he bullet seemed to strike her on the flank, as she
turned with a growl and bit the part. This delayed her for a moment,
and allowed Lucien time to swing himself to a tree. Basil had thrown
away his rifle, not having time to reload. Francois, when he saw the
great monster so near, dropped his gun without firing.

All three in their haste climbed separate trees. It was a grove of
white oaks, as we have already stated; and these trees, unlike the
pines, or magnolias, or cypress-trees, have usually great limbs growing
low down and spreading out horizontally. These limbs are often as many
feet in length as the tree itself is in height.

It was upon these that they had climbed--Basil having taken to that one
under which they had slept, and which was much larger than the others
around. At the foot of this tree the bear stopped. The robes and
blankets drew her attention for the moment. She tossed them over with
her great paws, and then left them, and walked round the trunk, looking
upward, at intervals uttering loud "sniffs," that sounded like the
"'scape" of a steam-pipe. By this time Basil had reached the third or
fourth branch from the ground. He might have gone much higher; but,
from what Lucien had suggested, he believed the animal to be a grizzly
bear. Her colour, which was of a fern or fulvous brown, confirmed him
in that belief--as he knew that grizzly bears are met with of a great
variety of colours. He had nothing to fear then, even on the lowest
branch, and he thought it was no use going higher. So he stopped and
looked down. He had a good view of the animal below; and to his
consternation he saw at a glance that it was _not_ a grizzly, but a
different species. Her shape, as well as general appearance, convinced
him it was the "cinnamon" bear--a variety of the black, and one of the
best tree-climbers of the kind. This was soon put beyond dispute, as
Basil saw the animal throw her great paws around the trunk, and commence
crawling upward!

It was a fearful moment. Lucien and Francois both leaped back to the
ground, uttering shouts of warning and despair. Francois picked up his
gun, and without hesitating a moment ran to the foot of the tree, and
fired both barrels into the hips of the bear. The small shot hardly
could have penetrated her thick shaggy hide. It only served to irritate
her afresh, causing her to growl fiercely; and she paused for some
moments, as if considering whether she would de