"Well, sir, I lived there during that winter. I did not find it altogether
dull, for I had several bits of excitement. For a month or so bears and
wolves came down and fought over the carcass of the whale. When that was
eaten up they turned their attention to me, and over and over again they
tried to break in. They had better have left me alone, for though they
were strong enough to have pulled away the rocks that blocked the
entrance, they could not stand fire. As I had any amount of rope, I used
to soak it in rock-oil, set it on fire, and shove it out of the entrance.
Twice small bears managed to wriggle up the passage, but I had sharpened
the boat-hook and managed to kill them both. One skin made me a whole
suit, and the other a first-rate blanket. Not that it was ever
unpleasantly cold, for a couple of my big candles, and the thick coating
of snow over it, kept the place as warm as I cared for. Occasionally, when
the bears had cleared off, I went out, climbed the mast, and got fresh
supplies down. They had made desperate efforts to get at the meat, but the
face of the rock was luckily too smooth for them to get any hold. When
spring came and the ice broke up, I planted the mast on the top of the
cliff with the sail fastened as a flag, and a month after the sea was
clear a whaler came in and took me off. That was how I pretty well lost
the use of my tongue, and though I am better than I was, I don't use it
much now except on duty."

"That certainly accounts for it," Harry said; "you must have had an awful
time."

"I don't think I minded it very much, sir. Except when I was bothered by
the bears I slept a good lot. I think at first I used to talk out loud a
good deal. But I soon dropped that, though I used to whistle sometimes
when I was cooking the food. I don't think I should have held on so long