MRS PAULINA BARNETT's EXCURSION. 23I Suddenly a loud crack was heard. The earth shook, and it fieemed as if the whole of Cape Esquimaux were about to be plunged into the sea. A large piece of the island had broken away, and a huge piece of ice, the centre of gravity of which had been displaced by the altera- tion in its specific weight, drifted away, carrying with it the bear and the body of the woman. Mrs Barnett screamed, and would have flung herself upon the broken ice before it floated away, if Madge had not clutched her hand firmly, saying quietly — "Stop! stop!" At the noise produced by the breaking off of the piece of ice, the bear started back with a fearful growl, and, leaving the body, rushed to the side where the fracture had taken place ; but he was already some forty feet from the coast, and in his terror he ran round and round the islet, tearing up the ground with his claws, and stamping the sand and snow about him. Presently he returned to the motionless body, and, to the horror of the two women, seized it by the clothes with his teeth, and carrying it to the edge of the ice, plunged with it into the sea. Being a powerful swimmer, like the whole race of Arctic bears, he soon gained the shores of the island. With a great exertion of strength he managed to climb up the ice, and having reached the surface of the island he quietly laid down the body he had brought with him. Mrs Barnett could no longer be held back, and, shaking off Madge's hold, she rushed to the beach, never thinking of the danger she ran in facing a formidable carnivorous creature. The bear, seeing her approach, reared upon his hind legs, and came towards her, but at about ten paces off he paused, shook his great head, and turning round with a low growl, quietly walked away towards the centre of the island, without once look- ing behind him. He, too, was evidently affected by the mysterious fear which had tamed all the wild animals on the island. Mrs Barnett was soon bending over the body stretched about the snow. A cry of astonishment burst from her lips : " Madge, Madge, come ! " she exclaimed. Madge approached and looked long and fixedly at the inanimate body. It was the young Esquimaux girl Kalumah I
