First at the North Pole Part 26

Andy, too, an' don't want nuthin' more to do with yer! Well, I don't blame him. Now ye can both go back to Pine Run an' go to work."

"How can a fellow get back if he hasn't the price of a ticket?" asked Chet, in a hopeless fashion, although he could scarcely keep from laughing.

"Go to work an' earn money, I tell yer! I have to do it, an' you ain't no better nor I be."

"Have you been working?"

"O' course I've been working."

"Then you won't even give me ten cents for some bread and coffee?"

"No. Go to work--it will do yer good."

"Will you tell me about Andy?"

"Well, if ye want to know so awful bad, Andy has gone back to Pine Run.

He has found out the errors o' his ways, an' has sent fer me to take care o' him. I don't think he'll be a-runnin' away ag'in very soon."

"Too bad! too bad!" And the mischievous Chet placed a handkerchief to his eyes.

"It's wot a boy gits when he won't mind his uncle," went on Josiah Graham, stiffly. "After this I guess he'll toe the mark! It's a pity you ain't got n.o.buddy to bring you to your senses."

"Maybe you'd like to take me under your care?" suggested Chet, with a most woe-begone look on his face.

"No--I got my hands full with Andy. Here is my train, so I can't talk to yer no longer. Go to work an' earn somethin' to eat, an' the price o' a railroad ticket." And then Josiah Graham swung himself aboard the train, which pulled out from the station a moment later.

"Oh, Chet, how could you do it!" roared Andy, when the chums were alone.

"I thought I'd split, listening to the talk!"

"Wouldn't even give a fellow the price of a meal," returned Chet, coolly. "Well, I rather think he'll be surprised when he gets back to your cabin and finds everything locked up." And then he, too, laughed heartily over the trick that had been played on Andy's shiftless relative.

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 s.p.a.ce 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 a.s.sist 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.

"Yes, I have arranged to stop at Upernivik, for an extra supply of coal which a collier from the lower coast is to bring up for us."

"How long do you suppose we'll be at Upernivik?"

"Two or three days at least--perhaps a week."

"And can Andy and I go ash.o.r.e?"

"Certainly. But it is only a small settlement, and you won't find much of interest."

"I wanted to make inquiries about the _Betsey Andrews_."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'll help you, Chet. But don't be too sanguine. You may not hear a word of the whaler."

"I want to do all I can to hear from my father."

"I don't blame you. I'd be that way myself, if my father were missing."