cake, or lift themselves toward a dark spot not larger than the sub
itself--a patch of open water in the midst of the floe.

With mind all in a whirl, Dave gave the final command to make for port.
It had been a great day.

That night, after "chow," the Doctor called Dave into his room at
the hospital.

"Young man," he said, motioning the boy to a seat, "you and your crew
have surprised me beyond belief. I feel that we shall be risking little
in attempting what, to many, might seem the most difficult task ever
undertaken by a submarine. I do not yet feel free to tell you what that
trip will be; you'll have to take that on faith. I can only tell you
that we will proceed from here directly to Nome, Alaska. There we will
get more oil and provisions. We will then sail through Behring Strait
due North."

For a time the two sat in silence. The Doctor's face grew mellow, then
sad at recollections of years that had gone.

"I don't mind telling you," he said after awhile, "that I am an
explorer, you almost might say 'by profession;' that some years ago
another explorer and I sought the same goal. We went from different
points; both claimed to have reached it. But he got the honors."

"And you really reached--"

"Doesn't matter now what I did in the past," interrupted the Doctor
quickly. "What I am to do in the future is all that counts, and the