\ 

 Black Bears 225 



thrown upon the ground ; the bear left him, and as 

 he moved away from him S. fired. It was a long 

 and, I suppose, difficult shot. . . . Gracious heavens 

 he has missed him ! 



The bear turned in an instant, saw us, and rushed 

 down the nullah straight at us. It was a moment to 

 turn one a little pale. This " glorious hour of crowded 

 life " seemed likely to be overcrowded. Lalla and the 

 chota shikari shouted and yelled for all they were 

 worth, in the last extremity of terror, but no cries 

 would deter this hdrpdt from his purpose he must be 

 on us in a moment. 



I remember thinking of getting hold of the spare 

 gun, but saw with the corner of my eye that the 

 chota shikari was " shinning " up the nearest tree, and 

 the eight-bore lay at the bottom. I stuck to S., which 

 was the only thing to do, and hoped for the best. 



On the old bear came, in far less time than it takes 

 to read this, growling with rage ; S., with his last 

 barrel, waited to make it a dead certainty ; but the 

 hdrpdt was most appallingly close, not farther than 

 four yards at the longest estimation, when his gallant 

 charge was ended by a bullet behind his ear. His 

 body rolled over and over to the bottom of the nullah. 

 It was certainly with a sense of relief that we looked 

 at each other, for a bear who will charge in this way 

 is not usual, and we were unprepared for quite such 

 an emergency. 



We ran across to the poor native, who was soon sur- 

 rounded by a sobbing throng ; his scalp was lacerated, 



15 



