The Field of Ice Page 5

  THE LAST CHARGE OF POWDER

  Johnson was obliged to take the dogs inside the hut, for they wouldhave been soon frozen outside in such dry weather. Had it beensnowing they would have been safe enough, for the snow served as acovering, and kept in the natural heat of the animals.

  The old sailor, who made a first-rate dog-driver, tried his beastswith the oily flesh of the seal; and found, to his joyful surprise,that they ate it greedily. The Doctor said he was not astonished atthis, as in North America the horses were chiefly fed on fish; andhe thought that what would satisfy an herbivorous horse might surelycontent an omnivorous dog.

  The whole party were soon buried in deep sleep, for they were fairlyovercome with fatigue. Johnson awoke his companions early nextmorning, and the march was resumed in haste. Their lives dependednow on their speed, for provisions would only hold out three dayslonger.

  The sky was magnificent; the atmosphere extremely clear, and thetemperature very low. The sun rose in the form of a long ellipse,owing to refraction, which made his horizontal diameter appear twicethe length of his vertical.

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  The Doctor, gun in hand, wandered away from the others, braving thesolitude and the cold in the hope of discovering game. He had onlysufficient powder left to load three times, and he had just threeballs. That was little enough should he encounter a bear, for itoften takes ten or twelve shots to have any effect on these enormousanimals.

  But the brave Doctor would have been satisfied with humbler game. Afew hares or foxes would be a welcome addition to their scanty food;but all that day, if even he chanced to see one, either he was toofar away, or he was deceived by refraction, and took a wrong aim. Hecame back to his companions at night with crestfallen looks, havingwasted one ball and one charge of powder.

  Next day the route appeared more difficult, and the weary men couldhardly drag themselves along. The dogs had devoured even theentrails of the seal, and began to gnaw their traces.

  A few foxes passed in the distance, and the Doctor lost another ballin attempting to shoot them.

  They were forced to come to a halt early in the evening, though theroad was illumined by a splendid Aurora Borealis; for they could notput one foot before the other.

  Their last meal, on the Sunday evening, was a very sad one--if noprovidential help came, their doom was sealed.

  Johnson set a few traps before going to sleep, though he had nobaits to put inside them. He was very disappointed to find them allempty in the morning, and was returning gloomily to the hut, when heperceived a bear of huge dimensions. The old sailor took it into hishead that Heaven had sent this beast specially for him to kill; andwithout waking his comrades, he seized the Doctor's gun, and wassoon in pursuit of his prey. On reaching the right distance, he tookaim; but, just as his finger touched the trigger, he felt his armtremble. His thick gloves hampered him, and, flinging them hastilyoff, he took up the gun with a firmer grasp. But what a cry of agonyescaped him! The skin of his fingers stuck to the gun as if it hadbeen

  red-hot, and he was forced to let it drop. The sudden fall made itgo off, and the last ball was discharged in the air.

  The Doctor ran out at the noise of the report, and understood all ata glance. He saw the animal walking quietly off, and poor Johnsonforgetting his sufferings in his despair.

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  "I am a regular milksop!" he exclaimed, "a cry-baby, thatcan't stand the least pain! And at my age, too!"

  "Come, Johnson; go in at once, or you will be frost-bitten. Lookat your hands--they are white already! Come, come this minute."

  "I am not worth troubling about, Mr. Clawbonny," said the oldboatswain. "Never mind me!"

  "But you must come in, you obstinate fellow. Come, now, I tellyou; it will be too late presently."

  At last he succeeded in dragging the poor fellow into the tent,where he made him plunge his hands into a

  bowl of water, which the heat of the stove kept in a liquid state,though still cold. Johnson's hands had hardy touched it before itfroze immediately.

  "You see it was high time you came in; I should have been forcedto amputate soon," said the Doctor.

  Thanks to his endeavours, all danger was over in about an hour, buthe was advised to keep his hands at a good distance from the stovefor some time still.

  That morning they had no breakfast. Pemmican and salt beef were bothdone. Not a crumb of biscuit remained. They were obliged to contentthemselves with half a cup of hot coffee, and start off again.

