"I don't know much, excepting that my father sailed on her some years ago, and the vessel has failed to come back--so far as I know." "That's too bad. So far as I can remember, the ship was all right when I saw her. If I remember rightly, however, our captain said he thought she was pretty far north for a whaler." "Do you think she was wrecked in a storm?" "I don't know. We did have some pretty fierce storms just before I landed to go hunting. I know one storm came up right after a dense fog, and it nearly ran us into a tremendous iceberg. "Maybe an iceberg sunk the _Betsey Andrews_," said Chet, and his voice quivered a little in spite of his effort to control himself. "Have you made inquiries about the whaler lately?" asked Professor Jeffer. "You know there is a regular record kept of all marine disasters." "I didn't know where to go--or who to write to," answered Chet. "I hated to bother strangers." "But you want to find your father, don't you?" asked Barwell Dawson. "Oh, very much!" "Then we'll have to look into this matter--when this storm clears away, and we are able to get out of here." After that the hunter questioned Chet about his parent, and the youth told him how his father had shipped aboard the whaler. He did not mention that Tolney Greene had disappeared under a cloud, as it did not seem necessary, and Chet wanted to avoid anything that was so unpleasant. Following this, Barwell Dawson told more of his proposed trip north. Now that he had revealed what was on his mind, he was very enthusiastic, and he communicated a great deal of his enthusiasm to his listeners. "You must take me along!" cried Professor Jeffer. "I will pay my way--that is, so far as I am able,--and I will promise not to be a hindrance. You'll certainly want one scientist on your expedition, even though it is not what you might term a scientific expedition." "I will give the matter every consideration," answered Barwell Dawson, "and if I can possibly arrange it, you shall become one of the party." "How many will there be?" asked Chet. "Outside of the captain and the crew, I do not expect to carry more than five or six men. Of course, up in Greenland, I shall hire a number of Esquimaux, to do some hunting for me, and to manage the dogs and sledges." Chet said no more just then. But he was wondering if it would aid him to find his father if he should join this expedition to the frozen north. "I'd be willing to suffer anything--if only I could learn where dad was," he told Andy, afterwards. CHAPTER X BRINGING IN SOME GAME The snowstorm proved such a heavy one that for three days the party at Professor Jeffer's cabin were completely stormbound. Once Andy and Chet went out--in an endeavor to bring the dead moose in, but were unable to accomplish their object.