human
Hatteras, do you believe I'm your friend?
gpt
Most certainly I do, replied the captain, earnestly;
human
And if I give you a piece of advice without your asking, will you consider my motive is perfectly disinterested?
gpt
Yes, for I know you have never been actuated by self-interest. But what are you driving at?
human
Wait, Hatteras, I have one thing more to ask. Do you look on me as a true-hearted Englishman like yourself, anxious for his country's glory?
gpt
I do.
human
You desire to reach the North Pole, the Doctor went on;
gpt
Well, and have I not sacrificed everything for it?
human
No, Hatteras, you have not sacrificed your personal antipathies. Even at this very moment I know you are in the mood to refuse the indispensable conditions of reaching the pole.
gpt
Ah! it is the boat you want to talk about, and that man----
human
Hatteras, let us discuss the question calmly, and examine the case on all sides. The coast on which we find ourselves at present may terminate abruptly; we have no proof that it stretches right away to the pole; indeed, if your present information prove correct, we ought to come to an open sea during the summer months. Well, supposing we reach this Arctic Ocean and find it free from ice and easy to navigate, what shall we do if we have no ship?
gpt
Tell me, now, would you like to find yourself only a few miles from the pole and not be able to get to it?
human
Besides, continued the Doctor,
gpt
No, continued Clawbonny;
human
Yes, Doctor, yes, replied the captain.
gpt
It is this American I detest; I hate him with a thorough English hatred. Fate has thrown him in my path.
human
To save you!
gpt
To ruin me. He seems to defy me, and speaks as if he were lord and master. He thinks he has my destiny in his hands, and knows all my projects. Didn't we see the man in his true colours when we were giving names to the different coasts? Has he ever avowed his object in coming so far north? You will never get out of my head that this man is not the leader of some expedition sent out by the American government.
human
Well, Hatteras, suppose it is so, does it follow that this expedition is to search for the North Pole? May it not be to find the North-West Passage? But anyway, Altamont is in complete ignorance of our object, for neither Johnson, nor Bell, nor myself, have ever breathed a word to him about it, and I am sure you have not.
gpt
Well, let him always remain so.
human
He must be told in the end, for we can't leave him here alone.
gpt
Why not? Can't he stay here in Fort Providence?
human
He would never consent to that, Hatteras; and, moreover, to leave a man in that way, and not know whether we might find him safe when we came back, would be worse than imprudent: it would be inhuman. Altamont will come with us; he must come. But we need not disclose our projects; let us tell him nothing, but simply build a sloop for the ostensible purpose of making a survey of the coast.
gpt
And suppose the man won't allow his ship to be cut up?
human
In that case, you must take the law in your own hands, and build a vessel in spite of him.
gpt
I wish to goodness he would refuse, then!
human
He must be asked before he can refuse. I'll undertake the asking,