“He left us ten months ago.  We had at first believed that he might prove useful to us by acting as interpreter between us and the natives of this coast, on account of his apparent knowledge of their language; but we soon discovered that his acquaintance with it was very superficial—­confined, in fact, to a few words.  Besides, until we came here, we were unable to hold any communications with the natives.  This Johnny Bowles, or Patrick O’Donoghan, was lazy, drunken, and undisciplined.  His presence on board would only have occasioned trouble for us.  We therefore acceded without regret to his request to be landed on the large Island of Ljakow, as we were following the southern coast.”

“What! did he go there?  But this island is uninhabited!” cried Erik.

“Entirely; but what attracted the man appeared to be the fact that its shores are literally covered by bones, and consequently by fossil ivory.  He had conceived the plan of establishing himself there, and of collecting, during the summer months, all the ivory that he could find; then when, in winter, the arm of the sea which connects Ljakow with the continent should be frozen over, to transport in a sleigh this treasure to the Siberian coast, in order to sell it to the Russian traders, who come every year in search of the products of the country.”

“Did you tell these facts to Mr. Tudor Brown?” asked Erik.

“Assuredly, he came far enough to seek for them,” replied the young doctor, unaware of the deep personal interest that the commander of the “Alaska” took in the answers to the questions which he addressed to him.

The conversation then became more general.  They spoke of the comparative facility with which Nordenskiold had carried out his programme.  He had not met with any serious difficulties, and consequently the discovery of the new route would be an advantage to the commerce of the world.  “Not,” said the officer of the “Vega,” “that this path was ever destined to be much frequented, but the voyage of the ‘Vega’ would prove to the maritime nations of the Atlantic and Pacific that it was possible to hold direct communication with Siberia by water.  And nowhere would these nations, notwithstanding the vulgar opinions, find a field as vast and rich.”

“Is it not strange,” observed Mr. Bredejord, “that they have failed completely during the last three centuries in this attempt that you have now accomplished without difficulty?”

“The singularity is only apparent,” answered one of the officers.  “We have profited by the experience of our predecessors, an experience often only acquired at the cost of their lives.  Professor Nordenskiold has been preparing himself for this supreme effort during the last twenty years, in which he has made eight arctic expeditions.  He has patiently studied the problem in all its aspects, and finally succeeded in solving it.  Then we have had what our predecessors lacked, a steam vessel