s many a gentleman
who lives by his wits would have to confess, if he spoke the truth.
Well, I resolved to venture on, and soon got up near enough to see that
the bears were sitting as close as they could pack, in a large circle
round the real, veritable North Pole, and that those who were moving
were merely stragglers, who could not find room to squat down with the
rest. I was standing contemplating the strange scene, when an immensely
big fellow, catching sight of me, came waddling up on his hind legs, and
growling terrifically with anger. `This is inhospitable conduct, Mr
Bruin, let me observe,' I shouted out, but he did not attend to me. I
had my gun loaded in my hands, so, when he came within ten yards of me,
I fired, and hit him on the eye. Over he rolled as dead as mutton, so
it appeared, and I had just time to cut a steak out of his rump for
dinner, when another rushed towards me. I loaded calmly, fired, and
knocked him over, but this was a signal for fifty others to make a
charge at me. I felt that, ready for a fight as I was, I could not hope
to contend against such overwhelming numbers, so I did what any person,
however brave, situated as I was would have done--I took to my heels and
ran as hard as I could go. I never ran so fast in my life before, and
good reason I had to put my best leg forward, for, in the course of a
minute, there were a thousand bears at my heels, every one of them
licking their jaws with the thoughts of dining off me. I must own that
I did not like it. On I ran straight for my signal staff, never once
looking behind me, for I could hear the bears growling as they followed
full tilt; and so clearly are sounds conveyed over those vast expanses
of snow, that they seemed close at my heels.

"By the time I had run for fully ten hours without stopping, I began to
get rather out of breath, and almost to fear that I should not hold out
much longer, when to my great satisfaction the growling grew less and
less distinct, as the bears, dead beat, dropped off one after the other,
till at last, turning my head, I found that I was alone. I cannot
express how comfortable this made me feel, so I sat down for half an
hour to recover my breath, and to eat my dinner, which was a cold
instead of the hot one I expected to enjoy.

"When I got up again, what was my surprise to see my flagstaff in the
distance, not two miles ahead, and it was only then I discovered how
very fast I must have run, for