--without
suffering, without regret--eternal in itself. Here in the great night
thou standest in all thy naked pettiness, face to face with nature;
and thou sittest devoutly at the feet of eternity, intently listening;
and thou knowest God the all-ruling, the centre of the universe. All
the riddles of life seem to grow clear to thee, and thou laughest
at thyself that thou couldst be consumed by brooding, it is all so
little, so unutterably little.... 'Whoso sees Jehovah dies.'

"Sunday, November 4th. At noon I had gone out on a snow-shoe
expedition, and had taken some of the dogs with me. Presently I noticed
that those that had been left behind at the ship began to bark. Those
with me pricked up their ears, and several of them started off back,
with 'Ulenka' at their head. Most of them soon stopped, listening and
looking behind them to see if I were following. I wondered for a little
while whether it could be a bear, and then continued on my way; but
at length I could stand it no longer, and set off homeward, with the
dogs dashing wildly on in front. On approaching the ship I saw some of
the men setting off with guns; they were Sverdrup, Johansen, Mogstad,
and Henriksen. They had got a good start of me in the direction in
which the dogs were barking before I, too, got hold of a gun and set
off after them. All at once I saw through the darkness the flash of
a volley from those in front, followed by another shot; then several
more, until at last it sounded like regular platoon firing. What the
deuce could it be? They were standing on the same spot, and kept firing
incessantly. Why on earth did they not advance nearer? I hurried on,
thinking it was high time I came up with my snow-shoes to follow the
game, which must evidently be in full flight. Meanwhile they advanced
a little, and then there was another flash to be seen through the
darkness, and so they went on two or three times. One of the number
at last dashed forward over the ice and fired straight down in front
of him, while another knelt down and fired towards the east. Were they
trying their guns? But surely it was a strange time for doing so, and
there were so many shots. Meanwhile the dogs tore around over the ice,
and gathered in clumps, barking furiously. At length I overtook them,
and saw three bears scattered over the ice, a she-bear and two cubs,
while the dogs lay over them, worrying them like mad and tearing
away at paws, throat, and tail. 'Ulenka' especi