Then a boat was lowered, and when they looked down they could see Tom himself get in with shooting-clothes on and a great rifle in his hand.  He waved his cap to them, and Pansy cried:  “Hoo-lay!” The boat pulled away and soon touched the ice; Tom sprang nimbly on shore, and before long he could be seen only as a little black dot on that dazzling plain of snow.  Then he was observed to stop and kneel down while some huge monster, yellowish-white in colour, came rushing towards him.

Aralia must have the glass now.

“Oh, the bear! the bear!” she cried in grief.  “It is going to kill Tom.  Oh! oh! oh! my brother Tom!”

“Let me see! let me see!” screamed Pansy.

“Look now!” said Aralia with a smile.  “Isn’t Tom brave?”

Tom was indeed.  For Pansy could now see the monster lying dead, and Tom leaning on his gun, and once more waving his cap.  Then men came up and skinned the bear, and dragged the head and hide and paws to the ship.

[Illustration]

Tom was a splendid shot, and this was his first bear.  When he came aboard, his sisters met him with pleasure, although with tears in their eyes, for he had run a great risk.

A day or two after this, when still farther north, the children had had their first run upon the ice.  It was all so strange, and the ice was so white, that they felt very giddy for a time.  But the professor held Pansy, and Tom walked by Aralia.

The whole ice-pack seemed one vast plain, like a bleak moorland in winter, only with little hillocks of ice here and there called hummocks, for the flat pieces of ice were all frozen hard together, and Ara wondered where “Greenland’s icy mountains” had all got to.

There were no bears about to-day, and no seals, only the sea-birds that went wheeling and screaming about them in thousands.  When they got back to the ship it was dinner-time, and both were snow-blind.  The black steward carried them down and seated them at table, but it was quite half an hour before they could see.

Although the ship was now kept well away from the ice-pack, they could often see vessels far in through frozen ice, but busy, busy at their terrible work.  Sometimes Tom and the mate would have a boat lowered, and would set off bear-hunting.  One day Tom brought home a young seal.  It was such a beauty, with soft eyes and long, warm, fluffy hair.  It was so small that even Pansy could carry it a little way in her arms.

“Oh, do let us have it for a pet!” cried Aralia, and her uncle consented.  So they called the seal “Flossy”, and warmed frozen milk for it—­great stores of which had been taken on board,—­and fed it with a spoon, and soon the wee thing knew Pansy, and used to crawl and waddle after her.

The dogs didn’t know what to make of Flossy at first, and Briton used to roll it all round the deck with his big nose; but Flossy rather liked this.  But one day, when Briton tried to lift it up by the tail, it struck him a slap with its flipper that could be heard from stem to stern.