The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-09-11

him, only cxccp,in his upper part and fore
paws"
"By jolly! that was rather critical
predicamcnt, Venus" cried Ned, Lutton-
ing his coat. 81 should have thought that
the captains nose and ears and hands
would have been frozen too"
"That's quite naytrI to suppose, sir, but
you see the bear kept him warm in the
upper part, by bcn SO cloast to him, and
bretbcn hard and hot on tho old man
whenever he growled at him. Them polar
bears is wonderful hardy animals, aud has
Il monstrous deal o heat in 'cm, by means
Of their bein able to stand such cold eli
mates, | expect. And so the captn know
cd this, and whenever he felt chilly, he jest
TUX his ramrod and stirred up the old ras-
cal, made hlm roar and squeal, and then
the hot breath would come pouren out all
over tho captin, and made the air quite
modernt ana pleasant"
"Well, go OH Venus. Take another
horn first"
| Well, there amt much more ont. OF
they went TO sea, and sometimes tho wind
druv 'em northe: and then agin it druv 'em
SO uthc, but they went soulhe mostly; and
SO it went on, until they were out
about three weeks. So ut last one after
noon"
But, Venus, stop; tell us in the name
Of wonder how did the captin contrivo to
support life al that time ~
Why, sir, to he sure, it was Il hard kind
o life to support, but Il hardy man will get
used to almusl-"
No, no; what did he cat .' what did
he feed on?"
"O-O-rd liked to'vc skipped that cro.
! Why, sir, I've leerl different accounts as to
that. Uncle ODE Verify told me he reck-
oned the captln cut off one Of tho bears
paws, when he lay stretched out asleep, one
day, with his jack-nile, and sucked that for
fodder, and they say there's smart deal o
nourshment in a white bears foot But if
may be allowed to spend my 'pinion,
should say my old mans account is the
rightcst, and tllat's-wllat as follows. You
sec after they'd been out three days abouts,
they begun to grow kind o hungry, and
then they got friendly, for misery loves
company, you know and the captin said
tic bear looked at him several times, very
sorrowtul, as much as to say, Captain,
! what the devil shall we do? Well, one
! day they was scttcn, looken, at each other,
with the tears ready to burst out o their
eyes, wien all Of hurry something come
iloppen up out o the water onto the ice.
The captin looked and see it was a SEAL
The bears eyes llind!ed up rs lie looked
at 1t, and then the captin said he give him
wink 10 keep still. So there they sot,
still as starch, till the seal not thinking no
thcr . them no more nor if they were dead,
! wilkcd right up between EN-. Then slump!
went down old whitcy's nails, into the fisl,'s
! flesh, and the captin run his jack-knifc into
the tender lon. The seal soon got his Bit
ters, and the captin cut big hunk off the
tail ccnd, and put it behind him, out of the
bears reach, and then he felt smart and
comfortable, for he had stores enough for n
long cruise, though the bear couldn't say so
much for himself"
well, the bear, of course, soon ran out
O provisions, and had to put himself up to
short allowances, and then lie began to
show his naytural letter. lie first stretched
himself out us far as he could 90, and tried
to hook the captn's piece o seal, but when
he found he couldn't reach that, lie begun
to blow and yell. Then he'd rare up and
roar, and try to get himself clear from the
ice. But mostly he rarcd up and roared
and pounded his big paws and head upon
the ice, till by and by, Gcst as the captin
said he cxpectcd) the ice cracked in two
agin, and split right through between the
bear and the captiu, and there they was on
two different pieces o ice, the captin and
the bear! The old man said he raally felt
sorry at parten company, and when the
cake split and separated, he cut off about
half O. pound O seal and chucked it to the
bear. But either because want enough for
him, or else on account O. his feelen bad at
the captin's goen, the beast wouldn't touch
it to eat it, and he laid it down, and growl-
ed and moaned over it quite pitiful. We'll,
off they went, one one way, and tother
mother way, both feelen pretty bad cx
pect. After q while the captin got smart
and cold, and felt mighty lonesome, and lie
said he raaly thought he'd gin in and
died, if they hadn't pick'd him up that ar
ternoon."
"Who picked him up, Venusa"
"Who9 Goldfish craft off of Newfound-
land, 1 Iexpect. They didn't know what to
mako o him whom they first see him slinoan