"Coal on these shores!" said Wall from his sick-bed.
"We'll let them go," answered Shandon, mysteriously.
But before they had begun to make preparations for the trip, Hatteras wanted to fix the position of the Forward with the utmost exactitude. The importance of this calculation it is easy to see. Once away from the ship, it could not be found again without knowing its position precisely.
So Hatteras went up on deck; he took observations at different moments of several lunar distances, and the altitude of the principal stars. He found, however, much difficulty in doing this, for when the temperature was so low, the glass and the mirrors of the instrument were covered with a crust of ice from Hatteras's breath; more than once his eyelids were burned by touching the copper eye-pieces. Still, he was able to get very exact bases for his calculations, and he returned to the common-room to work them out. When he had finished, he raised his head with stupefaction, took his chart, marked it, and looked at the doctor.
"Well?" asked the latter.
"What was our latitude when we went into winter-quarters?"
"Our latitude was 78° 15', and the longitude 95° 35', exactly the pole of cold."
"Well," added Hatteras in a low voice, "our ice-field is drifting! We are two degrees farther north and farther west,—at least three hundred miles from your coal-supply!"
"And these poor men who know nothing about it!" cried the doctor.
"Not a word!" said Hatteras, raising his finger to his lips.