Hidden Country

Gardner Pitt, a thirty‑year‑old office clerk stuck in a dreary New York cubicle, receives a surprising telegram from his old schoolmate, the wealthy adventurer George Chanler. Chanler offers him a job as literary secretary on the Arctic yacht Wanderer, promising a light task, a summer break, and generous pay. Feeling trapped and restless, Pitt quits his low‑pay job and heads west, hoping the frozen north will finally give his life direction.

In Seattle a chatty cab driver sends him to a bustling waterfront saloon where the dock should be, but the bartender never appears. While waiting, Pitt watches a heated argument between a wiry seaman and a rotund captain, their bitter words hinting at past shipwrecks and hidden gold claims. The scene crackles with uneasy humor and danger, foreshadowing an Arctic voyage that will test more than his writing skills.