n put my head from under the sail, he was still at work. I
was on my knees, and had got the gun to my shoulder, when he saw me. He
was fortunately on the other side of the boat; for no sooner did his eye
fall on me, than he began slowly to walk along the side, holding on by
the gunwale, evidently intending to get close to me. "My best chance is
to hit him in the eyes," I thought, "and blind him. If he once gets
hold of me, he'll give me a squeeze I shall not like."

Before he had moved many steps I fired full in his face. The report of
the gun, and the loud growl of rage and pain uttered by the brute,
instantly awakened my companions. They started to their feet, but had
some difficulty to understand what had happened. The bear, on being
wounded, nearly fell headlong into the boat; but, recovering himself, he
endeavoured to find his way round to the spot where he had seen me.

"A bear, a bear!" I sung out. "Get your lances ready and run him
through." Most fortunately I had hit the monster so directly in the
eyes, that he could not see his way, and this prevented him from rushing
directly on me; for though I might have leaped out of his way round the
back of the hut, he would in all probability have seized upon one of my
half-awake companions.

This momentary delay gave time to Andrew to spring to his feet, and to
draw out a lance from under the sail. He appeared at the entrance of
the hut, just as the bear, slightly recovering himself, was rushing
forward, with his mouth open and covered with foam, and a stream, which
I could see even in that light, trickling down his face. His paws were
stretched out, and in another instant he would have had me in his deadly
clutch, when Andrew dashed at him with his spear. The bear seized the
handle, and endeavoured to wrench it from his assailant; but the iron
had entered his breast, and, in his attempt to rush on, it pierced him
to the heart.

The rest of the party were by this time awake, and, armed with whatever
they could first seize, and seeing what had happened, they all set up a
shout of triumph, every one of us forgetting entirely for the moment the
very precarious position in which we were placed.

We had several reasons to be satisfied with having killed the bear. In
the first place, had he put his snout into our hut while we were all
asleep, he might have killed some of us; secondly, we had saved most of
our provisions by our discovering him; and what he h