ontinued the doctor.

"No, we cannot," answered Hatteras, coldly.

"And he will certainly come."

"Yes, he will come, but who will command?"

"You, Captain."

"And if you obey me, will this Yankee refuse to obey?"

"I don't think so," answered Johnson; "but if he is unwilling to obey
your orders--"

"It would have to be settled between him and me."

The three Englishmen looked at Hatteras without a word. The doctor
broke the silence.

"How shall we travel?" he asked.

"By keeping along the coast as much as possible," answered Hatteras.

"But if we find the sea open, as is likely?"

"Well, we shall cross it."

"How? We have no boat."

Hatteras did not answer; he was evidently embarrassed.

"Perhaps," suggested Bell, "we might build a launch out of the timbers
of the _Porpoise_."

"Never!" shouted Hatteras, warmly.

"Never?" exclaimed Johnson.

The doctor shook his head; he understood the captain's unwillingness.

"Never!" the latter answered. "A launch made out of the wood of an
American ship would be an American launch--"

"But, Captain--" interposed Johnson.

The doctor made a sign to the old boatswain to keep silent. A more
suitable time was required for that question. The doctor, although he
understood Hatteras's repugnance, did not sympathize with it, and he
determined to make his friend abandon this hasty decision. Hence he
spoke of something else, of the possibility of going along the coast
to the north, and that unknown point, the North Pole. In a word, he
avoided all dangerous subjects of conversation up to the moment when
it was suddenly ended by the entrance of Altamont. He had nothing new
to report. The day ended in this way, and the night was quiet. The
bears had evidently disappeared.

CHAPTER XII.
THE ICE PRISON.

The next day they determined to arrange the hunt, in which Hatteras,
Altamont, and the carpenter were to take part; no more tracks were to
be seen; the bears had decidedly given up their plan of attack, either
from fear of their unknown enemies, or because there had been no sign
of living beings beneath the mass of snow. During the absence of the
three hunters, the doctor was to push on to Johnson Island to examine
the condition of the ice, and to make some hydrographic
investigations. The cold was sharp, but they supported it well, having
become accustomed to it by this time. The boatswain was to remain at
Doctor's House; in a word, to guard the house.