reat beast, which had seemed to hesitate,
plunged impetuously into the stream. Nothing, according to a bear's
knowledge of life, could have made that sudden disturbance in the pool
but some fish-loving otter or mink, intent upon seizing the booty.
Indignant at the prospect of being forestalled by any such furtive
marauder, the bear hurled himself forward with such force that the
spray flew high into the branches, and the noise of his splashing was
a clear notification that trespassers and meddlers had better keep
off. That salmon was his, by right of discovery; and he was going to
have it.

The bear, for all the seeming clumsiness of his bulk, was a
redoubtable swimmer; and almost before Barnes had decided clearly on
his proper course of action those heavy, grunting snorts and vast
expulsions of breath were at his ear. Enormously loud they sounded,
shot thus close along the surface of the water. Perforce, Barnes made
up his mind on the instant.

The bunch of twigs which had arrested the progress of the floating
salmon lay just about an arm's length from Barnes's face. Swimming
high, his mighty shoulders thrusting up a wave before him which buried
Barnes's head safely from view, the bear reached the salmon. Grabbing
it triumphantly in his jaws, he turned to make for shore again.

This was Barnes's moment. Both arms shot out before him. Through the
suffocating confusion his clutching fingers encountered the bear's
haunches. Sinking into the long fur, they closed upon it with a grip
of steel. Then, instinctively, Barnes shut his eyes and clenched his
teeth, and waited for the shock, while his lungs felt as if they would
burst in another moment.

But it was no long time he had to wait--perhaps two seconds, while
amazement in the bear's brain translated itself through panic into
action. Utterly horrified by this inexplicable attack, from the rear
and from the depths, the bear threw himself shoulder high from the
water, and hurled himself forward with all his strength. Barnes felt
those tremendous haunches heaving irresistibly beneath his clutching
fingers. He felt himself drawn out straight, and dragged ahead till he
thought his ankle would snap. Almost he came to letting go, to save
the ankle. But he held, on, as much with his will as with his grip.
Then, the slimy thing in the depths gave way. He felt himself being
jerked through the water--free. His fingers relaxed their clutch on
the bear's fur--and he came to the s