Outside a strange sight met their gaze. To the north, to the south and to the east and west, as far as the eye could reach, there was nothing but ice. True, it was broken in places, but it was none the less ice. The D-17 was hemmed in closely on all sides. Jack expressed the sentiments of the others with a long whistle. "Now, what do you think of that?" he said. "I think it's pretty tough, if you are talking to me," was Frank's reply. "We can't push through that." "No; and we can't stay here and wait for it to thaw," declared his chum. "Well, then what?" asked Frank. Lord Hastings, who had not spoken up to this moment, now broke his silence and said: "Never give up the ship, boys. While there's life, there's hope." "And have you a plan of some kind, sir?" asked Jack eagerly. "Well, I have something that might be called a plan. If you look closely you will see that a hundred yards ahead there, there is what appears to be a lane--where the ice is broken. Do you see it?" "Yes, sir," replied both lads in a single voice. "But the ice between the D-17 and that spot is solid." "So it is. What we shall do is to dive, shape our course for that particular point and try to come to the surface there." "And what good will that do, sir?" demanded Frank. "The chances are that the ice beyond that point is just as thick as it is here." "We'll find that out when we get there," said Lord Hastings. "Let's go below." They did so. The conning tower was immediately sealed, and the submarine submerged to a depth necessary to avoid any points of ice that might be likely to protrude beneath the water. Lord Hastings had gauged the distance accurately, and when he again gave the command to come to the surface, the D-17 rose gently, pushing the loosely formed ice to both sides as her nose appeared from the deep. Lord Hastings and his two young officers immediately went on deck again. "By Jove!" said Frank after a quick glance around. "The ice doesn't seem to be so thick dead ahead." "You see," said Lord Hastings with a smile, "a little perseverance will go a long ways sometimes. Now, according to your reasoning awhile back, there was really no use in trying to reach this spot. But now that we are here you see still further hope. Remember that there is always a fighting chance, no matter how great the odds against you." "I'll remember, sir," replied Frank. "I hope you will. Now we'll try our luck at forcing a passage through the ice." "In what way, sir?" asked Jack. Lord Hastings' next words were explanation enough. "Full speed ahead!" he ordered. In response to the command, the D-17 dashed straight at the ice ahead. Her sharp, steel nose plowed into it with violence, and the ice, thick though it was, parted and the D-17 edged through as swiftly as could be expected. "By Jove! I didn't think she'd do it, sir," Jack exclaimed. Lord Hastings smiled a bit.