"

"Confound it!" shouted Altamont; "I prefer that decidedly! I've had
enough working in the dark! Now we shall see one another and fight!"

"Yes," answered Johnson; "but with our guns it is impossible in so
small a space."

"Well, with a hatchet or a knife!"

The noise increased; the scratching of claws could be heard; the bears
had attacked the wall at the angle where it joined the snow fastened
to the rock."

"Evidently," said Johnson, "the animal is within six feet of us."

"You are right, Johnson," answered the American, "but we have time to
prepare ourselves to receive it!"

The American took the axe in one hand, his knife in the other; resting
on his right foot, his body thrown back, he stood ready to attack.
Hatteras and Bell did the same. Johnson prepared his gun in case
fire-arms should be necessary. The noise grew louder and louder; the
ice kept cracking beneath the repeated blows. At last only a thin
crust separated the adversaries; suddenly this crust tore asunder like
paper through which a clown leaps, and an enormous black body appeared
in the gloom of the room. Altamont raised his hand to strike it.

[Illustration: "An enormous black body appeared in the gloom of the
room. Altamont raised his hand to strike it."]

"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 cake