uan was not long in disclosing his plan; and as soon as he had
communicated it, all three set to work to aid him in its execution.

A number of stout stakes were cut--each about six feet in length, and
pointed at one end. These were driven into the earth around the outer
edge of the icy mass, in a sort of semicircular row; and so as to
enclose a small space in front of the aperture. To hold the stakes all
the more firmly, large stones were piled up against them, and the
uprights themselves were closely wattled together by the broad flat
branches of the spruce pines that grew near. In this way was
constructed a fence that a cat could not have crawled through, much less
a bear. One aperture only was left in it, and that was directly in
front--a hole at about the height of a man's knee from the ground, and
just big enough to admit the head of a bear--for that was the purpose
for which it was intended.

The next thing done was to roof the whole of this stockade enclosure;
and that was accomplished by resting long poles horizontally over it,
tying them at the ends to the tops of the uprights, and then covering
them thickly with _granris_ (the spray lopped from the branches of the
evergreen pines).

It now only remained to get the ice cut of the way, and allow the bear
to come forth. That would not have been so easy of accomplishment, had
it not been already partially removed. Before closing up the top,
Pouchskin, directed by the Finnish peasant, had cut away most of the
mass, leaving only a shell; which, although filling up the entrance as
before, could be easily beaten down, or driven in from the outside of
the enclosure.

During the time that the ex-guardsman had been sapping away the ice, he
had been keeping a sharp lookout. He was admonished to do this by
certain noises that, now and then, came rumbling out of the cave; and
not very certain that he was in perfect safety, he had been under some
apprehension. The bear, by throwing all his weight against the reduced
mass of ice, _might_ break his way out; and as by the constant
chiselling the wall grew weaker and thinner, Pouchskin's fears increased
in proportion. He was only too happy, when, having picked the congealed
mass to what was thought a sufficient thinness, he desisted from his
work, and crept out of the enclosure, through the space that had been
kept open for him.

This was now fenced up as securely as the rest; and it only remained to
knock away t