Chapter 45 Chapter 13 Landmines

As night fell, the lights began to dim in the oxygen-deprived living room. At eight o'clock, they made their final preparations.The gun was carefully loaded, and they made a hole in the vault of the igloo. A few minutes into the work, Bell was doing it expertly, when Johnson left the bedroom, where he had been watching, and walked briskly towards his companions. He looks worried. "What's the matter with you?" the captain asked him. "What's wrong with me? I'm fine!" The old sailor replied hesitantly. "But what's the matter?" said Altamon.

"Hush! Didn't you hear a strange sound?" "In which direction?" "There! There is movement in the walls of the room!" Bell stopped what he was doing; everyone was listening. A distant sound was clearly audible, as if from a side wall; evidently a hole in the ice. "Scratch the wall!" Johnson said. "No doubt," Altamon replied. "Bear?" Bell said. "Yes! A bear," said Altamon. "They have changed their strategy," said the old sailor again, "and they are no longer besieging us!" "Or they thought we were trapped!" said the American, furious.

"We're going to be attacked," Bell said. "Okay!" Hatteras replied, "let's fight." "Damn it!" cried Altamon. "I like it better! I'm sick of these invisible enemies! Let's see, we'll fight to the death!" "Yes," Johnson replied, "but without firing a gun, you can't shoot in such a tight space." "That's all! Take the ax! Take the knife!" The noise grew louder; they could distinctly hear the scratching of claws; the bear was already attacking where the wall met the snow-covered slope against the rock.

"The wall-digging beast," Johnson said, "is within six feet of us now." "You have a point, Johnson," replied the American, "but we have time to prepare for it!" With an ax in one hand and a knife in the other, the American stood on tiptoe with his right foot and leaned forward in an attacking stance.Hatteras and Bell imitated him, and Johnson readied his gun in case he needed it. The noise grew louder; the shattered ice crackled under the sharp grip of iron claws. In the end, only a thin layer separated the attacker from his opponents; suddenly, this thin layer split like a paper ring pulled by a clown, and a black, huge body appeared in the half-light. In a semi-dark room.

Altamon raised his hand with the knife and ax to strike. "Stop! For God's sake!" cried a very familiar voice. "Doctor! Doctor!" Johnson yelled. It was indeed the doctor, and he was huge, rolling into the middle of the room. "Greetings, my brave friends," he said, rising deftly to his feet. His companions were dumbfounded, but with amazement came joy, and every one wanted to embrace the venerable man; and Hatteras, greatly agitated, clasped him in his arms for a long time.The doctor returned him with a warm handshake. "Why, it's you, Mr. Crawburn!" said the bosun.

"It is I, my old Johnson, who worry more about your fate than you about mine." "But how did you know we were attacked by a herd of bears?" asked Altamon. "Our greatest fear is that you go back to God's stronghold, safe and unaware of the danger." "Oh! I saw everything;" replied the doctor, "you reminded me by shooting that I was near the wreck of the Perboise, I climbed a hill of ice, and I saw five bears Close behind you; oh, how much I feared for you! But at last your rolling down from the heights of the hills and the hesitancy of the beast temporarily reassured me; I approached, now crawling, now sliding between the icebergs; I came near the fort, and I saw these giant beasts at work, like huge beavers, they beat the snow and piled up the ice, in a word, they want you Buried alive. It's a good thing they didn't think to pile ice on top of the cone, or you'd be crushed to pieces."

"But," said Bell, "you're not safe, Mr. Crawburn, won't they give up the place and jump on you?" "They didn't expect that the Greenland dogs were released by Johnson and patrolled in close range many times. They could think of hunting these dogs. No, they thought they would get more delicious prey." "Thanks for the compliment," Altamon said with a smile. "Oh! nothing to be proud of. When I understood the bear's strategy, I decided to join you. It would be more prudent to wait until night; likewise, as soon as the first light of evening appeared, I would stealthily from the powder magazine. Slid down to the slope. I had my own ideas about the site, I wanted to dig a corridor. So I got to work, I chipped the ice with a snow knife, it's an amazing tool, for sure! I shoveled , digging, and working for three hours, I'm hungry and tired now, but it's finally here..."