  They scarcely went three miles before they were compelled to give upfor the day. They had no supper but coffee, and the dogs were soravenous that they were almost devouring each other.

  Johnson fancied he could see the bear following them in thedistance, but he made no remark to his companions. Sleep forsook theunfortunate men, and their eyes grew wild and haggard.

  Tuesday morning came, and it was thirty-four hours since they hadtasted a morsel of food. Yet these brave, stout-hearted mencontinued their march, sustained by their superhuman energy ofpurpose. They pushed the sledge themselves, for the dogs could nolonger draw it.

  At the end of two hours, they sank exhausted. Hatteras urged them tomake a fresh attempt, but his entreaties and supplications werepowerless; they could not do impossibilities.

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  "Well, at any rate," he said, "I won't die of cold if I mustof hunger." He set to work to hew out

  a hut in an iceberg, aided by Johnson, and really they looked likemen digging their own tomb.

  It was hard labour, but at length the task was accomplished. Thelittle house was ready, and the miserable men took up their abode init.

  In the evening, while the others lay motionless, a sort ofhallucination came over Johnson, and he began raving about bears.

  The Doctor roused himself from his torpor, and asked the old manwhat he meant, and what bear he was talking about.

  "The bear that is following us," replied Johnson.

  "A bear following us?"

  "Yes, for the last two days!"

  "For the last two days! You have seen him?"

  "Yes, about a mile to leeward."

  "And you never told me, Johnson!"

  "What was the good!"

  "True enough," said the Doctor; "we have not a single bail tosend after him!"

  "No, not even a bit of iron!"

  The Doctor was silent for a minute, as if thinking. Then he said--

  "Are you quite certain the animal is following us?"

  "Yes, Mr. Clawbonny, he is reckoning on a good feed of humanflesh!"

  "Johnson!" exclaimed the Doctor, grieved at the despairing moodof his companion.

  "He is sure enough of his meal!" continued the

  "You have no ball!"

  "I'll make one."

  "You have no lead!"

  "No, but I have mercury."

  So saying, he took the thermometer, which stood at 50 deg. above zero,and went outside and laid it on a block of ice. Then he came inagain, and said, "Tomorrow! Go to sleep, and wait till the sunrises."

  With the first streak of dawn next day, the Doctor and Johnsonrushed out to look at the thermometer. All the mercury had frozeninto a compact cylindrical mass. The Doctor broke the tube and tookit out. Here was a hard piece of metal ready for use.

  "It is wonderful, Mr. Clawbonny; you ought to be a proud man."

  "Not at all, my friend, I am only gifted with a good memory, and Ihave read a great deal."

  "How did that help you?"

  "Why, I just happened to recollect a fact related by Captain Rossin his voyages. He states that they pierced a plank, an inch thick,with a bullet made of mercury. Oil would even have suited mypurpose, for, he adds, that a ball of frozen almond oil splitsthrough a post without breaking in pieces."

  "It is quite incredible!"

  "But it is a fact, Johnson. Well, come now, this bit of metal maysave our lives. We'll leave it exposed to the air a little while,and go and have a look for the bear."

  Just then H
atteras made his appearance, and the

  Doctor told him his project, and showed him the mercury.

  The captain grasped his hand silently, and the three hunters wentoff in quest of their game.

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  The weather was very clear, and Hatteras, who was a little ahead ofthe others, speedily discovered the bear about three hundred yardsdistant, sitting on his hind quarters sniffing the air, evidentlyscenting the intruders on his domains.

  "There he is!" he exclaimed.

  "Hush!" cried the Doctor.

  But the enormous quadruped, even when he perceived his antagonists,never stirred, and displayed neither fear nor anger. It would not beeasy to get near him, however, and Hatteras said--

  "Friends, this is no idle sport, our very existence is at stake;we must act prudently."

  "Yes," replied the Doctor, "for we have but the one shot todepend upon. We must not miss, for if Away they went, while the oldboatswain slipped behind a hummock, which completely hid him fromthe bear, who continued still in the same place and in the sameposition.

  CHAPTER V.