While his hands were busy, his mind was occupied with the conversation of the preceding evening. He thought with regret over the captain's obstinacy, and yet he felt that there was something grand and even heroic in his determination that neither an American nor an American ship should first touch the Pole.
The hunters had been gone about an hour when Johnson suddenly heard the report of a gun.
"Capital!" he exclaimed. "They have found something, and pretty quickly too, for me to hear their guns so distinctly. The atmosphere must be very clear."
"Bravo!" again exclaimed the boatswain; "they must have fallen in luck's way!"
[Illustration: Hatteras could only manage to keep off his pursuers by flinging down one article after another--P.120]
But when three more shots came in rapid succession, the old man turned pale, and a horrible thought crossed his mind, which made him rush out and climb hastily to the top of the cone. He shuddered at the sight which met his eyes. The three hunters, followed by Duk, were tearing home at full speed, followed by the five huge bears! Their six balls had evidently taken no effect, and the terrible monsters were close on their heels. Hatteras, who brought up the rear, could only manage to keep off his pursuers by flinging down one article after another--first his cap, then his hatchet, and, finally, his gun. He knew that the inquisitive bears would stop and examine every object, sniffing all round it, and this gave him a little time, otherwise he could not have escaped, for these animals outstrip the fleetest horse, and one monster was so near that Hatteras had to brandish his knife vigorously, to ward off a tremendous blow of his paw.
At last, though panting and out of breath, the three men reached Johnson safely, and slid down the rock with him into the snow-house. The bears stopped short on the upper plateau, and Hatteras and his companions lost no time in barring and barricading them out.
"Here we are at last!" exclaimed Hatteras; "we can defend ourselves better now. It is five against five."
"Four!" said Johnson in a frightened voice.
"The Doctor!" replied Johnson, pointing to the empty sitting-room.
"But we can't leave him to his fate, in this fashion," said Altamont.