"I can't fire for fear of hitting the man," panted the captain; and then he uttered a cry of satisfaction, for, in his alarm, Andrew had made for broken ground, tripped over a rock, and fell heavily, whilst the bear uttered a fierce roar. "Halt!" shouted the captain, bending on one knee, as Andrew disappeared, having plumped himself behind a huge block of stone. Steve followed his leader's example, and fired directly after, aiming as carefully as possible at the running beast. "Missed!" muttered Steve. "I think that touched him!" cried the captain, hurriedly opening the breech of his piece and thrusting in another cartridge. "Yes, that stopped him," said the doctor, as the bear swung round and bit viciously at a spot somewhere about the centre of its back. Then the doctor fired, but his shot had no effect save to draw the animal's attention to its pursuers, and it came at them at once, showing its teeth now viciously, while the two Norsemen placed themselves on either side of the little party ready for the attack. The captain took careful aim now, and fired, making the bear jerk its head; but the bullet had made little impression, for the brute came on till Skene made a dash at its nose, when the animal swung round just as the captain was re-loading. "Fire, both of you--now!" cried the captain excitedly; but only the doctor drew trigger, hitting their quarry somewhere about the hip. Steve did not fire; he could not have told why, but knelt on one knee with his piece ready, and conscious of the fact that one of the big Norsemen was at his right shoulder with the great lance held presented over his head. Skene kept on harassing the bear and taking off its attention; but a bullet now struck it in so sharp a way that it ignored the dog, and came rushing toward its enemies open-mouthed, blood and foam making its white teeth look horrible, and in spite of another shot came close up, rose on its hind legs, towering above the kneeling men, with its paws separated to strike, when almost together both barrels of Steve's piece were fired right into the animal's chest, and as it uttered a savage roar the lances of the two Norsemen were driven into it and rapidly withdrawn. The effect was instantaneous: the monster threw itself over and lay upon its back, tearing at the air for a few moments, and then subsided slowly on to one side--dead, Skene leaping upon the carcass to give vent to a triumphant burst of barking, while the captain shook hands with the doctor, and then clapped Steve on the shoulder. "Well done! Bravo!" he cried. "Splendid shots, just at the right moment; couldn't have been better." "Couldn't it?" said Steve, speaking feebly, for he felt rather ashamed of the praise, and at the same time a kind of regret for having played so prominent a part in the death of the animal. He must have shown this in his face, for the captain said: