the end of the cave, she'll squeeze all the breath out of my
body, to a certainty.'

"At last, however, when she got to the narrowest part of the hole, she
sank down from loss of blood. I thought she would perhaps begin to move
on again, but she didn't. After she had given a few growls, which grew
fainter and fainter, I made sure she was dead.

"As I was pretty nigh famished, thinks I to myself, `I'll have some
steaks out of you, old gal, at all events;' so I cut three or four fine
steaks out of her rump (saving your pardon, Mrs Kelson, and ladies
all), and precious juicy and nice to look at they were; but how to dress
them was the job. At first I thought that I should have to eat them
raw, as I had often done salt beef; but on hunting about on a higher
part of the cave, I found a quantity of dry sticks and leaves which had
served the bears for a bed, I suppose. Piling up some of them, I struck
a light, and made a fire to dress the steaks, while the young cubs kept
rubbing against me, and couldn't make out whether I was their mother or
their daddy I believe. I gave them each a bit of steak, which they
seemed to think not bad sucking.

"You see I was inside the cave, though there was just room to look out
over the body of the dead bear, but scarcely space enough for me to have
squeezed myself out if I had wished it. I didn't just then wish to go
out, for I was very comfortable; I had a dry roof over my head, and
company too, and plenty to eat; only I should have liked a glass of grog
to wash down the food.

"Well, as I was eating the bear's steak, I thought to myself, `It would
have been better for Abraham Coxe if he had stuck to his old shipmate
instead of running away at sight of danger.'

"I had just finished supper, and was thinking of turning in for the
night, when I heard a loud growl at the mouth of the cave. I made sure
that it was the she-bear come to life again, for I was getting drowsy,
and I began to think what she would say to me for having stolen her
steaks. However, at last I got up and looked out, and there I saw a
great big he-bear walking about in front of the cave, and I have no
doubt scolding his wife for not getting out of his way to let him in.
At last he began to back astern, but he couldn't make her move.

"`Growl away, my bo',' says I. `If you keep on at that game, I'll make
steaks of you before long.'

"I sat as quiet as possible, picking my teeth with the point of my
knife, for