"And what about the bear?" inquired the Doctor.
"What bear?"
"The bear I met, that almost made me break my neck."
"A bear!" exclaimed Hatteras; we had better look after him."
"No, no!" said the Doctor; "we should only lose ourselves, and gain nothing by it."
"Well, but suppose he fell on our dogs?"
At that very moment Duk began barking furiously, and Hatteras exclaimed:
"That's Duk! I'm sure there's something up! I'm going down, at any rate."
"Stop, Hatteras, stop! I think the fog is clearing," said the Doctor.
It was not clearing, but it was gradually getting lower, like a pond getting empty. It seemed to sink into the earth from whence it had risen.
Soon the top of the sledge appeared, then the dogs; then about thirty other animals were seen, and large, shapeless moving masses. Duk was leaping and jumping about, appearing and disappearing in the fog.
"Foxes!" exclaimed Bell.
"Bears!" said the Doctor. "I can see one—three—five!"
"Let's see to the dogs and the provisions," shouted Simpson.
It was high time, for a whole pack of foxes and bears had attacked the sledge and were making fine havoc of the food. The dogs barked might and main, but their fury had no effect, and the work of pillage was fast going on.
"Fire!" cried Hatteras, discharging his gun.
His companions followed his example immediately, to the evident alarm of the four-footed robbers, for the whole troop scampered away at once, and speedily disappeared among the icebergs.
