ere Eric fell
in with Joey Blake, the former first mate of one of the whaling vessels
rescued by the famous Overland Expedition in 1897. For the first time
Eric heard the whole story of that heroic trip when the Coast Guard sent
three men to save the lives of three hundred men, imprisoned in the
polar ice. He heard how the men who were now his brother officers had
done that which no white man had ever done before, how they had gone
from Nome to Point Barrow in the dead of winter, their only base of
support in those months of frozen night being their own fortitude and
resourcefulness.

Joey Blake, now in charge of the Point Barrow station of one of the
commercial whaling companies, waxed eloquent as he told how the Coast
Guard men had risked their lives over and over again, to reach the herd
of reindeer, who might be driven on the hoof over mountains that had
never before been crossed. He told how, thereby, they had saved from
starvation and death the crews of several vessels fast in the crushing
grasp of the ice-pack of the Arctic Seas. From one of the men who owed
his life to that magnificent piece of daring, Eric learned the tale of
the great march across the ice and round the inhospitable shores in the
bleak darkness of the Arctic night. He understood why Congress had voted
special thanks and medals to the three men who carried to success the
greatest rescue in Arctic history, full as that record has been of
sacrifice and heroism.

[Illustration: THE _BEAR_ IN THE ICE PACK.

Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard.]

[Illustration: THE _BEAR_ BREAKING FREE FROM THE ICE.

Whaler, still fast, left behind, while Coast Guard cutter forces her way
clear.

Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard.]

In November, 1897, word reached the United States that eight whaling
vessels, with 287 men on board, were fast in the ice north of Point
Barrow. Nothing was known of their condition, save that the provisions
of the entire fleet could not be counted upon to give them food beyond
the end of January. Possibly hunting and fishing might enable this to be
spun out a month or so, but not more. The way through Bering Straits
would not be open until June, at the earliest. Starvation, therefore,
was imminent. The United States Government naturally turned to the Coast
Guard--then known as the Revenue Cutter Service--well assured that
whatever was possible in the realm of human courage and skill would be
done.

Between the marooned whalers and c