"So that is your idea?" asked the captain, ironically.
"Yes, that is my idea, as it is that if these seas ever become practicable, they will be reached by the straightest way. O, that was a great discovery of Captain Kane's!"
"Indeed!" said Hatteras, biting his lips till they bled.
"Yes," said the doctor, "that cannot be denied; every one should have the praise he deserves."
"Without considering," went on the obstinate American, "that no one had ever before gone so far to the north."
"I like to think," said Hatteras, "that now the English have got ahead of him."
"And the Americans!" said Altamont.
"Americans!" repeated Hatteras.
"What am I, then?" asked Altamont, proudly.
"You are," answered Hatteras, who could hardly control his voice,—"you are a man who presumes to accord equal glory to science and to chance! Your American captain went far to the north, but as chance alone—"