ed and prepared for a three-years'
cruise.

"Every day the captain let me more and more into his plans, told me
interesting things of the North, and explained his theory of the way to
reach the Pole, and what could be found there; which fascinated me.
Captain Burrows had spent years in the North, had noted that
particularly open seasons occurred in what appeared cycles of a given
number of years, and proposed to go above the eightieth parallel and
wait for an open season. That, according to his figuring, would occur
the following year.

"I was young, vigorous, and of a venturesome spirit, and entered into
every detail with a zest that captured the heart of the old sailor. My
education helped him greatly, and new books and instruments were added
to our store for use on the trip. The crew knew only that we were going
on a three-years' cruise. They had no share in the profits, but were
paid extra big wages in gold, and were expected to go to out-of-the-way
places and further north than usual. Captain Burrows and myself only
knew that there was a brand-new twenty-foot silk flag rolled up in
oil-skin in the cabin, and that Father Burrows had declared: 'By the
hoary-headed Nebblekenizer, I'll put them stars and stripes on new land,
and mighty near to the Pole, or start a butt a-trying.'

"In due course of time we were all ready, and the 'Duncan McDonald'
passed out of the Golden Gate into the broad Pacific, drew her fires,
and stopped her engines, reserving this force for a more urgent time.
She spread her ample canvas, and stood away toward Alaska and the
unknown and undiscovered beyond.

"The days were not long for me, for they were full of study and
anticipation. Long chats with the eccentric but masterful man whose
friendship and love for my father had brought us together were the
entertainment and stimulus of my existence--a man who knew nothing of
science, except that he was master of it in his own way; who knew all
about navigation, and to whom the northern seas were as familiar as the
contour of Boston Common was to me; who had more stories of whaling than
you could find in print, and better ones than can ever be printed.

"I learned first to respect, then to admire, and finally to love this
old salt. How many times he told me of my father's death, and how and
when he had risked his life to save the life of Father Burrows or some
of the rest of his men. As the days grew into weeks, and the weeks into
months, Cap