As the time for the auction drew near the crowd grew larger. Three hours before the sale it was impossible to obtain admission to the auction hall. All the space set apart for the public was so much filled that there was danger that the building would fall in. There was only a small space left empty， surrounded by a railing， which had been reserved for the European delegates. They had just space enough to follow the progress of the sale， and were not even comfortably seated.
They were Eric Baldenak， Boris Karkof Jacques Jansen， Jan Harald， Major Donellan and his secretary， Dean Toodrink. They formed a solid group， standing together like soldiers on a battle-field. And were they not really going to battle for the possession of the North Pole? On the American side apparently nobody was represented. Only the codfish dealer was present and his face had an expression of the most supreme indifference.
He seemed little concerned and appeared to be thinking of his cargo which was to arrive by the next steamer. Where were the capitalists represented by this man， who， perhaps， was going to start millions of dollars rolling? This was such a mystery as to excite public curiosity to the utmost.
No one doubted that Mr. J. T. Maston and Mrs. Evangelina Scorbitt had something to do with the matter， but what could one guess on? Both were there， lost in the crowd， without any special place， surrounded by some members of the Baltimore Gun Club， friends of Mr. Maston. They seemed to be the least interested spectators in the hall. Mr. William S. Forster even did not seem to recognize them.
The auctioneer began by saying that contrary to the general rule it was impossible to show the article about to be sold. He could not pass from hand to hand the North Pole. Neither could they examine it nor look at it with a magnifying glass or touch it with their fingers to see whether the plating was real or only artificial， or whether it was an antique， which it really was， he said. It was as old as stone， it was as old as the world， since it dated back to the time the world was made.
If， however， the North Pole was not on the desk of the Public Appraiser， a large chart， clear in view of all interested persons， indicated with marked lines the parts which were going to be sold at auction. Seventeen degrees below the Polar Circle was a red line， clearly seen on the 84th parallel， which marked the section on the globe put up for sale. It appeared that there was only water in this region covered with ice of considerable thickness. But this was the risk of the purchaser. In any case he would not be disappointed in the nature of his merchandise by any misrepresentation.
At 12 o'clock exactly the public auctioneer entered by a little trap-door cut in the boards of the floor and took his place before the desk. His crier， Flint， had already arrived， and was walking up and down as agitated as a bear in a cage. Both were glad at the prospect， as they thought that the sale would run up to an enormous sum and put a large and acceptable percentage in their pockets. Of course the sale would have to be made under the regular， real American rule， "ready cash."
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