It was six o'clock when Washington awoke. In spite of the dangers of the icy grave, he had managed to get a little sleep. He prepared breakfast and called the others.
"Make a good meal," advised Mr. Henderson. "We have plenty of work ahead of us."
"Are you going to free the ship?" asked Mark.
"I am going to try," was the answer.
A little later the inventor was busy in one of the small store rooms aft when Jack came up. The professor was carefully taking out a box labelled:
DYNAMITE! DANGEROUS!
"What are you going to do?" asked the boy.
"I am going to try the same experiment we attempted on the volcanic island," was the reply. "Only, this time, I am afraid we shall have to complete it to the end. There is little likelihood of the ice falling apart."
"Then you are going to blow it up?" went on Jack.
"That's what I hope to do," the inventor went on. "I see no other way, and, though there is a risk, it is not so great a one as to wait to be crushed in the ice as it freezes more solidly."