caves in the south, they might come,
in time, for the white man only and not for the red.

He regarded Will with a yellow and evil eye. Wayaka was a good lad--he
had proved it more than once--but he was a representative of the
conquering and hated race. Heraka had said that his fate, the most
terrible that could be devised, must come some day, but Wayaka was not
to know the hour of its coming; no sign that it was at hand must be
given.

Xingudan went over again the words of Heraka, who was higher in rank
than he, and he pursed his lips thoughtfully, trying to decide what he
would do. Then he heard a woof and a snort, and a sudden lurch of a
heavy body. He sprang to his feet in alarm. While he was thinking and
inattentive, Rota (the grizzly bear), not yet gone into his winter
sleep, vast and hungry, was upon him.

Xingudan was no coward, but he was not so agile as a younger man. He
sprang to his feet and hastily leveling the repeating rifle fired once,
twice. The Indian is not a good marksman, least of all when in great
haste. One of the bullets flew wild, the other struck him in the
shoulder, and to Rota that was merely the thrust of a needle, stinging
but not dangerous. A stroke of a great paw and the rifle was dashed from
the hands of the old chief. Then he upreared himself in his mighty and
terrible height, one of the most powerful and ferocious beasts, when
wounded, that the world has ever known.

Will had seen the rush of the grizzly and the defense of the chief. He
snatched up a great spear, a weapon full ten feet long and with a point
and blade as keen as a razor. He thrust it past Xingudan and, with all
his might, full into the chest of the upreared bear. Strength and a
prodigious effort driven on by nervous force sped the blow, and the
bear, huge as he was, was fairly impaled. But Will still hung to the
lance and continued to push.

Terrific roars of pain and anger came from the throat of the bear. A
bloody foam gushed from his mouth and he fell heavily, wrenching the
spear from the boy's grasp and breaking the shaft as he fell. His great
sides heaved, but presently he lay quite still, and Will, quivering from
his immense nervous effort, knew that he was dead.

Old Xingudan, who had been half stunned, rose to his feet, steadied
himself, and said with great dignity:

"You have saved my life, Wayaka. It was a great deed to slay Rota with
only capa (a spear) and the beast, too, is one of the most monstrous