hence we had just retreated.

As it was obvious that the bear could advance no farther, for he was
standing on the very edge of the ledge and there was a bulge in the rock
before him which would inevitably have pushed him off into the chasm had
he attempted to pass it, Joe and I returned to the spring, where we had
room to stand or to sit down as we wished.

The enemy watched our approach, with a glint of malice in his little
piggy eyes, but when he saw that we intended to come no nearer, he lay
down where he was and began unconcernedly licking his paws.

"He thinks he can starve us out," said Joe; "but if I'm not mistaken we
can stand it longer than he can, even if he did eat half a pig last
night. And there's one thing certain, Phil: if we don't get home
to-night, somebody will come to look for us in the morning."

"Yes," I assented. "But they'll get a pretty bad scare at home if we
don't turn up. Is there no way of sending that beast off? If we could
only get hold of one of the guns----"

By standing upright we could see my rifle lying on the ground and Joe's
big gun standing with its muzzle pointed skyward, leaning against a
boulder. They were only six feet away, but six feet were six feet: we
could not reach them without climbing up, and that was out of the
question--the bear could get there much more quickly than we could.

"Phil!" exclaimed my companion, suddenly. "Have you got any twine in
your pocket?"

"Yes," I replied, pulling out a long, stout piece of string. "Why?"

"Perhaps we can 'rope' my gun. See, its muzzle stands clear. Then we
could drag it within reach."

I very soon had a noose made, and being the more expert roper of the two
I swung it round and round my head, keeping the loop wide open, and
threw it. My very first cast was successful. The noose fell over the
muzzle of the gun and settled half way down the barrel, where it was
stopped by the rock.

"Good!" whispered Joe. "Now, tighten it up gently and pull the gun
over."

I followed these directions, and presently we heard the gun fall with a
clatter upon the rocks; for, fearing it might go off when it fell, we
had both ducked below the rim of the wall.

Our actions had made the bear suspicious, and when the gun came
clattering down he rose upon his hind feet and looked about him. Seeing
nothing moving, however, he came down again, when I at once began to
pull the gun gently towards me, keeping my head down all the time lest
one of