r
you!" exclaimed the sister; "if you do, I just think you haven't got any
sense at all--now there! that's all there is about _that_."

This was a severe denunciation, but it did not deter the lad from
turning directly about and hurrying to the spot where he had landed,
when forced to help Nellie ashore.

A strong breeze was still blowing, so that the craft, whether the bear
was clinging to it or not, would be sure to come to land again. Nick did
not know that the animal had left it, and he was not foolish enough to
invite the beast to assail him.

The logs, relieved from their burden, were floating over the surface,
and the lad caught sight of them but a short distance off, steadily
approaching the shore.

"The raft must have gone under with the coat, vest, and hat," he said,
watching the floating mass, "and I should think my clothes would have
been lost; but there is something on the logs that looks like my coat
and vest. It would be odd if they had kept their place."

Naturally, the whole attention of Nick was absorbed in this matter; and,
when he found that the wind was carrying the raft and its freight toward
another point, he moved along the margin so as to anticipate its
arrival.

As he did so, like the renowned Captain John Smith when pursued by
Powhatan's warriors, he paid no attention to where his feet led him. He
was studying the raft, as best he could through the smoky darkness, and,
knowing the shore as well as he did, he saw no need of looking downward.

All at once his feet struck a large, soft mass, and, before he could
check himself, he pitched headlong over it, as though it were a bale of
cloth in his path. The nimble boy was on his feet like a flash, and,
quick as he was, he was not a moment too soon.

He had caught the ominous growl, and he knew the bear had got in his way
again, as it had persisted in doing before.

It did seem singular that the boy and bruin should meet so often, and it
may be that the animal, that was resting himself, lost patience over
such persecution, for he raised his huge body and made for the
frightened boy.

It was an alarming situation for the latter, who did not lose his
presence of mind. He knew much of the nature of the animal, though he
had never before been brought face to face in this fashion with a wild
one.

Desperate as was the haste with which Nick Ribsam fled, he did not
forget to run directly away from his sister, so as to prevent her
becoming in