ndree
determined to begin his dangerous voyage.

Being anxious to get away before the wind should change or die out, the
preparations were hurried forward, and in three hours and a half after
he decided to make his attempt, all was in readiness.

Accompanying the daring explorer were two other venturesome men, Mr.
Strindberg and Mr. Fraenkel.

Stepping into the car, they gave the word to have the balloon cut loose.
They rose rapidly till they were about six hundred feet in the air, but
at this altitude a cross-current struck them, and they were driven
earthward again until they almost touched a projecting rock.

It was feared that the attempt had failed, but the three men in the car
set to work vigorously throwing out some of the sand-bags that had been
put in the car for ballast, to steady it, and the balloon soon rose
again and continued on her course.

The weather was clear, and the _Eagle_, as the balloon was called, was
visible for an hour. It appeared to be moving at the rate of twenty-two
miles an hour, and to be taking the exact direction that Mr. Andree had
wished that it should.

The adventurers expected to reach the Pole in two or three days, but had
prepared themselves for a trip of as many months.

Nothing has as yet been heard or seen of the balloon. Russian steamers
have been sent along the coast of Siberia in search of it, and it is
hoped that some news may be gleaned through the circulars that the Czar
caused to be sent among all the peoples around the Polar regions, asking
them to watch for the balloon, and report it as soon as seen (see page
860).

[Illustration: A Homing Pigeon]

A good deal of excitement was caused by the capture of a carrier-pigeon
in Norway.

Stamped on the bird's wings was "North Pole, 142 W. 47.62."

It was thought at first that it was one of the birds which had been
taken by Andree on his expedition, and that the North Pole had been
discovered.

It was found, however, that Andree's birds were all marked "Andree,
A.D. 1897," and after a few days of excitement and wonder, it came out
that the bird belonged to a German pigeon-flying society, and that it
had been released in Heligoland.

Carrier-pigeons are a particular breed of pigeon which have the
wonderful quality of flying home no matter how far away they are
carried.

Societies have been formed to fly these wonderful birds, and they have
been taken hundreds of miles away, over seas, to test this strange
qu