THE WORLD OF ICE. 277

a few yards of the bears, and was rushing forward to
make a vigorous attack on the little one.

“Hell be killed!” exclaimed Fred in dismay.

“ Follow me, men,” shouted the captain, as he leaped
the ridge; “make all the noise you can.”

In a moment the surrounding cliffs were reverberat-
ing with the loud halloos and frantic yells of the men,
as they burst suddenly over the ridge, and poured
down upon the bears like a torrent of maniacs.

Bold though they were, they couldn’t stand this.
They turned tail and fled, followed by the disap-
pointed howls of O'Riley, and also by his cudgel, which
he hurled violently after them as he pulled up.

Having thus triumphantly put the enemy to flight,
the party continued their ascent of the hill, and soon
gained the summit.

“There it is!” shouted Fred, who, in company
with Mivins, first crossed the ridge, and tossed his
arms in the air.

The men cheered loudly as they hurried up and
one by one emerged into a red glow of sunshine. It
could not be termed warm, for it had no power in
that frosty atmosphere, and only a small portion of
the sun’s disk was visible. But his light was on
every crag and peak around; and as the men sat
down in groups, and, as it were, bathed in the sun-
shine, winking at the bright gleam of light with half-
closed eyes, they declared that it felf warm, and
wouldn’t hear anything to the contrary, although
Saunders, true to his nature, endeavoured to prove to