Under the Sea to the North Pole (6 page)

He had henceforth devoted to the defence of Isabelle de Keralio the life he owed to her brave and timely intervention. On her part she showed that she recognized this honest and genuine attachment, and on all occasions let it be seen that she trusted him. No better reward could this peaceful colossus nave for his devotion than the knowledge that Isabelle felt safe when under his guard.

The approach of the long polar night began to make its influence felt. The Canadians alone seemed to take no notice of it, accustomed as they were to the cold of the north. The others beheld, with a sort of terror, the days drawing in and the darkness increasing in the lengthy dawns and twilights. What would become of the gaiety and enthusiasm of the crew when the veil of darkness had definitely dropped on the northern hemisphere? Nervous and impressionable, Isabelle de Keralio was all the more to be praised for her efforts to hide her true feelings. As the winter took possession of its realm shp was untiring in her efforts to keep up the courage and resolution of her companions. When at midnight on the 4th of September, the sun for the first time left the sky she got up a party to celebrate that luminary’s departure Accompanied by Alain and Hubert, she climbed one of the peaks near Cape Ritter and remained with her eyes fixed on the southwest. Fortunately the temperature was supportable, the sky being wonderfully clear. The sun had reached the fringe of bare hills on the flanks of Mount Petermann, 10,000 feet high. For a moment it seemed to rest on the ice of Mount Payer, the giant’s neighbour and inferior by nearly a third. Then he descended, his disk grew larger, he lost his brightness, and red as blood, he hung like a glory behind the mountain’s peak. Larger and wider he grew until he slipped from sight, fallen to the other side of the earth. This was the beginning of the night. From that day the light decreased with sinister rapidity. But the darkness came not too suddenly for a welcome. The last works had been finished round the house. A rampart of ice, or rather a wall of thick ice-blocks that the cold would bind closer, was raised two feet above the walls of wood. It was carried right up to the roof in order that the slight humidity from the gutters might help to cement it. The space between the walls was filled up with saw-dust and straw, and on this, in the future, all the cinders from the fires would be thrown. The courage and good-will of the explorers were rendered the more effective by their own experiences, the ideas that occurred to them, and the information derived from preceding expeditions. The time for preliminary investigations had come, and the travellers knew from the counts of their predecessors how dangerous were these autumn campaigns. The first thing to do concerning them was to decide on the plan to be followed.

CHAPTER IV

A TRAITOR.

O
N the 5th of October De Keralio called together in council the officers of the expedition, and such of the sub-officers whose knowledge and experience might be valuable.

The gathering took place in the officers’ dining-room. De Keralio took the chair and Lieutenant Hardy acted as secretary. In view of the importance of the communications which were about to be made and which affected the whole plan of the expedition, no person of importance was excluded. There was only one whose loyalty could suspected, and, that was Schnecker; but his duties assured his presence, and there could be no better hand at discussing projects and keeping hypotheses within hounds. Careful to wound no susceptibility, De Keralio voided even the most distant allusions to facts hitherto unexplained, which had provoked suspicion in many minds.

They were seated round the table near the stove, the roaring of which could not trouble the general conversation. As commanderin-chief of the expedition, De Keralio opened the discussion.

“Gentlemen,” said he, “I will, as a matter of form, briefly run through the history of the polar expeditions which have preceded ours. I will only mention those that have gone furthest in the way of discovery.

“We are now in 76 north latitude, that is to say, on the east coast of Greenland. The highest latitudes obtained up to now have been 82° 45', obtained by Parry on the 25th July, 1827; 83° 7' obtained by Payer and the Austrian expedition on the 8th of July, 1873, and the 15th of August, 1874; 83° 20 26", attained by Markham on the 12th of May, 1876; and 83° 23' 6", attained by Lockwood and Brainard on the l3th of May, 1882.

“There has been no attempt since that date. Lockwood’s observations place this point in 40° 46' west longitude. We are 7° 24' from that point, and on the same land; as the crow flies, we are 185 leagues from it. That latitude has to be passed. We will pass it.”

As De Keralio uttered these words an unanimous Klamation was shouted from every lip,—

“Bravo! Hurrah! Cheers for De Keralio.” Isabelle’s father smiled and called for silence. “No, gentlemen,” he said, “do not cheer me. I am but an instrument, the least among you. We work for humanity, for science, and, if we may say so, for France our glorious country, to prove to the world that this country of great deeds will be outdone by none in the way of honour and courage.”

“Vive la France!” shouted the audience, enthusiastically.

In this patriotic acclamation, only one voice did not mingle. This was the voice of the chemist, Schnecker. The vigilant eye of Alain Guerbraz had not lost sight of him for a moment. He could declare this inexplicable abstention on oath.

“Oh!” thought the Breton, “I know what kind of a German is covered by thy Alsacian skin.”

But he said nothing as yet; besides, the attention of all was absorbed in what De Keralio was about to say.

“Two ways are open to us,” continued he, “that by land for the sledges, that by the sea, according to the belief of all the explorers by the western side, for the pack is only formed in fragments in the arm of the sea which separates us from Spitzbergen. On the first hypothesis and eliminating absolutely the second, the shortest way for us is to make northwards towards Cape Bismarck, and thence to cross the Greenland continent up to Cape Washington, whence we can head away to the 85th degree, or rather to the Pole itself.”

A new salvo of applause greeted this declaration. “That is it! That is the very thing!” shouted the officers with enthusiasm.

“Consequently,” continued De Keralio, “we must devote all our care to the preservation of our ship, for it will probably be the vehicle for our summer campaign. From the ist of June to the 15th of August we can cover the distance, and solve the problem which so many others before us. have nobly but vainly endeavoured to do. Once we are on the eighty-third parallel, seven degrees will not frighten us if, as Greely says, we shall find an open sea.”

