AN ARCTIC BEAR HUNT 



It seemed that for hours I dragged myself over the ice 

 and snow, trembling through fear that the tracks might 

 disappear; then my strength left me and I knew that I 

 must return to the camp. What use to come upon the 

 bear when I could not raise my gun, or must lie down 

 with no one to wake me when the two hours had passed? 



It was late in the afternoon when I got back to camp 

 and that time I had another answer to the questioning 

 looks. I had just gone over, for the tenth time, my story 

 of having discovered the tracks, when one of the men 

 exclaimed suddenly: 



" Look! there is Brainard coming down Cemetery Ridge; 

 I didn't know it was in any of us to run so fast." 



Sure enough, there was Brainard, who had gone to the 

 shrimping grounds, coming down the ridge as fast as his 

 weak legs would carry him; he fell once and rolled over 

 on the ice, but was up again and began shouting to us. 

 His voice was so weak we could not catch his words, and 

 when he reached the camp he was utterly exhausted. 



"What is it, Sergeant? What have you seen?" asked 

 Lieutenant Greely. 



"Bear! bear!" answered Brainard in a choking voice, 

 and made a feeble effort to rise. I was bending over him 

 by this time with my rifle already in my hand. 



" Where, Sergeant; where is the bear? " I cried, my nerves 

 tingling and my body trembling with excitement. 



"There!" answered Brainard, and he pointed to the 

 ridge. " He was close behind me ; he was following." 



I was off toward the ridge in an instant. I had tracked 

 the bear during the greater part of the afternoon but with- 

 out success; now Bruin was walking right into camp and 

 I had no idea of neglecting so glorious an opportunity. 



From the top of the ridge I could see nothing of the 

 bear. He had evidently been further behind than Brainard 

 thought and had not followed him to camp. He was some- 

 where out there on the glittering ice, perhaps hesitating 

 whether to examine us more closely, perhaps loping off 

 for new fields and forever beyond our reach. 



I hastened down to the camp to find that some of the 

 men, the weakest of the party, were for arming themselves 

 and spreading over the icefield and among the icebergs. 



105 



