The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-05-09

the very Ice upon which We stood. Ior Z
momert that cry fastened ne, ~ Il wsre, %
the ice, without the power of motion bat
the spell was broken by the mate, = he
shouted: "Forward, men, and rescue your
comrade, or avenge his death BY the life Of
the menster. But be caFefulp ~.
The men did not need this to cause then
to press forward Is fast a. possible. hut II
had the effect to awaken me from the sort Of
trance into which had fallen when the cry
before me had filed my eyes; and, with .
bound. sprang forward. "A few steps re-
vealed 10 me sight 30 terrible that for years
Afterwards II haunted me 10 my sleep, and
even now I sometimes seem TO see ii q
plainly as ever. The space before me vas
nearly clear Of the great ice boulders that
were stFewed 90 thickly behind us; and the
way to the foot of the cliffs, thai we were
now close upon, was descending, 20 much 70
that one used to il could have slid upon his
feet down to their very foot, had il not been
for great chasm that opened near the CEN
t,s Of the field. and which appeared . ran
nothing Of it's depth; but she dsrk line tka1
revealed u to no showed that at least il
would be impossible for us TO cross
il from its width. Doubtless It was deep
crevice, that had bean opened BY an earth
quake, or By some strange movement ofthe
great field Of ice. But the sight that froxe
our blood was that which we beheld on the
edge Of the chasm nearest us--she huge
white monster We had been following sitting
erect upon its launches, with poor Ben lying
close to his side, with the snow about them
stained with blood that had flowed from bosh
their wounds.
For moment neither the mate nor myself
could hardly think or stir, while the monster
before Us uttered succession Of deep growls,
that sounded as deep and threatening as the
coming Of ths tempest among the sails of the
ship. For q moment It would look at its
victim, lying so helpless ut its feet; and then
II would glare at Us, uttering its deep growls
al the while.
The spell that was upon us began to wear
away, and the mate slowly brought his piece
to bear upon the monster, who suddenly
dropped upon all-fours, and, although still
uttering his growls, seemed to be about to
commence meal upon poor Ben, who now,
by motion OF his hand, gave us to under
stand that he was still alive, and sensible of
the danger that be was In.
"For heavens sake, take good aim, Mr.
Jones,' ! said, as saw that the mate was
about to fire. "Aim at its head, but not too
low, or you may hit Ben."
There was loud report, which seemed to
shatter the icy erags about as; and when the
smoke cleared away, we saw the bear stand
log there, apparently unharmed. The bullet
had gone wide OF its mark; and another, aud
fisrcer growi than any that had preceded it,
was the return we had from the bear, who
appeared on the point of making some nss
move, which, we thought, must n san in our
direction.
"Parker, give me your gun,r called the
mate 70 the man behind him, and, as he
reached out his hand TO take ID, the bear sud-
dtnly clasped poor Ben in its arms, and, up
rearing itself on its hind legs, took q lew
steps in our direction, and then, suddenly
turning, sprang high into the air, directly
over the fea-ful chssm, where, for . mo-
ment, both man and brute seemed sus-
pended, and then came down 80 close to the
other edge that they seemed to rest. for
moment, upon nothing. The bear made !
frantic effort to secure q foothold, end then,
to cur horror, both man and beast dis.
appeared from sight, down into the fearful
chasm.
A cry Of horror broke from the lips Of an
our party, as we thus witnessed the terrible
fate Of our comrade; and then we made our
way down as best we could, to the edge Of
the chasin, and gazed into its fearful depths.
All was gloom, so dense, that the lights fash
ing across the sky could not penetrate. We
called upon Ben by name, though we knew
that there was no chance Of his being alive,
and the echoes answered US back, as if in
mockery.
1 can tell you they were sad hearts that
we carried back 10 the ship. We left poor
Ben in his tomb Of ice; and when, in the
spring, we sailed awsy, it seemed to rs as
though we had left him there alive, and
more than one tear was shed, and . back
ward look cast to his memory. Ia after
years, when in those parts, kept well clear
Of the ice-felds Of Alaska.