he was in a state of complete insensibility. The doctor took great
care of him, although he wanted attention himself; he was getting
ill with fatigue. Hatteras thought of nothing but his ship. What state
should he find it in?

On the 24th of February he stopped all of a sudden. A red light appeared
about 300 paces in front, and a column of black smoke went up to the
sky.

"Look at that smoke! my ship is burning," said he with a beating heart.

"We are three miles off yet," said Bell; "it can't be the _Forward_."

"Yes it is," said the doctor; "the mirage makes it seem nearer."

The three men, leaving the sledge to the care of Dick, ran on, and
in an hour's time were in sight of the ship. She was burning in the
midst of the ice, which melted around her. A hundred steps farther
a man met them, wringing his hands before the _Forward_ in flames.
It was Johnson. Hatteras ran to him.

"My ship! My ship!" cried he.

"Is that you, captain? Oh, don't come any nearer," said Johnson.

"What is it?" said Hatteras.

"The wretches left forty-eight hours ago, after setting fire to the
ship."

"Curse them!" cried Hatteras.

A loud explosion was then heard; the ground trembled; the icebergs
fell upon the ice-field; a column of smoke went up into the clouds,
and the _Forward_ blew up. The doctor and Bell reached Hatteras, who
out of the depths of despair cried:

"The cowards have fled! The strong will succeed! Johnson and Bell,
you are courageous. Doctor, you have science. I have faith. To the
North Pole! To the North Pole!"

His companions heard these energetic words, and they did them good;
but it was a terrible situation for these four men, alone, under the
80th degree of latitude, in the midst of the Polar Regions!

END OF PART I OF THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HATTERAS

End of Project Gutenberg's The English at the North Pole, by Jules Verne

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