432 THRILLING MOMENTS TO THE NIMRODS. 
relieve a nervous feeling of morbid luiugriness that had 
lately attacked him, and examined the muskef s cap with 
a doubting eye. 
And now to return to our boat. There was no occa- 
sion now for the usual order of “Give way, boys!’* the 
long sweeping oars of mountain-ash worked with the 
beautiful regularity of a steam-engine, under the bent 
backs and swelling muscles of the long-tried and excited 
oarsmen, and seemed to cast the boat at least her length 
ahead with eveiy stroke. We were beginning to close in 
with the beach pretty well ; and, just as we had succeeded 
in getting the bear between us and tlie shore-party, he 
seemed to discover us for the first time. Our gliding 
approach, however, did not apparently disturb him; he 
only turned a lazy glance toward us, snufted the tainted 
air, and continued Ids lounging gait toward the very 
clump of sea-weed which the sound judgment of the 
Kentuck}^ hunter had imagined he would approach in 
search of some fated shell-fish or other object of food. 
We saw that the crisis was fast approaching, and we were 
yet.vSome three hundred yards from the beach: would 
that ho might find some unfortunate crab to arrest his 
lazy progress until we could give a few more strokes and 
reach the shore ! 
To the ambushed hunters these were moments of thrill- 
ing excitement. They could not remain positively out 
of his sight without he being also out of their sight, and, 
notwithstanding his immense bulk and weight, he moved 
alo7ig the sandy beach with such a noiseless tread that 
they could not judge, from the sound of his steps, whether 
he continued his approach, or whether he had taken to 
