Part 33 (1/2)

Sam had the shotgun pointed, and as the bear advanced he pulled the trigger. The charge of shot entered the bear's left shoulder, making a number of painful, but not dangerous, wounds. At once the beast let out a snort of commingled pain and rage.

”You've done it now,” came from Tom, and whirled his firebrand, to make it blaze up. ”Take a stick, quick!”

Instead of doing this, however, Sam fired a second time, this time hitting the bear in the left hind leg. The beast dropped on all fours and came to a halt while yet twenty yards from them.

By this time Tom had another firebrand, and this he compelled his brother to take, the shotgun being now empty. There was no time to reload the piece, and indeed, neither of the boys knew where to look for ammunition.

More enraged than ever, the bear now advanced again, until only the fire was between him and his intended victims. He had now forgotten about the fox meat, and thought only of getting at the human being who had injured him. He arose once more and let out a loud roar, while his small eyes gleamed maliciously. Had the fire not been in the way he would have rushed upon Sam without further hesitation.

The pulling out of the two large firebrands was causing the fire to burn low, something which was in the bear's favor. The boys almost expected to see the beast leap over the spot, but bruin knew better than to attempt this. He began to circle around the flames, and as he did this, the boys did likewise.

”Shall we run?” panted Sam. He was so agitated he could scarcely speak.

”No--stick to the fire,” returned Tom. ”Bears hate that. Look out!”

The bear had now started to come around the other way. At once the boys s.h.i.+fted again, until they occupied the position where they had stood when the beast was first discovered. Then the bear dropped down once more, and eyed them in a meditative way.

”He is making up his mind about the next move,” said Tom. ”I'll try him with something new.” And at the risk of burning his hand, he picked up some small brushwood which was blazing fiercely and threw it at their enemy.

The effect was as surprising as it was gratifying. The burning brands struck the beast fairly on the nose, causing him to leap back in terror.

Then he uttered a grunt of dissatisfaction, turned, and sped, with clumsy swiftness, up the gully and into the forest beyond.

”He is retreating!” cried Sam joyfully.

”Wait--don't be too sure,” returned Tom, and, firebrands still in hand, they watched until the bear was out of sight and they could hear nothing more of him.

”My, but aint I glad he's gone!” said the youngest Rover, with a sigh of relief.

”So am I glad, Sam. I was almost afraid both of us were doomed to be chewed up.”

”What shall we do next?”

”I guess we had better get out--as soon as you've reloaded the gun.

Wonder where the ammunition is?”

Both inst.i.tuted a search, and soon a box was brought to light, containing not only ammunition, but also a big hunting knife.

”I'll appropriate the knife,” said Tom. ”It's not as good as a gun or pistol, but it is better than nothing.”

Thus armed they set forth without further delay, fearful that their enemies might return at any moment to recapture them. As the bear had gone up the gully they went down, and they did not come to a halt until they had placed at least quarter of a mile between themselves and the caves. For some distance they kept on a series of bare rocks, thus leaving no trail behind.

”I reckon we are clear of them for the time being,” observed Tom, as he came to a halt. ”And that being so, the next question is Where are d.i.c.k and Mr. Barrow?”

”The best we can do is to try to find Perch River, to my way of thinking,” came from Sam. ”If we can find that and we stick to it, we'll be sure to land at Bear Pond, sooner or later.”

”It seems to me Bear Pond ought to be close at hand,” said Tom. ”We've seen the bear anyway, if not the pond.” And at this both Sam and he gave a short laugh.

An hour later found them tramping along the edge of a cliff overlooking a broad valley, in the center of which was a winding stream almost hidden by the woods on either side.