Prompt action!
no time to think! Life! death! Watty never afterwards could tell
clearly what he felt or did on that tremendous occasion, but Jack could
tell what he did, for he saw him do it.

Going down on one knee and resting his left arm on the other, in what is
known to volunteers as the Hythe position, the little youth calmly
levelled his double-barrelled gun. It was charged only with small shot,
and he knew that that was useless at long range, therefore he restrained
himself and waited.

Jack and the bear ran straight towards him.

"Up, Watty, up a tree," gasped Jack; "it's no use--shot won't hurt him--
quick!"

As he spoke he darted to the nearest tree, seized a large limb, and
swung himself up among the branches. The bear passed under him, and,
observing the kneeling figure in front, charged at once. When it was
within three feet of him the youth let fly the contents of both barrels
into the grizzly's mouth. So true was his aim that about six inches of
the barrel followed the shot as the bear rushed upon it. This saved
Watty, who was violently hurled aside by the stock of his own gun, while
the bear went head-over-heels, vomiting blood and rage amid smoke and
dust and scattered nuggets of gold!

"O Watty!" cried Jack, leaping down to the rescue with his drawn
hunting-knife.

But before Jack reached him, or the bear had time to recover himself,
Watty was on his active legs, and sprang up a tree like a monkey. Jack
caught a branch of the same tree, and by sheer strength swung himself
up, but on this occasion with so little time to spare, that the bear,
standing on its hind legs, touched his heel lovingly with its protruded
lips, as he drew himself out of reach.

We need scarcely say it was with beating and thankful hearts that the
two friends looked down from their perch of safety on the formidable and
bloody foe who kept pawing at the foot of the tree and looking hungrily
up at them.

"What a mercy that the grizzly can't climb!" panted Watty, who had not
yet recovered breath.

"But he can watch and keep us here all night," said Jack, "and we have
no means of killing him. I fell and lost my gun in escaping, and yours
is doubled up. We're in for a night of it, my boy. Why didn't you do
what I bade you, get up into the tree with your gun when you saw us
coming, and then we could have shot him at our leisure?"

"Why didn't you lend me your own cool head and clear brain," retorted
the other,