CHAPTER 32. THE RETURN TO THE FORWARD.

 Toward six o'clock in the morning the wind fell, and, shifting suddenly to the north, it cleared the clouds from the sky; the thermometer stood at -33°. The first rays of the twilight¹ appeared on the horizon above which it would soon peer.

 

Hatteras approached his two dejected companions and said to them, sadly and gently,—

 

"My friends, we are more than sixty miles from the point mentioned by Sir Edward Belcher. We have only just enough food left to take us back to the ship. To go farther would only expose us to certain death, without our being of service to any one. We must return."

 

"That is a wise decision, Hatteras," answered the doctor; "I should have followed you anywhere, but we are all growing weaker every day; we can hardly set one foot before the other; I approve of returning."

 

"Is that your opinion, Bell?" asked Hatteras.

 

"Yes, Captain," answered the carpenter.

 

"Well," continued Hatteras, "we will take two days for rest. That's not too much. The sledge² needs a great many repairs. I think, too, we ought to build a snow-house in which we can repose³."

 

This being decided⁴, the 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.

 

A satisfactory retreat

It was doubtless after a hard struggle that Hatteras had decided to discontinue his journey. So much effort and fatigue⁵ thrown away! A useless trip, entailing⁶ the death of one of his men! To return without a scrap⁷ 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 lighter⁸, 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 elevation⁹ 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 corpse¹⁰, 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 stiffened¹¹ bag, in which were a few crumbs¹² 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 paws tried to tear up the ice.

 

"Have we by any possibility come across a supply of provisions?" said the doctor.

 

"It looks like it," answered Bell.

 

"Go on!" said Hatteras.

 

A few bits of food were found and a box quarter full of pemmican.

 

"If we have," said Hatteras, "the bears have visited it before we did. See, these provisions have been touched already."

 

"It is to be feared," answered the doctor, "for—"

 

He did not finish his sentence; a cry from Bell interrupted him; he had turned over a tolerably large piece of ice and showed a stiff, frozen human leg in the ice.

 

"A corpse!" cried the doctor.

 

"It's a grave," said Hatteras.

 

It was the body of a sailor about thirty years old, in a perfect state of preservation¹³; he wore the usual dress of Arctic sailors; the doctor could not say how long he had been dead.

 

After this, Bell found another corpse, that of a man of fifty, exhibiting traces of the sufferings that had killed him.

 

Bell found another corpse

"They were never buried," cried the doctor; "these poor men were surprised by death as we find them."

 

"You are right, Doctor," said Bell.

 

"Go on, go on!" said Hatteras.

 

Bell hardly dared. Who could say how many corpses¹⁴ lay hidden here?

 

"They were the victims of just such an accident as we nearly perished by," said the doctor; "their snow-house fell in. Let us see if one may not be breathing yet!"

 

The place was rapidly cleared away, and Bell brought up a third body, that of a man of forty; he looked less like a corpse than the others; the doctor bent¹⁵ over him and thought he saw some signs of life.

 

"He's alive!" he shouted.

 

Bell and he carried this body into the snow-house, while Hatteras stood in silence, gazing at the sunken dwelling¹⁶.

 

Hatteras stood in silence

The doctor stripped the body; it bore no signs of injury; with Bell's aid he rubbed it vigorously with tow dipped in alcohol, and he saw life gradually reviving within it; but the man was in a state of complete prostration¹⁷, and unable to speak; his tongue clove¹⁸ to his palate as if it were frozen.

 

The doctor examined his patient's pockets; they were empty. No paper. He let Bell continue rubbing, and went out to Hatteras.

 

He found him in the ruined snow-house, clearing away the floor; soon he came out, bearing a half-burned piece of an envelope. A few words could be deciphered:—

 

....tamont                         

....orpoise                 

....w York.        

"Altamont!" shouted the doctor, "of the Porpoise¹⁹! of New York!"

 

"An American!" said Hatteras.

 

"I shall save him," said the doctor; "I'll answer for it, and we shall find out the explanation of this puzzle."

 

He returned to Altamont, while Hatteras remained pensive²⁰. The doctor succeeded in recalling the unfortunate man to life, but not to consciousness; he neither saw, heard, nor spoke²¹, but at any rate he was alive!

 

The next morning Hatteras said to the doctor,—

 

"We must start."

 

"All right, Hatteras! The sledge is not loaded; we shall carry this poor fellow back to the ship with us.

 

"Very well," said Hatteras. "But first let us bury these corpses."

 

The two unknown sailors were placed beneath the ruins of the snow-house; Simpson's body took the place of Altamont's.

 

The three travellers uttered a short prayer over their companion, and at seven o'clock in the morning they set off again for the ship.

 

Two of the dogs were dead. Duke volunteered to drag the sledge, and he worked as resolutely²² as a Greenland dog.

 

For twenty days, from January 31st to February 19th, the return was very much like the first part of the journey. Save that it was in the month of February, the coldest of the whole year, and the ice was harder; the travellers suffered terribly from the cold, but not from the wind or snow-storm.

 

The sun reappeared for the first time January 31st; every day it rose higher above the horizon. Bell and the doctor were at the end of their strength, almost blind and quite lame²³; the carpenter could not walk without crutches²⁴. Altamont was alive, but continued insensible; sometimes his life was despaired of, but unremitting care kept him alive! And yet the doctor needed to take the greatest care of himself, for his health was beginning to suffer.

