THE START OF THE COOK EXPEDITION
If ever a man was surprised, that man was Josiah Graham. Even Andy was
astonished, for he had not dreamed that Chet could be so quick-tempered.
"Oh, Chet, that was a hard blow!"
"He deserved it," was Chet's answer. His voice was strained, and his
face pale. "I'll allow nobody to talk that way to me."
"Yo--you young villain!" spluttered Josiah Graham, as he rolled over in
the dirt of the gutter and picked himself up. "I'll--I'll----"
"After this you keep a civil tongue in your head!" interrupted Chet. He
still had his fists clenched.
"You--you----"
"If you call me any more names, I'll knock you down again."
Chet's manner was so aggressive that Josiah Graham retreated several
feet. A few persons had witnessed his fall, and a crowd began to
collect.
"What's the trouble?"
"Is it a fight?"
"Do you want a policeman?"
"No, we don't want any policeman," said Andy in alarm. "Chet, we had
better get out of this," he whispered. "If we don't, we'll all be taken
to the station house!"
"Your uncle is the meanest man I ever met! He ought to have a sound
thrashing!" answered Chet, recklessly.
"I know, but we don't want to have the police come down on us."
"I've a good mind to have the law on yer!" howled the man who had been
knocked down.
"Do so--and I'll have the law on you," retorted Chet. "You can't slander
me for nothing,--and you can't try to rob Andy, either."
The last shot told, and Josiah Graham backed still further away.
"We'll settle this some other time!" he muttered, and then turning, he
disappeared into the crowd and hurried away much faster than was his
usual speed.
Not to be questioned by those who had gathered, Andy and Chet pushed
through the crowd in the opposite direction. Soon they were a couple of
blocks from where the encounter had taken place, and then they slackened
their pace.
"The miserable hound!" muttered Chet. He was still completely upset.
"Don't take it so hard, Chet," answered Andy, soothingly. "It's just
Uncle Si's mean way, that's all."
"I suppose he tells everybody what he thinks I am!"
"Oh, I don't think that. He was riled up, and wanted to say something
extra mean. And it was mean--as mean as dirt!" added Andy.
He continued to talk soothingly to his chum, and presently Chet cooled
down somewhat. But he still said he wished he had stayed and given
Josiah Graham the thrashing of his life.
"He thinks I have the lost papers," said Andy, later on.
"And I'd let him continue to think so," answered his chum. "If you say
they are lost, your uncle may tell that fellow, Hopton, and the real
estate man may fix it up to do you out of that claim anyway. I'd keep
them in complete ignorance of the truth."
Andy thought this a good idea, and resolved to follow the suggestion. He
wondered if his uncle would make another move against him. He was soon
to learn how really mean Josiah Graham could be.
For the two boys, waiting for the steamer to sail on her momentous
voyage, the days passed slowly. After their outfits had been purchased
and stowed away aboard the _Ice King_, there was little for them to do.
They read some books on polar exploration, and spent hours in poring
over the maps of the Arctic regions which Barwell Dawson and the
professor possessed. They traced out the routes of Kane, De Long,
Greely, Peary, and others, and wondered what route Mr. Dawson would
pursue.
"He is going up the west coast of Greenland anyway," said Chet. "And
that suits me, for that is where the _Betsey Andrews_ was last heard
of." No matter what was going on, thoughts of his missing parent
continually drifted across his mind. Would he ever see his father again,
and would his parent be able to clear himself of the accusations brought
against him?
"Do you suppose there are any other exploring expeditions north just
now?" asked Andy of Professor Jeffer, at the breakfast table one
morning. All were now stopping at a hotel in Rathley.
"But very few, I believe. I understand Robert Peary is about to try it
again this coming summer, just as we are going to do, and Mr. Dawson
tells me that a noted hunter and explorer from Brooklyn, Dr. Frederick
A. Cook, is now somewhere up north. This Dr. Cook went up north to hunt
walrus and polar bears, but he is quite an explorer, and he may take it
into his head to strike out for the Pole, especially as he had for his
captain Robert Bartlett, who commanded Peary's ship, the _Roosevelt_,
during Peary's wonderful trip in 1905 and 1906."
"Do you think we'll meet any of those other parties up there!" asked
Chet.
