“I think not,” he replied. “It will be hardly worth while. Besides, we must make this Northwest Passage before the Arctic winter sets in.”
The Dolphin now entered a labyrinth of channels and straits.
Only a master mind like Frank Reade, Jr.’s could have emerged successfully from this tangle.
But he succeeded, and one day, after a long threading of such passages, he appeared in the cabin with a startling declaration.
“We have made the Northwest Passage and shall soon emerge into the Behring Sea. We will before many days be in hot pursuit of the silver whale.”
Stanhope sprang up and swung his cap excitedly.
“Hurrah!” he shouted. “That is a great achievement in more than one sense. We have proved the existence of the Northwest Passage, which has been a subject of such doubt among mariners for hundreds of years.”
“You mean that we have proved the existence of the passage, but not that it is navigable,” said Frank.
“Ah, but it is that!”
“I fear not!”