“Undt leaf das bear? Not even skin him? It is meat. We may need it,” said the schooner captain, in some doubt.
“We have provisions for a week aboard the Winged Arrow,” Tom said lightly.
“And one sure thing,” supplemented Ned. “Nobody will get this bear if we leave it where it lies.”
“But if we do not skin him while das body he iss warm, we haf a pad time doing so,” declared the Icelander.
“I do not think we should bother with the bear,” Tom said slowly. “I am worried about getting back to the seaplane. We may get through this cave and find ourselves far up in these mountains of ice. We will have difficulty in lowering ourselves down into that gorge where the plane is. Don’t bother with this bear. Let us go on.”
“By jinks!” exclaimed Ned. “They say every cloud has a silver lining. It is so blamed dark right now that I cannot see any silver behind this cloud.”
“Cheer up!” cried Tom, his own voice changing with an effort. “Lead ahead, Koku. Give me that torch, Ned. Look out where you step. There may be fissures here, or sink-holes, to fall into. Have a care, Koku.”
“Me have much care, Master,” said the faithful giant. “I feel wind again.” He held up a finger he had wetted. “Yes. Wind come through big ice cave. We find um place to go out. Wait and see.”
“I hope so,” muttered Ned, as he came along in the rear of the small procession.
Farther back in the chamber in the ice was the entrance to a tunnel more than man-high. It was of considerable width, too, and when the party had entered it, almost at once the explorers found that the pitch of the floor was sharply upwards.