e ice that sent the wind upwards, but my mind was quick. Instead of
resisting the impulse, I made a bound, and went up into the air and over
the berg. It was a very low one," added the wizard, as a reply to some
exclamations of extreme surprise--not unmingled with doubt--from some of
his audience.

"After that," continued Ujarak, "the air cleared a little, and I could
see a short way around me, as I scudded on. Small bergs were on every
side of me. There were many white foxes crouching in the lee of these
for shelter. Among them I noticed some white bears. Becoming tired of
thus scudding before the wind, I made a dash to one side, to get under
the shelter of a small berg and take rest. Through the driving snow I
could see the figure of a man crouching there before me. I ran to him,
and grasped his coat to check my speed. He stood up--oh, _so_ high! It
was not a man," (the wizard deepened his voice, and slowed here)--"it--
was--a--white--bear!"

Huks and groans burst at this point from the audience, who were covered
with the perspiration of anxiety, which would have been cold if the
place had not been so warm.

"I turned and ran," continued the angekok; "the bear followed. We came
to a small hummock of ice. I doubled round it. The bear went past--
like one of Arbalik's arrows--sitting on its haunches, and trying to
stop itself in vain, for the wind carried it on like an oomiak with the
sail spread. When the bear stopped, it turned back, and soon came up
with me, for I had doubled, and was by that time running nearly against
the wind. Then my courage rose! I resolved to face the monster with my
walrus spear. It was a desperate venture, but it was my duty. Just
then the snow partly ceased, and I could see a berg with sloping sides.
`Perhaps I may find a point of vantage there that I have not on the flat
ice,' I thought, and away I ran for the sloping berg. It was rugged and
broken. Among its masses I managed to dodge the bear till I got to the
top. Here I resolved to stand and meet my foe, but as I stood I saw
that the other side of the berg had been partly melted by the sun. It
was a clear steep slope from the top to the bottom. The bear was
scrambling up, foaming in its fury, with its eyes glaring like living
lamps, and its red mouth a-gape. Another thought came to me--I have
been quick of thought from my birth! Just as the bear was rising to the
attack, I sat down on the slope, and flew rather