"Alive?"
"Dead,—frozen,—and even—"
| "Dead—frozen." |
The American durst not finish his sentence,[*] but his face expressed clearly his horror. The doctor, Johnson, Bell, aroused by this incident, were able to rise, and drag themselves along in Altamont's footprints to the part of the plain to which he had pointed. They soon reached a narrow space, at the bottom of a deep ravine, and there a terrible sight met their eyes.
Bodies were lying half buried beneath the snow; here an arm, there a leg, or clinched hands, and faces still preserving an expression of despair.
The doctor drew near; then he stepped back, pale and agitated, while Duke barked mournfully.
"Horror!" he said.
"Well?" asked the boatswain.