mless steps tumbled once more into the brook. Ironbeard,
seeing that he was being outdone by his chief, was quick to seize the
gun, and rushing forward dealt the she-bear another blow, which, instead
of disabling her, only exasperated her further. She glared with her
small bloodshot eyes now at the one, now at the other boy, as if in
doubt which she would tackle first. It was an awful moment; one or the
other might have saved himself by flight, but each was determined to
stand his ground. Vikings could die, but never flee. With a furious
growl the she-bear started toward her last assailant, lifting her
terrible paw. Ironbeard backed a few steps, pointing his gun before him;
and with benumbing force the paw descended upon the gun-barrel, striking
it out of his hands.

It seemed all of a sudden to the boy as if his arms were asleep up to
the shoulders; he had a stinging sensation in his flesh and a humming in
his ears, which made him fear that his last hour had come. If the bear
renewed the attack now, he was utterly defenceless. He was not exactly
afraid, but he was numb all over. It seemed to matter little what became
of him.

But now a strange thing happened. To his unutterable astonishment he saw
the she-bear drop down on all fours and vent her rage on the gun, which,
in a trice, was bent and broken into a dozen fragments. But in this
diversion she was interrupted by Wolf-in-the-Temple, who hammered away
again at her head with the heavy end of his weapon. Again she rose,
and presented two rows of white teeth which looked as if they meant
business. It was the chief's turn now to meet his fate; and it was
the more serious because his helper was disarmed and could give him no
assistance. With a wildly thumping heart he raised the butt end of his
gun and dashed forward, when as by a miracle a shot was heard--a sharp,
loud shot that rumbled away with manifold reverberations among the
mountains. In the same instant the huge brown bear tumbled forward,
rolled over, with a gasping growl, and was dead.

"O Brumle-Knute! Brumle-Knute!" yelled the boys in joyous chorus, as
they saw their rescuer coming forward from behind the rocks, "how did you
find us?"

"I heard yer shots and I saw yer tracks," said Brumle-Knute, dryly; "but
when ye go bear-hunting another time ye had better load with bullets
instead of bird-shot."

"But Brumle-Knute, we only wanted to shoot the little bear," protested
Wolf-in-the-Temple.

"That may b