AN AMERICAN'S ADVENTURES. 301 



tinctly a growl veiy like that of a flog aroused from a 

 nap. 



" ' It 's a bear/ said the doctor, calmly. ' If you want 

 to add to your store of skins, it is a good opportunity." 



'^ '■ Don't you suppose he will attack us '.' " 



" ' Not unless you fire a gun in his ear. He sleeps, and 

 sleeps soundly, and we have but to kill him in his dreams 

 in good Homeric style.' 



" ' That seems rather cowardly, but we do need skins 

 and meat, so perhaps the means are justified.' 



" The bear lay rolled in a ball, and covered with a 

 blanket of snow, so that it was hard to distinguish his 

 outline. As a sudden noise mis-ht awaken him, we had 

 to be careful in approaching him, to do so silently ; but 

 we held him sure. Standing one on either side of his 

 head, at a signal we buried our axes in his skull, and 

 killed him instantly, thereby obtaining a most welcome 

 addition to our daily bill of fare, as well as securing 

 another wrap against the cold. He was seven feet long, 

 which is a size to which no l3rown bear attains ; and his 

 size and weight were more those of a fatted ox than a 

 wild animal. The color of his hair was slightly yellow, 

 rather than white, and it was long, thick, and delight- 

 fully soft. The men were so rejoiced at the feast of meat 

 that followed this lucky find, that they spent all their 

 time looking for polar bears, but without any success. 



" As the days began to grow longer, however, and the 

 ice to break up a bit, we had better luck. One of the 



