"It sure is," exclaimed Ben, as, disregarding the pecks of the big bird, 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 most interesting to scientists and will make my name famous. 'The Sandburr albatross, which flew many scores of miles with my lasso round its neck.' Wonderful. Poor creature. I suppose as it dipped into the waves for its food a thin film of ice formed on the cord till it grew too heavy for it to carry."
"That's right," said Ben, who had cut the lasso and released the creature from its hampering weight. "I'll bet this weighs ten or twelve 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 on the 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 can tame him," said the professor.
All agreed that this would be an interesting experiment, and the boat pulled back to the ship with one passenger more than she had left it with. As for the professor, he was in the seventh heaven of delight all the way back.
He sat on a stern seat by the albatross, which was looking wildly about, and kept talking to it as if he thought it could understand him.