"Altamont!" cried the doctor, of the ship _Porpoise_, of New York."
"An American," said Hatteras.
"I"ll save him," said the doctor, "and then we shall know all about it."
He went back to Altamont whilst Hatteras remained pensive. Thanks to his attentions, the doctor succeeded in recalling the unfortunate man to life, but not to feeling; he neither saw, heard, nor spoke, but he lived. The next day Hatteras said to the doctor:
"We must start at once."
"Yes. The sledge is not loaded; we"ll put the poor fellow on it and take him to the brig."
"Very well; but we must bury these bodies first."
The two unknown sailors were placed under the ruins of the snow-house again, and Simpson"s corpse took Altamont"s place. The three travellers buried their companion, and at seven o"clock in the morning they set out again. Two of the Greenland dogs were dead, and d.i.c.k offered himself in their place. He pulled with energy.
During the next twenty days the travellers experienced the same incidents as before. But as it was in the month of February they did not meet with the same difficulty from the ice. It was horribly cold, but there was not much wind. The sun reappeared for the first time on the 31st of January, and every day he stopped longer above the horizon. Bell and the doctor were almost blinded and half-lame; the carpenter was obliged to walk upon crutches. Altamont still lived, but he was in a state of complete insensibility. The doctor took great care of him, although he wanted attention himself; he was getting ill with fatigue. Hatteras thought of nothing but his ship. What state should he find it in?
On the 24th of February he stopped all of a sudden. A red light appeared about 300 paces in front, and a column of black smoke went up to the sky.
"Look at that smoke! my ship is burning," said he with a beating heart.
"We are three miles off yet," said Bell; "it can"t be the _Forward_."
"Yes it is," said the doctor; "the mirage makes it seem nearer."
The three men, leaving the sledge to the care of d.i.c.k, ran on, and in an hour"s time were in sight of the ship. She was burning in the midst of the ice, which melted around her. A hundred steps farther a man met them, wringing his hands before the _Forward_ in flames.
It was Johnson. Hatteras ran to him.
"My ship! My ship!" cried he.
"Is that you, captain? Oh, don"t come any nearer," said Johnson.
"What is it?" said Hatteras.
"The wretches left forty-eight hours ago, after setting fire to the ship."
"Curse them!" cried Hatteras.
A loud explosion was then heard; the ground trembled; the icebergs fell upon the ice-field; a column of smoke went up into the clouds, and the _Forward_ blew up. The doctor and Bell reached Hatteras, who out of the depths of despair cried:
"The cowards have fled! The strong will succeed! Johnson and Bell, you are courageous. Doctor, you have science. I have faith. To the North Pole! To the North Pole!"
His companions heard these energetic words, and they did them good; but it was a terrible situation for these four men, alone, under the 80th degree of lat.i.tude, in the midst of the Polar Regions!
END OF PART I OF THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HATTERAS