force it to tell what it knows of the story of the earth.”
“The ambition,” said the captain, “is a noble one, certainly, and even I have had thoughts of bringing the knowledge I have gained in regions round our own North Pole to bear upon the South. Indeed, I was almost thinking of joining the expedition when I got home.”
“But I,” said Ingomar, “would not join any expedition. No, no, sir, and a thousand ‘No’s.’ I should fit out my own. And if I were to die in the attempt, why, I should die in a worthy cause; and to youth death does not seem so very dreadful if surrounded by a halo of noble adventure.
“And would you believe it,” he went on, “while in my lonesome igloo over the hills yonder, I have for months been forming all my plans for future operation. I would rather lay these before older and more skilled and scientific men than myself, and all I should do, all the honour I might obtain, would be that of finding the money for the expedition.
“Well, now, it may seem an abrupt question to ask, but I think that as long as a fellow keeps a clear brain and a good look-out ahead, abruptness is no great sin. Can you, then, or will you, sell me your ship?”
“This barque is not my own, alas! or, after having been so singularly unfortunate in ‘making a voyage,’[B] and presuming that you are sincere, I would gladly do so on the understanding that my services as master mariner of the Walrus should be retained. But come down below. The fire is well alight, and we can talk uninterruptedly for a good hour yet before the others turn out.”
Although the acquaintance with each other of these two men was so very recent, there was a something—call it by any scientific name you please—that seemed to draw them together.