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_ The sun was as high in the polar heavens as it ever rises in that
part of the world. Captain Hubbell stood on the deck of the
Dipsey. with his quadrant in hand to take an observation. The
engines had been stopped, and nearly everybody on the vessel now
surrounded him.
"Longitude everything," said Captain James Hubbell, "latitude
ninety, which is as near as I can make it out."
"My friends," said Mr. Gibbs, looking about him, "we have found
the pole."
And at these words every head was uncovered.
For some moments no one spoke; but there was a look upon the
faces of most of the party which expressed a feeling which was
voiced by Sarah Block.
"And yet," said she, speaking in a low tone, "there's nothing to
see, after all!"
Captain Hubbell's observations and calculations, although
accurate enough for all ordinary nautical purposes, were not
sufficiently precise to satisfy the demands of the present
occasion, and Mr. Gibbs and the electricians began a series of
experiments to determine the exact position of the true pole.
The vessel was now steered this way and that, sometimes backed,
and then sent forward again. After about an hour of this zigzag
work Mr. Gibbs ordered the engine stopped.
"Now," said he, "the ring on the deck is exactly over the pole,
and we may prepare to take possession."
At these words Samuel Block disappeared below, followed by his
wife.
"That was an odd expression of yours, Captain Hubbell," said Mr.
Gibbs, "when you said we had reached longitude everything. It is
correct, of course, but it had not struck me in that light."
"Of course it is correct," said Captain Hubbell. "The end of
every line of longitude is right here in a bunch. If you were a
bird, you could choose one of 'em and fly down along it to
Washington or Greenwich or any other point you pleased.
Longitude everything is what it is; we've got the whole of 'em
right under us."
Now Samuel Block came on deck, where everybody else on board soon
gathered. With a furled flag in his hand, dressed in his best
and cleanest clothes, and with a large fur cloak thrown over his
shoulders, Mr Block advanced towards the ring on the deck, near
the compass.
But he was yet several yards from this point when a black figure,
crouching close to the deck, issued from among the men, a little
in the rear of the party, and made a dash towards the ring. It
was the Pole, Rovinski, who had been standing quivering with
excitement, waiting for this supreme moment. But almost at the
same instant there sprang from the side of Mr. Gibbs another
figure, with a face livid with agitation. This was Mr. Marcy,
who had noticed the foreigner's excitement and had been watching
him. Like a stone from a catapult, Mr. Marcy rushed towards
Rovinski, taking a course diagonal to that of the latter, and,
striking him with tremendous force just before he reached the
ring, he threw him against the rail with such violence that the
momentum given to his head and body carried them completely over
it, and his legs following, the man went headlong into the sea.
Instantly there was a shout of horror. Sarah Block screamed
violently, and her husband exclaimed: "That infernal Pole! He
has gone down to the pole, and I hope he may stay there!"
"What does all this mean, Mr. Marcy?" roared Captain Hubbell;
"and why did you throw him overboard?"
"Never mind now," cried Sammy, his voice rising above the
confusion. "I will tell you all about it. I see what he was up
to. He wanted to take possession of the pole in his own beastly
name, most likely."
"I don't understand a word of all this," exclaimed Mr. Gibbs.
"But there is the man; he has risen to the surface."
"Shall we let him sink," cried Sammy, "or haul him aboard?"
"Let the man sink!" yelled Captain Hubbell. "What do you mean,
sir?"
"Well, I suppose it wouldn't do," said Sammy, "and we must get
him aboard."
Captain Hubbell roared out orders to throw out life-preservers
and lower a boat; but, remembering that he was not on board a
vessel of the olden times, he changed the order and commanded
that a patent boat-hook be used upon the man in the water.
The end of this boat-hook, which could be shot out like a
fishing-rod, was hooked into Rovinski's clothes, and he was
pulled to the vessel. Then a rope was lowered, and he was hauled
on board, shivering and shaking.
"Take him below and put him in irons," cried Sammy.
"Mr. Block," said Captain Hubbell, "I want you to understand that
I am skipper of this vessel, and that I am to give orders. I
don't know anything about this man; but do you want him put in
irons?"
"I do," said Sammy, "for the present."
