"Besides," added Johnson, "may we not find in the sound some ship that has been forced to winter there."
"And if need be," continued the doctor, "when we've reached the sound, may we not cross it, and reach the west coast of Greenland, and then, either by Prudhoe's Land, or Cape York, get to some Danish settlement? Nothing of that sort is to be found on the ice-field. The way to England is down there to the south, and not here to the north!"
"Yes," said Bell, "Dr. Clawbonny is right; we must go, and go at once. Hitherto we have forgotten home too much, and those who are dear to us."
"Do you agree, Johnson?" Hatteras asked again.
"Yes, Captain."
"And you, Doctor?"
"Yes, Hatteras."
Hatteras still remained silent; in spite of all he could do, his face expressed his agitation. His whole life depended on the decision he should take; if he should return, it was all over with his bold plans; he could not hope to make the attempt a fourth time.
The doctor, seeing the captain was silent, again spoke.
"I ought to add, Hatteras," he said, "that we ought not to lose an instant; we ought to load the sledge with all our provisions, and take as much wood as possible. A journey of six hundred miles under such circumstances is long, I confess, but not insuperable; we can, or rather we ought, to make twenty miles a day, which would bring us to the coast in a month, that is to say, towards March 26th."