"Yes, to-morrow."
"You have no ball!"
"I shall make one."
"You have no lead!"
"No, but I have some quicksilver."
Thereupon the doctor took the thermometer; it marked +50°. He went outside, placed the instrument on the ice, and soon returned. The outside temperature was -50°. Then he said to the old sailor,—
"Now go to sleep, and wait till to-morrow."
That night they endured the horrors of hunger; only the doctor and the boatswain were able to temper them with a little hope. The next morning, at dawn, the doctor rushed out, followed by Johnson, and ran to the thermometer; all the mercury had sunk into the bulb, in the form of a compact cylinder. The doctor broke the instrument, and seized in his gloved fingers a piece of very hard metal. It was a real bullet.
"Ah, Doctor," shouted the old sailor, "that's a real miracle! You are a wonderful man!"
"No, my friend," answered the doctor, "I am only a man with a good memory, who has read a good deal."