<p><SPAN name="XIII" id="XIII"></SPAN></p>
<h4>
CHAPTER XIII.
</h4>
<h4>
THE MINE.
</h4>
<p>Night drew on, and the lamp in the sitting-room already began to burn dim
for want of oxygen.</p>
<p>At eight o'clock the final arrangements were completed, and all that
remained to do was to make an opening in the roof.</p>
<p>They had been working away at this for some minutes, and Bell was showing
himself quite an adept in the business, when Johnson, who had been keeping
watch in the sleeping room, came hurriedly in to his companions, pulling
such a long face, that the captain asked immediately what was the matter?</p>
<p>"Nothing exactly," said the old sailor, "and yet-"</p>
<p>"Come, out with it!" exclaimed Altamont.</p>
<p>"Hush! don't you hear a peculiar noise?"</p>
<p>"Where?"</p>
<p>"Here, on this side, on the wall of the room."</p>
<p>Bell stopped working, and listened attentively like the rest. Johnson was
right; a noise there certainly was on the side wall, as if some one were
cutting the ice.</p>
<p>"Don't you hear it?" repeated Johnson.</p>
<p>"Hear it? Yes, plain enough," replied Altamont.</p>
<p>"Is it the bears?" asked Bell.</p>
<p>"Most assuredly."</p>
<p>"Well; they have changed their tactics," said old Johnson, "and given up
the idea of suffocating us."</p>
<p>"Or may be they suppose we are suffocated by now," suggested the American,
getting furious at his invisible enemies.</p>
<p>"They are going to attack us," said Bell.</p>
<p>"Well, what of it?" returned Hatteras.</p>
<p>"We shall have a hand-to-hand struggle, that's all."</p>
<p>"And so much the better," added Altamont; "that's far more to my taste; I
have had enough of invisible foes-let me see my antagonist, and then I can
fight him."</p>
<p>"Ay," said Johnson; "but not with guns. They would be useless here."</p>
<p>"With knife and hatchet then," returned the American.</p>
<p>The noise increased, and it was evident that the point of attack was the
angle of the wall formed by its junction with the cliff.</p>
<p>"They are hardly six feet off now," said the boatswain.</p>
<p>"Right, Johnson!" replied Altamont; "but we have time enough to be ready
for them."</p>
<p>And seizing a hatchet, he placed himself in fighting attitude, planting
his right foot firmly forward and throwing himself back.</p>
<p>Hatteras and the others followed his example, and Johnson took care to
load a gun in case of necessity.</p>
<p>Every minute the sound came nearer, till at last only a thin coating
separated them from their assailants.</p>
<p>Presently this gave way with a loud crack, and a huge dark mass rolled
over into the room.</p>
<p>Altamont had already swung his hatchet to strike, when he was arrested by
a well-known voice, exclaiming-</p>
<p>"For Heaven's sake, stop!"</p>
<p>"The Doctor! the Doctor!" cried Johnson.</p>
<p>And the Doctor it actually was who had tumbled in among them in such
undignified fashion.</p>
<p>"How do ye do, good friends?" he said, picking himself smartly up.</p>
<p>His companions stood stupefied for a moment, but joy soon loosened their
tongues, and each rushed eagerly forward to welcome his old comrade with a
loving embrace. Hatteras was for once fairly overcome with emotion, and
positively hugged him like a child.</p>
<p>"And is it really you, Mr. Clawbonny?" said Johnson.</p>
<p>"Myself and nobody else, my old fellow. I assure you I have been far more
uneasy about you than you could have been about me."</p>
<p>"But how did you know we had been attacked by a troop of bears?" asked
Altamont. "What we were most afraid of was that you would come quickly
back to Fort Providence, never dreaming of danger."</p>
<p>"Oh, I saw it all. Your repeated shots gave me the alarm. When you
commenced firing I was beside the wreck of the <i>Porpoise</i>, but I
climbed up a hummock, and discovered five bears close on your heels. Oh,
how anxious I was for you! But when I saw you disappear down the cliff,
while the bears stood hesitating on the edge, as if uncertain what to do,
I felt sure that you had managed to get safely inside the house and
barricade it. I crept cautiously nearer, sometimes going on all-fours,
sometimes slipping between great blocks of ice, till I came at last quite
close to our fort, and then I found the bears working away like beavers.
