bear for a minute, debating
something in his mind.

"I wonder now," Jack finally observed, "if we could eat that bear meat,
supposing something happened to keep us marooned on this ice for weeks at
a stretch? What do you think about it, Tom?"

"It might be possible, if we got in a bad pinch and were almost
starving," came the reply. "But you must remember we'd have to swallow it
raw, because we haven't any means for making a fire; and trying to kindle
a blaze on the ice would be a tough job."

"Then I'm glad to know we don't have to depend on bear meat to keep us
from starving," Jack announced. "Pretty nearly through, Tom?"

"Five minutes more ought to see us ready to start. I'm pretty hungry
though and would like something more to eat. You boys ate a good deal,
but you called it 'a snack,' and not 'supper.'"

"On the whole," Colin suggested, "perhaps we'd better leave the supper
until we get to moving smoothly again. Things ought to taste better if we
feel we've got the bulge on this engine trouble for fair."

Jack did not try to urge any undue haste. Nevertheless he looked several
times in the quarter close by where the big berg raised its cone, as if
his uneasiness now might be wholly concerned with its possibilities for
making fresh trouble.

Was it imagination, or some sort of optical delusion that made the tip
of the huge berg seem to come lower and lower, then draw back again as if
making a ceremonious bow like a dancing-master?

Jack gasped, and opened his lips to cry out, but thinking better of it
restrained the temptation. They could not get away until the repairs were
complete. At the same time, while trying to make himself believe he had
magnified the thing, he was conscious of a louder grinding noise than any
heard up to that moment.

Tom was putting the finishing bolt in place. A few more efforts and he
would be able to announce that his task had been completed. Jack became
conscious of a peculiar undulating movement to the ice under his feet. It
was just the same as he could remember experiencing when on skates, and
going at full steam over a thin section of ice that must have easily
broken under his weight only for the speed with which he crossed over.

Was the ice floe about to break up? Would it result in several smaller
sections separating from the main stem, none of which might be of a size
to allow them sufficient room for making a start?

The thought alarmed Jack. He also knew that undo