44 THE FUR COUNTRY, the end solve the great scientific problem. I should, I think, at last reach the hitherto inaccessible goal ! " " I think you are right, Lieutenant," said Mrs Barnett ; " and if ever you try the experiment, I should not be afraid to join you, and would gladly go to set up the Union Jack at the North Pole. But that is not our present object." " Not our immediate object, madam," replied Hobson ; " but when once the projects of the Company are realised, when the new fort has been erected on the confines of the American continent, it may become the natural starting-point of all ex[)editions to the north. Besides, should the fur-yielding animals, too zealously hunted, take refuge at the Pole, we should have to follow them." "Unless costly furs should go out of fashion," replied Mrs Barnett. " madam," cried the Lieutenant, " there will always be some pretty woman whose wish for a sable mulf or an ermine tippet must be gratified ! " " I am afraid so," said Mrs Barnett, laughing ; "and probably the first discoverer of the Pole will have been led tliither in pursuit of a sable or a silver fox." " That is my firm conviction," replied Hobson. " Such is human nature, and greed of gain will always carry a man further than zeal for science."
- What ! do you utter such sentiments ? " exclaimed Mrs Barnett.
" Well, madam, what am I but an employe of the Hudson's Bay Company % and does the Company risk its capital and agents with any other hope than an increase of profits % " " Lieutenant Hobson," said Mrs Barnett, *' I think I know you well enough to assert that on occasion you would be ready to devote body and soul to science. If a purely geographical question called you to the Pole, I feel sure you would not hesitate to go. But,' she added, with a smile, "the solution of this great problem is still far distant. We have but just reached the verge of the Arctic Circle, but I hope we may cross it without any very great difficulty." "That I fear is doubtful," said the Lieutenant, who had been attentively examining the sky during their conversation. "The weather has looked threatening for the last few days. Look at the uniformly grey hue of the heavens. That mist will presently resolve itself into snow ; and if the wind should rise ever so little, we shall
