Pomp did not follow up his victory.
His anger was gone in a moment.
He simply stood still and laughed until the tears ran down his black cheeks and his sides heaved like bellows.
Then he went back into his galley and to his bread making.
Slowly and soberly Barney picked himself up. He said nothing, but went slowly and sadly away.
It seemed a code of honor between the two that hostilities were to cease the very moment one or the other came off victorious.
In this case Pomp was the winner.
But it was not always so. Very often Barney was best man. Indeed, honors were evenly divided.
The airship now took its southward course.
The first move was to accurately locate the South Pole, explore some of the frozen regions, take general observations, and then set a northward course for the frigid zone of the Arctic.