The tidings of his achievement had preceded her, for even her prodigious speed could not outstrip the magical wireless. Had Captain Whittinghame felt so inclined he would have been fêted until further orders. But he had no such desire. His avowed mission was not yet accomplished. It was not in the dreary and desolate Arctic that his ambitions were centred, but upon the aggressive little Republic of Valderia. His dash for the Pole was humanity's call which could not be denied, also, it served the purpose as a means to put Reno Durango off his guard; but the publicity given to his return had undone all the good that Whittinghame had hoped for in that direction.
"We'll return to the New Forest base, Dacres," said he. "A rest after being half-frozen for the last few days will do us good. By that time the 'Maranhao' will be nearing Pernambuco, and we shall then be able to start in pursuit of our friend Señor Durango. By the by, aren't you anxious to interview your father?"
Dacres hardly knew what to reply. He was anxious to explain matters to the Colonel, but, although a full-grown man, he had a strange dread of his father's temper. It was, he knew, only putting off the evil day, for Colonel Dacres was bound to know sooner or later that his son had been requested to resign his commission. Yet, on the other hand, Dacres had a sort of presentiment that before long he would be reinstated in his former rank in his Majesty's service.
"You don't seem keen on it," remarked Whittinghame.
"No, sir, I do not," admitted Dacres. "Of course I know the governor has no legal control over me, yet somehow—I can't exactly explain—I feel in an awful funk about it."
"About what?"
"Having to tell him I've been more or less pitched out of the Service."
"That needn't worry you, old chap."
Dacres looked curiously at his chief.
"You don't know the governor," he replied. Whittinghame smiled. It was not on that account that he told Dacres not to worry. He held an official document, the contents of which he would have greatly liked to communicate to his comrade. But for the present his hands were tied.