which had fallen thundering down when the berg struck the shore.

"All is well, Claude," cried Marguerite. "It is but a berg which has
come to visit us in our loneliness. And what a troop of companions it
has brought us! The air is thick with feathered friends! Make haste and
get strong, dear," she added, as she re-entered the hut, "and to-morrow
you will be able to come out and look upon it. A fairer sight I never
beheld. Odin and Thor could not have had a grander palace."

"Sweet, that is like you to turn our terror into a jest," said Claude
smiling tenderly at her. "But hark!" and as he spoke a low, savage growl
reached their ears.

"Give me the arquebuse, quick!" cried Claude, and stretched out his hand
for the weapon.

But Marguerite had already seized it. She had learned to take aim and
fire as well as any man, and she stood with the gun firmly held in her
strong young arms, and pointed towards the door. For one breathless
moment--which seemed a year--they waited. The growl sounded nearer, and
a swift shuffling of clumsy feet told them that some ponderous animal
was approaching. The next instant the object of their dread appeared.

It was an animal such as they had never seen before, or heard of. A
she-bear, full six feet in length--gaunt and fierce. It had doubtless
been prowling about in its Greenland home in search of food, when it
found itself, and the cub which followed it, adrift on this vast berg.
The birds, the only other occupants of its habitation, were able to
elude it, and so it spent hungry weeks on its slow, southern journey.
Scarcely had the berg come in sight of the island when the starving
brute, followed by its cub, sprang into the ocean and swam for the
shore. As it prowled about in search of seals or fish, it had caught
sight of Marguerite. It scented food, and with a fierce growl came
shuffling with the speed of a galloping horse towards her.

As she now looked upon it her heart never flinched. She waited calmly
till it should be within sure range.

It was a beautiful creature, with a mantle of silvery white, tinged with
yellow. As it drew nearer, its long, strong neck, its flattened,
elongated head, and small ears and mouth gave it a cruel appearance,
while its tongue, lolling out, seemed to be lapping in anticipation the
blood of its victims. When it was but twenty yards away Marguerite's
arquebuse was raised, and with unflinching nerve she fired at the
advancing brute. The bullet st