 

Hatteras thought of the Forward! In what condition was he going to find it? What had happened on board? Had Johnson been able to withstand Shandon and his allies? The cold had been terrible! Had they burned the ship? Had they spared her masts and keel?

 

While thinking of this, Hatteras walked on as if he had wished to get an early view of the Forward.

 

February 24th, in the morning, he stopped suddenly. Three hundred paces before him appeared a reddish glow, above which rose an immense column of black smoke, which was lost in the gray clouds of the sky.

 

"See that smoke!" he shouted.

 

His heart beat as if it would burst.

 

"See that smoke!" he said to his companions. "My ship is on fire!"

 

"But we are more than three miles from it," said Bell. "It can't be the Forward!"

 

"Yes, but it is," answered the doctor; "the mirage²⁵ makes it seem nearer."

 

"Let us run!" cried Hatteras.

 

They left the sledge in charge of Duke, and hastened after the captain. An hour later they came in sight of the ship. A terrible sight! The brig was burning in the midst of the ice, which was melting about her; the flames were lapping her hull²⁶, and the southerly breeze brought to Hatteras's ears unaccustomed sounds.

 

Five hundred feet from the ship stood a man raising his hands in despair; he stood there, powerless, facing the fire which was destroying the Forward.

 

The man was alone; it was Johnson.

 

Hatteras ran towards him.

 

"My ship! my ship!" he cried.

 

"You! Captain!" answered Johnson; "you! stop! not a step farther!"

 

"Well?" asked Hatteras with a terrible air.

 

"The wretches²⁷!" answered Johnson, "they've been gone forty-eight hours, after firing the ship!"

 

"Curse them!" groaned²⁸ Hatteras.

 

Then a terrible explosion was heard; the earth trembled; the icebergs²⁹ fell; a column of smoke rose to the clouds, and the Forward disappeared in an abyss of fire.

 

At that moment the doctor and Bell came up to Hatteras. He roused himself suddenly from his despair.

 

"My friends," he said energetically, "the cowards have taken flight! The brave will succeed! Johnson, Bell, you are bold; Doctor, you are wise; as for me, I have faith! There is the North Pole! Come, to work!"

 

Hatteras's companions felt their hearts glow at these brave words.

 

And yet the situation was terrible for these four men and the dying man, abandoned without supplies, alone at the eighty-fourth degree of latitude,* in the very heart of the polar regions.

 

1 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

2 sledge   

n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往

参考例句：

• The sledge gained momentum as it ran down the hill.雪橇从山上下冲时的动力越来越大。
• The sledge slid across the snow as lightly as a boat on the water.雪橇在雪原上轻巧地滑行，就象船在水上行驶一样。

3 repose   

v.(使)休息；n.安息

参考例句：

• Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
• Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑，即使在睡眠时也是这样。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

6 entailing   

使…成为必要( entail的现在分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需

参考例句：

• Israel will face harsh new trials entailing territorial and functional concessions. 以色列将面临严峻的考验，在领土和能源方面做出让步。
• Taking on China over North Korea option entailing the most strategic risk. 让中国处理朝鲜问题冒有最大的战略风险。

7 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

8 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

9 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。

10 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

11 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。

12 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

13 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

14 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

15 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

16 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

17 prostration   

n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳

参考例句：

• a state of prostration brought on by the heat 暑热导致的虚脱状态
• A long period of worrying led to her nervous prostration. 长期的焦虑导致她的神经衰弱。

18 clove   

n.丁香味

参考例句：

• If tired,smell a whiff of clove oil and it will wake you up.如果疲倦，闻上一点丁香油将令人清醒。
• A sweet-smell comes from roses and clove trees.丁香与玫瑰的香味扑鼻而来。

19 porpoise   

n.鼠海豚

参考例句：

• What is the difference between a dolphin and porpoise?海豚和和鼠海豚有什么区别？
• Mexico strives to save endangered porpoise.墨西哥努力拯救濒危的鼠海豚。

20 pensive   

a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的

参考例句：

• He looked suddenly sombre,pensive.他突然看起来很阴郁，一副忧虑的样子。
• He became so pensive that she didn't like to break into his thought.他陷入沉思之中,她不想打断他的思路。

21 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

22 resolutely   

adj.坚决地，果断地

参考例句：

• He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。

23 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

24 crutches   

n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑

参考例句：

• After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
• When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后，不得不靠拐杖走路。

25 mirage   

n.海市蜃楼，幻景

参考例句：

• Perhaps we are all just chasing a mirage.也许我们都只是在追逐一个幻想。
• Western liberalism was always a mirage.西方自由主义永远是一座海市蜃楼。

26 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

27 wretches   

n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋

参考例句：

• The little wretches were all bedraggledfrom some roguery. 小淘气们由于恶作剧而弄得脏乎乎的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The best courage for us poor wretches is to fly from danger. 对我们这些可怜虫说来，最好的出路还是躲避危险。 来自辞典例句

28 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 icebergs   

n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The drift of the icebergs in the sea endangers the ships. 海上冰山的漂流危及船只的安全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The icebergs towered above them. 冰山高耸于他们上方。 来自辞典例句