was sitting.

"While the man was sitting there in this manner, eating his bread and
cheese, a bear came walking into the mill,--a great black bear. He came
up to the log, and when he saw that the man was eating bread and cheese,
he thought he should like some too. So he sat down on the log."

"On which side of the man?" asked Forester,--"towards the saw or from
it?"

[Illustration]

"Towards the saw," said Marco. "The man was on the end of the log
farthest from the saw. The bear sat a little beyond him, nearer to the
saw, and the bread and cheese was between them. The bear began to eat
the bread and cheese."

"How?" asked Forester.

"Why, he took it up in his paws, I suppose," said Marco,--"though I
don't know certainly about that. At any rate, he began to eat the bread
and cheese,--sitting with his back towards the saw, and his face towards
the man.

"And all this time, you must understand," said Marco, "that the carriage
was carrying the log, man, bear, and all, towards the saw, and the man
saw that if the bear would only keep still, in his place, until he was
carried to the saw, he would get sawed in two, and so killed. At first,
he thought it would be best for him to get hold of the iron bar, if he
could, and beat the old bear's brains out. But he was afraid that he
should not succeed in doing that, and so he concluded to wait and see
what would happen.

"Now, bears have a way," continued Marco, "whenever they are angry with
anything, of grasping it in their arms and hugging it tight. The man did
not think of this; he only hoped that the saw would saw the bear in two.
The log moved on nearer and nearer, and at last brought the bear along
so far that the next stroke cut right down his back. He immediately
turned around and seized the saw, and hugged it with all his strength,
and it tore him all to pieces."

"Indeed," said Forester. "That is quite a story."

Forester did not seem so much astonished at this account as Marco had
expected, but farther conversation on the subject was prevented by the
occurring of a new object of attention. The millman began to make
arrangements for drawing up more logs from the water of the river, by
means of a long chain passing around a revolving axis, in the manner
which has been already explained.

Marco watched the first log, as it came slowly up, and then he wanted to
go down the inclined plane to the water below. The moon was just rising,
which gave them sufficient