e
hut again, and made him roar in an awful manner, as if he were half
killed. I knew I must have hit him on some tender spot,--the eye, it
proved to be afterwards, so he was half blind as well as half dead.

"It was very unfortunate that I had not let him go, or killed him
outright; for we could now hear him tearing everything to pieces in our
hut, trying to find a place of escape. The wall between our
sleeping-place and our closet was first knocked over, as he scrambled
about; and there was no doubt that our pots and lamps were all broken to
pieces. It was like a great roaring bull in a china shop, and we wished
many times that he was only out and off; and, if he had only known, our
minds upon the subject, a compromise would have been speedily made, and
the beast might have gone scot-free on condition of his doing no further
mischief.

"The bear was not long in discovering the window. Now, the window being
very small, it was evident that, if he attempted it, he would do us a
great damage, for he could only pass through by knocking down some part
of the wall. No sooner, therefore, had his head appeared in that
quarter, than the Dean charged him most gallantly with the 'Delight,'
and gave him such a tremendous blow on the nose that he was glad enough
to draw his head in again, which he did with a great cry. Then he became
quiet for a while, as if meditating what course it was best for him now
to pursue.

"Availing myself of this little pause, I exchanged weapons with the
Dean, and, fixing the harpoon-head on the end of the 'Delight,' I tied
the other end of the line which was fast to it around a large stone that
lay across the doorway of the hut. This I did because I thought there
might be a possible chance of catching the bear; and that, if we could
only get him to run out, I might harpoon him as he passed, and the stone
would hold him until we could find some way of despatching him.

"No sooner had these preparations been made than the bear was again in
motion; and now he gave a roar that seemed loud enough to have rattled
the whole hut down about his ears. This time he had clearly tried the
chimney, and had not only scattered the burning moss and fat all about
the hut, but had set himself on fire into the bargain; for a great
volume of smoke came out through the window, which smelled of burning
hair.

"The screams of the bear were now pitiful to hear, and in very
desperation he once more tried the window, when t