es to look;--and what is that
other object, half hidden by a drooping bough? It is Virginia clinging
to the rocks.

A moment before, had Penn made the discovery of the young girl still
unharmed by fire, his happiness would have been supreme. But now joy was
checked by an appalling fear. The bear might seize her, or with a stroke
of his paw hurl her from his path.

Penn caught hold of the bough that impeded his view, and saw how
precarious was her hold. He dared not so much as call to her, or shout
to frighten the monster away, lest, her attention being for an instant
distracted, she might turn her head, lose her balance, and fall
backwards from the rocks.

"Durned if she ain't thar!" said Dan, excitedly. "But she's got a
powerful slim chance with the bar!"

"Come with me!" said Penn.

He ran to the upper gorge, showed himself on the bank above the cascade,
and shouted. The bear, as he anticipated, turned and looked up at him.
Virginia at the same time saw her deliverer.

"Hold on! I'll be with you in a minute!" he cried in a voice heard above
the noise of the waterfall and the roar of the conflagration.

She clung fast, hope and gladness thrilling her soul, and giving her new
strength.

To reach her, Penn had a precipitous descent of near thirty feet to
make. He did not pause to consider the difficulty of getting up again,
or the peril of encountering the bear. He jumped down over a
perpendicular ledge upon a projection ten feet below. Beyond that was a
rapid slope covered with moss and thin patches of soil, with here and
there a shrub, and here and there a tree. Striking his heels into the
soil, and catching at whatever branch or stem presented itself, he took
the plunge. Clinging, sliding, falling, he arrived at the bottom. In a
posture half sitting, half standing, and considerably jarred, he found
himself face to face with Bruin. The animal had settled down on all
fours, and now, with his surly, depressed head turned sullenly to one
side, he looked at Penn, and growled. Penn looked at him, and said
nothing. He had heard of staring wild beasts out of countenance--an
experiment that could be conducted strictly on peace principles, if the
bear would only prove as good a Quaker as himself. He resolved to try
it: indeed, all unarmed as he was, what else could he do? He might at
least, by diverting the brute's attention, give Virginia time to get
into a position of safety. So he stood up, and fixed his eyes on th