to your messages--what would you do?"

His face grew troubled.

"That is a terrible question," he said. "It is one I have often
asked myself; but there is no satisfactory answer to it. Of course,
as I have told myself and have told you, there seems no reason to
expect a disaster. There are no storms in the quiet depths in which
the Dipsey is sailing. Ice does not sink down from the surface, and
even if a floating iceberg should turn over, as they sometimes do
in the more open sea, the Dipsey will keep low enough to avoid such
danger. In fact, I feel almost sure that if she should meet with
any obstacle which would prevent her from keeping on her course to
the pole, all she would have to do would be to turn around and come
back. As to the possibility of receiving no messages, I should
conclude in that case that the wire had broken, and should wait a
few days before allowing myself to be seriously alarmed. We have
provided against such an accident. The Dipsey is equipped as a
cable-laying vessel, and if her broken wire is not at too great a
depth, she could recover it; but I have given orders that should
such an accident occur, and they cannot reestablish communication,
they must return."

"Where to?" asked Mrs. Raleigh.

"To Cape Tariff, of course. The Dipsey cannot navigate the
surface of the ocean for any considerable distance."

"And then?" she asked.