"Take that man below and put him in irons!" roared Captain
Hubbell.
"And give him some dry clothes," added Sarah Block.
When the confusion consequent upon the incident had subsided
there was a general desire not to delay for a moment the actual
act of taking legal possession of the pole they had discovered.
Sammy now advanced, his fur cap in one hand and his flag in the
other, and took his position in the centre of the circle. For a
few moments he did not speak, but turned slowly around, as if
desirous of availing himself of the hitherto unknown privilege of
looking southward in every direction.
"I'm glad he remembers what I told him," said Sarah. "He's
making it last as long as he can."
"As the representative of Roland Clewe, Esq.," said Samuel,
deliberately and distinctly, "I take possession of the north pole
of this earth in the name of United North America." With these
words he unfurled his flag, with its broad red and white stripes,
and its seven great stars in the field of blue, and stuck the
sharp end of the flagstaff into the deck in the centre of the
circle.*
[* It must be understood that at this time the seven great
countries of North America--Greenland, Norland (formerly British
America, British Columbia, and Alaska), Canada, the United
States, Mexico, Central America, and West Indies--were united
under one confederated government, and had one flag, a
modification of the banner of the dominant nation.]
"Now," said he to his companions, "this pole is ours, and if
anybody ever comes into this sea from Russia, or Iceland, or any
other place, they will find the north pole has been pre-empted."
At this three hearty cheers were given by the assembled company,
who thereupon put on their hats.
The rest of that day and part of the next were spent in taking
soundings, and very curious and surprising results were obtained.
The electric lead, which rang the instant it touched bottom,
showed that the sea immediately over the pole was comparatively
shallow, while in every direction from this point the depth
increased rapidly. Many interesting experiments were made, which
determined the character of the bottom and the varied deposits
thereupon, but the most important result of the work of Mr. Gibbs
and his associates was the discovery of the formation of the
extreme northern portion of the earth. The rock-bed of the sea
was found to be of the shape of a flattened cone, regularly
sloping off from the polar point.
This peculiar form of the solid portion of the earth at the pole
was occasioned, Mr. Gibbs believed, by the rotary motion of the
bottom of the sea, which moved much more rapidly than the water
above it, thus gradually wearing itself away, and giving to our
earth that depression at the poles which has been so long known
to geographers.
Day after day the experiments went on; but Mr. Gibbs and his
associates were extremely interested in what they were doing;
some of the rest of the party began to get a little tired of the
monotony. There was absolutely nothing to see except water and
sky; and although the temperature was frequently some degrees
above freezing, and became sometimes quite pleasant as they
gradually grew accustomed to the outer arctic atmosphere, those
who had no particular occupation to divert their minds made
frequent complaints of the cold. There were occasional
snow-storms, but these did not last long, and as a rule the
skies were clear.
"But think, Sarah," said Samuel Block, in answer to some of her
complaints, "what it would be if this were winter, and, instead
of being light all the time, it was dark, with the mercury 'way
down at the bottom of the thermometer!"
"I don't intend to think of it at all," replied Sarah, sharply.
"Do you suppose I am goin' to consent to stay here until the
everlastin' night comes on? If that happened, I would simply
stretch myself out and die. It's bad enough as it is; but when I
look out on the sun, and think that it is the same sun that is
shinin' on Sardis, and on the house which I hope we are goin' to
have when we get back, I feel as if there was somethin' up here
besides you, Sammy, that I'm accustomed to. If it was not for
you and the sun, I could not get along at all; but if the sun's
gone, I don't think you will be enough. I wish they would plant
that corner-stone buoy and let us be off."
But by far the most dissatisfied person on board was the Pole,
Rovinski. He was chained to the floor in the hold, and could see
nothing; nor could he find out anything. Sammy had explained his
character and probable intentions to Captain Hubbell, who had
thereupon delivered to Mr. Block a very severe lecture for not
telling him before.
"If I've got a scoundrel on board I want to know it, and I hope
this sort of thing won't happen again, Mr. Block."
"I don't see how it can," answered Sammy; "and I must admit I
ought to have told you as soon as you took command; but people
don't always do all they ought to do; and, as for tellin' Mr. Gibbs,
I would not do that, for his mind is rigged on a hair-spring
balance anyway; it wouldn't do to upset him."
