The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1891-02-05
THE EXILES.s
SRUSSIAN STORY,

the dogs But the bears went still faster;
from time to time, the hunters saw them
climbing over the icebergs, white as them
selves. and altogether out of range of their
guns.
AS they went along, M. Lafeur told veg
or. who put but slight faith in what he said,
that when the ice of the sea commences to
form. in the month Of September, the white
bear female captures and kills great num-
Der of seals which it hides in the holloWs OF
some rock. Afterwards, it goes into the in
terror Of the country to gorge itself with
lichens. in order to create III its stomach
sort Of mechanical obstructiOn then, it
returns to it's magazines of provisions and
fills itself with as much seal fat as it can
hold. This done, it takes up winter quar-
ters in a hole it has dug in the side of a
glacier.
After a certain period of seclusion, it
brings forth one, two, and sometimes three
cubs In this crystalline crib, it nourishes
and exercises its progeny in walking until
the commencement of April, when, in their
turn, the seals begin to bring forth young.
Then, the ursine family quits its retreat,
the mother marching at its head and snuff
fng the air. It seeks out and follows, thanks
far as the spot where the poor creature IS
rearing it's young offspring When the bear
has found the iglou of the seal, easy to re-
cognize because of its round shape Clke the
iglou of the Esquimau), it makes a spring,
bounds upon the top Of the slight habltauon'
and makes such good use Of its four paws
and its weight that it breaks 1t IN, 1rnnedl'
ately Selling upon the young o6alo vita
which to regale its cubs.
YegOr observed to NJ. Lafeur that SO
many fables circulated in regard to the
polar bear that it behooved one not to be-
Iieve too readily everything said concerning
it, especially its Wintering by means OF vol
mtary burial.
Suddenly, as they were advancing a little
distance apart, a third BEAR putting the
dogs off the scent-the dogs were running
too far fOrwar7-surged up from behind
block Of ice and came towards them with
that confidence in its strength or that ignor-
ance Of danger which characterizes the bear
of the Arctic Ocean.
YegOr perceived it as it was treacherOusly
advancing; he took aim at it, and M. Laf-
leur quickly turning about at this moment,
sent a ball after the bear, but missed it.
Yegor waited until the animal came nearer
When it was within ten PAGES, he fired
twice and nit it.
The bear feeling itself wounded, stopped
for an instant and hOWled; but it immedi-
ately took to flight, tinging the snow with
its blood.
M. LaReur vainly discharged his gun at
it. The bear scampered away, and soon dis
appeared among blocks Of ice whittier it was
impossible to pursue it.
The dogs, badly trained for the chase, OBJ
stinately chung to the tracks Of the first two
bears, and the hunters ran q great risk of
returning empty-handed- prospect more
than disagreeable, considering the scarcity
of provisions.
Meanwhile, Nadege and Ladislas, who
had remained in the hut beside the fire,
grew anxious at the long absence Of the
hunters. Yermac, seated opposite to them,
looked at them in silence, avoiding, when
they spoke to him, any other reply than a
motion Of the head or a shrug Of the Shout
ders.
The look Of this taciturn man weighed
upon Nadege Wab, doubtless hearing in
the distance the barking Of the two Siberian
dogs, began to howl in d fashion that made
an impression on the young girl.
She put on her Warmest garments and,
followed by Ladislas, ventured out of the
hut. The twilight had begun early, and the
state of the sea seemed to her a sufficient
cause for uneasiness. Clouds, harbingers
of a tempest, were heaped up to the east.
MIists were rising from the ocean. Soon she
saw the water, beaten by the hurricane,
spring up in immense sheaves and fall back
noisily upon the white prOmontories.
Under the influence of a violent northeast
wind, the yet free waters Of several open
spaces threw with unheard-o of force enor-
nous blocks upon the plains of ice which
they broke into fragments. Plates of ice
rose to the SUBMITS Of the waves. dashed
against each other with crash and disap-
peared covered with foam. The waves
rushed upon the blocks and buried them
but, the next instant, the same blocks, ris-
ing again to the surface, scattered the
water around them, and, huI1ing them
selves upon the nearest masses, struggled
5 until they got them under. A resonant and
continual cracking of the breaking ice min
gled with the noise of the waves uplifted by
the wind.
The explorers of the polar seas affirm that
no word can describe the nature of this
noise It is at first under the convulsed
and trembling ice, like the kissing of thou
sand arrows, an internal din in which the
sharpest voices yelp mingled with the deep
est, and the roaring becomes more and more
savage. The ice breaks in concentric
cracks; its broken fragments roll one upon
another. Then begins a ferocious, titanic
strife, a headlong combat which recalls the
battle of the elements in the first ages of the
world. These masses march, meet, strike
each other and dash against each other,
changed by hidden power and seeming to
obey passions.
Above these CONCLUSIVE scenes, the re-
Section of the ice gives the sky strange
aspect and Eliminates it with supernatu-
raj light.
Wab, still with Nadege, began to howl
without respite.
Ladislas stroye to calm his sisters fears.
He told her-which was true-that YegcI
and M. Lafieur were hunting among the
chains of icebergs situated in the west, and
that the free waters could not reach there to
execute their sudden ravages.
But the terrified Nadege advanced cour-
ageously over the sea, in the direction in