d me your gun, and load mine for
me as quick as you can."

The words were scarcely out of his mouth when the head of a big brown
she-bear became visible among the bushes. She paused in the path,
where her cub was lying, turned him over with her paw, licked his face,
grumbled with a low soothing tone, snuffed him all over and rubbed her
nose against his snout. But unwarily she must have touched some sore
spot; for the cub gave a sharp yelp of pain and writhed and whimpered
as he looked up into his mother's eyes, clumsily returning her caresses.
The boys, half emerged from their hiding-places, stood watching this
demonstration of affection not without sympathy; and Skull-Splitter,
for one, heartily wished that the chief had not wounded the little
bear. Quite ignorant as he was of the nature of bears, he allowed his
compassion to get the better of his judgment. It seemed such a pity that
the poor little beast should lie there and suffer with one eye put out
and forty or fifty bits of lead distributed through its body. It would
be much more merciful to put it out of its misery altogether. And
accordingly when Erling the Lop-Sided handed him his gun to pass on to
the chief, Skull-Splitter started forward, flung the gun to his cheek,
and blazed away at the little bear once more, entirely heedless of
consequences. It was a random, unskilful shot, which was about equally
shared by the cub and its mother. And the latter was not in a mood to be
trifled with. With an angry roar she rose on her hind legs and advanced
against the unhappy Skull-Splitter with two uplifted paws. In another
moment she would give him one of her vigorous "left-handers," which
would probably pacify him forever. Ironbeard gave a scream of terror
and Thore the Hound broke down an alder-sapling in his excitement. But
Wolf-in-the-Temple, remembering that he had sworn foster-brotherhood
with this brave and foolish little lad, thought that now was the time to
show his heroism. Here it was no longer play, but dead earnest. Down he
leaped from his rock, and just as the she-bear was within a foot of the
Skull-Splitter, he dealt her a blow in the head with the butt end of
his gun which made the sparks dance before her eyes. She turned suddenly
toward her new assailant, growling savagely, and scratched her ear with
her paw. And Skull-Splitter, who had slipped on the pine needles and
fallen, scrambled to his feet again, leaving his gun on the ground, and
with a few ai