As far as the eye could reach all was one vast snow bank. The wind rioting had twisted the loose material into all sorts of fantastic shapes.

The snow had now ceased falling and the air was crisp and clear.

Leaving the airship’s deck the voyagers walked boldly out upon the huge drifts.

The snowshoes prevented their sinking into the white depths, perhaps over their heads.

Frank Reade, Jr., led the way to the highest point accessible and from this a good view of the surroundings could be had.

It was a bleak, desolate and forbidding region spread to view.

Yet the white country had its peculiar beauty and charms. Like crystal palaces the bergs of clearest ice glistened in the rarefied air.

“Grand!” cried Professor Gaston. “Where will you ever see the likes again?”

“Begorra, I wish I had a toboggan!” cried Barney, pointing to an icy slope near.

“Yo’ don’ need nuffin’ ob dat kind, sah!” cried Pomp. “Jes’ slide down on yo’ feet an’ stiddy yo’se’f wif a pike.”

All the party had long pike poles with iron tips to prevent sliding into any hole or dangerous pit.

Barney was just in a mood to refute any dare that Pomp might offer, so he cried:

“Bejabers, I’ll go ye!”

“A’right, I’ish!”

Away went the two jokers at full speed across the snow. They reached the slope a few moments later.

The slide was fully a hundred yards in length, and was quite steep and slippery. Frank looked anxious.

“I fear they are rash,” he said. “If one of them should fall he might break some bones.”

But Professor Gaston laughed.

“Have no fear,” he said. “They will make it all safely. It is fun for them.”

The two jokers were now on the brow of the descent. They were chaffing each other in a friendly manner.

“Am yo’ ready, I’ish?” cried Pomp.

“Begorra, I am!”

“Then jes’ follow me!”

With their pikes thrust deep into the ice behind, and acting both as rudder and support, they began the slide.

The surface seemed as smooth as polished glass. Down they shot at lightning speed.

It required but a few brief seconds to cover the distance.

But before it was covered a thrilling incident occurred. Suddenly, and when half way down, there was a crackling sound, and Barney threw up his arms and disappeared.

Pomp went on down to the end of the slide.

A cry of horror burst simultaneously from the lips of Frank Reade, Jr., and Professor Gaston.

“My soul!” cried the young inventor. “My fears are realized! Barney is lost!”

They lost no time, but started at once for the spot.

Reaching the foot of the slide, Frank saw the explanation of Barney’s disappearance.

There, in the surface of the slide, was a yawning hole. The ice in this spot was thin and had covered a pit, into which the unlucky Celt had fallen.

With the aid of his pike, Frank crawled to the edge of the hole and looked in.

What he beheld gave him an awful, horrified chill.

“My God!” he cried, wildly, “Barney has gone to his death!”

“Don’t say that!” cried Gaston. “Can we not pull him out of that awful hole?”

“No,” replied Frank, sadly. “Barney is beyond earthly aid!”

By this time Pomp and Gaston were by Frank’s side. A glance into the hole was enough.

It was a deep, circular opening, extending downward for twenty feet. At its bottom was a surging, boiling mass of icy waters.

It was into the ocean that Barney had dropped.

Doubtless before this he had been carried under the vast field of ice and was beyond earthly aid.

For a moment the three explorers looked at each other in utter horror.

Then Pomp began to wail in sorrow.

“Fo’ de good Lor’, am de I’ishman done gone an’ dronwed?” he cried. “Den dis chile am lef’ all alone. Boo, hoo, hoo! He was jes’ de bes’ frien’ I eber had. Wha’ am I gwine to do now?”

Indeed, all were deeply affected. Pomp was inconsolable.

Watch was kept at the hole for a reasonable time in the faint hope that the Celt would reappear.

But he did not.

Sorrowfully the three explorers now returned to the airship. But before they reached it they were confronted with new and startling incidents.

The Dart was half buried in the snow at the foot of the big berg. As Frank and his companions came in sight of the Dart they paused.

Clambering over the deck were a number of fur-clad forms.

At first the explorers thought them human beings, but a closer glance showed that they were huge white bears.

Six of the monsters were boarding the airship in the coolest possible manner.

“Great heavens!” exclaimed Professor Gaston. “What does that mean, Frank?”

“It looks as if the bears had taken possession of our property,” declared the young inventor.

“Can they do any harm?”

“Certainly. We must tackle them at once.”

The prospect of tackling the six monsters was by no means a pleasant one.

The white bear is known as a powerful and savage beast and not easily handled.