d going repeatedly over the
same ground!

By this time Karl had begun to reflect, and his reflection was, that
they were proceeding rashly. Certain ideas were rising in his mind--
ideas somewhat undefined--but one among the rest was, that, going as
they were, without taking either "bearings or distances," they might get
lost!

Before he had time to call his companions to a halt and take some
deliberation about the matter, a peculiar noise struck upon their ears--
a noise that was easily recognised as being made by the united voices of
two angry animals--a dog and a bear.

Beyond a doubt it was Bruin and Fritz--beyond a doubt they were "in
grips!"

The Plant Hunters--by Captain Mayne Reid

CHAPTER FIFTY SIX.

LOST IN THE CAVE.

The scene of their encounter was at no great distance--about twenty
yards off; and, guided by the loud growling and "worrying," the hunters
easily directed themselves towards the spot. After stumbling over
stalagmites, and now and then hitting their heads against the projecting
points of the stalactites, they arrived upon the ground; and the glare
of the torches was thrown upon two animals--a dog and a bear. They were
near the middle of an immense open hall, or chamber of the cavern. Both
were in fighting attitudes; the bear standing upon the flat top of a
rock--about three feet above the surrounding level--and the dog
assailing his leg, now on one side of the rock, and now upon the other.
The bear was defending himself with his huge paws; and at intervals
flung the forepart of his body downward, with the design of seizing the
hound in his hug.

Fritz well knew the danger of being embraced in the fore-arms of a bear,
and therefore made his attacks from behind; springing up at the
hind-quarters of Bruin, and biting him in the hams. To avoid these
assaults upon his rear, the bear kept turning round and round, as though
he was spinning about upon a pivot!

It was altogether a laughable sight to witness the curious contest
between the two quadrupeds, and had the hunters been pursuing the bear
for mere amusement, they would have permitted the fight to go on for
some time without interfering in it. But amusement was just then out of
the question. The fat of Bruin was a thing of far more importance; and
now that the hunters had become aware of the vast size and endless
labyrinths of the cavern, they perceived that it was quite possible in
such a place to lose both the bear and his