"The bear that is following us," replied Johnson.
"For the last two days! You have seen him?"
"True enough," said the Doctor; "we have not a single bail to send after him!"
The Doctor was silent for a minute, as if thinking. Then he said--
"Are you quite certain the animal is following us?"
"Yes, Mr. Clawbonny, he is reckoning on a good feed of human flesh!"
"Johnson!" exclaimed the Doctor, grieved at the despairing mood of his companion.
"He is sure enough of his meal!" continued the poor fellow, whose brain had begun to give way. "He must be hungry, and I dont see why we should keep him waiting."
"No, Mr Clowbonny, sine we must die, why prolong the sufferings of the poor beast? He is famished like ourselves. There are no seals for him to eat, and Heaven sends hiim men! So much the better for him, thats all!"
Johnson was fast going mad. He wanted to get up and leave the hut, and the doctor had great difficulty in preventing him. That he succeeded at all, was not through strength, but by saying in a tone of absolute conviction, "Johnson, I shall kill that bear to-morrow!"
"To-morrow!" said Johnson, as if waking up from some bad dream.
So saying, he took the thermometer, which stood at 50° above zero, and went outside and laid it on a block of ice. Then he came in again, and said, "Tomorrow! Go to sleep, and wait till the sun rises."
With the first streak of dawn next day, the Doctor and Johnson rushed out to look at the thermometer. All the mercury had frozen into a compact cylindrical mass. The Doctor broke the tube and took it out. Here was a hard piece of metal ready for use.
"It is wonderful, Mr. Clawbonny; you ought to be a proud man."
"Not at all, my friend, I am only gifted with a good memory, and I have read a great deal."
"Why, I just happened to recollect a fact related by Captain Ross in his voyages. He states that they pierced a plank, an inch thick, with a bullet made of mercury. Oil would even have suited my purpose, for, he adds, that a ball of frozen almond oil splits through a post without breaking in pieces."
"But it is a fact, Johnson. Well, come now, this bit of metal may save our lives. We'll leave it exposed to the air a little while, and go and have a look for the bear."