nnot now be far off from her," observed Andrew, "for we have
steered too straight a course to pass by her. Archy, you have the
sharpest eyes among us, can't you make her out, lad?"

"Yes, yes, I see her," he suddenly exclaimed; "but her deck seems to be
housed in, and snow covers the roof, and I took it to be a low iceberg.
Now I can make out the masts and rigging rising above it--she cannot be
more than a mile away."

"Cheer up, friends, we will soon reach her then," cried Andrew. "If we
were to give a hearty shout, those on board would hear us."

"I hope they may, and send us help," exclaimed Saunders, "for here come
the bears, and they will be upon us in another minute."

On hearing this Andrew unslung his rifle, and turning round, observed a
large white animal, scarcely to be distinguished from the snow, not
forty paces off, stealing towards them. To fly towards the ship, close
as they were to her, would have invited the bears to pursue at a faster
speed. Facing their foes, they halted, as they proposed--the bears
stopped also, sitting down on their haunches to watch their proceedings.

"Archy, run on, and shout as you go--the watch on deck may hear you, and
assistance may be sent to us in case we fail to beat off the bears."

Archy ran on as he was directed. At length he got the ship clearly in
sight, but still she seemed a long, long way off. He stopped, however,
and shouted with all his might. No reply came, but he heard behind him
a cry, and then a shot fired. He knew that it must be from Andrew's
gun. Once more he pushed forward, though his legs were ready to sink
beneath him. Just then the moon arose bright and full. He had stopped
to give another shout, when, looking back to see if his friends were
coming, he discovered, to his dismay, a bear stealing towards him. He
remembered Andrew's caution, not to fly, and bravely facing the animal,
he clapped his hands together, shouting even louder than before, in the
hopes of frightening it away. At that instant a hail came from the
ship--he hailed in return. The bear stopped, apparently astonished at
the strange sounds which met its ears. Directly afterwards another hail
was heard, and turning his head for an instant, he caught sight of a
party of men coming towards him from the ship. The bear seemed
unwilling to encounter so many foes, and began slowly to retreat. In
another minute Archy was surrounded by a number of men, shouting to him
in wel