he combat would not have been even; the man had
the upper ground, and you would have fought at a grievous disadvantage.
Why should you risk your life in a fight with the swords, when my arrow
has answered all purposes? What should I have said if I had gone back
without you? What satisfaction would it have been to me to avenge your
fall? What would they have said to me when I told them that I looked on
idly while you engaged in such a struggle? Valour is valour, and we all
know that my lord is the bravest among us; but the life of the cousin of
our general is too valuable to be risked for nought when we are embarked
upon a great enterprise."

"Look, Nessus! what is there?" Malchus exclaimed, his attention
attracted by a dark object which was crossing the narrow path some
distance ahead and ascending the steep side of the gorge. "It is a bear,
let us follow him; his flesh will form a welcome change for the company
tonight."

The bear, who had been prowling in the bottom of the ravine, had been
disturbed by the fall of the body of the savage near him, and started
hastily to return to its abode, which lay high up on the face of the
cliff. Malchus and his companion hurried forward to the spot where it
had crossed the path. The way was plain enough; there were scratches on
the rock, and the bushes growing in the crevices were beaten down. The
path had evidently been frequently used by the animal.

"Look out, my lord!" Nessus exclaimed as Malchus hurried along. "These
bears of the Pyrenees are savage brutes. See that he does not take you
unawares."

The rocks were exceedingly steep; and Malchus, with his bow in his hand
and the arrow fitted and ready to draw, climbed on, keeping his eyes on
every clump of bush lest the bear should be lurking there. At last he
paused. They had reached a spot now but a short distance from the top.
The cliff here fell almost perpendicularly down, and along its face was
a narrow ledge scarcely a foot wide. Along this it was evident the bear
had passed.

"I should think we must be near his den now, Nessus. I trust this ledge
widens out before it gets there. It would be an awkward place for a
conflict, for a stroke of his paw would send one over the edge."

"I shall be close behind you, my lord," said Nessus, whose blood was now
up with the chase. "Should you fall to stop him, drop on one knee that I
may shoot over you."

For some fifty yards the ledge continued unbroken. Malchus moved along