A BEAR IN THE PATH 67 



scare were too great. I just gasped ' Hoowuffl ' 

 instinctively, as the bear had shot it out of his 

 deep lungs a moment before, and stood stock 

 still as he was doing. He was startled as well as 

 I; that was the only thing I was sure about. 



" I suppose that in each of our heads at first 

 there was just one thought ' I'm in a fix ; how 

 shall I get out?' ... I met his eyes squarely 

 with mine and held them, which was perhaps 

 the most sensible thing I could have done though 

 it was all unconscious on my part. In the brief 

 moment that followed I did a lot of thinking. 

 There was no escape up or down ; I must go on 

 or turn back. If I jumped forward with a yell, 

 as I had done before under different circum- 

 stances, would he not rush at me savagely as all 

 wild creatures do when cornered? No ! the time 

 for that had passed with the first instant of our 

 meeting. The bluff would now be too apparent; it 

 must be done without hesitation or not at all. 

 If I turned back he would follow me to the end 

 of the ledge. . . . Besides, it was dangerous 

 walking, and I wanted a salmon for my supper. 

 . . . All the while I looked at him steadily until 

 his eyes began to lose their intentness. My hand 

 slipped back and gripped the handle of my hunt- 

 ing knife. Some slight confidence came with the 

 motion, though I would certainly have gone 

 over the cliff and taken my chances in the cur- 

 rent rather than have closed with him, with all 

 his enormous strength in that narrow place. Sud- 

 denly his eyes wavered from mine; he swung 

 his head to look down and up, and I knew that 

 I had won the first move, and the path also if I 

 could keep my nerve. 



" I advanced a step or two very quietly, still 



