Chapter I: Preface

"First at the North Pole," relates the particulars of a marvelous
journey from our New England coast to that portion of our globe
sometimes designated as "the top of the world."

Filled with such dreams as come to all explorers, Barwell Dawson
fitted out the _Ice King_ for a trip to the north. Because of what had
happened, it was but natural that he should invite Andy and Chet to
accompany him, and equally natural that they should hasten to accept
the invitation.

The boys knew that they would have no easy time of it, yet they did
not dream of the many perils that awaited the entire party. Once the
staunch steamer was in danger of being crushed by an immense iceberg,
in which event this chronicle would not have been written. Again, the
boys and the others had a fierce fight with polar bears and with a
savage walrus. When the ship was jammed hard and fast in the ice a
start was made by the exploring party, accompanied by some Esquimaux
and several dog sledges. All had heard of the marvelous achievements
of Cook and Peary, and all were fired with a great ambition to go and
do likewise. With the thermometer often at fifty degrees below zero,
they pushed on steadily, facing death more than once. To add to their
troubles they had sickness in camp, and snow-blindness, and once some
Esquimaux, becoming scared, rebelled and tried to run off with their
supplies. Then, when the North Pole was at last gained, it became the
gravest kind of a problem how to return to civilization alive.

In penning this volume I have had a twofold purpose in mind: the first
to show what pure grit and determination can do under the most trying
of circumstances, and the second to give my readers an insight into
Esquimaux life and habits, and to relate what great explorers like
Franklin, Kane, Hall, DeLong, Nansen, Cook, and Peary have done to
open up this weird and mysterious portion of our globe.

Edward Stratemeyer.
November 15, 1909.