On that day they could not set foot outside; fortunately their quarters were comfortable, or at least seemed so to the exhausted travellers. The little stove worked well, except occasionally when violent gusts drove the smoke into the room; with its heat they could make coffee and tea, which are both so serviceable beverages when the temperature is low.
The castaways, for they deserve the name, found themselves more comfortable than they had been for a long time; hence they only thought of the present, of the agreeable warmth, of the brief rest, forgetting, or even indifferent to the future, which threatened with speedy death.
The American suffered less, and gradually returned to life; he opened his eyes, but he did not say anything; his lips bore traces of the scurvy, and could not utter a sound; he could hear, and was told where he was and how he got there. He moved his head as a sign of grat.i.tude; he saw that he had been saved from burial beneath the snow; the doctor forbore telling him how very short a time his death had been delayed, for, in a fortnight or three weeks at the most, their supply of food would be exhausted.
Towards midday Hatteras arose and went up to the doctor, Johnson, and Bell.
"My friends," he said to them, "we are going to take a final resolution as to the course we must follow. In the first place, I must ask Johnson to tell me under what circ.u.mstances this act of treachery came to pa.s.s."
"Why should we know?" said the doctor; "the fact is certain, we need give it no more thought."
"I am thinking of it, all the same," answered Hatteras. "But after I"ve heard what Johnson has to say, I shall not think of it again."
[Ill.u.s.tration: Johnson"s Story.]
"This is the way it happened," went on the boatswain; "I did all I could to prevent the crime--"
"I am sure of that, Johnson, and I will add that the leaders had been plotting it for some time."
"So I thought," said the doctor.
"And I too," continued Johnson; "for very soon after your departure, Captain, on the very next day, Shandon, who was angry with you and was egged on by the others, took command of the ship; I tried to resist, but in vain. After that, every one acted as he saw fit; Shandon did not try to control them; he wanted to let the crew see that the time of suffering and privation had gone by. Hence there was no economy; a huge fire was lighted in the stove; they began to burn the brig. The men had the provisions given them freely, and the spirits too, and you can easily imagine the abuse they made of them after their long abstinence. Things went on in this way from the 7th to the 15th of January."
"So," said Hatteras, in a grave voice, "it was Shandon who incited the men to revolt?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Say nothing more about him. Go on, Johnson."
"It was towards January 24th or 25th, that the plan of leaving the ship was formed. They determined to reach the western coast of Baffin"s Bay; from there, in the launch, they could meet whalers, or, perhaps, the settlements on the eastern side. Their supplies were abundant; the sick grew better with the hope of reaching home. So they made their plans for leaving; they built a sledge for the transport of their food, fuel, and the launch; the men were to drag it themselves.
This occupied them until February 15th. I kept anxiously awaiting your return, Captain, and yet I feared having you present; you would have had no influence over the crew, who would rather have killed you than have remained on board. They were wild with the hope of escape. I took all my companions aside and spoke to them, I besought them to stay; I pointed out all the dangers of such a journey, as well as the cowardliness of abandoning you. I could get nothing, even from the best. They chose February 22d for leaving. Shandon was impatient. They heaped upon the sledge all the food and liquor it could hold; they took a great deal of wood; the whole larboard side had been cut away to the water-line. The last day they pa.s.sed carousing; they ravaged and stole everything, and it was during this drunkenness that Pen and two or three others set fire to the ship. I resisted, and struggled against them; they threw me down and struck me; at last, these villains, with Shandon at their head, fled to the east, and disappeared from my sight. I remained alone; what could I do against this fire which was seizing the whole ship? The water-hole was frozen over; I hadn"t a drop of water. For two days the _Forward_ was wrapped in flames, and you know the rest."
Having finished this account, a long silence prevailed in this ice-house; the gloomy tale of the burning of the ship, the loss of their precious brig, appeared so vividly before the minds of the castaways; they found themselves before an impossibility, and that was a return to England. They did not dare to look at one another, for fear of seeing on each other"s faces blank despair. There was nothing to be heard save the hasty breathing of the American.
At last Hatteras spoke.
"Johnson," said he, "I thank you; you have done all you could to save my ship. But you could not do anything alone. Again I thank you, and now don"t let us speak again of this misfortune. Let us unite our efforts for the common safety. There are four of us here, four friends, and the life of one is of no more worth than the life of another. Let each one give his opinion on what should be done."
"Ask us, Hatteras," answered the doctor; "we are all devoted to you, our answers shall be sincere. And, in the first place, have you any plan?"
"I can"t have any alone," said Hatteras, sadly. "My opinion might seem interested; I want to hear your opinion first."
"Captain," said Johnson, "before speaking on such weighty matters, I have an important question to ask you."
"What is it?"
"You ascertained our position yesterday; well, has the ice-field drifted any more, or are we in just the same place?"
"It has not stirred," answered Hatteras. "The lat.i.tude before we left was 80 15", and longitude 97 35"."
"And," said Johnson, "how far are we from the nearest sea to the west?"
"About six hundred miles," answered Hatteras.
"And this water is--"
"Smith"s Sound."
"The same which we could not cross last April?"
"The same."
"Well, Captain, now we know where we are, and we can make up our minds accordingly."
"Speak, then," said Hatteras, letting his head sink into his hands.
In that way he could hear his friends without looking at them.
"Well, Bell," said the doctor, "what do you think is the best course to follow?"
"It isn"t necessary to reflect a long time," answered the carpenter; "we ought to return, without wasting a day or an hour, either to the south or the west, and reach the nearest coast, even if it took us two months!"
"We have supplies for only three weeks," answered Hatteras, without raising his head.
"Well," continued Johnson, "we must make that distance in three weeks, since it"s our only chance of safety; if we have to crawl on our knees at the end, we must leave, and arrive in twenty-five days."
"This part of the northern continent is not known," answered Hatteras.
"We may meet obstacles, such as mountains and glaciers, which will completely bar our progress."
"I don"t consider that," answered the doctor, "a sufficient reason for not attempting the journey; evidently, we shall suffer a great deal; we ought to reduce our daily supply to the minimum, unless luck in hunting--"
"There"s only half a pound of powder left," answered Hatteras.
"Come, Hatteras," resumed the doctor, "I know the weight of all your objections, and I don"t nourish any vain hopes. But I think I can read your thoughts; have you any practicable plan?"
"No," answered the captain, after a few moments" hesitation.
"You do not doubt our courage," continued the doctor; "we are willing to follow you to the last, you know very well; but should we not now abandon all hope of reaching the Pole? Mutiny has overthrown your plans; you fought successfully against natural obstacles, but not against the weakness and perfidy of men; you have done all that was humanly possible, and I am sure you would have succeeded; but, in the present condition of affairs, are you not compelled to give up your project, and in order to take it up again, should you not try to reach England without delay?"
"Well, Captain?" asked Johnson, when Hatteras had remained a long time silent.
At last the captain raised his head, and said in a constrained tone,--
"Do you think you are sure of reaching the sh.o.r.e of the sound, tired as you are, and almost without food?"
"No," answered the doctor; "but it"s sure the sh.o.r.e won"t come to us; we must go to it. Perhaps we shall find to the south tribes of Esquimaux who may aid us."
"Besides," added Johnson, "may we not find in the sound some ship that has been forced to winter there."