146 THENORTHPOLE 



trified by a tense whisper from the ever sharp-sighted 

 Egingwah : 



" Nanooksoah I " 



He was pointing excitedly toward the center of 

 the fiord, and following the direction of his finger we 

 saw a cream-colored spot leisurely moving toward 

 the mouth of the fiord — a polar bear ! 



If there is anything that starts the blood lust in 

 an Eskimo's heart more wildly than the sight of a 

 polar bear, I have yet to discover it. Hardened as I 

 am to arctic hunting, I was thrilled myself. 



While I stood in front of the dogs with a whip in 

 each hand, to keep them from dashing away — for 

 the Eskimo dog knows the meaning of "nanooksoah" 

 as well as his master — the three men were throwing 

 things off the sledges as if they were crazy. 



When the sledges were empty, Ooblooyah's team 

 shot by me, with Ooblooyah at the up-standers. Eging- 

 wah came next, and I threw myself on his sledge as it 

 flew past. Behind us came Koolatoonah with the 

 third team. The man who coined the phrase "greased 

 lightning" must have ridden on an empty sledge be- 

 hind a team of Eskimo dogs on the scent of a polar 

 bear. 



The bear had heard us, and was making for the 

 opposite shore of the fiord with prodigious bounds. 

 I jumped to the up-standers of the flying sledge, 

 leaving Egingwah to throw himself on it and get his 

 breath, and away we went, wild with excitement, 

 across the snow-covered surface of the fiord. 



When we got to the middle the snow was deeper, 

 and the dogs could not go so fast, though they strained 



