horror; the last piece of coal burnt
away as quickly as the rest, and the temperature of the room lowered
sensibly. But Johnson went to fetch some lumps of the new fuel which
the marine animals had furnished him with, and he stuffed it into
the stove; he added some oakum, impregnated with frozen oil, and soon
obtained enough heat. The smell of the grease was abominable, but
how could they get rid of it? They were obliged to get used to it.
Johnson agreed that his expedient left much to wish for, and would
have no success in a Liverpool house.

"However," added he, "the smell may have one good result."

"What's that?" asked the carpenter.

"It will attract the bears; they are very fond of the stink."

"And what do we want with bears?" added Bell.

"You know, Bell, we can't depend on the seals; they've disappeared
for a good while to come; if the bears don't come to be turned into
fuel too, I don't know what will become of us."

"There would be only one thing left; but I don't see how----"

"The captain would never consent; but perhaps we shall be obliged."

Johnson shook his head sadly, and fell into a silent reverie, which
Bell did not interrupt. He knew that their stock of grease would not
last more than a week with the strictest economy.

The boatswain was not mistaken. Several bears, attracted by the fetid
exhalations, were signalled to the windward; the healthy men gave
chase to them, but they are extraordinarily quick, and did not allow
themselves to be approached, and the most skilful shots could not
touch them. The ship's crew was seriously menaced with death from
cold; it was impossible to resist such a temperature more than
forty-eight hours, and every one feared the end of the fuel. The
dreaded moment arrived at three o'clock p.m. on the 20th of December.
The fire went out; the sailors looked at each other with haggard eyes.
Hatteras remained immovable in his corner. The doctor as usual marched
up and down in agitation; he was at his wits' end. The temperature
of the room fell suddenly to 7 degrees below zero. But if the doctor
did not know what to do, some of the others did. Shandon, calm and
resolute, and Pen with anger in his eyes, and two or three of their
comrades, who could still walk, went up to Hatteras.

"Captain!" said Shandon.

Hatteras, absorbed in thought, did not hear him.

"Captain!" repeated Shandon, touching his hand.

Hatteras drew himself up.

"What is it?" he said.

"Our