three men set to work energetically. Bell took
the necessary precautions to insure the solidity of the building, and
soon a satisfactory retreat arose at the bottom of the ravine where
they had last halted.

[Illustration]

It was doubtless after a hard struggle that Hatteras had decided to
discontinue his journey. So much effort and fatigue thrown away! A
useless trip, entailing the death of one of his men! To return without
a scrap of coal: what would the crew say? What might it not do under
the lead of Shandon? But Hatteras could not continue the struggle any
longer.

He gave all his attention to their preparations for returning; the
sledge was repaired; its load, too, had become much lighter, and only
weighed two hundred pounds. They mended their worn-out, torn clothes,
all soaked through and through by the snow; new moccasins and
snow-shoes replaced those which were no longer serviceable. This kept
them busy the whole of the 29th and the morning of the 30th; then they
all sought what rest they could get, and prepared for what was before
them.

During the thirty-six hours spent in or near the snow-house, the
doctor had been noticing Duke, whose singular behavior did not seem to
him to be natural; the dog kept going in circles which seemed to have
a common centre; there was a sort of elevation in the soil, produced
by accumulated layers of ice; Duke, as he ran around this place, kept
barking gently and wagging his tail impatiently, looking at his master
as if asking something.

The doctor, after reflecting a moment, ascribed this uneasiness to the
presence of Simpson's corpse, which his companions had not yet had
time to bury. Hence he resolved to proceed to this sad ceremony on
that very day; the next morning they were to start. Bell and the
doctor, picks in hand, went to the bottom of the ravine; the elevation
which Duke had noticed offered a suitable place for the grave, which
would have to be dug deep to escape the bears.

The doctor and Bell began by removing the soft snow, then they
attacked the solid ice; at the third blow of his pick the doctor
struck against some hard body; he picked up the pieces and found them
the fragments of a glass bottle. Bell brought to light a stiffened
bag, in which were a few crumbs of fresh biscuit.

"What's this?" said the doctor.

"What can it be?" asked Bell, stopping his work.

The doctor called to Hatteras, who came at once.

Duke barked violently, and with his