“I’m going to signal,” whispered Dick.  “That’ll warn Bert that we’re coming and he’ll keep the bear busy.”  And the next instant the mournful cry of the whippoorwill floated through the forest.

It was an accomplishment that the boys had frequently practised, and the counterfeit was perfect enough to deceive the birds themselves.

They waited an instant, and then they heard Bert’s answering “whippoorwill.”

The bear paid no attention to the familiar sound, and it was evident that his suspicions had not been aroused.

Guiding themselves by the repetition of the cry Dick and Tom pressed forward, their guns ready for instant use at the first sight of the enemy.

Bert had promptly grasped the meaning of the signal.  It was imperative that the bear’s attention should be centered on himself alone.  The only thing he found in his pocket was a jack-knife, but he threw this with such precision that it struck the bear full on the point of the nose and evoked a roar of fury.  A shower of twigs and branches added insult to injury, until the great beast was beside himself with rage.  He had no thought or eyes or ears for anything but Bert.

And now the whippoorwill was close at hand.

Two spurts of flame leaped from the forest on the right.  With a ferocious snarl the grizzly whirled about in the direction of the shots.  As he did so two more bullets plowed their way into his breast.  He tore savagely at the wounds, and then plunged fiercely in the direction of his unseen foes.

But his hour had struck.  Another volley halted him in his tracks.  He sagged, coughed, and fell in a crumpled mass to the ground.

With a wild hurrah, Dick and Tom broke from cover, dropped their guns and threw their arms about Bert, who had slid down to the foot of the tree.

The strain had been so great and the reaction was so tremendous that none of them for a moment knew what he was doing.  They shouted, laughed and grasped each others’ hands, too excited for coherent speech.  They had been through many perils together, but none so great and terrible as this.  And now all three were together again, safe and sound, and the grizzly——­

“Look out,” screamed Bert, his face going white.

They jumped as though they had been shot.

Not ten feet away was the grizzly coming down on them like a locomotive.  His mouth was open, his eyes blazing, and with the blood flowing from his wounds he made a hideous picture as he rushed forward.  They had forgotten to reckon with the wonderful tenacity of life that makes a grizzly bear the hardest thing in the world to kill.  Six bullets were embedded in his carcass and his life was ebbing.  But his fiendish ferocity was unimpaired, and he had gathered himself together for one last onslaught.

There was no time to think, no chance to resist.  The guns were on the ground, and merely to stoop for them meant that the bear would be upon them before they could rise.  With one bound the boys leaped aside, and scattered through the woods at the top of their speed.