The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Captain of the Pole-Star and Other Tales, by
Arthur Conan Doyle

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Title: The Captain of the Pole-Star and Other Tales

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Posting Date: July 10, 2008 [EBook #294]
Release Date: July, 1995

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN OF THE POLE-STAR ***

Produced by Mike Lough

THE CAPTAIN OF THE POLESTAR

AND OTHER TALES.

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

TO
MY FRIEND
MAJOR-GENERAL A. W. DRAYSON
AS A SLIGHT TOKEN
OF
MY ADMIRATION FOR HIS GREAT
AND AS YET UNRECOGNISED SERVICES TO ASTRONOMY
This little Volume
IS
DEDICATED

PREFACE For the use of some of the following Tales I am indebted to the
courtesy of the Proprietors of "Cornhill," "Temple Bar," "Belgravia,"
"London Society," "Cassell's," and "The Boy's Own Paper."

A. CONAN DOYLE, M.D.

CONTENTS.

THE CAPTAIN OF THE POLE-STAR
J. HABAKUK JEPHSON'S STATEMENT
THE GREAT KEINPLATZ EXPERIMENT
THE MAN FROM ARCHANGEL
THAT LITTLE SQUARE BOX
JOHN HUXFORD'S HIATUS
A LITERARY MOSAIC
JOHN BARRINGTON COWLES
THE PARSON OF JACKMAN'S GULCH
THE RING OF THOTH

THE CAPTAIN OF THE "POLE-STAR."

[Being an extract from the singular journal of JOHN
M'ALISTER RAY, student of medicine.]

September 11th.--Lat. 81 degrees 40' N.; long. 2 degrees E. Still
lying-to amid enormous ice fields. The one which stretches away to the
north of us, and to which our ice-anchor is attached, cannot be smaller
than an English county. To the right and left unbroken sheets extend
to the horizon. This morning the mate reported that there were signs of
pack ice to the southward. Should this form of sufficient thickness
to bar our return, we shall be in a position of danger, as the food, I
hear, is already running somewhat short. It is late in the season, and
the nights are beginning to reappear.

This morning I saw a star twinkling just over the fore-yard, the first
since the beginning of May. There is considerable discontent among the
crew, many of whom are anxious to g