"To share our fate?" said Altamon. "For us all to be saved, but give me a biscuit and a piece of meat, and I'm starving." Immediately the doctor was nibbling a sizable piece of corned beef with his white teeth.As he ate, he prepared himself to answer the barrage of questions that were thrown at him. "Save us!" Bell said again. "Undoubtedly," replied the doctor, flexing his muscles in order to answer. "Actually," Bell said, "now that Mr. Crowburne is here, we can go the same way." "Yes," replied the doctor, "let the wicked scum do what they please, and they will find our warehouses and plunder them!"

"Should be here," said Hatteras. "No doubt," answered the doctor, "to get rid of these beasts." "Is there a way?" Bell asked. "There is a sure way," replied the doctor. "As I said," cried Johnson, clapping his hands, "with Mr. Crowburne there is nothing hopeless. His scientist always has inventions in his pocket." "Oh! Oh! My poor pocket is poor, but a good look..." "Doctor," said Altamon, "the bear won't come in through the tunnel you dug?" "No, I've carefully sealed the opening; now we can go all the way from here to the powder magazine without arousing their suspicion."

"Good! Now tell us what you can do to rid us of these ridiculous visitors?" "A very simple solution, on which part of the work has already been done." "How to do it?" "You'll see. But I forgot I didn't come here alone." "What do you mean?" Johnson asked. "I introduce you to a partner." As the doctor said this, he took out a fox he had just killed from the passage. "A fox!" cried Bell. "My prey this morning," answered the doctor modestly, "you will see that it has never been easier to shoot a fox."

