by doing so, he would be
forced to pass so near his foe that a big paw might reach out and grasp
him while on the way.

"I'll have to fight you with fire," he said, as he seized a large stick,
one end of which was blazing.

In the hope that he might give him a greater scare than before, the lad
swung it rapidly around his head until it was fanned into a roaring
flame. While this was going on, he was surrounded, as it appeared, by a
fiery circle, his appearance being such that the bravest quadruped
living could not have been induced to approach within his reach. Not
content with this, Ned assumed the aggressive. Stooping low, he emitted
a wild yell, and repeating this, pointed the torch forward and toward
him, moving it more rapidly and in a smaller circle, while at the same
time he kept slowly advancing upon him.

No bear could be expected to withstand such a demonstration. The figure
of the yelling urchin, with his head surrounded by a blazing serpent,
must have struck terror to his very inmost being. Without pausing to do
more than to utter a short growl, he wheeled around and went crashing
through the undergrowth as if under the belief that a battery had been
suddenly unmasked and was about to open upon him. When he had retreated
a few rods he paused to see how matters appeared, when he again beheld
the horrid figure closer than ever and drawing nearer every moment. It
was appalling, and he plunged away at a greater speed than ever. Ned
pursued him until he was fearful of getting so far away from the camp
fire that he would lose it altogether. When he paused he could hear the
bear still tramping off, as if he already felt the torch blistering his
nose. Turning again, the lad ran with all speed to his "headquarters,"
where he flung down his torch and caught up his gun.

"Now I think I've got time to load it," he said, as he began the
operation at once, a little alarmed, however, to discover that the
supply of ammunition furnished him by Tom Hardynge was growing
alarmingly small.

He succeeded in ramming the charge home, and then as he placed the cap
upon the tube, he felt something of the old confidence that was his when
astride the mustang and coursing over the prairie at a speed which no
horse could equal. When first charged upon by the monster he had fired
with such haste that he had no time to make any aim; now fortified by
his camp fire, he meant to improve upon that. Everything being ready, he
looked off