he dog away. One swipe of those
paws, or one crunch of the great jaws might cripple Lew for life, or even
kill him outright.

"Keep perfectly quiet, Lew," said Charley, "and maybe the bear will
forget about you. She's terribly enraged at this pup."

Charley felt in his pocket and found a piece of strong cord. He knotted it
around the pup's neck and tied the animal to the tree.

"I hope that bear won't come down and kill him while I'm gone," he
muttered to himself. To Lew he said, "I've got an idea. I'm going to get
the rope and see if I can lasso the bear from the other tree."

"Sick 'em, pup," he cried, urging the little dog to make another frenzied
outburst. And while the dog was making the valley ring with his clamor,
Charley raced to his pack and got the coil of rope. Back he ran and
hastily climbed the tree beside the one in which Lew and the bear were
resting. The bear eyed him angrily, but kept her attention centred on the
pup. Charley climbed to a point a little higher than the limb on which the
bear rested. Quickly he fashioned a noose and got his rope ready for a
throw. Then he realized that he could never make a successful cast among
the limbs.

An idea came to him. Drawing his little axe, he quickly cut and trimmed a
small limb, leaving a fork on the end of it. He put the noose on the
forked end and cautiously extended the pole. All the while he was urging
on the dog, which now began to jump up against the trunk of the tree. The
bear more and more centred her attention on the yelping dog. Her hair
bristled, and she growled continually. She bent her head down and got
ready to deal the dog a savage blow if he came up the tree. Her posture
could not have been better for Charley's purpose. Swiftly but quietly he
extended the pole until the noose was just beyond the bear's nose, then
lowered it swiftly and pulled back hard on the rope. Luck was with him.
The bear, taken utterly by surprise, was fairly noosed before she saw the
rope.

Charley's sharp jerk to tighten the lasso almost pulled the bear from her
perch. She grasped the trunk of the tree with her paws to avoid falling,
and that gave Charley an opportunity to tighten and secure his rope. To
keep from falling, the bear had to maintain her hold on the tree. Thus she
could not claw or bite the rope.

"I've got her," shouted Charley.

It was true enough. In a moment he was almost sorry that he had her. For
Lew could not reach the ground without climb