e he was,
hastened along the path toward the camp.

"They'll be worried almost to death about me," was his thought, "and I
shouldn't wonder if they start out to hunt me up. Ah!"

The reverberating report of a rifle came from the direction of the
limestone rock, and he felt no doubt that it was meant as a signal to
direct him.

Herbert replied by firing his own gun in the air and shouting that he
was coming. He did not forget to place another cartridge in his rifle,
for, truth to tell, he was a little nervous over this lonely tramp
through the woods at such a late hour.

He listened, and heard the answering shout of Sam Harper, and,
communication being thus established, Herbert held his peace and
hastened forward as best he could in the faint moonlight.

"I hope I won't meet any sort of game now," was the wish of the lad,
"for I am in a hurry to join the boys--"

Could he believe his eyes!

He had hardly given expression to the wish, when a dark mass loomed up
to sight directly ahead of him, and he plainly saw the gleam and glow of
a pair of frightful eyes fixed upon him. He was sure, too, that he had
heard the threatening growl of the monster, which might well believe he
had the youngster in his power.

"It's the bear, as sure as I'm alive!" gasped Herbert. "There's no
getting away from him! Heaven save me from missing, for if my gun fails
me now, it is all over! He won't give me time to climb a tree, and I
_must_ shoot!"

CHAPTER XXII.

THE "VACANT CHAIR."

It is hard to imagine a more trying situation than that of Master
Herbert Watrous, who, while walking along a path in the woods, saw by
the faint moonlight what he believed to be the figure of an enormous
black bear, sitting on its haunches, and waiting for him to move either
forward or backward before springing upon him.

He shuddered with fear, but, with a courage hardly to be expected in his
case, he drew up his rifle, sighted as best he could, and fired
point-blank at the brute, when no more than a rod separated the two.

It was impossible to miss, even with such an unsteady aim, and the lad
had not a particle of doubt that he had hit him; but had he inflicted a
mortal wound?

Without waiting an unnecessary second, Herbert flung out the shell of
the cartridge and placed a new one in the breech. His hands trembled so
that he could hardly keep from dropping it, but he succeeded better than
would have been supposed.

Once more the gun w