NEQUA OR The Problem of the Ages By JACK ADAMS VOL. I. EQUITY PUBLISHING COMPANY Topeka, Kansas 1900 DEDICATION. TO ALL LOVERS OF HUMANITY, WHEREVER FOUND WHO BELIEVE THAT THE APPLICATION OF THE GOLDEN RULE IN HUMAN AFFAIRS WOULD REMOVE ALL THE BURDENS THAT IGNORANCE AND GREED HAVE IMPOSED UPON THE MASSES OF MANKIND, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. Copyrighted 1900, by A.O. Grigsby and Mary P. Lowe. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Beneath the Midnight Sun--A strange visitor comes down from above--An old acquaintance recognized--Strange story by an old physician 1 CHAPTER II. In San Francisco--"Where shall I go next?"--A startling item of news answers the question and ends the search--In male attire--Enlists as Scientist on the Ice King--Off to the North Pole--An unexpected blow--The danger signal--The race for life--The earthquake--"The channel is closing!"--"The ship is lost!" 16 CHAPTER III. In the dark--All is still--Imprisoned in the ice--Distressing situation--How to preserve the health and efficiency of the crew--A new danger--The ice is moving--The common sailor to the rescue--Lief and Eric save the ship--The tunnel to the surface--Exploring the ice-field 40 CHAPTER IV. A singular discovery--Battell crossing a sand ridge on the ice-field--Captain Ganoe leads a party to his assistance--Lief and Eric--Battell's theory--A second expedition--Battell's long absence--Is discovered returning alone, scarcely able to walk--Relief party finds him unconscious--Captain Ganoe as physician--Battell relates how he was abandoned by his men--Preparing for the break 65 CHAPTER V. The break--A race for life--The island--Strange tower--A safe harbor--Crossing the open Polar sea--Strange phenomena--Sailing south--Horizon obscures familiar constellations--Return to the tower--No explanation--Off for the Pole again--A wonderful discovery 94 CHAPTER VI. Sailing south--The wind ceases--Our coal exhausted--Drifting on an unknown ocean--In the grasp of southbound currents--Desponding--Visited by an airship--Then a whole fleet--Among friends--A most highly cultivated people--We embark for Altruria--An air voyage 111 CHAPTER VII. Caring for the sick--New methods of treatment--Not physicians but nurses--A voyage through the air--Wonderful optical instruments which reveal a panorama of the world--Arrival in Altruria--Marvelous improvements--Drudgery and poverty both abolished 136 CHAPTER VIII.