THE WINTER NIGHT 331 



" ' Scream ! I screamed with all my might.' 

 " And apparently this was true, for he was quite hoarse. 

 " ' But where was Mogstad all this time ?' 

 " ' Well, you see, he had reached the ship long be- 

 fore me, but he never thought of running down and 

 giving the alarm, but takes his gun from the round- 

 house wall and thinks he'll manage all right alone ; but 

 his gun wouldn't go off, and the bear would have had 

 time to eat me up before his nose.' 



" We were now near the ship, and Mogstad, who had 

 heard the last part of the story from the deck, cor- # 

 rected it in so far that he had just reached the sfanof- 

 way when Peter began to roar. He jumped up and fell 

 back three times before he got on board, and had no 

 time to do anything then but seize his gun and go to 

 Peter's assistance. 



" When the bear left Peter and rushed after the 

 dogs he soon had the whole pack about him again. 

 Now he would make a spring and get one below him ; 

 but then all the rest would set upon him and jump 

 on his back, so that he had to turn to defend him- 

 self. Then he would spring upon another dog, and 

 the whole pack would be on him again. And so the 

 dance went on, backward and forward over the ice, 

 until they were once more close to the ship. A dog 

 stood there, below the gangway, wanting to get on 

 board ; the bear made a spring on it, and it was there, 

 by the ship's side, that the villain met his fate. 



