s. At the mouth of the tunnel, as they caught the cold air, so
different from the comfortable quarters they had left, there was a
decided desire on the part of the bears to retrace their steps, but that
horrid din and those blazing torches were just behind, and so they made
a break for the distant forest, which was quite visible across the snowy
waste.

"Fire now!" was the cry. And the guns of Mr Ross, Alec, and Frank rang
out, and a couple of bears tumbled over, one of which quickly regained
his feet and was off after his comrades. Unfortunately, the man holding
the six dogs that had been unharnessed could no longer restrain them,
and so they were off after the bears. This was a great annoyance to the
men who had guns and were now emerging from the tunnel. They dare not
now fire at the bears, for fear of hurting the dogs. The snow on the
open plain was not more than a foot deep, and so the bears, as well as
the dogs, could make very good speed. Some time was lost ere the men
and boys could get their snowshoes on and take up the chase. It was a
great fight. Some foolish dog would close in on a bear and would get a
hug that sent him howling back. Others were wiser and went in pairs.
When they overtook a bear they immediately separated, one rushing to the
front, while the other remained behind. Thus they keep at him and, as a
general thing, so thoroughly engage his attention that the hunter can
come up and shoot him at his leisure. In this way Frank and Alec were
each able to get a shot at a couple of bears, which they easily killed
without any great risk to themselves.

A single dog has hardly any chance with a large bear, as one of Frank's
train found to his cost. Pluckily he rushed in and made a gallant
effort to seize the bear by the throat, but the powerful forearms gave
him a hug so terrible that he was so crushed that he had to be shot to
be put out of misery. His ribs were found broken like clay pipe-stems.
Poor Frank dropped a few honest tears over Swag's grave, which was only
a hole in the deep snow. This death was the first break in any of the
boys' teams, and although another fine dog took poor Swag's place, it
was long before the boys ceased talking about him and his sad end.

Some of the fleeter bears succeeded in reaching the trees, but they made
there in the bitter cold but a sorry fight, and were soon all killed.

For the first time almost for hours, now that the last bear was killed,
on