426 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



rowed and sculled unconcernedly a mile or more, al- 

 though at no time more than five hundred yards from 

 the ship in a straight line. At this point I reached a 

 long narrow lead which obliged me to scull, and facing 

 aft, to use both hands, I, of course, saw nothing ahead. 

 Thinking after a time that I must be near a bend I 

 looked over my shoulder, and to my astonishment 

 found my eyes resting on a bear not quite a hundred 

 feet off, and who, judging by his looks, was quite as 

 astonished as 1 was. The relative situation was worthy 

 of a photograph. Here was a predicament. To run was 

 out of the question for me, for it would have been too 

 uneven a match had the road to the ship been a level 

 and clear one instead of across alternate ice and water, 

 which of course made it worse. There was no water be- 

 tween me and the bear, but I was jammed in a narrow 

 lead and he stood looking at me. The water would 

 have made no difference to him, though it would have 

 to me. Looking a bear out of countenance is ver}^ ro- 

 mantic but not practicable, and I found the bear recov- 

 ering from his astonishment and advancing toward me. 

 I then yelled, " On board ship there ! a bear ! a bear ! " 

 but got no answer. Bruin by this time was about fifty 

 feet from me, so close that I could see distinctly where 

 the short hair ended at the edge of his beautiful black 

 nose. Hearing my shout he stopped, and looked at me 

 wonderingly. I again shouted, " On board ship there ! " 

 and somebody answered, " Halloa." Mentally calculat- 

 ing my chances I again yelled, " A bear ! a bear ! " and 

 at the same time I raised an oar to fend him off should 

 Bruin come to the boat. He stood still, however, and 

 looked as if he could not quite make me out. Just 

 then a string of men and dogs rushing around the 

 stern attracted his attention, and he gazed at them 



