e surface of what we believe to be the open polar
sea. Everybody is on deck but me. It is very cold, and a wind is
blowing. Off to our left there are high mountains, stretching westward
as far as we can see. They are all snow and ice, but they look blue and
green and beautiful. From these mountains there comes this way a long
cape, with a little mountain at the end of it. Mr. Gibbs says this
mountain, which is about twenty miles away, must be just about between
us and the pole, but it does not cut us off. Far out to the right, as
far as we can see, there is open water shining in the sun, so that we
can sail around the cape. On the right and behind us, southward, are
everlasting plains of snow and ice, which we have just come from under.
They are so white that it dazzles our eyes to look at them. In some
places they are smooth, and in some places they are tumbled up. On the
very edge of the sky, in that direction, there are more mountains. There
are no animals or people anywhere. It is very cold, even inside the
vessel. My fingers are stiff. Now that we are out on the water, in
regular shipshape, Captain Jim Hubbell has taken command. We are going
to cruise northward as soon as we can get things regulated for outside
sailing.

"SAMUEL BLOCK."

CHAPTER XII. CAPTAIN HUBBELL TAKES COMMAND

It was a high-spirited and joyous party that the Dipsey now carried; not
one of them doubted that they had emerged from under the ice into
the polar sea. To the northeast they could see its waves shining and
glistening all the way to the horizon, and they believed that beyond
the cape in front of them these waters shone and glistened to the very
north. They breathed the polar air, which, as they became used to it,
was exhilarating and enlivening, and they basked in the sunshine, which,
although it did not warm their bodies very much, cheered and brightened
their souls. But what made them happier than anything else was the
thought that they would soon start direct for the pole, on top of the
water, and with nothing in the way.

When Captain Jim Hubbell took command of the Dipsey the state of affairs
on that vessel underwent a great change. He was sharp, exact, and
severe; he appreciated the dignity of his position, and he wished to let
everybody see that he did so. The men on board who had previously been
workmen now became sailors--at least in the eyes of Captain Hubbell.
He did not know