CHAPTER XXI 



BEARS rOR A CHANGE 



SOON after taking our third whale, we saw 

 our first polar bears — two of them on a 

 narrow floe of ice. When the brig was 

 within fifty yards of them the mate got out his 

 rifle and began blazing away. His first shot 

 struck one of the bears in the hind leg. The 

 animal wheeled and snapped at the wound. 

 The second shot stretched it out dead. The 

 second bear was hit somewhere in the body and, 

 plunging into the sea, it struck out on a three- 

 mile swim for the main ice pack. It swam with 

 head and shoulders out, cleaving the water like 

 a high-power launch and leaving a creaming 

 wake behind. Moving so swiftly across the 

 brig's course, it made a difficult target. 



" I'm going down after that fellow," said Mr. 

 Winchester. 



230 