To this there was a warm assent, and for some minutes the conversation became general. But at last came a discordant voice in this concert of adhesions.

“I beg your pardon,” said Schnecker, “if I do not quite share your confidence. Am I allowed to offer a few slight objections?”

“You can do so, Monsieur Schnecker,” said Keralio, “and it will be for us to reply.”

“Very well. The first question I ask is: What are you going to do with the house at Fort Esperance?”

“But,” said Captain Lacrosse, “it seems to me that that question has been answered in advance. The house? It will come on board again as beams and planks. It will be stowed away in the hold as it was before. We will erect it again for our second wintering at Cape Washington.”

“You have no doubts of anything, captain,” grinned the chemist
.
“Where are you going to get the coal for your boilers? For I fancy that the two thousand tons shipped in the
Polar Star
are to be used for the house in the first place and for the steamer in the second. ”

“Bah! Monsieur Schnecker, you should put your trust in Providence, which has taken care to furnish us with the needful fuel.”

It was Lieutenant Remois who had spoken. He spoke in a jesting, confident way that made all around him share in his good humour.

“I understand,” said the learned man. “You allude to the bed of coal on which we have already made a considerable inroad. But even if it were much more abundant, you could not take the mine with you. And, as to taking it on board, that is impossible, for the
Polar Star
could not stand such an addition to her load.”

“The
Polar Star
will stand a good deal more than you think,” exclaimed the captain, sharply. “And, besides, even supposing you were right, a thousand tons will suffice to take us to Cape Washington.”

The chemist did not appear convinced. “Oh! To Cape Washington, I admit. But afterwards? Lockwood’s report makes no mention of coal deposits in the neighbourhood he reached.”

This persistence in contradiction visibly annoyed the explorers. Hubert D’Ermont, whose patience was exhausted, literally exploded.

“Well, sir, if we do run short of coal, who told you we have no other combustible? See here, I wish to be outspoken with you and not to weary your curiosity or that of our companions. We have fuel in reserve in quite sufficient quantity, although it is neither an encumbrance nor an extra load for the
Polar Star.
Even supposing that the way by the sea remains closed to our gallant ship, we can take this extraordinary combustible on our sledges, with the inestimable advantage of finding in it not only heat but light and a power superior to that of steam itself.”’

As he said this everyone turned towards D’Ermont. A look of amazement appeared on every face. Some looked as though Hubert had gone mad, or else was endeavouring to mystify his questioner.

Hubert saw that such a feeling might give rise to a certain uneasiness of mind among his audience, if he did not at once give them some sort of explanation to prove that he had reasons for speaking as he did.

“Gentlemen,” he continued, “I owe it to you and to myself, not to leave you under any mistake in this matter. What I mean is this.

My brother, Marc D’Ermont, who is a chemist like Monsieur Schnecker, has had the good fortune to make a marvellous and unprecedented discovery. This discovery we are to be the first to put to practical use; and a preliminary trial which was recently made enables me to assure you in advance of our complete success. Let it be enough for you, for the moment, to know that my brother has succeeded in liquefying, and even solidifying, and consequently obtaining in a volume out of all proportion to its usual power, a primordial gas, a simple body up to the present supposed to be permanent.” The whole assembly were on their feet. Hubert spoke with a sincerity, an energy, which carried conviction to all.

Once again it was only Schnecker who spoke. “Ah! Quite so!” said he, ironically. “Whatever brotherly esteem I might be ready to render my brother that would appear to be a little too strong. I should like to see that to believe in it.”

A murmur of disapproval received this expression of incredulity.

“You shall see it, sir,” said Hubert, “and that very soon.” And with that the debate and the incident concluded. De Keralio took advantage of the silence which followed this really astounding revelation to continue,—

“Independently of the ordinary means, there are two others which depend on the admirable discovery of which you have just heard from Lieutenant D’Ermont. You know, gentlemen, how many methods have been suggested and talked about by men who knew what they were saying and who had often been engaged in polar exploration, and by mere crack-brained dreamers. Know, then, there is nothing too imaginative for the science of today to realize, providing that the idea has a rational foundation, and does not seek the quadrature of the circle.

“Among the means deemed practicable by men of experience, there are two which have secured our suffrages; if the ice-field cannot be penetrated it can always be gone over or under, over it by the aid of our aerostat, under it by means of a submarine boat. Both these means we are prepared to attempt. We have the balloon; we have the submarine boat. We can then, as you see, strike boldly the north. Unless there is a catastrophe which it is impossible at present to foresee, we will plant our feet in the very centre of the pole, and the colours of France will he triumphantly displayed where Fortune will have led us.”

At these enthusiastic words the assembly rose excitedly. At the same moment Isabelle, accompanied by Tina Le Floc’h, entered the dining-room. The nurse carried a tray crowded with good things; on a table a little distance off the tea things proved an immediate attraction.

Said Captain Lacrosse with a smile to Lieutenant Pol,—

“Let all the men come in. Monsieur De Keralio would like to give them the news himself.”

The order was executed on the spot. The crew entered respectfully, and ranged themselves round the table.

De Keralio repeated what he had just said to the officers. He added in conclusion,—

“My friends, the hour has come to begin work in earnest. I remind you of your engagements only to let you understand what we owe to each other. Everything, safety as well as success, depends on our mutual understanding and united effort. Before we begin our preliminary reconnaissances it is natural that we should unite in a cheer for the love of our country. Hearts up, then, and vive la France!”