He opened the door quickly, but he had hardly time to shut it; a bear nearly crushed his skull with his claw.
"They are there," he cried.
"All?" asked Bell.
"All!" answered Hatteras.
Altamont hastened to the windows, heaping up the bays with pieces of ice torn from the walls of the house. His companions did the same without speaking. Duke's dull snarls alone broke the silence.
But it must be said these men had only a single thought; they forgot their own danger, and only considered the doctor. Poor Clawbonny! so kind, so devoted! the soul of the little colony! for the first time he was missing; extreme peril, a terrible death, awaited him; for when his excursion was over he would return quietly to Fort Providence, and would find these ferocious animals. And there was no way of warning him.
"If I'm not mistaken, he will be on his guard; your shots must have warned him, and he must know something has happened."
"But if he were far off," answered Altamont, "and did not understand? There are eight chances out of ten that he'll come back without suspicion of danger! The bears are hiding behind the scarp of the fort, and he can't see them."
"We shall have to get rid of these dangerous beasts before his return," answered Hatteras.