A CHROMATIC BEAR HUNT 



We sought the middle of the river where the 

 current was swiftest, and leaned against our 

 sweeps. Away we shot directly towards that 

 towering face of ice until the river boiled 

 against it; then we swung at right angles 

 and found the wall overhanging us. As we 

 neared the first turn the glacier split, at which 

 our hair rose and we disjointed our necks, but 

 the piece did not fall, and an instant later we 

 were headed down the three-mile chute, wal- 

 lowing in waves which drenched us and 

 wrenched at our oar blades. 



I never knew until that day that a man can 

 hold his breath for ten minutes. Joe swore all 

 the way, talking to the glacier as if it were a 

 near relative on his wife's side. 



"Look yonder!" he said, suddenly. 



Ahead of us a two-hundred-foot slab seemed 

 almost severed from the mass behind. It 

 overhung and seemed to be tottering. 



"Just give us two minutes more, you 



," Joe shouted, profanely, "then you can 



fall and be ." 



It gave us one minute two minutes 

 thirty seconds and we were past, only to find 

 ourselves rushing towards other places which 

 seemed equally perilous. It was very excit- 



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