The Argosy, Christmas 1912 — page 41: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

LOOSING THE TEMPEST. I sank pantingly down at the cabin door, and Ordway. almost fell on top of me. And the bear, disregarding the close approach to a habitation, came lumbering on. The man did not utter a sound, but stepped inside the cabin, returning at once with a short spear. So armed, he met the bear face to face with a composure that drew from Ordway and me a simultaneous breath of ad- miration. The spear was poised but a second; then, driven by an arm that seemed to have the force of a steam-engine, it went through the shaggy neck. A mighty roar of pain and rage came from bruin, but, instead of drop- ping dead, as I expected he would, he grabbed the spear and broke it off. The shaft had apparently gone through the fleshy part of his neck without touching the wind-pipe or spine, for, with eyes that seemed to burn red with rage, the animal rose to meet his enemy. Not a sound came from the fur-clad man. He moved forward instead of away, as though a hand-to-hand con- flict with a bear was a daily pastime. The beast roared his rage again. I expected the man to draw a knife or pistol. He did neither. As the bear clawed at him, dragging fur from the garment he wore, the islander seized the open jaws and, with what I could see was a tightening of the muscles of the entire body, spread them. Then ensued the most terrific battle to the death I had ever witnessed. They swept round in a circle, the bear clawing and trying to hug his an- tagonist; the man bending, turning, to avoid the powerful forelegs, but never relaxing his hold on the open jaws. Ordway and I were so spellbound neither of us could move an inch to help the intrepid islander. Then there was a sickening, crunch- ing sound, and the man hurled his enemy to the ground with the lower jaw hanging loose. Pulling the broken spear-point from 27 the animal’s neck, the conqueror raised it and drove the point straight through the wounded beast’s heart. He lay dead on the ground, and the man stood up. ‘Fresh meat,” he said. “ Now, who are you?” CHAPTER XIV. THE ISLANDER. Orpway and I looked at each other in absolute stupefaction. This man who killed bears with his hands could speak English, and did not seem over- joyed to meet us. The thought flashed through my mind that I would prefer to encounter a tribe of savages in the South Seas rather than this man alone, if he proved unfriendly. There was no menace in his words, looks, or actions. He simply wanted to know who we were. I had scrambled to my feet and tried to make a bow. “ Sir,” I said, “we are two ship- wrecked Americans. We have lived for a long time on an iceberg, that has just finished breaking up off your shore. We swam to land, and left our guns on the ice. The bear you just killed chased us, and we had no weapons. Nor did we have the strength you have to fight him. So we ran, and were fortunate enough to stumble upon you. We thank you.” He stood looking gravely at us for two or three minutes. ‘“ What country did you say?” “We are Americans. From the United States of America.” “You are not. It is too far away. ‘IT know.”’ I stood aghast. Here was a man, a little more than full-grown, speaking English with an indescribable accent, but English, just the same, who dis- puted the statement that we were Americans. ~ “Why not America—we can’t be so very far from it,” I answered. “ You have been in England? ” CoOMmicbook CO