THE MEN WHO FAILED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14304, 25 February 1910, Page 3

THE MEN WHO FAILED.

"It's the North Pole. .We are just above it now." Allingham put his instrument down suddenly, and'turned to his companion with a strange light in his eyes. - . Hartnoll, who was steering the; airship, nodded ; and repeated tho words .• dully:' ."The North Pole."'''..Yes, the North Pole,"He glanced onco more at the, vast expanse of ice hummocks below, then seemed to lose all interest in tho matter. V

It was only some thirty-five hours since the two' men had ', left their base in , Spitsbergen, i 7 < Hartnell '■;- had 'already lost J all count of time. .' The sudden change from tho. long, growing,chances of success ; these, combined with the'.' awful weary /[months of waiting, the: excitement 'of; the start, the cold, had brought on a mental overstrain, which, in turn, had led to a kind of stupor. Now he felt ho cared for nothing except rest; and warmth; and ho was conscious of an ■unreasoning irritation at the not© of triumph in Allingham's voice.- v •. "The North ; Pole," he mumbled again. " Ah, a beast of a place." then, half mechanically, he stretched out and regulated one of the lubricators. . . '

!:.Allingham stared at him in amazement. " Don't you'understand, man. Good heavens ! Hundreds, thousands ; perhaps, . havo lost their.llives/inf trying to see what wo are looking • on now. And -wo are tho first—thevery first,''" his voice trembled with! excitement.'"'■'•." We've succeeded where "every one else has failed. Our names will go down in history." " . 'Hartnell glanced over the side again! "It's a beast, of a place, not worth seeing,; and I'm deadly tired. .1 think, too, my right foot is getting! frostbitten. I wonder how long it will-bo. before we can sleep" The words came butt 1 in a low monotone,: quite unlike his usual brisk speech. "Wake .up, man!" Allingham spoke sharply. "Don't you realise we've got to get south again. With this change in the wind it'll bo easier for us to go back to our base than try and land in Siberia, as we thought of doing. ; We've been to! the - pole, but no one knows it yet. And if anything happened, if :■■ they never heard : that we had been the first— The mere idea seemed to overpower him, and ho broke off abruptly. Then he took the steering wheel from!• Hartnoil and bade the' latter prepare something to eat while lie himself ; brought the airship round and headed 'her, back for the base 'camp; '■■■'::',' : '.- '• ..... . . Hartnell went about his; task in a dazed sort of way; but. when the food was ready ho barely .touched it. Too tired,'? ho muttered, '■' too tired and cold.'.* Then he squatted down as near as he dare to! the engine, and for an hour sat very still." _ : * Suddenly he looked' up. ; Tho airship was plunging slightly, and. he, . the ; inventor, 'know!what, that meant. , : "•■ ; We are losing too much gas, . he mumbled; ' " the rest of the ballast must go. . -~ He staggered to his feet ; and , drew the slide which released the remaining sand. '.Hewas only half conscious as regarded outside, things ; but the i airship warlike a part of himself—it represented the supremo triumph of a brilliant career. " . . • ' . Freed of the weight, the -vessel.- regained her '< !, equilibrium ~ and !, forged ahead once more.'. -.' • , ~ .... " Some of the gear must go soon, Allingham just caught the /words, and,^f : the first time, a shadow of fear crept into ; his e> " Will she do it, Hartnell? Thank goodness, the wind is with us now, and wo re going twice as fast as wo did coming.up. Oh, if anyono else should get the. credit, after all." ■■ '-~,. ,'•'■ , , . "Hang the credit . Allingham had to lean forward to hear what the inventor was saying. "Hang the credit. I want to sleep, and I think the frost has got my right hand now," and the speaker once more huddled down close to the engine. . ' * The hours dragged by slowly., Once Allingham roused his companion, and made him ■■■ take tho , wheel;';- but a few minutes showed that Hartnell was physically " incapable of keeping his attention on the compass, .though anything connected with the airship roused him '■■ at once. : And when she began to give, fresh signs of; plunging, ho dragged himself '-to his ■feet, and silently heaved overboard all the supplementary instruments and even a•• portion of tho, foodBttlffS. •• " ! ' , ,- ': , , , "-' j Allingham said nothing, only he glanced at his watch, made a" rapid mental calculation,- and, the look of fear camo back into his eves. ■-,j " , ' ;. • " If wo never tell anyone, and another man gets the credit. If wo never tell anyone'" Tho words drummed through his brain with awful, maddening persistency. Then came the thought : " There is nothing worth finding/nothing.' Yet'others may come and lose their lives in the quest. . There was ice everywhere, as far as 1 tho eye, could reach; ice and the red sun, pursuing his twenty-four, hour" course round the horizon. ', , * , Hartnell stared at the scene without) being able to note a single detail,, though his brain took in the terror of the whole. He was a man of fifty, to whom life had brought a very full share of fame, honour, and wealth vet', as ho gazed over that. icefield, ho felt he would give everything, even the honour, for rest and warmth. r _ ..-> - Ho had undertaken the expedition, not because he cared about. discovering the pole, but because he wished his invention to become a part of history. Men were apt to call him vain of his own ability: but the accusation raised neither a smilo nor a 'lie'himself cared nothing; whether John Hartnell were forgotten, so long as. the first reallv practicable airship-were remembered. He knew that succeeding years must see other and better craft ;■;. but his would always bo the pioneer, tho -model on :which later ones must be based, and, as such, he wanted it to live in men's memories. It was for this reason he had undertaken the journey to tho I,o \Vit.h Allingham it was different. He had vet to make both a name and a fortune moreover, ho was an enthusiast. - Ever since

