[3] The story opens with Ward Bennett, an explorer of extraordinary will,[4] and his men attempting to reach the North Pole, enduring brutal hardships.

The novel shifts to Lloyd Searight, a young, attractive girl,[4] who works as a nurse despite being independently wealthy.

However, after talking with Bennet's man Alder, who does work around the house, Lloyd realizes that it is Bennett's calling, his duty to America, to lead the first expedition to the North Pole.

[8] As well as Bennett’s brutal struggles in the frozen north, and Lloyd’s job as a nurse taking care of dying people, this same critic describes some of the passages in this book as “wearisome” and “rambling”.

In addition, he or she takes offense at the title of the novel, and says that Bennett is not the image of modern manliness, but that he is little better than an ape, between his appearance and his demeanor.