I still believed that my bullet must have
sped truly, as it had been delivered with a good aim.

"As I turned to Dick for an explanation, a new sound fell upon my ears
that explained all, at the same time causing me no slight feeling of
alarm. It was a sound not unlike that sometimes uttered by terrified
swine, but still louder and more threatening. I knew it well--I knew it
was the snort of the grizzly bear!

"Of all American animals, the grizzly bear is the most to be dreaded.
Armed or unarmed, man is no match for him, and even the courageous
hunter of these parts shuns the encounter. This was why my companion
had admonished me not to fire. I thought I had missed: it was not so.
My bullet had hit and stung the fierce brute to madness; and a quick
cracking among the bushes was immediately followed by a heavy plunge:
the bear was in the water!

"`Good heavens, he's after us!' cried Dick in accents of alarm, at the
same time propelling the dug-out with all his might.

"It proved true enough that the bear was after us, and the very first
plunge had brought his nose almost up to the side of the canoe.
However, a few well-directed strokes of the paddle set us in quick
motion, and we were soon gliding rapidly down stream, followed by the
enraged animal, that every now and then uttered one of his fierce
snorts.

"What rendered our situation a terrible one was, that we could not now
see the bear, nor tell how far he might be from us. All to the rear of
the canoe was of a pitchy darkness, in consequence of the screen of
birch-bark. No object could be distinguished in that direction, and it
was only by hearing him that we could tell he was still some yards off.
The snorts, however, were more or less distinct, as heard amid the
varying roar of the waterfall; and sometimes they seemed as if the snout
from which they proceeded was close up to our stern.

"We knew that if he once laid his paw upon the canoe, we should either
be sunk or compelled to leap out and swim for it. We knew, moreover,
that such an event would be certain death to one of us at least.

"I need hardly affirm, that my companion used his paddle with all the
energy of despair. I assisted him as much as was in my power with the
butt-end of my gun, which was now empty. On account of the hurry and
darkness, I had not attempted to re-load it.

"We had shot down stream for a hundred yards or so, and were about
congratulating ourselves on the prospect