They were prowling about the snow, and dragging enormous blocks of ice
towards the house, piling them up like a wall, evidently intending to bury
you alive. It is a lucky thing they did not take it into their heads to
dash down the blocks from the summit of the cone, for you must have been
crushed inevitably."</p>
<p>"But what danger you were in, Mr. Clawbonny," said Bell. "Any moment they
might have turned round and attacked you."</p>
<p>"They never thought of it even. Johnson's Greenland dogs came in sight
several times, but they did not take the trouble to go after them. No,
they imagined themselves sure of a more savoury supper!"</p>
<p>"Thanks for the compliment!" said Altamont, laughing.</p>
<p>"Oh, there is nothing to be proud of. When I saw what the bears were up
to, I determined to get back to you by some means or other. I waited till
night, but as soon as it got dark I glided noiselessly along towards the
powder-magazine. I had my reasons for choosing that point from which to
work my way hither, and I speedily commenced operations with my
snow-knife. A famous tool it is. For three mortal hours I have been
hacking and heaving away, but here I am at last tired enough and starving,
but still safe here."</p>
<p>"To share our fate!" said Altamont.</p>
<p>"No, to save you all; but, for any sake, give me a biscuit and a bit of
meat, for I feel sinking for want of food."</p>
<p>A substantial meal was soon before him, but the vivacious little man could
talk all the while he was eating, and was quite ready to answer any
questions.</p>
<p>"Did you say <i>to save us</i>?" asked Bell.</p>
<p>"Most assuredly!" was the reply.</p>
<p>"Well, certainly, if you found your way in, we can find our way out by the
same road."</p>
<p>"A likely story, and leave the field clear for the whole pack to come in
and find out our stores. Pretty havoc they would make!"</p>
<p>"No, we must stay here," said Hatteras.</p>
<p>"Of course we must," replied Clawbonny, "but we'll get rid of the bears
for all that."</p>
<p>"I told you so," said Johnson, rubbing his hands. "I knew nothing was
hopeless if Mr. Clawbonny was here; he has always some expedient in his
wise head."</p>
<p>"My poor head is very empty, I fear, but by dint of rummaging perhaps I--"</p>
<p>"Doctor," interrupted Altamont, "I suppose there is no fear of the bears
getting in by the passage you have made?"</p>
<p>"No, I took care to stop up the opening thoroughly, and now we can reach
the powder-magazine without letting them see us."</p>
<p>"All right; and now will you let us have your plan of getting rid of these
comical assailants?"</p>
<p>[Illustration: ]</p>
<p>"My plan is quite simple, and part of the work is done already."</p>
<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
<p>"You shall see. But I am forgetting that I brought a companion with me."</p>
<p>"What do you say?" said Johnson.</p>
<p>"I have a companion to introduce to you," replied the Doctor, going out
again into the passage, and bringing back a dead fox, newly killed.</p>
<p>"I shot it this morning," he continued, "and never did fox come more
opportunely."</p>
<p>"What on earth do you mean?" asked Altamont.</p>
<p>"I mean to blow up the bears <i>en masse</i> with 100 lbs of powder."</p>
<p>"But where is the powder?" exclaimed his friend.</p>
<p>"In the magazine. This passage will lead to it. I made it purposely."</p>
<p>"And where is the mine to be?" inquired Altamont.</p>
<p>"At the furthest point from the house and stores."</p>
<p>"And how will you manage to entice the bears there, all to one spot?"</p>
<p>"I'll undertake that business; but we have talked enough, let us set to
work. We have a hundred feet more to add to our passage to-night, and that
is no easy matter, but as there are five of us, we can take turns at it.
Bell will begin, and we will lie down and sleep meantime."</p>
<p>"Well, really," said Johnson, "the more I think of it, the more feasible
seems the Doctor's plan."</p>
<p>"It is a sure one, anyway," said Clawbonny.</p>
<p>"So sure that I can feel the bear's fur already on my shoulder. Well,
come, let's begin then."</p>
<p>Away he went into the gloomy passage, followed by Bell, and in a few
moments they had reached the powder-magazine, and stood among the well-
arranged barrels. The Doctor pointed out to his companion the exact spot
where he began excavating, and then left him to his task, at which he
laboured diligently for about an hour, when Altamont came to relieve him.
