CHAPTER XV

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°, 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.