"And what are we goin' to do with the feller?" said the captain.
"Now that I know what this Pole is, I wish I had let him go down
to the other pole and stay there."
"I thought so at first," said Sammy; "but I'm glad he didn't; I'd
hate to think of our glorious pole with that thing floppin' on
it."
At last all was ready to anchor the great buoy, and preparations
were in progress for this important event, when everybody was
startled by a shout from Mr. Marcy.
"Hello!" he cried. "What's that? A sail?"
"Where away?" shouted the captain.
"To the south," replied Mr. Marcy. And instantly everybody was
looking in opposite directions. But Mr. Marcy's outstretched arm
soon indicated to all the position of the cause of his outcry.
It was a black spot clearly visible upon the surface of the sea,
and apparently about two miles away. Quickly Captain Hubbell
had his glass directed upon it, and the next moment he gave a
loud cry.
"It's a whale!" he shouted. "There's whales in this polar sea!"
"I thought you said whales were extinct," cried Sammy.
"So I did," replied the captain. "And so they are in all
Christian waters. Who ever could have imagined that we would
have found 'em here?"
Sarah Block was so frightened when she found there was a whale in
the same water in which the Dipsey floated that she immediately
hurried below, with an indistinct idea of putting on her things.
In such a case as this, it was time for her to leave. But soon
recognizing the state of affairs, she sat down in a chair, threw
a shawl over her head, and waited for the awful bump.
"Fortunately whales are soft," she said to her, self over and
over again.
No one now thought of buoys. Every eye on deck was fixed upon
the exposed back of the whale, and everybody speedily agreed that
it was coming nearer to them. It did come nearer and nearer, and
at one time it raised its head as if it were endeavoring to look
over the water at the strange object which had come into those
seas. Then suddenly it tossed its tail high into the air and
sank out of sight.
"It's a right-whale!" cried Captain Hubbell. "There's whales in
this sea! Let's get through this buoy business and go cruisin'
after 'em."
There was a great deal of excited talk about the appearance of
the whale, but this was not allowed to interfere with the
business in hand. A chain, not very heavy but of enormous
strength, and of sufficient length to reach the bottom and give
plenty of play, was attached to an anchor of a peculiar kind. It
was very large and heavy, made of iron, and shaped something like
a cuttlefish, with many arms which would cling to the bottom if
any force were exerted to move the anchor. The other end of the
chain was attached to the lower part of the buoy, and with
powerful cranes the anchor was hoisted on deck, and when
everything had been made ready the buoy, which had had the proper
date cut upon it, was lowered into the water. Then the great
anchor was dropped into the sea, as nearly as possible over the
pole.
The sudden rush downward of the anchor and the chain caused the
buoy to dip into the sea as if it were about to sink out of
sight, but in a few moments it rose again, and the great sphere,
half-way out of the water, floated proudly upon the surface of
the polar sea.
Then came a great cheer, and Mrs. Block--who, having been assured
that the whale had entirely disappeared, had come on deck--turned
to her husband and remarked: "Now, Sammy, is there any earthly
reason why we should not turn right around and go straight home?
The pole's found, and the place is marked, and what more is there
for us to do?"
But before her husband could answer her, Captain Hubbell lifted
up his voice, which was full of spirit and enthusiasm.
"Messmates!" he cried, "we have touched at the pole, and we have
anchored the buoy, and now let us go whalin'. It's thirty years
since I saw one of them fish, and I never expected in all my born
days I'd go a-whalin'."
The rest of the company on the Dipsey took no very great interest
in the whaling cruise, but, on consultation with Mr. Clewe and
Mrs. Raleigh at Sardis, it was decided that they ought by no
means to leave the polar sea until they had explored it as
thoroughly as circumstances would allow. Consequently the next
day the Dipsey sailed away from the pole, leaving the buoy
brightly floating on a gently rolling sea, its high-uplifted
weather-vane glittering in the sun, with each of its ends always
pointing bravely to the south. _
Read next: CHAPTER XIV - A REGION OF NOTHINGNESS
Read previous: CHAPTER XII - CAPTAIN HUBBELL TAKES COMMAND
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