Dick was about to echo his chum’s triumphant cry, when an ominous growl from behind them froze the very blood in their veins with terror. As one they whirled about. Down the slope to the shore ice charged another polar bear, almost a replica of the one they had just shot. The beast was roaring its rage and was headed straight for the two young hunters.
“Run for your life!” cried Dick, “it’s the bear’s mate!”
As fast as they could run Dick and Sandy set off along the shore ice, exceeding all previous records. They could hear the rattle of the bear’s claws on the ice as it came on in pursuit, and with each second the angry growls sounded nearer.
Presently, Sandy began to fall behind in the race. Frantically, Dick urged him on, slackening his own pace to equal that of his slower chum, and while he ran like a frightened deer, all Dick’s narrow escapes ran through his mind in swift succession, for he believed that he and Sandy were doomed at last.
In a last desperate effort to save himself and Sandy, Dick determined to make a stand with the last two cartridges in his rifle. It was a plan born of despair, he knew, for two shots at a running target hardly could stop a beast of such massive strength and vitality and in such a ferocious mood.
It was then that the boys noticed a change in the sounds of pursuit. The bear seemed to have fallen behind, his growls gurgling strangely in his throat.
With renewed hope they ran on until a loud, familiar shout pierced the icy air from a point behind them. They looked back over their shoulders and came to a staggering halt. A hundred yards behind, the bear lay struggling his last, the shaft of a harpoon protruding from its side, while above on the slope stood an Eskimo beckoning to them.
The gratitude of Dick and Sandy could not be expressed as they hurried toward the Eskimo who had doubtless saved their lives.
Coming closer to the native, they recognized him as Sipsa, who had proved so exceptionally friendly at the village. He seemed to understand when the boys tried to thank him, and conveyed by means of many signs how he had been scouting for walrus and seal when he had discovered the danger Dick and Sandy had fallen into.
The boys followed Sipsa to the dead polar bear, and watched him draw out the harpoon. So forcibly had the weapon been driven that it had passed almost entirely through the bear’s thick body. Dick and Sandy shivered as they examined the mighty jaws and terrible claws that but for Sipsa’s timely intervention might have crushed and torn them to shreds.