ho could remember the polo had been calling him. Night after night he had dreamed of it.: As ho had paced the bridge of his vessel was a sailor by profession his '■. thoughts* had been of ways and means to cross the great, frozen seas; and now., at the ago thirty-three, ho had succeeded. Tho 'mere-thought of this served' to keep him warm and wakeful, and-he.glanced half pityingly at tho fur-wrapped figure huddled up beside that wonderful little engine. ' During? the next few hours Allingliam. made several,,;attempts to force food and stimulant upon his companion, but without much success. Too tired," Hartnoll whinnered, when the soup was offered him, but no took some brandy,. which seemed to pull him together for the moment. ', ;We've" lost more, gas," ho said ; " that's what's making her unsteady. Throw overboard all those tinned foods. 'Fraid I can't help you, no power left in my. logs." _ ' AUirigham obeyed; then, " The wind is carrying us twenty-five to thirty miles an hour, and we must bo doing ten beyond that, so wo should be nearly halfway back. Do you think 5 the gas will last out? Lot mo wrap you up so that you con get a sleep.", -'.- Hartnoll did not. answer the question, and refused to accept tho suggestion.•"" Daren't go to sleep'■'..'.'■'..'■ must watch the _ machinery . . .you don't understand it as I do."-, ' ; ■■'■.'

. Allingham went back to tho wheel with a deadly weight of anxiety on his mind. The elation, the overwhelming sense of triumph, had lost its force, and now . there- was only tho fear left, the sickening dread tha% after all, no one would know; that, in the end, someone elso would bo hailed tho discoverer of the 1 pole. . ' •. * ■ <• ,' i Ho had spoken of being nearly halfway back, and so far as ho could judge tho statement was correct; but how long would tho airship float? There was ho more ballast, practically.;ho more gear which could be jettisoned, and, once the vessel failed, death was an ■ absolute certainty. .-, . - _, ( He could perish out there on tho icefield. Somehow or other ho would fight his way through with the news. His point of view was changing rapidly;' the pride of success was r fading, and in its place was coining a ficrco desire to prevent, others from suffering as Hartnell was suffering now, as he himself would suffer if ho gave way. - Four hours later he was still at the wheel behind the little wind screen, striving to conquer himself, to think solely of the great reception which : awaited them on -their return to civilisation, the honours which would be showered on them,, the permanent place they would occupy among the nation's famous men. ; Yet, somehow, tho horror and tho fear, the gripping terror of tho icefield seemed to grow on him stcadilv; - - " Hartnell was still,. so still that once Ailingham thought he Was dead ; but at that same moment one of the cylinders of the engine began to knock slightly, and, to his intense relief,', he • saw the inventor stretch out a hand .and adjust a lubricator. Still, the mechanical, 'almost ' unconscious, way in which it was done sent a shiver through him. ; It was as though the human part of tho man wore dead, and. only the engineer in him survived. '■-.

Since tho last gear had been thrown overboard -tho'airship had > been; travelling steadily,'- as though the loss of gas had > ceased, and Allingham almost.persuaded himself that this was so, .when suddenly>she began to show fresh signs of trouble. Hartnell looked round and gave _a stiff nod in .tho direction of the remaining stores, and, though ho did not speak, his eyes conveyed tho order. C Everything j must go save. a few pounds of, emergency rations; which as Allingham know well, would but serve to prolong tho agony if ; they came down on . tho ice. , . ._ . This timo the effect of the lightening was but- slight,-as Allingham.realised, when ho took" the -wheel, again. "How'long-, would-tho airship, be under control— long before she sank on that wilderness of ice? ■ .

