The next day, Bell, Altamont and the doctor went to the "Porpoise"; wood wasn't lacking; the old three-masted ship, unclogged by the blows of the ice floes, could supply the main parts of a new one. The carpenter set to work at once; it required a boat capable of facing the sea and at the same time light enough to be transported on a sledge.
During the last days of May, the temperature rose; the thermometer rose again to the degree of freezing; spring returned this time, and the shipwrecked were able to take off their winter clothes. The rains were frequent; the snow soon began to take advantage of the slightest bumps in the ground to turn into water and waterfalls.
Hatteras couldn't control his joy when he saw the ice field show the first signs of thawing. The open sea meant freedom to him.
He hoped to find out sooner or later whether his predecessors had been wrong about this great polar basin problem. The whole success of his expedition depended on it.
One evening, after a rather warm day, during which the signs of the thaw were seen more and more, brought up the subject so interesting on the high seas.
He resumed all the arguments known to him, and found, as always, in the person of the doctor a warm supporter of his doctrine. Besides, his conclusions were not without truth.
Hatteras: It's evident that if the ocean is getting rid of its ice in front of Victoria Gulf, its meridional part will be, likewise, free to the New Cornouailles and towards the Queen's Channel. That's how Penny and Belcher saw it and I think they saw it good.
Clawbonny: That's how I think too, Hatteras, and nothing can doubt those illustrious sailors' good faith; in vain it was tried explaining their discovery through a mirage; but they were too firm in their affirmations to not be certain of this fact.
Altamont: I always believed that; the polar basin not only stretches towards the west, but in the east too.
Hatteras: We can indeed presume that.
Altamont: We have to presume, because this open sea, of which captains Penny and Belcher saw it near the coasts of the land Grinnel, Kane's lieutenant Morton saw it too, on the strait that bears Kane's name!
Hatteras: We aren't in the Kane Sea and, in consequence, we can't verify this fact!
Altamont: It's at least possible.
Clawbonny: Certainly. What Altamont said has to be true; with the exception of the more special positions of the surrounding terrains, the same effects take place at the same latitudes. So, I believe both the existence of the open sea in the east and the one in the west.
Hatteras: In any case, it doesn't really matter.
Altamont: I don't agree with you, Hatteras, it could be very important for us!
Hatteras: And when exactly?
Altamont: When we'll think of returning!
Hatteras: To return? But who is thinking of that?
Altamont: No one, but, finally, I'm thinking that we'll stop somewhere.
Hatteras: And where exactly?
For the first time, this question was addressed directly to the American. The doctor would have given a hand just to stop this discussion.
Altamont didn't answer, and the captain asked him again.
Hatteras: And where exactly?
Altamont: There where we'll go!
Clawbonny: And who knows that?
YOU ARE READING
Jules Verne's Captain Hatteras - Part 2: Ice Desert
General FictionAbandoned in a field of ice, Hatteras and his remaining men must work together to survive long enough to see their dear country again!
