Tales out of school

by Frank R. Stockton

The sailors watched him, full of admiration for his courage, and for his skill in jumping the floating cakes of ice that one would scarcely expect to bear the weight of a bird. He seemed to select the largest and strongest pieces, by a sort of quick instinct, and bounded from one to another as lightly as a cat. A foot went into the water at nearly every step, but he did not sink.

Meantime the bear had advanced upon the sailor, who, it now was seen, had a knife in his hand, prepared to do his best.

The Esquimaux boy had now reached the pack of loose ice against which the ice floe had rested. This was firm, and he paused an instant, before springing on to the floe. The sailors thought his courage had failed at the last moment. But no! Polargno knew there was no time to lose, and he required only this instant to see where he could best strike the bear. There was no vital part at which he could get a good stroke. All he could do at first was to divert the bear’s attention from the sailor to himself.

He threw his hatchet straight at the side of the bear that was exposed to him. It sank through the tough skin into the flesh, but the wound was not a very severe one. The astonished animal turned, and, seeing the boy who had now sprung upon the ice floe, not a dozen yards from him, he made towards this new comer in a great rage.

But Polargno was ready for him. He sprang aside, and quickly struck his knife into the side of the bear. The animal fell, but was not killed, and it tried to stagger up again; but, by this time, the sailor had recovered his senses, for he had stood apparently stupefied when the bear left him. He now came to the boy’s assistance, and, together, they soon put an end to their formidable foe.

Polargno pulled off his hood, and waved it in the air, and shouted “Hurrah!” This word and action he had learned from the sailors. By this time the whole crew had come down from the ship, and they also joyfully waved their hats, and shouted “Hurrah!”

But the two must be taken off the ice-floe before it went sailing out into the sea. The pack of ice was, even now, moving faster, and gave signs of breaking up. So a boat was got down from the ship as speedily as possible, and some of the sailors, steering in and out of the floating ice, went to their relief, and took them safely to the shore. They intended to leave the carcass of the bear, but it went to Polargno’s heart to see so much good meat wasted, and he begged so hard for it, that the sailors waited long enough to tow it to shore, though they were in a hurry to get back before the upper ice field broke up.

You may wonder how the sailor and the bear got off on this ice-floe together; as you, no doubt, feel sure they did not make an appointment to meet there. The sailor told how he came there. It happened this way: The day before, he had lost a small wallet, containing some of his valuables, among the ice hummocks near the shore. As soon as he discovered his loss he searched for the bag, and his companions aided him. It could not be found, and, this day, while the men were occupied in packing up the last of their effects, he went out on the ice to look once more among the hummocks for his wallet. He wandered some distance out, but the ice was solid and firm. Suddenly he heard a noise like a sharp thunder clap, and the next instant he was floating out into the open sea, with blocks of ice swirling and tumbling about him in all directions. The ice had broken loose, and there was no way for him to reach the shore. He called and shouted, but his cries did not reach the ship, or the men in the tent. He was afraid the floe he was on would go to pieces before he could be rescued, and he knew it would be impossible for him to swim through the masses of loose ice. His swift course was fortunately arrested by the ice-pack, and he hoped there would be time to rescue him before it was all swept away by the waves, as he was sure he must soon be missed by his companions in the tent. Just as he was comforting himself with this thought, he turned, and saw a large polar bear sitting upon its haunches very near him, and regarding him attentively.

As the polar bear is dead, and as he was not able to tell his own story, either living or dead, in any language that we could understand, I cannot inform you how he came to be sailing out to sea on a cake of ice. But there he was, and greatly alarmed was the sailor when he caught sight of him. He had the presence of mind, however, not to make any sudden motion, and hoped by keeping very still, to persuade the bear that he was only an inanimate object. But the creature knew better than that. It is probable he had been observing the sailor for some time, and the reason the man did not notice the beast was because it was so nearly the color of the ice hummocks. It soon crossed over to his ice-floe, and it was then that the men in the tent first saw what had happened to their companion.