of the hunter's spirit within him at that moment than he would
have believed possible a few minutes before. Unfortunately, a hunter's
spirit does not necessarily imply a hunter's eye or hand. Having, with
much care and long time, brought his piece to bear exactly where he
supposed the brute's heart should be, he observed that the gun was on
half-cock, by nearly breaking the trigger in his convulsive efforts to
fire. By the time that this error was rectified, Bruin, who seemed to
feel intuitively that some imminent danger threatened him, rose, and
began to move about uneasily, which so alarmed the young hunter lest he
should lose his shot that he took a hasty aim, fired, and _missed_.
Harry asserted afterwards that he even missed the cliff! On hearing the
loud report, which rolled in echoes along the precipice, Bruin started,
and looking round with an undecided air, saw Harry step quietly from the
bushes, and fire, sending a ball into his flank. This decided him.
With a fierce growl of pain, he scampered towards the water; then
changing his mind, he wheeled round, and dashed at the cliff, up which
he scrambled with wonderful speed.

"Come, Mister Hamilton, load again; quick. I'll have to do the job
myself, I fear," said Jacques, as he leaned quietly on his long gun, and
with a half-pitying smile watched the young man, who madly essayed to
recharge his piece more rapidly than it was possible for mortal man to
do. Meanwhile, Harry had reloaded and fired again; but owing to the
perturbation of his young spirits, and the frantic efforts of the bear
to escape, he missed. Another moment, and the animal would actually
have reached the top, when Jacques hastily fired, and brought it
tumbling down the precipice. Owing to the position of the animal at the
time he fired, the wound was not mortal; and foreseeing that Bruin would
now become the aggressor, the hunter began rapidly to reload, at the
same time retreating with his companions, who in their excitement had
forgotten to recharge their pieces. On reaching level ground, Bruin
rose, shook himself, gave a yell of anger on beholding his enemies, and
rushed at them.

It was a fine sight to behold the bearing of Jacques at this critical
juncture. Accustomed to bear-hunting from his youth, and utterly
indifferent to consequences when danger became imminent, he saw at a
glance the probabilities of the case. He knew exactly how long it would
take him to load his gun, and