"Hurry up, men! Give me a hand or he'll get away from us yet!"
Steve threw himself upon the writhing heap, with Jarvis a close second. But no sooner had the boys landed on the canvas than they were tossed off. Back they sprang, making plucky efforts to twist the canvas into position where the animal could not throw it off.
By this time Captain Simms was down the ladders and stairs, making for the writhing heap on the jump.
"Get in there, you lubbers!" he roared.
The men obeyed his command, though they did so with reluctance.
"Fall on the heap!"
After a lively battle, consuming some twenty minutes, the escaped bear was hopelessly entangled in the tarpaulin, the corners of which were tied securely, thus imprisoning him beyond the possibility of his getting out.
"The next question is, what are we going to do with him, now that we have him?" inquired the captain.
"Is his crate broken so that it cannot be fixed?" asked Rush.
"No; it can be fixed up," interjected the chief engineer.