305 



of waves in the ice caverns, came to his sen- 

 sitive ears and made him steal out instantly 

 to investigate. MafWOC* Of 



Down on a shelf of ice, on the seaward "IC ICCpfflgS 



side of the great berg, two bull seals had 

 floundered out, fat and heavy with food, to 

 sleep and bask in the sun, which was just 

 then rising. A glance told the bear that the 

 big seals had chosen the spot well, where no 

 danger could approach save from the open 

 sea out of which they had just come. Of 

 the berg itself they had no fear whatever ; 

 for it rose behind them a hundred feet in a 

 sharp incline to where a score of glistening 

 spires and minarets began, on which the sea- 

 birds were resting. So they stretched their 

 fat bulks comfortably on the narrow shelf of 

 ice, watching the open sea, blinking sleepily 

 in the sunshine. 



Slowly, cautiously, Matwock circled the 

 berg, creeping upward along a great crevice 

 to reach another shelf over the basking seals. 

 His great feet were padded thickly with fur, 

 which clung to the ice like wool ; and where 

 the ascent was most ticklish the muscles of 



