065-The Stone Idol by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-07T15:12:04+00:00

Chapter 11

Lost in the Antarctic

The Sno-Cat clanked forward over the ice and the powdery snow. Occasionally, the treads ground over outcroppings of rock with a harsh, metallic sound. An hour passed.

"The motors purring like a kitten," Frank observed.

"Good thing, Frank. If we stall, it's a long walk back to Byrd Base!"

Joe took a pair of binoculars from the glove compartment and focused on the terrain up ahead. "I see the mountain with the two peaks," he announced. Measuring the angle with his compass, he added, "Two degrees to the left, Frank, and you'll be on the beam."

"Okay."

Soon, they could see the mountain with their naked eyes. It rose like a solitary sentinel in the distance. There was no sign of life anywhere, no animals on the ground or birds in the sky.

"It's eerie out here," Joe commented as he gazed at the wilderness. A snowstorm was approaching.

"At least there's no parking problem," Frank joked.

The Sno-Cat rumbled forward through howling wind and falling snow. Hitting a slippery patch of ice, Frank had to use his four-wheel drive as first one tread and then another began to spin because it could not get a grip on the ice.

The Hardys crossed this slippery area and kept going until they reached the mountain. There Frank brought the Sno-Cat to a halt.

"Joe, do you see the glacier?" he asked.

Joe shook his head. "It must be on the other side. Let's see."

Starting the engine again, Frank drove around the base of the mountain. They strained their eyes to see if they could make out the glacier through the wind and snow.

Suddenly they felt the Sno-Cat moving sideways!

"We're on the glacier!" Frank shouted.

Desperately, he threw the vehicle into reverse. The moving river of ice caught it and spun it in a semicircle. They swung toward the end of the glacier where a tumbled mass of ice blocks threatened to crush them!

At the last moment, helped by the weight of the sled behind, the left rear tread caught on solid terrain. Frank quickly flipped the switch that fed all the power to that tread, and the Sno-Cat moved backward, pushing the sled as it went. Then the right rear tread gripped the ground. This permitted the vehicle to back all the way off the glacier.

Frank wiped perspiration from his brow. "Wow!" he gasped. "That's the first time I ever drove sideways!"

Joe chuckled, trying to overcome the fear he had felt only seconds before. "You just won your Sno-Cat drivers license."

"Anyway, we found the glacier, and are on the last leg of this trip."

"Right," Joe said. "Now go west for twenty miles."

He took a compass reading, and they clanked forward over hills and down into valleys. Checking his instruments, Frank counted off the miles.

"Twenty!" he said at last.

"We should reach Outpost I at any moment," Joe said, again resorting to the binoculars for a better view ahead. However, all he could see was endless ice and snow.

They rolled on and on, and the snow stopped falling. Now the terrain became more level.

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