"But anyway, what is your plan?" asked Altamon. "I dare say," replied the doctor, "that a hundred pounds of powder could blow up all the bears together." Everyone looked at the doctor in surprise. "But what about gunpowder?" they asked him. "In the warehouse." "What about the warehouse?" "This tunnel leads there. I dug a 20-meter-long tunnel for no reason. I could have opened the railing closer to the room, but I have my own ideas." "In short, where did you dig this tunnel?" the American asked. "On the opposite side of the slope, that is, furthest from the houses, powder magazines, and storehouses." "But how can we attract all the bears?" "I am in charge," replied the doctor. "Enough talk, let's go. We have to dig a hundred feet of tunnel at night; it is a tiring job, but there are five of us, and we can do it well in turns. Bale gets to work and in the meantime, let's take a break." "My God!" cried Johnson, "the more I think about it, the better Mr. Crowburny's way is." "That's more reliable," replied the doctor. "Oh! Now that you say these are dead bears, I can already feel their skins on my shoulders." "Let's do it!" The doctor crawled into the dark tunnel, Bell following him; where the doctor passed, his companions felt relieved.Two miners came to the middle of the neatly arranged powder kegs in the powder magazine.The doctor gave Bell the necessary instructions, the carpenter dug the opposite wall on which the slope rested, and his companion returned to the igloo. Bell worked for an hour, digging a tunnel about 10 feet long that people could crawl through.After this time, Altamon came to replace him, and he did the same work in almost the same time; the snow from the tunnel was carried to the kitchen, and the doctor melted it over the fire, so that It takes up less space. The captain followed closely behind the American, then Johnson.After 10 hours, that is, around eight o'clock in the morning, the tunnel was fully opened. Just after the first rays of dawn the doctor watched the bears through the holes he had dug in the wall of the powder magazine. These patient beasts stayed where they were.They walked about there, howling loudly, but all in all they stood sentinel with exemplary fortitude; they prowled around the house, which was lost in the accumulation of ice.But the moment came when they seemed to be at the end of their patience, and the doctor saw them knock down their pile of ice in one fell swoop. "Good!" he said to the captain standing beside him. "What are they doing?" asked the latter. "I see they want to destroy their fortifications and come to us, but wait, they'll be destroyed first. Anyway, don't waste your time." The doctor slid down to the place where the tunnel had been dug, and there he had the room enlarged according to the width and height of the slope; on the heights there soon remained a layer of ice no more than a foot thick; It even needs to be propped up. A post, planted firmly on the granite floor, served as a post, and the dead fox was tied to the top, and a long rope was tied underneath, which ran from the storehouse to the powder magazine. The doctor's companions follow his instructions, but don't quite understand them. "This is bait," he said, pointing to the fox. At the foot of the pole he had placed a keg containing a hundred pounds of powder. "It's a land mine," he added. "But," asked Hatteras, "we're not going to blow ourselves up with the bear, are we?" "No! We are some distance from the explosion site; besides, our house is very strong. If it falls apart, we can rebuild it." "Very well," answered Altamon, "but what do you do now?" "Thus, by pulling the rope, we pulled down the pole supporting the ice above the mine, and suddenly the dead fox appeared outside the slope, and you will admit without much effort that these long-starved beasts would not hesitate to pounce on This unexpected prey." "That's right." "Okay, at this point, I light the mines, and I blow up the guests and the dinner all at once." "Good! Good!" cried Johnson, listening to the conversation with interest. Hatteras was so sure of his friend that no explanation was needed, and he waited.But Altamon wants to break the casserole and ask the end. "Doctor," he said, "how do you time the fuse to burn, and with what precision must it explode at the fixed time?" "That's easy," replied the doctor, "I don't count." "You have a hundred-foot fuse?" "No." "You just use a long powder trail?" "No, it's useless." "Need someone to dedicate himself to igniting the mine?" "If a man of conscience is needed," said Johnson eagerly, "I'll go." "It's no use, my venerable friend," answered the doctor, holding out his hand to the old bosun. "Our five lives are worth our lives, for God's sake." "Then," said the American, "I'll stop guessing." "Look," replied the doctor, laughing, "what's the use of studying physics if you can't get out of this situation?" "Ah!" Johnson beamed. "Physics!" "Yes! Don't we have a battery here and enough wire for our lighthouse?" "and then?" "Then we ignite the mines when we feel like it, just for a moment, without danger." "Hurrah!" Johnson yelled. "Hurrah!" repeated his companions, whether their enemies could hear them or not. Immediately, wires were running in the tunnel all the way from the room to where the mine was.One end wraps around the battery and the other protrudes into the center of the keg with a small gap in between. At nine o'clock in the morning, everything was ready.The time has come and the bear is on the verge of insane destruction. The doctor decided it was time.Johnson, who was in charge of firing at the rope attached to the pole in the powder magazine, took his position. "Now," said the doctor to his companion, "get your weapons ready, in case the besiegers are not killed all at once; stand beside Johnson, and run outside as soon as the blast is over." "Agreed," the American replied. "Now, we have done everything a human being can do! We will be helped! Let God help us!" Hatteras, Altamon, and Bell came to the powder magazine.The doctor was alone next to the battery. Soon, he heard Johnson's voice in the distance: "Notice!" "Everything is fine!" he replied. Johnson fired a sharp shot at the rope, which flew toward him with the pole, and then ran to the loophole to look out. The surface of the slope has sunk.A dead fox appears on top of the crushed ice.The bears startled at first, then immediately huddled together and pounced on their new prey. "Fire!" Johnson yelled. Immediately the doctor switched on the current between the wires; there was a huge explosion, the house shook like an earthquake, and the walls cracked.Hatteras, Altamon, and Bell rushed outside the powder magazine, ready to fire. But their weapons were useless, four out of five bears were blown off, fragments were everywhere, unrecognizable, mutilated, charred, and the last one was half-baked and sprinted away up. "Ulla! Ulla! Ulla!" cried Crawford's companions, who flung himself into their arms, laughing.