"Smith's Sound."
"The same which we could not cross last April?"
"The same."
"Well, Captain, now we know where we are, and we can make up our minds accordingly."
"Speak, then," said Hatteras, letting his head sink into his hands.
In that way he could hear his friends without looking at them.
"Well, Bell," said the doctor, "what do you think is the best course to follow?"
"It isn't necessary to reflect a long time," answered the carpenter; "we ought to return, without wasting a day or an hour, either to the south or the west,[*] and reach the nearest coast, even if it took us two months!"
"We have supplies for only three weeks," answered Hatteras, without raising his head.
"Well," continued Johnson, "we must make that distance in three weeks, since it's our only chance of safety; if we have to crawl on our knees at the end, we must leave, and arrive in twenty-five days."