ou. For more than two years I've seen every one of
them more than a hundred times in Liverpool; so your conjecture,
Doctor, is untenable."

"Well, what do you admit, Shandon?"

"Everything, except that. I admit that the captain or some tool of
his, for all I know, may have taken advantage of the darkness, the
mist, or whatever you please, to slip on board; we are not far from
shore; there are the kayaks of the Esquimaux which could get through
the ice without our seeing them; so some one may have come on board
the ship, left the letter,--the fog was thick enough to make this
possible."

"And to prevent them from seeing the brig," answered the doctor; "if
we didn't see the intruder slip aboard the _Forward_, how could he see
the _Forward_ in the fog?"

"That's true," said Johnson.

"So I return to my explanation," said the doctor; "what do you think
of it, Shandon?"

"Whatever you please," answered Shandon, hotly, "except that the man
is on board."

"Perhaps," added Wall, "there is some man in the crew who is acting
under his instructions."

"Perhaps," said the doctor.

"But who can it be?" asked Shandon. "I've known all my men for a long
time."

"At any rate," resumed Johnson, "if this captain presents himself,
whether as man or devil, we shall receive him; but there's something
else to be drawn from this letter."

"What is that?" asked Shandon.

"It is that we must go not only into Melville Bay, but also into
Smith's Sound."

"You are right," said the doctor.

"Smith's Sound," repeated Shandon, mechanically.

"So it's very plain," continued Johnson, "that the _Forward_ is not
intended to seek the Northwest Passage, since we leave to the left,
the only way towards it, that is to say, Lancaster Sound. This would
seem to promise a difficult journey in unknown seas."

"Yes, Smith's Sound," replied Shandon; "that's the route Kane, the
American, took in 1853, and it was full of dangers. For a long time he
was given up for lost. Well, if we must go, we'll go. But how far? To
the Pole?"

"And why not?" cried the doctor.

The mention of such a foolhardy attempt made the boatswain shrug his
shoulders.

"Well," said James Wall, "to come back to the captain, if he exists. I
don't see that there are any places on the coast of Greenland except
Disco and Upernavik, where he can be waiting for us; in a few days
that question will be settled."

"But," asked the doctor of Shandon, "are you not going to tell