"This is exactly the magnetic pole of the earth!" he cried, stamping on the ground.
"Just here?" asked Johnson.
"Precisely here, my friend!"
"Well, then," resumed the boatswain, "we must give up all the stories of a magnetic mountain or large mass."
"Yes, Johnson," answered the doctor, laughing, "those are empty hypotheses! As you see, there is no mountain capable of attracting ships, of drawing their iron from them anchor after anchor, bolt after bolt! and your shoes here are as light as anywhere in the world."
"But how do you explain—"
"There is no explanation, Johnson; we are not wise enough for that. But what is mathematically certain is that the magnetic pole is at this very spot!"
"Ah, Dr. Clawbonny, how glad the captain would be to say as much of the North Pole!"
"He'll say it, Johnson; he'll say it!"
"God grant it!" was the answer.