ard, shivering and
shaking.

"Take him below and put him in irons," cried Sammy.

"Mr. Block," said Captain Hubbell, "I want you to understand that I
am skipper of this vessel, and that I am to give orders. I don't know
anything about this man; but do you want him put in irons?"

"I do," said Sammy, "for the present."

"Take that man below and put him in irons!" roared Captain Hubbell.

"And give him some dry clothes," added Sarah Block.

When the confusion consequent upon the incident had subsided there was a
general desire not to delay for a moment the actual act of taking legal
possession of the pole they had discovered.

Sammy now advanced, his fur cap in one hand and his flag in the other,
and took his position in the centre of the circle. For a few moments
he did not speak, but turned slowly around, as if desirous of availing
himself of the hitherto unknown privilege of looking southward in every
direction.

"I'm glad he remembers what I told him," said Sarah. "He's making it
last as long as he can."

"As the representative of Roland Clewe, Esq.," said Samuel, deliberately
and distinctly, "I take possession of the north pole of this earth in
the name of United North America." With these words he unfurled his
flag, with its broad red and white stripes, and its seven great stars
in the field of blue, and stuck the sharp end of the flagstaff into the
deck in the centre of the circle.*

[* It must be understood that at this time the seven great
countries of North America--Greenland, Norland (formerly
British America, British Columbia, and Alaska), Canada, the
United States, Mexico, Central America, and West Indies--
were united under one confederated government, and had one
flag, a modification of the banner of the dominant nation.]

"Now," said he to his companions, "this pole is ours, and if anybody
ever comes into this sea from Russia, or Iceland, or any other place,
they will find the north pole has been pre-empted." At this three hearty
cheers were given by the assembled company, who thereupon put on their
hats.

The rest of that day and part of the next were spent in taking
soundings, and very curious and surprising results were obtained. The
electric lead, which rang the instant it touched bottom, showed that the
sea immediately over the pole was comparatively shallow, while in every
direction from this point the depth increased rapidly. Many interesting
experiments