OH, SHOOT! 



always ran out of gasoline and had to be 

 towed in. 



It was late in June now, and the bears had be- 

 gun to rub that is, to lose their winter coats 

 so one morning we lashed our paraphernalia 

 into the boat and said good-by to our hosts, 

 the engineers. Below us Childs Glacier was 

 unusually active, because of the rising waters, 

 and we could hear the bergs dropping at 

 frequent intervals. 



"If she breaks behind you, just run for it 

 and try to keep ahead of the wave," advised 

 the engineers. ' ' If she breaks ahead of you ' ' 

 There was a difference of opinion, some holding 

 that it were better to swing toward the oppo- 

 site bank and chance the surf, others claiming 

 that such a course was madness and that a 

 boat, on the contrary, might live if headed 

 directly into the comber, provided, of course, 

 that the backlash did not suck it under the 

 glacier itself. 



"We'll walk down to the lower bend and see 

 if you come out," they said, and, allowing them 

 an hour to cross the moraine, the running 

 time by water for that three miles being ten 

 minutes, we removed our coats, kicked off our 

 boots, and shoved out. 



102 



