It must be confessed that both Tom and Sam were much alarmed by the forward move of the black bear.  Up to this instant they had trusted the beast would depart with the fox’s carcass, without discovering them.  Now it looked as if they were in for a hot fight, and that without delay.

“Get behind the fire!” cried Tom, as soon as he could collect his thoughts.

Sam had the shotgun pointed, and as the bear advanced he pulled the trigger.  The charge of shot entered the bear’s left shoulder, making a number of painful, but not dangerous, wounds.  At once the beast let out a snort of commingled pain and rage.

“You’ve done it now,” came from Tom, and whirled his firebrand, to make it blaze up.  “Take a stick, quick!”

Instead of doing this, however, Sam fired a second time, this time hitting the bear in the left hind leg.  The beast dropped on all fours and came to a halt while yet twenty yards from them.

By this time Tom had another firebrand, and this he compelled his brother to take, the shotgun being now empty.  There was no time to reload the piece, and indeed, neither of the boys knew where to look for ammunition.

More enraged than ever, the bear now advanced again, until only the fire was between him and his intended victims.  He had now forgotten about the fox meat, and thought only of getting at the human being who had injured him.  He arose once more and let out a loud roar, while his small eyes gleamed maliciously.  Had the fire not been in the way he would have rushed upon Sam without further hesitation.

The pulling out of the two large firebrands was causing the fire to burn low, something which was in the bear’s favor.  The boys almost expected to see the beast leap over the spot, but bruin knew better than to attempt this.  He began to circle around the flames, and as he did this, the boys did likewise.

“Shall we run?” panted Sam.  He was so agitated he could scarcely speak.

“No—­stick to the fire,” returned Tom.  “Bears hate that.  Look out!”

The bear had now started to come around the other way.  At once the boys shifted again, until they occupied the position where they had stood when the beast was first discovered.  Then the bear dropped down once more, and eyed them in a meditative way.

“He is making up his mind about the next move,” said Tom.  “I’ll try him with something new.”  And at the risk of burning his hand, he picked up some small brushwood which was blazing fiercely and threw it at their enemy.

The effect was as surprising as it was gratifying.  The burning brands struck the beast fairly on the nose, causing him to leap back in terror.  Then he uttered a grunt of dissatisfaction, turned, and sped, with clumsy swiftness, up the gully and into the forest beyond.

“He is retreating!” cried Sam joyfully.

“Wait—­don’t be too sure,” returned Tom, and, firebrands still in hand, they watched until the bear was out of sight and they could hear nothing more of him.