"Stop! for heaven's sake, stop!" said a well-known voice.
"The doctor, the doctor!" shouted Johnson.
It was indeed the doctor, who, carried by the impetus, rolled into the room.
"Good evening, my friends," he said, springing to his feet.
His companions remained stupefied; but joy succeeded their stupefaction; each one wished to embrace the worthy man; Hatteras, who was much moved, clasped him for a long time to his breast. The doctor answered by a warm clasp of the hand.
"What! you, Dr. Clawbonny!" said the boatswain.
"Why, Johnson, I was much more anxious about your fate than you about mine."
"But how did you know that we were attacked by bears?" asked Altamont; "our greatest fear was to see you returning quietly to Fort Providence without thought of danger."
"O, I saw everything!" answered the doctor; "your shots warned me; I happened to be near the fragments of the Porpoise; I climbed up a hummock; I saw five bears chasing you; ah, I feared the worst for you! But the way you slid down the hill, and the hesitation of the animals, reassured me for a time; I knew you'd had time to lock yourselves in. Then I approached gradually, climbing and creeping between cakes of ice; I arrived near the fort, and I saw the huge beasts working like beavers; they were tossing the snow about, heaping up the ice so as to bury you alive. Fortunately, they did not think of hurling the blocks down from the top of the cone, for you would have been crushed without mercy."
"But," said Bell, "you were not safe, Doctor; couldn't they leave their place and attack you?"