"What is it exactly that you fear?" she asked, when she had heard
the news.

"That is hard to say," replied Roland. "This man Rovinski is a
scientific jackal; he has ambitions of the very highest kind, and
he seeks to gratify them by fraud and villainy. It is now nearly
two years since I have found out that he has been shadowing me,
endeavoring to discover what I am doing and how I am doing it;
and the moment he does get a practical and working knowledge of
anything, he will go on with the business on my lines as far as
he can. Perhaps he may succeed, and, in any case, he will be
almost certain to ruin my chances of success--that is, if I were
not willing to buy him off. He would be pretty sure to try
blackmail if he found he could not make good use of the knowledge
he had stolen."

"The wretch!" cried Margaret. "Do you suppose he hopes to snatch
from you the discovery of the pole?"

"That seems obvious," replied Roland, "and it's what Sammy
thinks. It is the greatest pity in the world he was not
discovered before he got on the Dipsey."

"But what can you do?" cried Margaret.

"I cannot imagine," he replied, "unless I recall the Dipsey to
Cape Tariff, and go up there and have him apprehended."

"Couldn't he be apprehended where he is?" she asked. "There are