The story opens with Ward Bennett, an explorer of extraordinary will, and his men making an attempt to reach the North Pole, enduring brutal hardships. Many of the men die slow, painful deaths, and they all would have had a boat not stumbled across them. However, when they arrive back home, Bennett and his surviving men are greeted with a heroes welcome.
At this point the attention of the novel shifts to Lloyd Searight, a young, attractive girl, who works as a nurse, despite being independently wealthy. The reader discovers that Lloyd and Bennett have mutual feelings for each other, although neither one has ever expressed these feelings.