"'No!' answered the Dean; 'nothing more, at least, than a church-bell,
and that was in my sleep,'--which was clear enough.

"Presently I heard the noise again, and this time it seemed to proceed
from something not far off. It was now the Dean's turn to be amazed.

"'Did you hear?' I asked again.

"'Yes,' said the Dean, holding his breath to listen.

"Again the strange sound was repeated.

"'Is it the wind?'

"'How can it be? the wind does not make a noise like that!'

"'Can it be a bear?'

"'No! it cannot be a bear!'

"'A fox? perhaps it is a fox!'

"'No, listen! there it is again.'

"The sound was louder now, and nearer to the hut. Again and again it was
repeated,--nearer now and more constant; then a footfall on the crusted
snow.

"'It is a man! the bear-hunter has come back again!' spoke the Dean,
throwing up his hands.

"Again the noise was heard; again the footfall creaked upon the snow.

"'The bear-hunter, it must be!' cried the Dean, again.

"'O, I pray that it is so!' I added, earnestly.

"Again the voice was heard. I answered it. The answer was returned, and
with the answer came a heavier and more rapid creaking of the footfalls
on the snow.

"We rushed from the hut into the open air without another moment's loss
of time, and without saying another word; and there, not ten yards away,
stood the very man who had passed us on the sledge,--the bear-hunter of
the frozen sea.

"And a strange-looking creature he was, to be sure. There was not the
least sign of alarm or fear about him; but, on the contrary, he was
looking mightily pleased, and was talking very fast in a language of
which the Dean and I could neither of us understand a single word. When
he was not talking he was laughing, and his enormous mouth was stretched
almost from ear to ear. '_Yeh, yeh!_' he went, and I went that way too,
by way of answer, which seemed greatly to delight him. He was dressed
all over in furs, and looked very wild; but, as he kept _yeh-yeh_-ing
all the time, we were not afraid. As he came up to us, we greeted him
very cordially; but he could no more understand what we said than we
could understand him. He talked very much, and gesticulated a great
deal, pointing very often in one particular direction with his right
hand. Then he cried, 'Mick-ee, mick-ee!' and pointed to the beach below,
towards which we followed him. There we found a sledge and seven dogs;
and now we understood very certainly, if we had any