First at the North Pole or Two Boys in the Arctic Circle

First at the North Pole or Two Boys in the Arctic Circle by Edward Stratemeyer,
author of Oliver Bright’s Search, Richard Dare’s Venture, The Last Cruise of the Spitfire, True to Himself, Joe, the Surveyor, Shorthand Tom, Etc.
Illustrated By Charles Nuttall


CONTENTS
Preface
Chapter 1. Andy and His Uncle
Chapter 2. At The Lumber Camp
Chapter 3. Some Papers of Value
Chapter 4. Chet Greene’s Past
Chapter 5. The Man on the Ledge
Chapter 6. A World-Wide Hunter
Chapter 7. Chet and the Moose
Chapter 8. A Talk of Importance
Chapter 9. Something about the North Pole
Chapter 10. Bringing in Some Game
Chapter 11. A Serious Loss
Chapter 12. A Letter of Interest
Chapter 13. Barwell Dawson Reaches a Decision
Chapter 14. The Fire On The Steamer
Chapter 15. The Start of the Cook Expedition
Chapter 16. A Trick, and What Followed
Chapter 17. An Encounter with Icebergs
Chapter 18. Shooting Wild Geese
Chapter 19. Greenland and the Esquimaux
Chapter 20. Fast in the Ice
Chapter 21. A Fight with Polar Bears
Chapter 22. Through the Long Night
Chapter 23. “North Pole or Bust!”
Chapter 24. The Last Hunt
Chapter 25. Crossing the Great Lead
Chapter 26. On A Floating Mass of Ice
Chapter 27. How Commander Peary Reached the Pole
Chapter 28. The Top of the World at Last
Chapter 29. Fighting Off Starvation
Chapter 30. Home Again
Chapter 31. Good News--Conclusion


Preface
“First at the North Pole,” relates the particulars of a marvelous journey from our New England coast to that portion of our globe sometimes designated as “the top of the world.”

Filled with such dreams as come to all explorers, Barwell Dawson fitted out the Ice King for a trip to the north. Because of what had happened, it was but natural that he should invite Andy and Chet to accompany him, and equally natural that they should hasten to accept the invitation.

The boys knew that they would have no easy time of it, yet they did not dream of the many perils that awaited the entire party. Once the staunch steamer was in danger of being crushed by an immense iceberg, in which event this chronicle would not have been written. Again, the boys and the others had a fierce fight with polar bears and with a savage walrus. When the ship was jammed hard and fast in the ice a start was made by the exploring party, accompanied by some Esquimaux and several dog sledges. All had heard of the marvelous achievements of Cook and Peary, and all were fired with a great ambition to go and do likewise. With the thermometer often at fifty degrees below zero, they pushed on steadily, facing death more than once. To add to their troubles they had sickness in camp, and snow-blindness, and once some Esquimaux, becoming scared, rebelled and tried to run off with their supplies. Then, when the North Pole was at last gained, it became the gravest kind of a problem how to return to civilization alive.

In penning this volume I have had a twofold purpose in mind: the first to show what pure grit and determination can do under the most trying of circumstances, and the second to give my readers an insight into Esquimaux life and habits, and to relate what great explorers like Franklin, Kane, Hall, DeLong, Nansen, Cook, and Peary have done to open up this weird and mysterious portion of our globe.

Edward Stratemeyer.

November 15, 1909.