But what of the Scorcher?
How could they hope to get the machine over that mighty ice barrier? It was a sheer impossibility.
The matter finally resolved itself into two alternatives.
One was to remain aboard the Scorcher until spring, and the ice barrier should fall, and then trust to luck in getting aboard the Pearl before the northward current should take her.
Or, they might accept the “dernier ressort,” and abandon the machine.
Frank considered the matter for some while. He realized that the Scorcher had seen its best uses.
The destruction of its forward gear had shaken it up greatly, and it was hardly likely that it could be repaired to be of much further service.
The electric engines were valuable, but he could easily reproduce them. Frank did not like the idea of leaving his pet invention in the Antarctic, but on the other hand he could not see any ready way to avoid it.
What should he do?
There were many valuable effects aboard. These could in the main be transported to the ship.