Part 30 (1/2)

It was ier to doubt the proximity of the coast In twenty-four hours, probably, the bold navigators e as it was, now that they were so near the goal of their voyage, no one showed the joy which ht have been expected Eachwhat sort of place this Pole h it was evening, they were all flying towards the south with outspread wings Was it, then, so inhospitable, that not so an could find a shelter? The fish, too, even the large cetacea, were hastening away through the transparent waters What

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could cause this feeling either of repulsion or terror?

At last sleep overca Hatteras to keep watch

He took the heled losing precious time; but the slow motion of the vessel rocked him into a state of such irresistible somnolence that, in spite of himself, he was soon, like his coan to dreaht back all the scenes of his past life He dreamt of his shi+p, the Forward, and of the traitors that had burnt it Again he felt all the agonies of disappointot his actual situation Then the scene changed, and he saw hi the Union Jack!

While memory and fancy were thus busied, an enorun to darken sea and sky A hurricane was at hand The first blast of the tempest roused the captain and his companions, and they were on their feet in an instant, ready to meet it The sea had risen tre violently up and down on the billows Hatteras took the helain, and kept a firm hold of it, while Johnson and Bell baled out the water which was constantly dashi+ng over the shi+p

It was a difficultmade it impossible to see ht well seeainst further approach to the Pole; but it needed but a glance at their resolute faces to know that they would neither yield to winds nor waves, but go right on to the end

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For a whole day the struggle lasted, death threatening the, just as the fury of the waves seehest pitch, there came a sudden calm The as stilled as if lass

Then ca, without dispersing, beca in a zone of electric light Mast, sail, and rigging appeared pencilled in black against the phosphorescent sky ondrous distinctness The low

”The volcano!” exclaimed Hatteras

”Is it possible?” said Bell

”No, no!” replied Clawbonny ”We should be suffocated with its flaested Altamont

”Not that much even, for then we must be near land, and in that case we should hear the noise of the eruption”

”What is it, then?” asked the captain

”It is a cosmical phenoo on, we shall soon get out of our luain”

”Well, let's go on, coht Gradually the fog began to lose its light, and then its transparency, and the howling as heard not far off A few ht in a violent squall, and swept back into the cyclone

But the hurricane had fortunately turned a point towards the south, and left the vessel free to run before the wind straight towards the Pole There was i at frenzied speed, and any sudden collision with rock or iceberg must have inevitably dashed her to pieces

But not a man on board counselled prudence They were intoxicated with the danger, and no speed could be quick enough to satisfy their longing ian evidently to near the coast Strange sy suddenly rent like a curtain torn by the wind; and for an instant, like a flash of lightning, an immense column of flame was seen on the horizon