First at the North Pole Part 23

"That is my business, too."

"Don't git sa.s.sy."

"I am not 'sa.s.sy,' as you call it. I intend, in the future, to mind my own business, and I want you to mind yours."

"You had better leave Andy alone," put in Chet, who saw that the shiftless man was working himself up into the worst possible humor. "You never helped him, and he doesn't want anything to do with you."

"Say, this ain't none o' your business, Chet Greene."

"Andy is my friend."

"Humph! he better not be!" snarled Josiah Graham. "You ain't no fit boy fer n.o.buddy to go with--you the son o' a thief, an' mebbe wuss. I want you----Oh!"

What Josiah Graham wanted next was never made known, for just then he landed flat on his back in the gutter, where a well-directed blow from Chet's fist had sent him.

CHAPTER XV

THE START OF THE COOK EXPEDITION

If ever a man was surprised, that man was Josiah Graham. Even Andy was astonished, for he had not dreamed that Chet could be so quick-tempered.

"Oh, Chet, that was a hard blow!"

"He deserved it," was Chet's answer. His voice was strained, and his face pale. "I'll allow n.o.body to talk that way to me."

"Yo--you young villain!" spluttered Josiah Graham, as he rolled over in the dirt of the gutter and picked himself up. "I'll--I'll----"

"After this you keep a civil tongue in your head!" interrupted Chet. He still had his fists clenched.

"You--you----"

"If you call me any more names, I'll knock you down again."

Chet's manner was so aggressive that Josiah Graham retreated several feet. A few persons had witnessed his fall, and a crowd began to collect.

"What's the trouble?"

"Is it a fight?"

"Do you want a policeman?"

"No, we don't want any policeman," said Andy in alarm. "Chet, we had better get out of this," he whispered. "If we don't, we'll all be taken to the station house!"

"Your uncle is the meanest man I ever met! He ought to have a sound thrashing!" answered Chet, recklessly.

"I know, but we don't want to have the police come down on us."

"I've a good mind to have the law on yer!" howled the man who had been knocked down.

"Do so--and I'll have the law on you," retorted Chet. "You can't slander me for nothing,--and you can't try to rob Andy, either."

The last shot told, and Josiah Graham backed still further away.

"We'll settle this some other time!" he muttered, and then turning, he disappeared into the crowd and hurried away much faster than was his usual speed.

Not to be questioned by those who had gathered, Andy and Chet pushed through the crowd in the opposite direction. Soon they were a couple of blocks from where the encounter had taken place, and then they slackened their pace.

"The miserable hound!" muttered Chet. He was still completely upset.

"Don't take it so hard, Chet," answered Andy, soothingly. "It's just Uncle Si's mean way, that's all."

"I suppose he tells everybody what he thinks I am!"

"Oh, I don't think that. He was riled up, and wanted to say something extra mean. And it was mean--as mean as dirt!" added Andy.

He continued to talk soothingly to his chum, and presently Chet cooled down somewhat. But he still said he wished he had stayed and given Josiah Graham the thrashing of his life.

"He thinks I have the lost papers," said Andy, later on.

"And I'd let him continue to think so," answered his chum. "If you say they are lost, your uncle may tell that fellow, Hopton, and the real estate man may fix it up to do you out of that claim anyway. I'd keep them in complete ignorance of the truth."

Andy thought this a good idea, and resolved to follow the suggestion. He wondered if his uncle would make another move against him. He was soon to learn how really mean Josiah Graham could be.

For the two boys, waiting for the steamer to sail on her momentous voyage, the days pa.s.sed slowly. After their outfits had been purchased and stowed away aboard the _Ice King_, there was little for them to do.

They read some books on polar exploration, and spent hours in poring over the maps of the Arctic regions which Barwell Dawson and the professor possessed. They traced out the routes of Kane, De Long, Greely, Peary, and others, and wondered what route Mr. Dawson would pursue.

"He is going up the west coast of Greenland anyway," said Chet. "And that suits me, for that is where the _Betsey Andrews_ was last heard of." No matter what was going on, thoughts of his missing parent continually drifted across his mind. Would he ever see his father again, and would his parent be able to clear himself of the accusations brought against him?

"Do you suppose there are any other exploring expeditions north just now?" asked Andy of Professor Jeffer, at the breakfast table one morning. All were now stopping at a hotel in Rathley.

"But very few, I believe. I understand Robert Peary is about to try it again this coming summer, just as we are going to do, and Mr. Dawson tells me that a noted hunter and explorer from Brooklyn, Dr. Frederick A. Cook, is now somewhere up north. This Dr. Cook went up north to hunt walrus and polar bears, but he is quite an explorer, and he may take it into his head to strike out for the Pole, especially as he had for his captain Robert Bartlett, who commanded Peary's ship, the _Roosevelt_, during Peary's wonderful trip in 1905 and 1906."

"Do you think we'll meet any of those other parties up there!" asked Chet.

"It is possible, but not probable, for the country is so large. But we shall probably hear of Dr. Cook's party through the Esquimaux as soon as we arrive. Those men of the frozen north make good messengers, and news travels for hundreds of miles in an incredible s.p.a.ce of time, considering the ice and snow."

What Professor Jeffer had to say about Dr. Frederick A. Cook was true, and as the name of this famous hunter and explorer was soon to be on everybody's tongue, it will be well to give more details concerning him and his party.

Dr. Cook was born in Hortonville, New York State. He was of German descent, and his family originally spelt the name Koch. His father was a physician, and so was his grandfather, so it was but natural that the lad should take up the study of medicine.

In his younger life he had to work hard. The family moved to Port Jervis, N. Y., and there Frederick entered High School. Then the family moved again, this time to the Williamsburgh section of Brooklyn, N. Y.

While studying, the boy did his best to earn some money, working with a produce dealer in Fulton Market, and also as a printer. Then he purchased a milk route, and having gotten ahead a little financially, entered a Medical School, from which, in due course of time, he received his diploma. While in college he was married, but his wife died shortly after the wedding.

The young doctor was looking around for an opening, when he heard that Commander Peary was fitting out an expedition for polar exploration.