" Allingham;'- - Hartnell's voice startled him. ';■■", Allingham, old 1 man, I'm done—no chance now. If you pull - through, tell them how she behaved, - andand '■■. don't 'say about the':loss of : gas. Good-bye.'V s., . . "Rot!',' Allingham; tried to smile,- and lied bravely. ""■'•: We .-' shall both got through. We're- only two hoursV from our base. I'll .you some brandy,'' and he turned to the locker. ' ' .;."- ■'■:"■'■'': ' •

Instantly Hartnell dragged himself to-tho rail of the little; platform,- raised the hooked bar, and before Allingham ; even know . ho had moved he was hurtling .down■■; to the ice below. .Freed of his weight—ho was a big,; heavy man— airship - roso. rapidly. Allingham "gave';?a great ,sob. of : horror.' " Good heavens ! .-!; He did 'it ■ for me, to ; save me,'' but he dare • not • give . more than one glanco ; at the little dark speck on the Jco astern. . , -

Ho was ! alone, utterly alone, in that ghastly: frozen waste, and,'- although ha\ knew' that the ; other man's self-sacrifice i had given him ;a. fresh chance of ! life, ■! the s horror of the present loneliness seemed worse than death together could,have been: .'He.almost envied Hartnell, both for his release from the agony of ; danger and cold and -for \ the supremo heroism which had made him givo his life or; another. .',;: .' ;.."-' .-■'; .',;.''"'

: For a few minutes he was completely unnerved. Then, with a groat effort, he pulled hiself together. .There was work for him to do. !;■'; " I must tell: them. I must stopi others from ! going"—once - more the , thought hammered through his brain to the exclusion of all else. : ..- ..'-•'• - , " .' •

.'."• No other man shall ;■ go. to die as Hartnell died." ' ' -

There were figures moving over tho snow, men and dogs, .arid there were snow hots a short distance; off. Allingham could scarcely, credit his own j good; fortune. For thb'Jast hour he had bavely been able to keep the. car of the airship off the ice, and it had seemed as if ; the- last vestige of hope was gone; but now he was saved, : Ho could carry his message: back ; to. civilisation, : and; prevent anyone else from -starting on that ghastlv quest of tho pole. i _ A quarter ( of an hour, later he had landed and was stumbling across .the snow toward the Eskimos,; who had collected together .'in, a little group. He never; oven glanced bock at tho airship, .whose:rapidly-emptying envelope'was; swaying drunkenlv in the wind. Ho was unspeakably: tired, that-was all ho knew, that and the fact that he was within' reach of'safety.'; that his warning would ,go out to the world."; Hartnell would not have died in vain. ' "

He could barely walk through sheer weariness, and! twice -he came down !on to his hands as his feet refused i their duty. Why didn't those miserable Eskimos come forward and help him?. Ho would pay them more than Eskimos ; had . ever been paid :before— pay them in proportion to tho. importance of his. tidings. , . „ \i Then, in flash, he understood, as he saw them'poising, their sealing! weapons. This strange creature who had descended "from the skies was horrible, .uncanny;, pregnant with the possibilities of danger arid misfortune,: and they;. meant to kill him while ho, was obviously at their mercy. ; ■ <■■ ■ ; Allingham was a bravo man, as bravo as lany.tho. Almighty,ever, made, and ho was: a white man right through; 'but" ho .'remembored.what he had to tell, and he wont down on his knees to those j blubber-eating savages. ;." "I will- pay you 'anything you! ask, anything, '.he shouted frenziedly. " I just get homo and warn them—l must warn them."

Tho first harpoon took him square in the throat.

,- Nearly a year later a search, party found the remains of the airship.: In reporting the discovery, one of the great dailies voiced the general opinion of experts when it said:: ;'.' There is little doubt that the ' ill-fated explorers: mot with somo serious mishap early in their journey, and were forced to descend to the frozen; plain,■.■ .where they perished from exposure and starvation,

"... Wo always felt;that John Hart-: nell was too confident of the possibilities of. his airship. .'...'■ .'.' . If they had succeeded in reaching the North Polo thev would undoubtedly- have continued straight, on, and have, alighted somewhere.in .Siberia. .'. ;"'.'.. .... understand that no fewer than three expeditions will start in quest of the pole this year."