9 The ice breaks

Chapter 9 The ice breaks "I will pursue it to the ends of the earth," repeated Victor to the entranced captain, "and so here I am." His voice faded away, and his head sagged on the pillow. He was at the end of his strength. Captain Walton got up and went out, closing the door of the cabin behind him. The ship was still imprisoned by ice, and the freezing air struck a chill through his body, though weak sunlight was starting to warm the air a little.

Walton had spent the last few days listening to Victor's story and watching him drift closer to death. "Can it be true?" he wondered. "That strange figure in the distance... was that his monster?" One thing was certain- Victor wasn't going to make it. He was just too weak. The captain felt sorry for him. From what Victor had said, he had acted stupidly, but not out of wickedness. He had just wanted to make great discoveries. "Is that so different from me and my ambition to discover the Pole?" Walton wondered. "And will we ever get there?" As he stood lost in thought, the mountains of ice around the ship began to shift. Then, with a thunderous roar, splits and cracks appeared. The ship would soon be free. The sailors shouted for joy. But over the noise, Walton could hear something else. A voice was coming from the cabin -and it wasn't Victor's.

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Walton burst in to find the window open and an ugly creature bent over the bed. It had a hideous face and its skin was greenish and wrinkled, like a corpse. The captain drew a sharp breath. The story was true. "I came to ask his forgiveness," wailed the monster, its face twisted with grief. "But he was already dead."

Walton looked at the lifeless body on the bed. "Perhaps it's better this way," he thought. "He had so many painful memories." A sob from the monster made Walton look up again. "But you wanted to kill him," he exclaimed. "Villain! You're not crying because he's dead, but because he's beyond your reach."

"That may be how it looks, but it's not true," replied the monster. "I don't expect you to understand! Hate has ruined me and my dreams. My last victim lies before me. My crimes destroyed him, but they didn't satisfy me. I wanted to be good. I longed for love and friendship, but I knew only hatred and abuse."