n the further edge, as has been
told, and quickly scrambling upon solid foundation. Had he been ten
seconds later nothing could have saved him, for the grizzly showed no
more hesitation than he in making the jump.

At the instant Fred read the brute's intention he brought his rifle to
his shoulder. Unsuspected by himself, the last cartridge in the magazine
of his Winchester was in the chamber of the weapon, so that, if it
failed to help, the service of the younger lad was at an end for the
time, for it would be all over before he could bring into use any
cartridges from his belt.

To make the leap to which we have referred the grizzly changed his
position. Until that moment he had been running straight away from Fred,
but now, of necessity, he turned partly toward him. Recalling the words
of Hank Hazletine, Fred aimed at a point just back of the foreleg, as it
reached forward. The ball sped true to its aim, and entering, perhaps,
the most vulnerable point of the body, did more than all the other
bullets that had found a lodging-place in the grizzly, for it inflicted
a mortal wound.

It was this fact that destroyed the effort of the bear at the crisis of
its inception. The attempt already put forth carried him well beyond the
side of the canyon, but it failed to land him firmly on the other
margin. His forepaws went over the top, precisely as the hands of Jack
Dudley had done, and began a furious scratching of the flinty surface,
while the hind feet clawed with equal fierceness the inner side of the
wall. The brute was striving to save himself, and it is to be presumed
would have done so but for the cause named.

That last shot told the story. The shot had seriously weakened the bear,
and his mighty strength was fast oozing away. His struggles grew less
vigorous, though they continued up to the last moment. Jack Dudley had
become aware of what was going on, and, stopping in his flight, shouted:

"Shoot him, Fred, before he can climb out!"

Fred attempted to do so, but discovered he had no more cartridges at
command. Since the bear at best could not harm the younger, he ran
forward to the side of the canyon, just behind the beast. Jack had
paused, so that both were looking at the grizzly, whose huge head and
massive shoulders protruded above the edge of the canyon. While they
looked the head dropped from sight, followed by the forefeet, whose
claws scratched over the flinty surface as they slipped backward.

Knowi