ateningly, but the bear did not
mind in the least. He trotted on until less than two rods separated boy
and beast. Then Joe reached some underbrush and rocks, with a
low-hanging tree in their midst, and without stopping to think twice he
climbed into the tree and to one of the upper branches.

Hardly had he reached what he thought might prove a temporary place of
safety when he realized his mistake. The bear came up the tree after
him,--slowly, it is true; but still up,--and this caused Joe's hair to
fairly stand upon end.

"I'm a gone one now!" he groaned, and then espied another tree growing
not far away. A limb could just be reached, and as the bear almost
gained the boy's foot Joe swung himself from the first tree into the
second.

As the lad gained a safe spot on the tree limb, the bear, coming to a
halt on the branch opposite, set up a growl of rage and disappointment.
For a minute he surveyed the situation, then came out on the branch
slowly, testing it inch by inch. As it bent down he retreated, letting
out a second growl, louder than the other.

Joe was wondering if he could drop to the ground and escape in that
manner, when he saw the bear descend and come quickly toward the tree he
was on. He watched the beast closely, and waited until it was close to
him. Then he made a leap back into the tree from which he had originally
come.

Again the bear came out as far as possible on a limb, and again he let
out a growl of rage and disappointment. In one way the situation was
comical, and Joe might have laughed had he not felt so serious.

"We can keep this up a long time, I reckon," thought the boy. "And as
long as you don't try to leap after me I'll be safe."

Finding he could not reach the boy by coming up one tree or the other,
the black bear descended slowly to the ground. Then he walked around
both trees several times, and at last came to a halt between the two.
Here he sank down, as if to rest, but nevertheless kept one eye open and
fixed upon Joe.

"He's going on guard! He means to keep me treed!" muttered the boy, and
again his heart sank. He remembered a story he had once read, in which a
bear had starved a man to death and eaten him afterward. Would Mr. Bruin
do so in this case?

He wished he had a pistol, or a hunting-knife, or even a fair-sized
stone. But he had nothing except a thin club, which he had cut for
himself with his jackknife. This he kept in hand, and also kept the
knife open and w