with fire-brands, some with spears, clamoring
resolutely behind her. With fearless dexterity, she thrust the fire
straight into the monster's eyeballs, totally blinding him. As he
wheeled to strike her down, she slipped aside with a mocking laugh,
and threw one of the brands between his jaws, where he crunched upon
it savagely before he felt the torment of it and spat it out.

Depending now upon his ears, the monster blundered straight forward in
the direction of the shouting voices. He had quite forgotten
Ook-ootsk. He raged to come at this last intolerable foe, who had
scorched the light from his eyes. He made for her voice straight
enough; but it chanced that exactly in his path lay the second
fire--that into which the body of the elk had fallen. Already too
maddened with the anguish of his wounds to notice the fire at
once, he stumbled upon the body. Here, surely, was one of his foes.
He fell to rending the carcase with his claws, and biting it,
crawling forward upon it to reach its throat with the fire licking up
derisively about his head; till at length the flames were drawn deep
into his laboring lungs, searing them and sealing them so that they
could no more perform their office. With a shallow, screeching gasp he
threw himself backwards out of the fire, rolled upon the turf, and
lay there fighting the air with his paws as he strangled swiftly and
convulsively.

The second bear, meanwhile, wallowing with astonishing nimbleness on
three legs, had charged roaring into the group of old men. In a
twinkling he had three or four spears sticking into him; but the arms
that hurled the spears were weak, and the monster ramped on unheeding.
Several fire-brands fell upon him, scorching his long, red fur, but he
shook them off, too maddened to remember his natural dread of the
flames.

The group scattered in all directions. But one brave old gray-beard,
who had marked A-ya's success, lingered in the path, and tried to
thrust his blazing faggot into the monster's eyes, as she had done. He
was not quick enough. The monster threw up its muzzle, dodging the
stroke, and the next moment it had struck down its feeble adversary
and crushed his head between its tremendous jaws.

In its folly, it now forgot its other enemies, and fell to wreaking
its madness on the lifeless victim. But in another second or two it
was fairly overwhelmed with the red brands descending upon its head.
A-ya, with all the force of her strong young ar