the Midnight Sun
`` No , indeed , '' said Jesse , stoutly . `` As I said , I 'm ready to start . '' And he again puffed out his chest with much show of bravery , although , to be sure , the wild country in which he now found himself rather worked on his imagination . It had required all the persuasion of Uncle Dick , expert railway engineer in wilderness countries , to persuade the parents of these three boys to allow them to accompany him on this , his own first exploration into the extreme North , under the Midnight Sun itself . He had promised them -- and something of a promise it was , too -- to bring the young travelers back safely to their home in Valdez , on the Pacific Ocean , in three months from the time they left the head of the railroad at Athabasca Landing . `` Well , now , '' said John , folding up his map and putting it back in his pocket , `` here comes Uncle Dick at last . I only hope that we wo n't have to wait long , for it seems to me we 'll have to hustle if we get through on time -- over five thousand miles it will be , and in less than ninety days !