The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras Part 70

"When we think of returning."

"Returning!" cried Hatteras, "and who's thinking of that?"

"No one," answered Altamont; "but we shall stop somewhere, I suppose."

"And where?" asked Hatteras.

For the first time the question was fairly put to Altamont. The doctor would have given one of his arms to have put a stop to the discussion.

Since Altamont made no answer, the captain repeated his question.

"And where?"

"Where we are going," answered the American, quietly.

"And who knows where that is?" said the peace-loving doctor.

"I say, then," Altamont went on, "that if we want to make use of the polar basin in returning, we can try to gain Kane's sea; it will lead us more directly to Baffin's Bay."

"So that is your idea?" asked the captain, ironically.

"Yes, that is my idea, as it is that if these seas ever become practicable, they will be reached by the straightest way. O, that was a great discovery of Captain Kane's!"

"Indeed!" said Hatteras, biting his lips till they bled.

"Yes," said the doctor, "that cannot be denied; every one should have the praise he deserves."

"Without considering," went on the obstinate American, "that no one had ever before gone so far to the north."

"I like to think," said Hatteras, "that now the English have got ahead of him."

"And the Americans!" said Altamont.

"Americans!" repeated Hatteras.

"What am I, then?" asked Altamont, proudly.

"You are," answered Hatteras, who could hardly control his voice,--"you are a man who presumes to accord equal glory to science and to chance! Your American captain went far to the north, but as chance alone--"

"Chance!" shouted Altamont; "do you dare to say that this great discovery is not due to Kane's energy and knowledge?"

"I say," answered Hatteras, "that Kane's name is not fit to be p.r.o.nounced in a country made famous by Parry, Franklin, Ross, Belcher, and Penny in these seas which opened the Northwest Pa.s.sage to MacClure--"

"MacClure!" interrupted the American; "you mention that man, and yet you complain of the work of chance? Wasn't it chance alone that favored him?"

"No," answered Hatteras, warmly,--"no! It was his courage, his perseverance in spending four winters in the ice--"

"I should think so!" retorted the American; "he got caught in the ice and couldn't get out, and he had to abandon the _Investigator_ at last to go back to England."

"My friends--" said the doctor.

"Besides," Altamont went on, "let us consider the result. You speak of the Northwest Pa.s.sage; well, it has yet to be discovered!"

Hatteras started at these words; no more vexatious question could have arisen between two rival nationalities. The doctor again tried to intervene.

"You are mistaken, Altamont," he said.

"No, I persist in my opinions," he said obstinately; "the Northwest Pa.s.sage is yet to be found, to be sailed through, if you like that any better! MacClure never penetrated it, and to this day no ship that has sailed from Behring Strait has reached Baffin's Bay!"

That was true, speaking exactly. What answer could be made?

Nevertheless, Hatteras rose to his feet and said,--

"I shall not permit the good name of an English captain to be attacked any further in my presence."

"You will not permit it?" answered the American, who also rose to his feet; "but these are the facts, and it is beyond your power to destroy them."

"Sir!" said Hatteras, pale with anger.

"My friends," said the doctor, "don't get excited! We are discussing a scientific subject."

Clawbonny looked with horror at a scientific discussion into which the hate of an American and an Englishman could enter.

"I am going to give you the facts," began Hatteras, threateningly.

"But I'm speaking now!" retorted the American.

Johnson and Bell became very uneasy.

"Gentlemen," said the doctor, severely, "let me say a word! I insist upon it, I know the facts as well, better than you do, and I can speak of them impartially."

"Yes, yes," said Bell and Johnson, who were distressed at the turn the discussion had taken, and who formed a majority favorable to the doctor.

"Go on, Doctor," said Johnson, "these gentlemen will listen, and you cannot fail to give us some information."

"Go on, Doctor," said the American.

Hatteras resumed his place with a sign of acquiescence, and folded his arms.

"I will tell the simple truth about the facts," said the doctor, "and you must correct me if I omit or alter any detail."

"We know you, Doctor," said Bell, "and you can speak without fear of interruption."

"Here is the chart of the Polar Seas," resumed the doctor, who had brought it to the table; "it will be easy to trace MacClure's course, and you will be able to make up your minds for yourselves."

Thereupon he unrolled one of the excellent maps published by order of the Admiralty, containing the latest discoveries in arctic regions; then he went on:--

"You know, in 1848, two ships, the _Herald_, Captain Kellet, and the _Plover_, Commander Moore, were sent to Behring Strait in search of traces of Franklin; their search was vain; in 1850 they were joined by MacClure, who commanded the _Investigator_, a ship in which he had sailed, in 1849, under James Ross's orders. He was followed by Captain Collinson, his chief, who sailed in the _Enterprise_; but he arrived before him. At Behring Strait he declared he would wait no longer, and that he would go alone, on his own responsibility, and--you hear me, Altamont--that he would find either Franklin or the pa.s.sage."

Altamont showed neither approbation nor the contrary.