CHAPTER XIV. 
POLAR BEARS. 
As IT was impossible to launch until the return of the 
tide, Pierre and Louis were given our rifles and sent off 
to try their fortunes. As they departed and left us 
lying in the shelter of a rock we sincerely wished them 
success. We had done our utmost and had failed; if 
they also should fail it was too apparent what must 
soon be the result. Two of the other men were sent off 
with shot-guns; then anxious hours of waiting followed. 
No shots were heard, but towards evening Pierre and — 
Louis, and afterwards the other men, could be seen 
returning in the distance. None of them appeared to 
be bringing any game, as we had hoped they might, and 
at the sight I confess my heart grew sick. As they 
came nearer, however, Louis, holding up something in 
his hand, exclaimed, “I got him.” It was the claw of 
a polar bear, and we soon learned with joy that, sure 
-enough, he had killed a bear, which he had unexpect- 
edly come upon at the edge of a lake while following 
the deer. 
The encounter had taken place about six miles 
inland, and Louis was alone at the time, his brother 
having gone off on a diverging track. The meeting was 
a mutual surprise, for the bear, which was lying on the 
