150 FROM EDINBURGH TO THE ANTARCTIC 
the waur. Ay, but it's fac' I'm tellin' ye. 'Twas in 
Disco Bay, the year the Montrose gaed doon. We warna 
sae far frae the same berth oorsels forbye. Ae nicht Tod 
and me was danderin' roon' the ship. We were fast grippit 
i' the flaw, ye ken, when what should we licht upon but a 
great muckle bear, raxin' hersel' i' the bield o' a hummock. 
Up went Wullie's gun, an' he let flee, straicht intill her 
lug. Ay, and would ye believe it, she jist gied a bit 
glint ower her shouther an' gaed on scartin' hersel', — never 
let on she heeded ava\ Man, but Wullie was fashed. 
He was aye ane o' they thochtless, venturesome chiels, so 
what would he dae but tak a' the caertritches I had in 
ma pooch an' gang richt up till the bear — he wadna be 
furthir frae her than you an' me — an' pit in ane bullit 
after anither — sax-and-twenty coontin' the first. Maybe 
ye wadna believe it, but, jist as fast as Wullie pit them in, 
the auld b spittit them a' oot agin ! 
' Hae ye ony mair caertritches?' quo' he, gey stunnert like. 
* Twa,' says I. An' I hands them ower till him — twa 
auld yins I mindit i' ma waistkit pooch, ane wi' a hollow 
tappit bullit, tither a solid yin. 
' Weel, the bear was haudin' awa' a wee thing, whiles 
girning ower her shouther, an' says I, Wull, ye '11 no shoot 
the noo ; it 's nae manner of gude ava'. 'Twas jist tempt- 
ing providence; for they 're gey sensiteeve i' the hinner- 
ends they beasties, ye ken. 
'Ay wull I,' says he, 'it'll gar her jump onyway.' 
Man, he was wud ! Weel, he lets flee wi' the hollow 
tappit bullit, and he micht as weel hae fired intill a peat 
hag, for a' the bear minded. It jist gied a bit wallup, and 
