"see here," said nick ribsam, stopping suddenly, after taking only a few steps, "i don't like this idea of going home and leaving so many of my clothes behind. that's a good coat and vest, and the hat is my sunday one."
"you ain't going back to get them, nick, when the bear is waiting for you!" exclaimed the sister; "if you do, i just think you haven't got any sense at all—now there! that's all there is about that."
this was a severe denunciation, but it did not deter the lad from turning directly about and hurrying to the spot where he had landed, when forced to help nellie ashore.
a strong breeze was still blowing, so that the craft, whether the bear was clinging to it or not, would be sure to come to land again. nick did not know that the animal had left it, and he was not foolish enough to invite the beast to assail him.
the logs, relieved from their burden, were floating over the surface, and the lad caught sight of them but a short distance off, steadily approaching the shore.
"the raft must have gone under with the coat, vest, and hat," he said, watching the floating mass, "and i should think my clothes would have been lost; but there is something on the logs that looks like my coat and vest. it would be odd if they had kept their place."
naturally, the whole attention of nick was absorbed in this matter; and, when he found that the wind was carrying the raft and its freight toward another point, he moved along the margin so as to anticipate its arrival.
as he did so, like the renowned captain john smith when pursued by powhatan's warriors, he paid no attention to where his feet led him. he was studying the raft, as best he could through the smoky darkness, and, knowing the shore as well as he did, he saw no need of looking downward.
all at once his feet struck a large, soft mass, and, before he could check himself, he pitched headlong over it, as though it were a bale of cloth in his path. the nimble boy was on his feet like a flash, and, quick as he was, he was not a moment too soon.
he had caught the ominous growl, and he knew the bear had got in his way again, as it had persisted in doing before.
it did seem singular that the boy and bruin should meet so often, and it may be that the animal, that was resting himself, lost patience over such persecution, for he raised his huge body and made for the frightened boy.
it was an alarming situation for the latter, who did not lose his presence of mind. he knew much of the nature of the animal, though he had never before been brought face to face in this fashion with a wild one.
desperate as was the haste with which nick ribsam fled, he did not forget to run directly away from his sister, so as to prevent her becoming involved in this new danger.
nor did the lad make any outcry, that could only have resulted in frightening her, but he simply devoted all his energy to getting away from his pursuer, whose whole savage nature seemed to have been aroused by the last disturbance.
who shall not say that bruin did not identify the youngster as the one that had rapped him so smartly over the snout when he was seeking a resting-place on the raft? if such were the fact, it cannot be wondered that the beast pursued the fellow with such persistency.
nick ribsam was considered a rapid runner by his playmates, but it took only a minute or two for him to find out he was no match for his pursuer, who, starting only a short distance to the rear, was overhauling him "hand-over-hand."
the boy hoped that the scorching earth would keep the beast from chasing him with too much ardor, but it did not; and, as there was no other recourse, he ran to a sapling, up which he climbed with the celerity of a monkey.
even as it was, it was within a second of being too late. the bear was so close that, rising on his haunches, he reached his paws and grasped the lowermost foot of nick, whose hair fairly rose on end, as he thought for the moment that he was going to be dragged down into the crushing embrace of the dreaded animal.
but, fortunately, the shoe pulled off, and, before the bear could understand it, the supple lad was perched above his reach and looking down upon him.
"well," said nick, with a sigh, "this is considerably more than i counted on. i didn't think, from the way you acted in the water, that you were anything but a big coward; but i'm thankful enough you didn't get your claws on me."
the huge creature examined the shoe carefully and, finding there was no boy in it, dropped it to the ground, and, sitting on his haunches, again looked longingly upward at the fellow perched just above his reach, as though he understood what a choice dinner he would afford a bruin of his size.
when he ran out his red tongue and licked his inky snout, nick could not help laughing.
"not just yet, old fellow; i'd rather stay here two or three days than come down to you."
when some minutes had passed, nick began to feel that the situation had nothing funny in it at all. what more likely than that the beast, having made up his mind to take the next meal off a plump boy, would stay there until that same boy would be unable to keep his perch any longer, and would drop of his own accord, like a ripe apple.
the question was a serious one indeed, and while the lad was trying hard to determine what was best to do, he heard nellie calling to him. she, too, was becoming impatient over the long separation and was coming to find out what it meant.
nick shouted back for her not to approach, explaining that he was up a tree with a bear watching him, and that if she came any nearer the animal would be sure to change his attention to her.
this was enough to keep any one at a respectful distance, but, when nellie ribsam heard the alarming announcement, she was determined on one thing: she would see for herself what sort of a picture was made by a boy up a tree with a black bear watching him as the one watched her two years before.
nick having warned her against coming any nigher, it followed that the temptation to do so was irresistible.
the lifting of the smoke had let in some sunlight, and it did not take her long to reach a position from which she could look on the interesting scene.
"nick! nick!" she called, in a guarded voice, not intended for the ears of the bear.
the boy, alarmed for his sister's safety, turned toward the quarter whence it came, and saw the white face peering from behind the trunk of a tree no more than a hundred feet distant. he instantly gesticulated for her to keep out of sight.
"you have done a silly thing, nellie," said he, impatiently; "the bear is sure to see you, and if he does, it will be the last of you."
"but i don't mean he shall see me," said the brave but not very prudent girl; "if he looks around, why i'll dodge my head back—my gracious! he's looking now!"
and nellie threw her head so far from the side around which she was peeping, that, if the bear had looked sharp, he would have detected the somewhat bedraggled hat on the other side of the charred trunk.
nick called to her to be more careful, as he plainly discerned her hat, and the head-gear vanished.
the lad's fear was now on account of his sister, for he knew that so long as he himself could maintain his position in the tree, so long was he safe. the bear species cannot climb trees whose trunks are so small that their claws meet around them, and although this brute scratched at the sapling as though he meditated an attempt, yet he made none, but sat still, looking wistfully upward, and probably hopeful that the boy perched there would soon come down.
"keep yourself out of sight!" called nick to nellie, "for you can't do anything to help me."
the girl understood this, and she began to believe, with nick, that she had done an exceedingly foolish thing in venturing into the bear's field of vision in this fashion.
and what was to be the end of this singular and most uncomfortable condition of affairs?
