I told him that while I felt some doubt about the ice barriers, I was ready to follow him anywhere; to which he answered with a good deal of force that so long as the vessel depended only on the atmosphere for her support, he could see no reason why we could not ride over icebergs, frozen mountains and continents, to the ends of the earth. All we had to do was to keep above all obstructions, and to prevent ourselves from freezing, against which possibility we were amply provided. He showed me how our saloon could be made perfectly snug, and heated to any temperature desired; and that the motive apparatus was entirely protected, and could likewise be kept warm. "Should our upper deck become loaded with snow," he added, "we shall be obliged to put on our extra feathers and go above to clean it off; not such a very difficult matter when you consider that we are well provided with the appliances." Indeed, it seemed to me that nothing had been overlooked, and as Torrence had all his life had a hankering for Arctic exploration, I was not greatly astonished at his decision. I reflected that the pole could never be reached except by balloon, and that the difficulty of ordinary ballooning was the impossibility of advancing against air currents, and that since our ship had overcome that point, it did really appear as if we might be in a fair way to accomplish something more than other explorers. I became greatly interested, and began to look for marvelous results. At noon I went into the galley and prepared dinner, while Torrence kept watch above on the upper deck, where there was also a duplicate controlling board. We had eaten nothing since the previous night; the excitement of getting off having kept the thought of food from entering our heads, but now we were hungry. It was undoubtedly the first time since the creation that a meal had been cooked and eaten at that elevation over Northhampton, but it was none the worse for that, and two hungrier men could not have honored the occasion. From our seats in the saloon we had a good outlook upon every side. Forward we looked directly ahead through the cuddy ports—aft—through our stern lights in the galley, and upon either side were great sliding windows. The watch was, of course, only to guard against any unexpected elevation in the land, such as a hill, otherwise—or even had we been a little higher—we might have drawn the blinds and run on with impunity. After dinner we threw the scraps overboard, and went on deck for a smoke, and watched the country steadily slipping away beneath us. We were fanned by a gentle breeze, which might have been stiffer, but such wind as there was, was blowing dead aft. "This," said Torrence, looking about him with pride, "is what I call the climax of living. Above your enemies; above your friends; and out of reach of all the petty annoyances of earth!"