the forecastle, where
they waited quietly while the bear cautiously approached the ship,
making long tacks against the wind. A fresh breeze was blowing, and
the windmill going round at full speed; but this did not alarm him
at all; very likely it was this very thing he wanted to examine. At
last he reached the lane in front, when they both fired and he fell
down dead on the spot. It was nice to get fresh meat again. This was
the first bear we had shot this year, and of course we had roast bear
for dinner to-day. Regular winter with snow-storms.

"Wednesday, August 29th. A fresh wind; it rattles and pipes in the
rigging aloft. An enlivening change and no mistake! The snow drifts
as if it were midwinter. Fine August weather! But we are bearing north
again, and we have need to! Yesterday our latitude was 80 deg. 53.5'. This
evening I was standing in the hold at work on my new bamboo kayak,
which will be the very acme of lightness. Pettersen happened to come
down, and gave me a hand with some lashings that I was busy with. We
chatted a little about things in general; and he was of opinion
'that we had a good crib of it on board the Fram, because here we
had everything we wanted, and she was a devil of a ship--and any
other ship would have been crushed flat long ago.' But for all that
he would not be afraid, he said, to leave her, when he saw all the
contrivances, such as these new kayaks, we had been getting ready. He
was sure no former expedition had ever had such contrivances, or been
so equipped against all possible emergencies as we. But, after all,
he would prefer to return home on the Fram." Then we talked about
what we should do when we did get home.

"'Oh, for your part, no doubt you'll be off to the South Pole,'
he said.

"'And you?' I replied. 'Will you tuck up your sleeves and begin again
at the old work?'

"'Oh, very likely! but on my word I ought to have a week's holiday
first. After such a trip I should want it, before buckling to at the
sledge-hammer again.'"

CHAPTER VIII

SECOND AUTUMN IN THE ICE

So summer was over, and our second autumn and winter was beginning. But
we were now more inured to the trials of patience attendant on this
life, and time passed quickly. Besides, I myself was now taken up with
new plans and preparations. Allusion has several times been made to
the fact that we had, during the course of the summer, got everything
into readiness for the possibility of having