a hasty retreat; and, when once more under the
shelter of the hut, prepared again to stand on the defensive.

"All we could now do was to watch the bear closely. So long as the old
narwhal lasted, we felt that we were safe enough, even after he had
apparently satisfied himself with a good meal, and had gone away, as
seemed likely, to sleep. He would certainly, however, come back to the
narwhal again when he got hungry; but now, worse than ever, when he did
come back, there were two other bears with him, and all three of them
were making a meal off the carcass of the dead narwhal. These last two
were quite small ones,--the smaller not being larger than a big
Newfoundland dog.

"With this discovery all our newly found courage took rapid flight, and
we were overtaken with even greater alarm than before. That the narwhal
would soon all be gone seemed plain enough, with three bears feeding
upon it; and then, when this feeding was over, this first bear, knowing
where our storehouse was, and forgetting his fright, and having two
bears, and perhaps by that time even more, to help him, we were sure he
would soon come back again. It seemed as if a great crisis had now come
in our fortunes, and what to do we did not know, and what was to become
of us we could not imagine. We were in great trouble."

"I don't wonder," exclaimed William,--"the horrid brutes!"

"I should have been scared to death," cried Fred; while little Alice
thought it was too dreadful to think of; but, "The poor bears, how cold
and hungry they must have been!" said she.

CHAPTER XV.

Shows, Among Other Curious Matters, That Two Boys Are
Better Than One, and That Pluck Is a Good Thing,
Especially When Polar Bears Are Around.

The next record we have of the doings of the ancient mariner and his
little friends reads thus:--

"You will tell us to-day what you did with the bears,--won't you,
Captain Hardy?" inquired William.

"Well," replied the Captain, laughing in his free-and-easy way, like a
jolly old sailor as he was, taking his long pipe out of his mouth that
he might do it all the better, "I think it was pretty near being what
the bears did with us, my hearties! yes, that would be quite as near the
mark, I'm thinking."

"No matter, then," said William,--"no matter, Captain Hardy; we ain't
particular,--any way you like. I'll put the question t' other way,
then,--what did the bears do with you?"

The Captain was in great good-humor to-day,