All the snow he had dug out was taken to the kitchen and melted, to
prevent its taking up room.</p>
<p>The captain succeeded Altamont, and was followed by Johnson. In ten
hours-that is to say, about eight in the morning-the gallery was entirely
open.</p>
<p>[Illustration: ]</p>
<p>With the first streak of day, the Doctor was up to reconnoitre the
position of the enemy. The patient animals were still occupying their old
position, prowling up and down and growling. The house had already almost
disappeared beneath the piled-up blocks of ice, but even while he gazed a
council of war seemed being held, which evidently resulted in the
determination to alter the plan of action, for suddenly all the five bears
began vigorously to pull down these same heaped-up blocks.</p>
<p>"What are they about?" asked Hatteras, who was standing beside him.</p>
<p>"Well, they look to me to be bent on demolishing their own work, and
getting right down to us as fast as possible; but wait a bit, my
gentlemen, we'll demolish you first. However, we have not a minute to
lose."</p>
<p>Hastening away to the mine, he had the chamber where the powder was to be
lodged enlarged the whole breadth and height of the sloping rock against
which the wall leaned, till the upper part was about a foot thick, and had
to be propped up to prevent its falling in. A strong stake was fixed
firmly on the granite foundation, on the top of which the dead fox was
fastened. A rope was attached to the lower part of the stake, sufficiently
long to reach the powder stores.</p>
<p>"This is the bait," he said, pointing to the dead fox, "and here is the
mine," he added, rolling in a keg of powder containing about 100 lbs.</p>
<p>"But, Doctor," said Hatteras, "won't that blow us up too, as well as the
bears?"</p>
<p>"No, we shall be too far from the scene of explosion. Besides, our house
is solid, and we can soon repair the walls even if they should get a bit
shaken."</p>
<p>"And how do you propose to manage?" asked Altamont.</p>
<p>"See! By hauling in this rope we lower the post which props up the roof,
and make it give way, and bring up the dead fox to light, and I think you
will agree with me that the bears are so famished with their long fasting,
that they won't lose much time in rushing towards their unexpected meal.
Well, just at that very moment, I shall set fire to the mine, and blow up
both the guests and the meal."</p>
<p>"Capital! Capital!" shouted Johnson, who had been listening with intense
interest.</p>
<p>[Illustration: ]</p>
<p>Hatteras said nothing, for he had such absolute confidence in his friend
that he wanted no further explanation. But Altamont must know the why and
wherefore of everything.</p>
<p>"But Doctor," he said, "can you reckon on your match so exactly that you
can be quite sure it will fire the mine at the right moment?"</p>
<p>"I don't need to reckon at all; that's a difficulty easily got over."</p>
<p>"Then you have a match a hundred feet long?"</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>"You are simply going to lay a train of powder."</p>
<p>"No, that might miss fire."</p>
<p>"Well, there is no way then but for one of us to devote his life to the
others, and go and light the powder himself."</p>
<p>"I'm ready," said Johnson, eagerly, "ready and willing."</p>
<p>"Quite useless my brave fellow," replied the Doctor, holding out his hand.
"All our lives are precious, and they will be all spared, thank God!"</p>
<p>"Well, I give it up!" said the American. "I'll make no more guesses."</p>
<p>"I should like to know what is the good of learning physics," said the
Doctor, smiling, "if they can't help a man at a pinch like this. Haven't
we an electric battery, and long enough lines attached to it to serve our
purpose? We can fire our mine whenever we please in an instant, and
without the slightest danger."</p>
<p>"Hurrah!" exclaimed Johnson.</p>
<p>"Hurrah!" echoed the others, without heeding whether the enemy heard them
or not.</p>
<p>The Doctor's idea was immediately carried out, and the connecting lines
uncoiled and laid down from the house to the chamber of the mine, one end
of each remaining attached to the electric pile, and the other inserted
into the keg of powder.</p>
<p>By nine o'clock everything was ready. It was high time, for the bears were
furiously engaged in the work of demolition. Johnson was stationed in the
powder-magazine, in charge of the cord which held the bait.</p>
<p>"Now," said Clawbonny to his companions, "load your guns, in case our
assailants are not killed. Stand beside Johnson, and the moment the
explosion is over rush out."</p>
<p>[Illustration: ]</p>
<p>"All right," said Altamont.</p>
<p>"And now we have done all we can to help ourselves. So may Heaven help
us!"</p>
<p>Hatteras, Altamont, and Bell repaired to the powder-magazine, while the
Doctor remained alone beside the pile.</p>
<p>Soon he heard Johnson's voice in the distance calling out "Ready."</p>
<p>"All right," was the reply.</p>
<p>Johnson pulled his rope vigorously, and then rushed to the loop-hole to
see the effect. The thin shell of ice had given way, and the body of the
fox lay among the ruins. The bears were somewhat scared at first, but the
next minute had eagerly rushed to seize the booty.</p>
<p>"Fire!" called out Johnson, and at once the electric spark was sent along
the lines right into the keg of powder. A formidable explosion ensued; the
house was shaken as if by an earthquake, and the walls cracked asunder.
Hatteras, Altamont, and Bell hurried out with the guns, but they might
spare their shot, for four of the bears lay dead, and the fifth, half
roasted, though alive, was scampering away in terror as fast as his legs
could carry him.</p>
<p>"Hurrah! Three cheers for Clawbonny," they shouted and overwhelmed the
Doctor with plaudits and thanks.</p>
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