332 FARTHEST NORTH 



" An examination on board showed that the hook of 

 ' Svarten's ' leash was pulled out quite straight; ' Gam- 

 melen's ' was broken through ; but the third dog's was 

 only wrenched a little ; it hardly looked a^ if the bear 

 had done it. I had a slight hope that this dog might 

 still be in life, but, though we searched well, we could 

 not find it. 



" It was altogether a deplorable story. To think that 

 we should have let a bear scramble on board like this, 

 and should have lost three dogs at once! Our dogs are 

 dwindling down ; we have only 26 now. That was a 

 wily demon of a bear, to be such a little one. He had 

 crawled on board by the gangway, shoved away a box 

 that was standing in front of it, taken the dog that stood 

 nearest, and gone off with it. When he had satisfied the 

 first pangs of his hunger, he had come back and fetched 

 No. 2, and, if he had been allowed, he would have con- 

 tinued the performance until the deck was cleared of 

 dogs. Then he would probably have come bumping 

 down-stairs 'and beckoned with cold hand' in at the gal- 

 ley door to Juell. It must have been a pleasant feeling 

 for ' Svarten ' to stand there in the dark and see the bear 

 come creeping in upon him. 



" When I went below after this bear affair, Juell said 

 as I passed the galley door, 'You'll see that "Kvik" will 

 have her pups to-day ; for it's always the way here on 

 board, that things happen together.' And, sure enough, 

 when we were sitting in the saloon in the evening, Mog- 



