you must have heard
that dreadful shriek. It froze the blood in our veins with horror."

I began to understand that the _Polar King_ was safe, and that we were
all still alive and well. But what could my officers mean by the
terrible noise they talked about?

I jumped out of bed saying, "Gentlemen, I must investigate this whole
business. You say the _Polar King_ is safe?"

"Shure, sorr," said Flathootly, the master-at-arms, "the ship lies
still anchored to the ice-fut where we put her this afthernoon. She's
all right."

I at once went on deck. Sure enough the ship was as safe as if in
harbor. Birds flew about in myriads, at times obscuring the sun, and
now and then we heard growling reverberations from distant icebergs,
answering back the fearful roar that had roused them from their polar
sleep.

The sea, that is to say the enormous ice-pack in which we lay, heaved
and fell like an earthquake. It was evident that a catastrophe of no
common character had happened.

What was the cause that startled the polar midnight with such unwonted
commotion?

Sailors are very superstitious; with them every unknown sound is a cry
of disaster. It was necessary to discover what had happened, lest the
courage of my men should give way and involve the whole expedition in
ruin.

The captain, although alarmed, was as brave as a lion, and as for
Flathootly, he would follow me through fire and water like the brave
Irishman that he was. The scientific staff were gentlemen of
education, and could be relied upon to show an example of bravery that
would keep the crew in good spirits.

"Do you remember the creek in the ice-foot we passed this morning,"
said the captain, "the place where we shot the polar bear?"

"Quite well," I said.

"Well, the roar that frightened us came from that locality. You
remember all day we heard strange squealing sounds issuing from the
ice, as though it was being rent or split open by some subterranean
force."

The entire events of the day came to my mind in all their clearness. I
did remember the strange sounds the captain referred to. I thought
then that perhaps they had been caused by Professor Rackiron's shell
of terrorite which he had fired at the southern face of the vast range
of ice mountains that formed an impenetrable barrier to the pole. The
men were in need of a change of diet, and we thought the surest way of
getting the sea-fowl was to explode a shell among them. The face of
the ice cli