write, Jack did not know this. He
went on to soliloquise:

"Yes, you've got a pretty set to deal with; elements that will cause you
enough of trouble before you have done with them. Well, well, don't
give in, old chap. Never say die. If solitude is to be your lot, meet
it like a man. Why, they say that solitude of the worst kind is to be
found where most people dwell. Has it not been said, that in the great
city of London itself a man may be more solitary than in the heart of
the wilderness? I've read it, but I can't very well believe it. Yet,
there _may_ be something in it. Humph! Well, well, Jack, you're not a
philosopher, so don't try to go too deep; take it easy, and do the best
you can."

At this point Jack came suddenly in sight of the vats. They stood in
the centre of a cleared space in the forest. On the edge of the largest
vat was perched an object which induced our hero to throw forward his
fowling-piece hastily. It was a black bear, or rather the hind-quarters
of a black bear, for the head and one paw and shoulder of the animal
were far down in the vat. He was holding firmly to its edge by the hind
legs and one fore-leg, while with the other he was straining his utmost
to reach the fish.

Jack's first impulse was to fire, but reflecting that the portion of the
bear then in view was not a very vulnerable part, he hesitated, and
finally crept behind a tree to consider, feeling confident that whatever
should occur he would be pretty sure of getting a favourable opportunity
to fire with effect.

Quite unconscious of his danger, bruin continued to reach down into the
vat with unwearied determination. His efforts were rewarded with
success, for he presently appeared on the edge of the vat with a fine
salmon in his embrace. Now was Jack's opportunity. He raised his
piece, but remembering Marteau's remark about the bear's difficulty in
eating salt salmon, he postponed the fatal shot until he should have
studied this point in natural history.

His forbearance met with a reward, for the bear kept him during the next
five minutes in such a state of suppressed laughter, that he could not
have taken a steady aim to have saved his life. Its sense of smell was
evidently gratified, for on leaping to the ground it took a powerful
snuff, and then began to devour the salmon with immense gusto. But the
first mouthful produced an expression of countenance that could not be
misunderstood. It coughed, spl