all on board, Hatteras alone
returned to England. He was picked up by a Danish whaler after he had
walked more than two hundred miles across the ice.

The excitement produced by the return of this man alone was intense;
who, after this, would accompany Hatteras in his bold attempts? Still
he did not abandon the hope of trying again. His father, the brewer,
died, and he came into possession of an enormous fortune.

Meanwhile something had happened which cut John Hatteras to the heart.

A brig, the _Advance_, carrying seventeen men, equipped by Mr.
Grinnell, a merchant, commanded by Dr. Kane, and sent out in search of
Franklin, went as far north, through Baffin's Bay and Smith's Sound,
as latitude 82 degrees, nearer to the Pole than any of his
predecessors had gone.

Now this was an American ship. Grinnell was an American, Kane was an
American!

It is easy to understand how the customary disdain of the Englishman
for the Yankee turned to hatred in the heart of Hatteras; he made up
his mind, at any price, to beat his bold rival, and to reach the Pole
itself.

For two years he lived at Liverpool incognito. He was taken for a
sailor. He saw in Richard Shandon the man he wanted; he presented his
plans by an anonymous letter to him and to Dr. Clawbonny. The
_Forward_ was built and equipped. Hatteras kept his name a secret;
otherwise no one would have gone with him. He resolved only to take
command of the brig at some critical juncture, and when his crew had
gone too far to be able to retreat; he kept in reserve, as we have
seen, the power of making generous offers to the men, so that they
would follow him to the end of the world.

In fact, it was to the end of the world that he wanted to go.

Now matters looked very serious, and John Hatteras made himself known.

His dog, the faithful Duke, the companion of his expeditions, was the
first to recognize him, and fortunately for the bold, and
unfortunately for the timid, it was firmly established that the
captain of the _Forward_ was John Hatteras.

[Illustration: "John Hatteras."]

CHAPTER XIII.
THE CAPTAIN'S PLANS.

The appearance of this famous person was variously received by the
different members of the crew: some allied themselves strongly with
him, moved both by boldness and by avarice; others took renewed
interest in the expedition, but they reserved to themselves the right
of protesting later; besides, at that time, it was hard to make any
resista