First at the North Pole, or, Two Boys in the Arctic Circle by Edward Stratemeyer

Author:Edward Stratemeyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781620127452
Publisher: Duke Classics

Chapter XVII - An Encounter with Icebergs

*

"Off at last, Chet!"

"Yes, and your Uncle Si didn't stop you, either!" responded Chet, with a broad grin.

"If only we could have seen him when he got to the cabin!" exclaimed Andy. "I'll wager he was mad!"

"Well, boys, it will be a long while before you see the United States again," remarked Barwell Dawson as he came up. "So use your eyes for all they are worth."

"Just what we are doing," answered Andy.

The Ice King had cast off her lines quarter of an hour before, and a steam tug had headed her out of the harbor of Rathley. Now, under the steam of her own powerful engines, she was heading straight out into the Atlantic Ocean.

It was an ideal day, and the boys were in the best of spirits, even though they were leaving their native land for the first time. Chet was full of the hope that in some manner he would hear something about the missing whaler and his father.

The Ice King was loaded "to the brim," as Andy expressed it. Below, every available space was filled with provisions and other necessities, and coal, and on deck many bags of coal were piled up amidships.

"To get through the ice, the ship must have a good head of steam on," said Mr. Dawson. "And to have that, we've got to have coal, or oil."

"How soon do you suppose we'll strike ice?" questioned Chet.

"Oh, any time after we round the coast of Nova Scotia."

At the last moment some extra supplies had come on board, and these were still awaiting proper distribution. The boys watched land slowly disappear in the blue haze of distance, and then set to work to assist in making everything ship-shape.

"It will seem queer to live on a ship, I'm thinking," said Chet.

"I hope we don't get sick," answered his chum.

"Oh, I don't think we shall."

"Don't be too sure."

The boys had already become acquainted with the other members of the party, Dr. John Slade, a quiet but friendly gentleman, who had once spent two years in lower Greenland, and Mr. Samuel Camdal, an old hunter, who had shot with Barwell Dawson in the far West and in Africa. Mr. Camdal could tell some famous stories,—of hunting, and of narrow escapes from wild animals,—and the lads felt that he would make good company during the days when there was not much to do.

It was a real pleasure for the lads to put their stateroom in order. Although the room was small, it had a homelike air about it that was pleasing. Neither lad was burdened with excess baggage, so they were not as crowded as they might otherwise have been.

The course of the Ice King was to be up the coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and then into Davis Strait, to Baffin Bay. The boys had studied the chart thoroughly, for a sea trip was altogether a novelty to them.

"Shall we stop anywhere along the coast of Greenland?" asked Chet, of Barwell Dawson.

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