Chapter XXIV: At Grips with a Monster

That the bear had not discovered the presence of the searching party was evidenced by the leisurely and unperturbed way in which he came swinging along.

But their immunity could not last. The creature was coming directly toward the hummock behind which they lay concealed. A minute more, and he would have reached it. Then discovery would be inevitable.

"Looks like a fight," remarked Cameron Flood coolly, as he gripped his rifle tightly.

"That's what," assented Slim Tyler. "And it's always a good plan in a fight to get in the first blow. Let's give him a volley."

"Whenever you say the word," agreed Dick Mylert.

The bear stopped abruptly. Its air of serenity vanished. It had caught the scent of man. It growled savagely, rose on its hind legs and sniffed the air, looking about for its enemies.

"A sockdolager!" breathed Dick. "Eight feet tall, standing up, if it's an inch!"

"Ready, fellows?" whispered Slim.

His companions nodded.

"Now!" shouted Slim.

They sprang to their feet and fired.

Standing up as it was, the bear offered a good target, and all the bullets struck. With a frightful roar of rage and pain the animal staggered and toppled over.

The shouts of triumph that rose from the throats of the marksmen died in their birth. None of the bullets had struck a vital spot and the monster scrambled to its feet and rushed at its enemies with a speed surprising in so large a creature.

The bear was no more than twenty feet away and coming toward them like an express train.

They fired again, but failed to stop the charging beast.

"Scatter!" yelled Slim, "and plug him when you get a chance."

They fled like the wind in different directions.

The melting away of the group disconcerted the polar bear for an instant, but for an instant only. The next moment it singled out Slim Tyler and made for him.

If Slim's long legs had ever stood him in good stead, it was then. He ran as if his feet had wings, spurred on by the certainty that death was pursuing him.

Had he been on bare ground, he might have twisted and doubled and possibly escaped, though in the long run the superior endurance of the bear would probably have told.

But he was handicapped because he was running on ice. Again and again he slipped and almost fell, and the struggle to regain his footing checked his speed. The bear's paws were made for ice, and the creature was at no disadvantage on that account. Slowly but surely the bear was gaining on the fugitive.

Shots rang out, and Slim Tyler knew that his comrades were doing all they could to stop his pursuer.

Then his blood froze with horror, for he saw before him a yawning crevasse in the ice field! It was fully twenty feet across. He could not leap it. He was trapped! Before him the abyss! Behind him the bear!

Slim Tyler whirled about like lightning. The bear reared itself up to grasp him with a hideous growl of triumph.

Flinging his rifle to his shoulder, Slim fired.

The bullet entered the monster's eye and penetrated to the brain.

Slim dodged as the huge body came tumbling down and narrowly escaped the dreadful claws.

The great bulk slid to the edge of the crevasse and went whirling over and over to the bottom, hundreds of feet below.

The young aviator sat down suddenly, gasping for breath, utterly exhausted, scarcely daring to believe in his narrow escape from an awful death.

Dick and Flood came running up to him.

"Are you hurt?" asked Dick anxiously.

"No," panted Slim, "but--all--in."

"No wonder!" exclaimed Flood. "You'll never be nearer death than you were a minute ago and live to tell about it. My heart was in my mouth. I thought it was all over with you."

"It was a case of touch and go," admitted Slim, as he rose to his feet. "Merest luck that shot got to the brain. I didn't aim for the eye. Just let fly at the head, hoping it would get him somewhere."

"Pity we lost the hide," remarked Dick. "It would have made a splendid rug for your room when you got back."

"I don't want it," replied Slim. "It would have given me the willies every time I looked at it. Let's be getting on."

"And let's keep a sharp lookout for the mate of that fellow," cautioned Flood. "They usually travel in pairs."

The precaution proved needless, as no other bear appeared.

All the morning and well into the afternoon they searched plateaus and valleys and mountain slopes, shouting at intervals and firing their rifles, without eliciting a response or finding a trace of the missing one. With every hour that passed their hearts grew heavier.

They had paused to rest at the edge of a long slope that extended far down into a valley.

There came a cracking sound and a yell from Slim.

"Jump back, fellows!" he shouted. "Jump back!"

Too late!

A huge segment of the ice on which they were standing gave way. The next moment they went whirling down the steep slope in a wild medley of waving arms and legs!