as he opened the outer
door of the cabin. Back on the ridge of the plateau he could see the
fringe of Indians.

"Well, we're here in the valley," he said, as his friends gathered
about him on the icy ground.

"An' now for th' gold!" cried Abe, "for it's here that th' nuggets
are--enough for all of us! Come on an' have a hunt for 'em!"

CHAPTER XXI

THE FOGERS ARRIVE

In Spite of the fact that he tried to remain calm, Tom Swift felt a
wild exultation as he thought of what lay before him and his
friends. To be in a place where gold could be picked up! where they
might all become fabulously wealthy! where the ground might be seen
covered with the precious yellow metal! this was enough to set the
nerves of any one a-tingle!

Tom could hardly realize it at first. After many hardships, no
little danger, and after an attempt on the part of their enemies to
defeat them, they had at last reached their goal. Now, as Abe had
said, they could hunt for the gold.

But if they expected to see the precious yellow nuggets lying about
ready to be picked up like so many kernels of corn, they were
disappointed. A quick look all about showed them only a vast extent
of ice and snow, broken here and there by the big caves of ice.
There were not so many of the latter as at the first place they
stopped, but the caverns were larger.

"Gold--I don't see any gold," remarked Ned Newton, with a
disappointed air. "Where is it?"

"Bless my pocketbook, yes! Where is it?" demanded Mr. Damon.

"Oh, we've got to dig for it," explained Abe. "It's only when
there's been a slight thaw that some of th' pebble nuggets kin be
seen. They're under th' ice, an' we've got t' dig for 'em."

"Does it ever thaw up here?" asked Mr. Parker. "The ice of the caves
seems thick enough to last forever."

"It does thaw an' melt some," went on the miner. "But some of th'
caves last all through what they call 'summer' up here, though it's
more like winter. We're above th' Arctic circle now, friends."

"Maybe we can keep on to the Pole," suggested Ned.

"Not this trip," spoke Tom, grimly. "We'll try for the gold, first."

"Yes, an' I'm goin' t' begin diggin' right away!" exclaimed Abe, as
he turned back into the airship, and came out again with a pick and
shovel, a supply of which implements had been brought along. The
others followed his example, and soon the ice chips were flying
about in a shower, while the sun shining on them gave the appearance