92 The Grizzly Bear 



stream. Jack now put in a shot, and as his small supply 

 of ammunition was unhandily packed, was compelled to 

 strike out for the timber, digging for cartridges as he ran. 



The bear-dog had been very bold when the bear was 

 on the opposite side of the creek, but when it forded the 

 stream Nebo with great discretion retired some two hun- 

 dred yards across the bottom; and had Jack's life de- 

 pended on the dog's attacks, he would probably have 

 been slaughtered then and there. And yet, to do Nebo 

 justice, his barking saved Jack's life in the end. Martin, 

 from his perch, could see Jack's effort to reach the timber, 

 and to reload his gun before the bear overtook him, and, 

 as the latter got nearer and nearer, he called, "Look out. 

 Jack, she's after you!" Jack, with this stimulus, made 

 the timber, and the barking of the dog seems to have 

 turned back the bear. Jack now got at his cartridges and, 

 coming out from behind his tree, took another shot at the 

 grizzly from a distance of about thirty feet, but missed her, 

 and she, turning, again went after him. Martin, from his 

 observatory, again called out the news, and again, after 

 Jack had reached his shelter, the barking of the dog drew 

 the bear off. Jack reloaded again, fired again, and missed 

 again, and this time the bear went for him in earnest. 



Martin still acted as a bureau of information, but as 

 the bear was now so close to Jack that he had all he could 

 do to dodge her claws, this was hardly necessary. This 

 time he had kept his cartridge out, and he loaded as he 

 ran, and reaching a large tree he swung himself around 

 it, and as the bear passed, fired his last shot — and made 

 a clean miss. He was now forced to continue his flight, 

 and as soon as he was out of sight Martin made for camp. 



