256 ENCOUNTER WITH A BEAR. 



animal pressed me backward almost to the edge of the 

 crag, beneath which the torrent was dashing with fury. In 

 vain Mid I club my gun ; as I struck, the bear caught it 

 in his paw, and wrenched it from my grasp. Then, almost 

 on the very edge of the rock, the monster grappled me to 

 his breast in spite of my struggles, and tumbled me to the 

 ground. Ugh ! what a hug ! and what rips the claws 

 made in my arms and back ! I struggled hard to roll the 

 monster under me, and to keep back from the precipice. 

 But my efforts were unavailing, and before either Wolf or 

 my brother could come to my assistance, I was hanging 

 over the crag, almost breathless, while the sound of the 

 torrent dashing among the rocks below rang in my ears 

 like a knell. I muttered a prayer, for to the best of my 

 belief, my hour had come. My brother reloaded but he 

 dared not fire for fear of hitting me. But Wolf brave 

 Wolf sprang forward, and seized the bear by the ear, 

 thus compelling him to quit his hold. Such was the nature 

 of the spot where I was lying, that I dared not attempt to 

 rise, being fearful that I might slip backwards into the. 

 awful abyss below. Then came a sickening sensation. I 

 forgot all the horrors around me I had fainted. When my 

 senses returned, I found myself lying under a ledge of a 

 rock. My brother, terribly gashed about the countenance, 

 kneeling beside me, bathing my temples, with his wet scarf. 

 Near him, the bleeding and panting Wolf was licking the 



