e tones seemed those of his father's, which said:

"Up, Sprigg! Up! They come!" as if he who spoke were in haste. With a
wild start the boy sprang to his feet, and the first thing he knew he
was standing bolt upright, looking straight down the vista, which ran
along the crest of the ridge, as if his head had been turned by him that
had spoken on purpose that way, that he might see what there he saw. And
had Sprigg seen the bison, the wild-cat, the wolf, all there in a row,
the sight could hardly have daunted him more than did that of the object
which now met his eyes. A sight, it was, which brought to his memory all
that his mother had told him concerning that terrible thing of the
wilderness--the Indian mystery--Jibbenainesy, called by the white men,
Nick of the Woods.

Yes, fancy it out as you please--it was a bear, with black hair, so
shaggy and long that his legs could scarcely be seen, and his tail not
at all.

Sprigg's first thought, after the hundred thoughts which the object
before him had awakened, was to reassure himself that the moccasins
still stood guard. He looked! Dire to relate, the red moccasins had
deserted their post--abandoned their trust! Nothing--no one left him to
look to now for help! Down he crouched again at the foot of the old oak
tree, hiding himself in its deepest shadow, in the forlorn hope that the
monster might pass by without discovering his presence. On came the huge
bulk of shaggy blackness--now in the shadow of a tree, now in the belt
of moonlight, slowly, steadily, trudged he along--his head bent down
with the air of one who, while he walked, is absorbed in profound
thought. When his deliberate pace had brought the bear to the third or
fourth belt of light, Sprigg spied an object, which, for the moment, in
spite of the terror he felt, caused his young heart to burn with
indignation, reminding him, as it did, how he had been made a fool of,
by something, or somebody, he had not fairly decided yet what or who.
But the moment after, remembering the voice, which, so like his
mother's, had lulled him to sleep with words of rest and peace--this
feeling gave place to one of joy and trusting reassurance.

Side by side with the bear, and keeping exact step with his sloomy pace,
Sprigg saw his cast-off moccasins, coming quietly on, as if with the
sole intent of guiding the monster directly up to the tree, in whose
dark shadow he had trusted to find a hiding place. Thus leading, thus
led, c