dious to him no matter how short it had been, arrived at Sardis, his
mind was mainly occupied with the people he had left behind him engulfed
in the arctic seas, but this important subject did not prevent him from
also giving attention to the other great object upon which his soul was
bent. At St. John's, and at various points on his journey from there, he
had received messages from the Dipsey, so that he knew that so far all
was well, and when he met Mrs. Raleigh she had much to tell him of what
might have been called the domestic affairs of the little vessel.

But while keeping himself in touch, as it were, with the polar regions,
Roland Clewe longed to use the means he believed he possessed of peering
into the subterranean mysteries of the earth beneath him. Work on the
great machine by which he would generate his Artesian ray had been going
on very satisfactorily, and there was every reason to believe that he
would soon be able to put it into operation.

He had found Margaret Raleigh a different woman from what she had been
when he left her.

The absence had been short, but the change in her was very perceptible.
She was quieter; she was more intent. She had always taken a great
interest in his undertakings, but now that interest not only seemed to
be deepened, but it was clouded by a certain anxiety. She had been an
ardent, cheerful, and hopeful co-worker with him, so far as she was able
to do so; but now, although she was quite as ardent, the cheerfulness
had disappeared, and she did not allude to the hopefulness.

But this did not surprise Clewe; he thought it the most natural thing in
the world; for that polar expedition was enough to cloud the spirits of
any woman who had an active part and share in it, and who was bound to
feel that much of the responsibility of it rested upon her. At times
this responsibility rested very heavily upon himself. But if thoughts of
that little submerged party at the desolate end of the world came to him
as he sat in his comfortable chair, and a cold dread shot through
him, as it was apt to do at such times, he would hurriedly step to his
telegraphic instrument, and when he had heard from Sammy Block that all
was well with them, his spirits would rise again, and he would go on
with his work with a soul cheered and encouraged.

But good news from the North did not appear to cheer and encourage the
soul of Mrs. Raleigh. She seemed anxious and troubled even after she had
heard it