The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras Part 51

The doctor, gun in hand, walked off for a mile or two, braving the cold and solitude; before going he measured the supply carefully; only four charges of powder were left, and three b.a.l.l.s; that was a small supply when one remembers that a strong animal like the polar bear often falls only after receiving ten or twelve shots. Hence the doctor did not go in search of so fierce game; a few hares or two or three foxes would have satisfied him and given him plenty of provisions. But during that day, if he saw one, or could not approach one, or if he were deceived by refraction, he would lose his shot; and this day, as it was, cost him a charge of powder and a ball. His companions, who trembled with hope at the report of his gun, saw him returning with downcast looks; they did not say anything; that evening they went to sleep as usual, after putting aside two quarter-rations reserved for the two following days. The next day their journey seemed more laborious; they hardly walked, they rather dragged along; the dogs had eaten even the entrails of the seal, and they were beginning to gnaw their harness.

A few foxes pa.s.sed at some distance from the sledge, and the doctor, having missed another shot as he chased them, did not dare to risk his last ball and his last charge save one of powder.

That evening they halted early, unable to set one foot before the other, and, although their way was lighted by a brilliant aurora, they could not go on. This last meal, eaten Sunday evening under their icy tent, was very melancholy. If Heaven did not come to their aid, they were lost. Hatteras did not speak, Bell did not even think, Johnson reflected in silence, but the doctor did not yet despair.

Johnson thought of setting some traps that night; but since he had no bait, he had very little hope of success, and in the morning he found, as he expected, that, although a great many foxes had left their marks around, yet not one had been caught. He was returning much disappointed, when he saw an enormous bear sniffing the air at about thirty yards from the sledge. The old sailor thought Providence had sent this animal to him to be slain; without awakening his companions he seized the doctor's gun and made his way towards the bear.

Having got quite near he took aim, but just as he was about to pull the trigger he felt his arm trembling; his large fur gloves were in his way; he took them off quickly, and seized his gun with a firmer hand. Suddenly, a cry of pain escaped him; the skin of his fingers, burned by the cold of the gun-barrel, remained clinging to it, while the gun fell to the ground, and went off from the shock, sending the last ball off into s.p.a.ce. At the sound of the report the doctor ran; he understood everything at a glance; he saw the animal trot quickly away; Johnson was in despair, and thought no more of the pain.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"I'm as tender as a baby," he cried, "not to be able to endure that pain! And an old man like me!"

"Come back, Johnson," the doctor said to him, "you'll get frozen; see, your hands are white already; come back, come!"

"I don't deserve your attentions, Doctor," answered the boatswain; "leave me!"

"Come along, you obstinate fellow! Come along! It will soon be too late!"

And the doctor, dragging the old sailor under the tent, made him plunge his hands into a bowl of water, which the heat of the stove had kept liquid, although it was not much above the freezing-point; but Johnson's hands had no sooner touched it than it froze at once.

"You see," said the doctor, "it was time to come back, otherwise I should have had to amputate your hands."

Thanks to his cares, all danger was gone in an hour; but it was no easy task, and constant friction was necessary to recall the circulation into the old sailor's fingers. The doctor urged him to keep his hands away from the stove, the heat of which might produce serious results.

That morning they had to go without breakfast; of the pemmican and the salt meat nothing was left. There was not a crumb of biscuit, and only half a pound of coffee. They had to content themselves with drinking this hot, and then they set out.

"There's nothing more!" said Bell to Johnson, in a despairing accent.

"Let us trust in G.o.d," said the old sailor; "he is able to preserve us!"

"This Captain Hatteras!" continued Bell; "he was able to return from his first expeditions, but he'll never get back from this one, and we shall never see home again!"

"Courage, Bell! I confess that the captain is almost foolhardy, but there is with him a very ingenious man."

"Dr. Clawbonny?" said Bell.

"Yes," answered Johnson.

"What can he do in such circ.u.mstances?" retorted Bell, shrugging his shoulders. "Can he change these pieces of ice into pieces of meat? Is he a G.o.d, who can work by miracles?"

"Who can say?" the boatswain answered his companion's doubts; "I trust in him."

Bell shook his head, and fell into a silent apathy, in which he even ceased to think.

That day they made hardly three miles; at evening they had nothing to eat; the dogs threatened to devour one another; the men suffered extremely from hunger. Not a single animal was to be seen. If there had been one, of what use would it have been? They could not go hunting with a knife. Only Johnson thought he recognized a mile to leeward the large bear, who was following the ill-fated little party.

"It is spying us!" he said to himself; "it sees a certain prey in us!"

But Johnson said no word to his companions; that evening they made their accustomed halt, and their supper consisted only of coffee. They felt their eyes growing haggard, their brain growing confused, and, tortured by hunger, they could not get an hour's sleep; strange and painful dreams took possession of their minds.

At a lat.i.tude in which the body imperiously demands refreshment, these poor men had not eaten solid food for thirty-six hours, when Tuesday morning came. Nevertheless, inspired by superhuman energy, they resumed their journey, pus.h.i.+ng on the sledge which the dogs were unable to draw. At the end of two hours they fell, exhausted. Hatteras wanted to push on. He, still strong, besought his companions to rise, but they were absolutely unable. Then, with Johnson's a.s.sistance, he built a resting-place in an iceberg. It seemed as if they were digging their own graves.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "At the end of two hours they fell, exhausted."]

"I am willing to die of hunger," said Hatteras, "but not of cold."

After much weariness the house was ready, and they all entered it.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

So that day pa.s.sed. In that evening, while his companions lay inert, Johnson had a sort of hallucination; he dreamed of an immense bear.

That word, which he kept repeating, attracted the doctor's attention, so that he shook himself free from his stupor, and asked the old sailor why he kept talking about a bear, and what bear he meant.

"The bear which is following us," answered Johnson.

"The bear which is following us?" repeated the doctor.

"Yes, the last two days."

"The last two days! Have you seen him?"

"Yes, he's a mile to leeward."

"And you didn't tell us, Johnson?"

"What was the use?"

"True," said the doctor; "we have no ball to fire at him."

"Not a slug, a bit of iron, nor a bolt!" said the old sailor.

The doctor was silent, and began to think intently. Soon he said to the boatswain,--

"You are sure the bear is following us?"

"Yes, Doctor, he's lying in wait to eat us. He knows we can't escape him!"

"Johnson!" said the doctor, touched by the despairing accent of his companion.

"His food is sure," continued the poor man, who was beginning to be delirious; "he must be half famished, and I don't see why we need keep him waiting any longer!"

"Be quiet, Johnson!"

"No, Doctor; if we've got to come to it, why should we prolong the animal's sufferings? He's hungry as we are; he has no seal to eat!

Heaven sends him us men; well, so much the better for him!"

Thereupon Johnson went out of his mind; he wanted to leave the snow-house. The doctor had hard work to prevent him, and he only succeeded by saying, as if he meant it,--