My First Summer 



and defend himself, lowered his head, thrust 

 it forward, and looked sharply and fiercely 

 at me. Then I suddenly began to fear that 

 upon me would fall the work of running ; 

 but I was afraid to run, and therefore, like 

 the bear, held my ground. We stood staring 

 at each other in solemn silence within a 

 dozen yards or thereabouts, while I fervently 

 hoped that the power of the human eye 

 over wild beasts would prove as great as it 

 is said to be. How long our awfully strenu- 

 ous interview lasted, I don't know; but at 

 length in the slow fullness of time he pulled 

 his huge paws down off the log, and with 

 magnificent deliberation turned and walked 

 leisurely up the meadow, stopping frequently 

 to look back over his shoulder to see 

 whether I was pursuing him, then moving 

 on again, evidently neither fearing me very 

 much nor trusting me. He was probably 

 about five hundred pounds in weight, a 

 broad rusty bundle of ungovernable wild- 

 ness, a happy fellow whose lines have fallen 



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