d
if you miss your grip, and in this case it gave me the opportunity that
I wanted, to get my teeth into his right paw just above the wrist. My
teeth sank through the flesh and tendons and closed upon the bone. In
time, if I could hold my grip, I would crush it. His only hope lay in
being able to compel me to let go, by getting his teeth in behind my
ear; and this we both knew, and it was my business with my right paw to
keep his muzzle away.

A moment like that is terrible--and splendid. I have never found myself
in his position, but I can imagine what it must be. We swayed and fell
together, and rolled over and over--now he uppermost, and now I; but
never for a second did I relax my hold. Whatever position we were in, my
teeth were slowly grinding into the bone of his arm, and again and again
I felt his teeth grating and slipping on my skull as I clawed and pushed
blindly at his face to keep him away. More and more desperate he grew,
and still I hung on; and while I clung to him in dead silence he was
growling and snarling frantically, and I could hear his tone getting
higher and higher till, just as I felt the bone giving between my teeth,
the growling broke and changed to a whine, and I knew that I had won.

One more wrench with my teeth, and I felt his arm limp and useless
in my mouth. Then I let go, and as he cowered back on three legs I
reared up and fell upon him again, hitting blow after blow with my
paws, buffeting, biting, beating, driving him before me. Even now he
had fight left in him; but with all his pluck he was helpless with
his crippled limb, and slowly I bore him back out of the open patch,
where we had been fighting into the woods, and yard by yard up the
hill, until at last it was useless for him to pretend to fight any
longer, and he turned and, as best he could, limping on three legs,
ran.

During the whole of the fight the she-bear had not said a word, but sat
on the ground watching and awaiting the result. While the battle was
going on I had no time to look at her; but in the intervals when we were
taking breath, whenever I turned in her direction, she avoided my eye
and pretended not to know that I was there or that anything that
interested her was passing. She looked at the sky and the trees, and
washed herself, or did whatever would best show her indifference. All of
which only told me that she was not indifferent at all.

Now, when I came back to her, she still pretended not to see me u