Chapter 49 Chapter Seventeen: Altamon's Revenge

The next day the doctor and his two companions awoke after the most peaceful night.A slight chill hit them as morning approached, but they were wrapped up and fell asleep under the protection of the kind animals. The weather was fine, and they decided to spend the day surveying the area, looking for musk oxen.It was time for Altamon to catch something and decide that even if the cattle were the most innocent animals in the world, he had a right to kill them.For their flesh, though musky, is a delicious food, and the hunters are glad to bring a few pieces of fresh, nutritious meat to God's fortress.

In the first few hours of the morning, there is nothing special about traveling.The face of the Northeast began to change; some undulations and uneven hills indicated the arrival of a new region.Although the land of New America does not form a continent, it is at least a large island; in addition, it is not related to the investigation of this area. Duck ran far away, and immediately stopped in front of the footprints belonging to the herd of musk oxen; he ran ahead quickly, and soon disappeared before the hunters' eyes. The latter were guided by his unmistakable bark, the eager bark of the faithful dog telling them that he had spotted their long-coveted object.

They strode forward, and after walking for an hour and a half, they came to two huge and truly terrifying animals; A fuzzy layer of pink moss on the snow-free ground.They are easily recognized by the doctor by their medium stature, their large, attached horns, their curious lack of snouts, their sheep-like hooked foreheads, and their very short tails; Scientists have given them the name "musk ox," a word that evokes two characteristics of the animal.A thick long coat, a brown fine silk makes up their fur. Seeing the hunters, the two beasts ran away in a hurry, and the hunters chased them desperately.

But it was too difficult for these men who were out of breath after running for half an hour to overtake them, and Hatteras and his companions stopped. "Damn it!" said Altamon. "Damn it," replied the doctor, who had just caught his breath. "These scum are yours from America, and they don't seem to have a good impression of your fellow countrymen." "That proves we are good hunters," Altamon replied. But when the musk oxen saw no one was chasing them, they stopped and looked startled.Evidently they could no longer be allowed to run away, but they should be fenced in. The plateau on which they were located was just favorable for this, and the hunters let Duck harass the animals, and they descended into the nearby valleys in order to circumvent the plateau.Altamon and the doctor hid behind the ledge of the rock, while Hatteras unexpectedly climbed the opposite ledge and drove the prey towards them.

After half an hour, everyone took their places. "You have no objection to meeting these quadrupeds this time with bullets?" said Altamon. "No, it's a good show," answered the doctor, who, despite his gentle nature, was a hunter at heart. Thus were they talking, when they saw the musk oxen shaking, with Duck at their feet; and farther off, Hatteras roaring.Drive them over to the doctor and the Americans, and they're quick on this wonderful prey. Immediately the musk oxen stopped, less frightened at the sight of an enemy, and walked towards Hatteras, who waited fearlessly for them, lying on the ground closest to the two quadrupeds and fired , the bullet landed right on the forehead of the animal without stopping it.Hatteras' second shot did nothing but drive the animals mad, and they sprang at the unarmed hunter, throwing him instantly to the ground.

"He's dead!" cried the doctor. As Crowburne uttered these desperate words, Altamon stepped forward to save Hatteras; then he paused, struggling with himself and his prejudices. "No!" he cried, "this is cowardice!" He and Crowburne rushed to the battlefield. He only hesitated for half a second. The Doctor knew what was going on in the American mind, and if Hatteras had known it, he would rather die than let his opponents interfere.But he barely had time to realize it, for Altamon was already at his side. Hatteras fell to the ground, trying to parry the tentacles and feet of the two animals; but he could not sustain this struggle for long.

He was about to be crushed to pieces by the inevitable when there were two shots and Hatteras felt the bullets graze his scalp. "Brave!" cried Altamon, throwing the unloaded gun far away, and charging at the two frenzied animals. One of the cows, struck in the heart, fell as though struck by lightning; the other, raged to the brim, was about to burst through the belly of the unfortunate captain, when Altamon appeared before him, and thrust a snow-knife into his hand. In its open chin, a hatchet in one hand split its head with force. It was all done with dizzying speed, and a bolt of lightning seemed to light up the whole scene.

The second ox fell to its knees and died. "Ulla! Ulla!" cried Crawford. Hatteras was saved. The person he hates the most in the world has saved his life!What is he thinking in his heart at this moment?What will he do if he can't control it? This is a psychic secret of which no analysis will help. At any rate, Hatteras walked up to his adversary without hesitation, and said in a solemn voice: "You saved my life, Altamon." "You once saved my life," replied the American. They were silent for a moment, and then Altamon added: "We're done, Haderas."

"No, Altamon," replied the captain, "I did not know who you were when the doctor pulled you out of your icy grave, but you saved me at the moment of death and you know who I am." "Oh, you are my kind," replied Altamon, "anyway, an American is not a coward!" "No, but," cried the doctor, "it is a man, a man like you, Hatteras!" "Like me, he shares our honor!" "The honor of going to the North Pole!" said Altamon. "Yes!" said the captain proudly. "I've figured it out!" cried the American. "You've got such a plan! How dare you go to this inaccessible place! Ah! It's a wonderful idea! I tell you, it's not bad!"

"But you," asked Hatteras quickly, "wouldn't you agree to sail to the North Pole?" Altamon looked a little hesitant, not knowing how to answer. "What?" said the doctor. "Why, no!" the American shouted. "Authenticity is more important than pride! No, I don't have the big idea that drove you here. I want to lead my ship to find the Northwest Passage. That's all I have in mind." "Altamon," Hatteras held out his hand to the American, "be our honored partner and join us in discovering the North Pole!" The two held honest and honest hands tightly and warmly.

When they turned to the doctor, the latter was in tears. "Ah, my friends," he murmured, wiping his eyes, "my heart is filled with the joy you give! Ah! my dear fellows, you united for common success and sacrificed this damned national question! You consider England and America insignificant in all this, and that close sympathy unites you against the perils of our voyage! If it reaches the North Pole, it doesn't matter who discovers it! Why demean each other, so America A man or an Englishman is proud, he should be proud of being a man!" The good doctor embraced the reconciled enemy, and he could not restrain his joy; and the two new friends felt closer by the friendship bestowed upon them by this venerable man.Croubney, unable to restrain himself, spoke of the vanity of rivalry, the madness of rivalry, and the necessity of the rapprochement of men far from their native land.His words, his tears, his touch, all came from the depths of his heart. But after he embraced Hatteras and Altamon for the twentieth time, he finally calmed down. "Now," he said, "work, work! Since I'm nothing good as a hunter, use my other talents!" He began skinning the cow, which he called "the cow of reconciliation," but he did it with such skill that he looked like a surgeon carefully dissecting a dead body. His two companions looked at him with a smile.In a few minutes the skilled doctor removed more than a hundred pounds of delicious meat from the animal, which he divided into three parts, each with a part, and started on his way back to God's fortress. At 10 o'clock in the evening, the hunters walked in the oblique sunlight and arrived at the doctor's house. Johnson and Bell had prepared a sumptuous dinner for them. But before taking his seat, the Doctor exclaimed in a triumphant tone, pointing to the two companions who were hunting together: "My old Johnson, I brought an Englishman and an American once, didn't I?" "Yes, Mr. Crawburn," answered the bosun. "Okay, I've brought two brothers now." The sailors happily stretched out their hands to Altamon, and the doctor told them what the American captain had done for the English captain, and that the five happiest men lived in the igloo that night.