idge that had refused to carry him
before; though, indeed, over it was the only direction he could have
taken. Had he attempted to run to the right or left, his course must
have been up-hill; and the bear would have been certain to overhaul him
in a couple of leaps. After all, he had taken the proper direction;
and, as it proved in the end, his breaking through was the most
fortunate accident that could possibly have happened to him. Had it not
chanced so, he would, in all probability, have fallen into the clutches
of the bear, and been torn to shreds by the infuriated animal.

Well, on touching bottom, he felt the water among his feet, and just
then remembered how it had been before. He remembered the hollow
archway under the snow, and, seeing the bear above, and in the act of
being precipitated on top of him, he suddenly ducked his head, and
pushed himself into the tunnel. He could feel the bear falling upon him
behind, and the weight of the animal's body, as it was precipitated
downwards, forced him still further under the snow-bridge.

Once in, he continued on down the stream, working both with head and
arms, and clearing a space that would allow his body to pass. The soft
snow was easily pressed out of the way; and, after going as far as he
deemed necessary, he turned to the right, and worked his way upward to
the surface.

It was while he was thus engaged that Alexis had been squaring accounts
with the bear. The fierce creature had not followed Pouchskin under the
snow. In all probability, his sudden "souse" into the water had
astonished Bruin himself;--from that moment all his thoughts were to
provide for his own safety, and, with this intention, he was
endeavouring to get back to the surface of the snowdrift, when Alexis
first caught sight of his snout.

At the moment that Alexis fired the final shot, or just a little after
it, Pouchskin had popped up his head through the congealed crust of the
snow, and elicited from Ivan those peals of laughter that had so much
astonished his brother. Pouchskin, however, had not come unscathed out
of the "scrimmage." On examining the old guardsman, it was found that
the bear had clawed him severely; and a piece of skin, of several inches
square was peeled from his left shoulder. The flesh, too, was rather
badly lacerated.

Alexis was not without some surgical skill; and, without suffering a
moment to be lost, he dressed the wound in the best manner possible
un