"It is possible, but not probable, for the country is so large. But we
shall probably hear of Dr. Cook's party through the Esquimaux as soon as
we arrive. Those men of the frozen north make good messengers, and news
travels for hundreds of miles in an incredible space of time,
considering the ice and snow."
What Professor Jeffer had to say about Dr. Frederick A. Cook was true,
and as the name of this famous hunter and explorer was soon to be on
everybody's tongue, it will be well to give more details concerning him
and his party.
Dr. Cook was born in Hortonville, New York State. He was of German
descent, and his family originally spelt the name Koch. His father was a
physician, and so was his grandfather, so it was but natural that the
lad should take up the study of medicine.
In his younger life he had to work hard. The family moved to Port
Jervis, N. Y., and there Frederick entered High School. Then the family
moved again, this time to the Williamsburgh section of Brooklyn, N. Y.
While studying, the boy did his best to earn some money, working with a
produce dealer in Fulton Market, and also as a printer. Then he
purchased a milk route, and having gotten ahead a little financially,
entered a Medical School, from which, in due course of time, he received
his diploma. While in college he was married, but his wife died shortly
after the wedding.
The young doctor was looking around for an opening, when he heard that
Commander Peary was fitting out an expedition for polar exploration.
This was the first Peary expedition, and a competition was opened for
the position of surgeon with the party. Dr. Cook won in the contest, and
thus took his first trip to the far north, in the ship, _Kite_, in 1891.
The north-western coast of Greenland was explored, the party reaching a
north latitude of 82 deg., and Dr. Cook received a splendid training for
future work in that territory.
Returning home, he married again, and for a short time settled down to
the practice of a physician. But the wish for hunting and for
exploration was in his heart, and in 1893 he went north again, and took
a third trip the year following. Then came a voyage on an ill-fated
ship, the _Miranda_, and the explorer came close to going to the bottom
of the ocean. The ship collided with an iceberg off the coast of
Labrador, and also hit some reefs off the coast of south Greenland. A
transfer was made to another vessel, and the _Miranda_ was left at sea,
a hopeless derelict.
In 1897 Dr. Cook joined the _Belgica_ Arctic Expedition, as surgeon and
anthropologist, and spent nearly two years in that service. Then he went
north in another ship, the _Erie_, carrying supplies for the Peary
party, then again in the polar regions.
After that a trip was made to Alaska, and the intrepid explorer tried
the ascent of Mount McKinley, said to be 20,300 feet high--the tallest
mountain in America. At first he failed, but another year he came back
and made the grand ascent, a truly great achievement. He wrote a book on
the subject, and also another volume relating his experiences while a
surgeon and explorer in the frozen north.
Dr. Cook had a great friend in Mr. John R. Bradley, a man of means, who
was a well-known traveler and hunter. The two talked the matter over,
and decided to fit out a vessel and make a trip as far north as
possible. In the main, the project was kept secret, and neither boasted
of what they were about to attempt to do. At Gloucester, Mass., they
found a ship that suited their purpose, and she was thoroughly
overhauled and renamed the _John R. Bradley_. Suitable provisions for a
long trip were taken on board, and the vessel left Gloucester harbor
July 3, 1907. It did not look at all like a "North Pole" expedition, and
its departure excited very little comment. It was thought that Mr.
Bradley and Dr. Cook had merely gone off on a hunting trip after bears
and walrus.
It took until the end of August for the _Bradley_ to reach the upper end
of Smith Sound, in Baffin Bay. Here was located the port of Etah, and
not many miles away another port called Annootok. All of the provisions
and other supplies were landed at the latter port, and then the vessel
sailed back to the United States, leaving Dr. Cook and his party to hunt
and explore to their hearts' content. The vessel's return created some
surprise, and then the word gradually spread that it was possible Dr.
Cook would try to reach the North Pole. Mr. Bradley was at once besieged
with questions, but gave no definite information.
At Annootok Dr. Cook found many Esquimaux assembled, all ready for a
great bear hunt. As he could speak their language, he talked to them,
and engaged a number of them, with their dogs and sledges, to serve him.
Work was at once begun to make Annootok a regular base of supplies. A
small house was erected, and also a storehouse and a workshop. All the
provisions brought along were packed away, and the explorer obtained
from the native hunters large quantities of polar bear meat and other
game.
And so he set off on his memorable trip northward, and what this brought
forth we shall learn later.