o
plant a bullet in the bear's head, Toby held his ground. He threw the
lever forward to eject the empty shell, and jerked it back to insert a
fresh cartridge with undue haste, and to his consternation it jammed. He
jerked at the lever, but it would not move. Beads of perspiration broke
out upon his forehead. The bear was less than a dozen feet from him.

Toby dropped his gun and ran, but he knew he could not outdistance the
furious animal at his heels. At that moment Charley's rifle rang out.
The tip of the bear's great paw reached Toby and sent him sprawling, and
as he fell the bear suddenly sank with a grunt like the dying exhaust of
an engine.

"You got un! You got un!" exclaimed Toby, springing to his feet.

"I thought he was going to get you!" said Charley, all atremble.

"He just touched me!" Toby boasted. "'Tis the first white bear killed in
these parts in two years, whatever!"

Toby and Charley gloated over their prize, and when they had examined
the carcass, Toby declared that it was Charley's last shot, just behind
the shoulder, that had killed it.

"My shots takes un too far for'ard, and all your shots hits un too far
back, except one," Toby declared.

Nearly an hour was occupied in skinning the bear, and in packing and
lashing the meat upon the komatik. While they packed the meat, the dogs
were permitted to feast upon the offal, as their reward, and when all
was ready they turned their faces again toward Pinch-In Tickle, quite
elated with their success.

Travel now, with the heavily laden komatik, was slow, and the overfed
dogs required constant urging. Completely engrossed with the capture and
skinning of the bear, both Toby and Charley had quite forgotten about
the unstable condition of the ice. Now they were aware that the wind was
blowing considerably harder than when they had started. Charley was the
first to speak of it.

"The wind has stiffened," said he with some concern. "The bear made us
forget about the ice. Do you think it's all right?"

"That's what I'm thinkin' about." Toby looked worried. "We'll soon be
knowin'. If the ice has gone abroad from the shore, we're in a worse fix
than the bear had us in."

"What'll we do if it has?" asked Charley with a sinking heart.

"'Twill be a bad fix. 'Twill be a wonderful bad fix. I'm not knowin' how
we'd be gettin' out of a fix like that. I'd be wishin' Dad was here to
get us out of un. He's always findin' a way out of fixes. We won't be
thi