t they could go no further, and Andrew
and Foubister agreed, that even should the ice overtake them, they might
find refuge on the slope of the berg, up which they could without
difficulty haul the boat. Having placed her, as they hoped, in safety,
they built another snow-hut, where they proposed remaining till the
storm had ceased. As they had now become expert architects, they were
not long in constructing the igloo, and all thankfully crept in to
recruit their strength. Even Andrew felt that he could not have held
out much longer.

The crashing sounds of the breaking ice had ceased, and no longer
fearing having again to take to flight, the whole party fell asleep.
They had not closed the doorway, as was their custom at night, on
account of the heat which was soon generated in so confined a space.
Archy was the first to awake, as he did so he heard a scraping sound,
and directly afterwards he caught sight of the white snout of a huge
animal poked in at the opening. A few smouldering chips alone remained
of the fire in the centre of the hut. His first impulse was to seize
one and throw it at the intruder, shouting out to his companions at the
same time. They quickly sprung to their feet. The carpenter seized an
axe.

"A bear, a bear," he cried out, as he made a blow at the nose of the
animal, who, uttering fierce growls, quickly beat a retreat.

They all rushed out, when the bear was seen at a short distance sitting
on his haunches examining its wounded nose. Andrew hurried to the boat.
Happily the bear had not attacked their provisions. The rifle was
loaded, his only fear was that the bear would make off before he could
get near enough to wound it mortally. The creature was, however,
evidently meditating an attack. It advanced, he fired, and it rolled
over on the snow. His companions uttered a shout of joy, as they had no
longer any fear of suffering for want of food for some time to come.
The bear was cut up, and returning to their hut, they were soon employed
in cooking steaks over their rekindled fire.

"I suspect those fellows never venture far from land," observed Andrew;
"so we may now feel pretty sure, mates, that we shall be able to reach
it without having another channel to cross."

The whole party were, however, too much knocked up to make another move
during that day, and even Andrew and Foubister, who were most anxious to
proceed on their journey, consented to remain till the following
mo