said the captain, in an approving tone.
"Nothing pleases folk so much as to find that they have been remembered
by you when far away. Moreover, I think you stand a good chance, for I
saw two wolves the other day when I was rambling about, but they were
out of range."

Chance or luck--whichever it was--did not bring a wolf within range that
day, but it brought what was more important and dangerous--namely, a
large brown bear. The animal was seated under a willow tree, with its
head on one side as if in meditation, when the men came upon it. An
intervening cliff had prevented the bear from hearing the footsteps of
the men, and both parties, being taken by surprise, stared at each other
for a moment in silence.

No word was spoken, but next instant the bear ran at them, and stood up
on its hind legs, according to bear-nature, to attack. At the same
moment both men discharged arrows at it with all their force. One arrow
stuck in the animal's throat, the other in his chest. But bears are
proverbially hard to kill, and no vital part had been reached. Dropping
their bows, the men turned and made for the nearest trees. They
separated in doing so, and the bear lost a moment or two in making up
its mind which to follow. Fortunately it decided in favour of Maikar.
Had it followed Arkal, it would have caught him, for the captain, not
being as agile as might be wished, missed his first spring up his tree,
and slid back to the bottom.

Maikar, on the other hand, went up like a squirrel. Now, the little
seaman had been told that some kinds of bears can climb while others
cannot. Remembering the fact, he glanced anxiously down, as he went up.
To his horror he saw that this bear could climb! and that his only
chance would be to climb so high, that the branches which would bear his
weight would not support the bear. It was a forlorn hope, but he
resolved to try it.

Arkal, in the meantime, had recovered breath and self-possession.
Seeing the danger of his comrade, he boldly dropped to the ground,
picked up his bow, ran under the other tree, and sent an arrow deep into
the bear's flank. With a savage growl, the animal looked round, saw the
captain getting ready a second arrow, and immediately began to descend.
This rather disconcerted Arkal, who discharged his arrow hastily and
missed.

Dropping his bow a second time he ran for dear life to his own tree and
scrambled up. But he need not have been in such haste, for al