VICTORY AT LAST. 163 



The left-hand passage was as bad as the right, but 

 luckily the bear had not gone far. We soon reached 

 the place where, grinding her teeth, she awaited our ap- 

 proach. I halted about eight or nine feet from her, 

 raised myself as high as the space would allow, laid the 

 rifle over my left arm, in which I held the torch, and 

 seizing the time when her head was quiet for an instant, 

 I fired. Again the cave echoed the crack of the rifle, 

 and all was enveloped in thick smoke. I heard the bear 

 groan and move, but stood my ground, as this time I 

 knew that my ball had struck the right place : as the 

 smoke cleared away, she lay dead before me. 



Young Con well and I were half dead from our exer- 

 tions, and it would have been impossible for us to get 

 the bear out ; for the time we had been crawling in the 

 close air of the cave and smoke of the torches, and the 

 long-continued excitement of constant danger, were al- 

 most too much for the constitution of any man ; so we 

 decided on returning to the fresh air as fast as we could. 

 It took us about naif an hour to do so, and I shall never 

 forget the effect of the delightfully cool night air, as I 

 drew it in long inspirations, and gazed on the bright- 

 blue starry skies. 



Young Smith and the schoolmaster were fast asleep, 

 but as the dogs barked they both jumped up, and almost 

 fell down again from fright, for they swore that they had 

 never seen such horrible figures as we looked in the red 

 light of the torches, covered with blood and slime, and 

 blackened with smoke. Judging by the stars, it must 

 have been about two o'clock in the morning. Although 

 as hungry as lions, we were too exhausted to touch any 



