tus of his attack would have certainly
sent himself as well as the bear over the cliff.

As it was, the monster went over headlong, with a sort of compound
shriek and howl that made the very ice-cliffs ring. Then, down he
went--not head or feet first, or sideways, or any way, but every way by
turns, and no way long. Indeed, he spun and, as it were, spurted down
that mighty face of ice. Each instant intensified the velocity; each
whirl increased the complex nature of the force. The ledge half-way
down, from which the affrighted gulls fled shrieking, did not even check
the descent, but with bursting violence shunted the victim out into
space, through which he hurled till re-met by the terrific slope farther
down, which let him glissade like a shooting star into indescribable
ruin!

Enough of that bear was left, however, to render it worth while picking
up the fragments. Shouting with laughter and yelling with glee, the
Eskimos made for the spot where the mangled carcass lay. Soon after
they were joined by the hero of the day.

"Food enough now for a moon, or more," said Rooney, as he came up.

"Yes; and no need to beat the meat to make it tender," responded Okiok,
lifting and letting fall one of the limp legs of the creature, whose
every bone seemed to have been smashed to pieces in the tremendous
descent.

It was no doubt a considerable reduction of their satisfaction at supper
that evening that they had to eat their bear-chops raw, not having the
means of making fire; but they were not disposed to find fault with
their good-fortune on that account. If they had only possessed two
small pieces of wood with which to create the necessary friction, they
could easily have made a lamp out of one of the bear's shoulder-blades,
and found oil enough in his own fat, while a tag of sealskin, or some
other portion of clothing might have supplied a wick; but not a scrap of
wood was to be obtained on that verdureless island. Okiok did indeed
suggest that Norrak and Ippegoo, being both possessed of hard and
prominent noses, might rub these organs together till they caught fire;
but Norrak turned up his nose at the suggestion, and Ippegoo shook his
head doubtfully.

In the circumstances, therefore, they obtained light at least for the
purposes of vision by commencing supper long before sunset, and most of
them continued it long after dark. Thus the second night was passed on
the berg.

On the third day, the weather bei