Grinder, and turned as pale as death. "Oh,
somebody save me!" He wanted to run, but he was in such a tremble he
could not, and sank on his knees in the snow in terror.

Crack! It was the report of John Barrow's rifle, and one of the bears
was hit full in the left eye. Crack! went the piece Dick carried, and
the other bear was hit in the neck. Then Tom fired the shotgun which had
been found on Jasper Grinder, and the bear Dick had hit was wounded in
the side.

Of course there followed a terrible uproar, and in a twinkle both bears
left the pile of rocks and came toward those who had wounded them. The
one that had been wounded in the eye was mortally hit, however, and
staggered in a heap before he had gone ten paces.

But the second bear was full of fight, and his course was directly for
Tom. Before the lad could run the beast was almost on top of him.

"Dodge him!" called out Dick. "Dodge him, Tom!"

"Shoot him, somebody!" yelled back Tom. "Shoot him, quick!"

And then he dodged behind some nearby brush. But the bear was almost as
quick, and ran directly into the brushwood, to face him on the opposite
side.

By this time John Barrow had the rifle reloaded, and now he skirted the
brushwood, followed by Dick. Crack! went the rifle again, just as bruin
was about to pounce upon Tom. But the bullet merely clipped the hair on
the bear's back, and in a twinkle the beast was on Tom and had the lad
down.

With his heart in his throat, Dick made a leap with the shotgun. Bang!
went the piece, when he was not over three yards from the bear. The
charge entered the beast's ear, and with a snort he rolled over and over
in the snow, sending it flying in every direction.

Freed of the bear, Tom lost no time in scrambling to his feet. Soon the
struggles of the beast ceased, and they knew he was either dying or
dead. To make sure, John Barrow stepped in, hunting knife in hand, and
plunged the blade into his throat. Then the other bear was served in the
same fashion.

The fight had been of short duration, yet the peril had been extreme,
and after it was over poor Tom found he could scarcely stand. Dick led
him to a rock and set him down, asking him if he was hurt.

"I got a scratch on the arm, but I reckon it's not much," was the faint
answer. "But it was a close call, wasn't it?"

"Those bears must have been awfully hungry, or they wouldn't have put up
such a fight," said the guide. "Their being at the cache proves they
wan