om me. We have got the devil on
board."

Clewe was astonished: Samuel Block was such a quiet, steady person, so
unused to extravagance or excitement, that this sensational message was
entirely beyond his comprehension. He could fix no possible meaning to
it, and he was glad that it did not come when he was in company with
Margaret. It was too late to disturb her now, and he most earnestly
hoped that an explanation would come before he saw her again.

That night he dreamed that there was a great opening near the pole,
which was the approach to the lower regions, and that the Dipsey had
been boarded by a diabolical passenger, who had come to examine her
papers and inquire into the health of her passengers and crew.

CHAPTER VIII. THE DEVIL ON THE DIPSEY

After a troubled night, Roland Clewe rose early. He had made up his mind
that what Sammy had to communicate was something of a secret, otherwise
it would have been telegraphed at once. For this reason he had not sent
him a message asking for immediate and full particulars, but had waited.
Now, however, he felt he could wait no longer; he must know something
definite before he saw Margaret. Not to excite suspicion by telegraphing
at untimely hours, he had waited until morning, and as the Dipsey was
in about the same longitude as Sardis, and as they kept regular hours
on board, without regard to the day and night of the arctic regions, he
knew that he would not now be likely to rouse anybody from his slumbers
by "calling up" the pole.

Although the telephone had been brought to such wonderful perfection in
these days, Roland Clewe had never thought of using it for purposes of
communication with the Dipsey. The necessary wire would have been too
heavy, and his messages could not have been kept secret. In fact, this
telegraphic communication between Sardis and the submarine vessel was
almost as primitive as that in use in the latter part of the nineteenth
century.

But Clewe had scarcely entered the office when he was surprised by the
sound of the instrument, and he soon found that Sammy was calling to him
from the polar seas. He sat down instantly and received this message:

"Could not send more last night. Gibbs came in. Did not want him to know
until I had heard from you. That Pole, Rovinski, is on board. Never knew
it until yesterday. Had shaved off his beard and had his head cropped.
He let it grow, and I spotted him. There is no mistake. I know him, but