As the Doctor began sharpening his pencil a thought came to me.

"What if the pencil falls upon the North Pole," I asked, "will we
have to go there?"

"No. The rules of the game say you don't have to go any place
you've been to before. You are allowed another try. I've been to
the North Pole," he ended quietly, "so we shan't have to go
there." I could hardly speak with astonishment.

"YOU'VE BEEN TO THE NORTH POLE!" I managed to gasp out at last.
"But I thought it was still undiscovered. The map shows all the
places explorers have reached to, TRYING to get there. Why isn't
your name down if you discovered it?"

"I promised to keep it a secret. And you must promise me never
to tell any one. Yes, I discovered the North Pole in April,
1809. But shortly after I got there the polar bears came to me in
a body and told me there was a great deal of coal there, buried
beneath the snow. They knew, they said, that human beings would
do anything, and go anywhere, to get coal. So would I please
keep it a secret. Because once people began coming up there to
start coal-mines, their beautiful white country would be
spoiled--and there was nowhere else in the world cold enough for
polar bears to be comfortable. So of course I had to promise them
I would. Ah, well, it will be discovered again some day, by
somebody else. But I want the polar bears to have their
play-ground to themselves as long as possible. And I daresay it
will be a good while yet--for it certainly is a fiendish place to
get to--Well now, are we ready?--Good! Take the pencil and stand