"Where is he?" asked the girl, the moment their feet rested on dry land.
"He isn"t far off," replied Nick, "and I don"t think he cares to disturb us, but I would rather keep him at a distance."
It may be set down as certain that Nick and Nellie were never in such serious peril from the beast as they believed. The bear was of the ordinary black kind, found in the Middle States, which is not particularly savage, and often pa.s.ses a person without offering him harm.
It is only when the hunter and his dogs a.s.sail the brute, or when he is driven by hunger, that he will boldly attack a person.
Besides this, the animal of which I am speaking, had, no doubt, been routed out of his lair in the woods by the approach of the fire, and it was the most he could do to reach the pond in time to save himself. This accounted for his excessive fatigue, which made him loth to enter the water, where he knew he must swim, and which caused him, after entering it, immediately to make for the raft, that he might avail himself of its support.
He had no purpose of molesting the children, and was too indolent to resent the insignificant attack made upon him by Nick with the stick.
But it was not to be supposed that the boy and girl could feel any a.s.surance on this point, and their fright was such as would have come to any older person placed as they were.
It was only through the protection of a wonderful Providence that they had escaped thus far from the fate of hundreds who, in different parts of the country, fell victims to the innumerable forest fires.
When the two emerged from the water, they saw nothing of the bear that had caused them so much disquietude. He had probably headed for the other side of the pond, and was now shut out from view by the volume of smoke which intervened.
"He"ll be here after us," said the alarmed Nellie, whose nervousness was excusable; "and I wish you would hurry away."
"I don"t think there is any need to be scared, after all," replied her brother; "the bear has all he can do to look after himself, without bothering us."
The fugitives were in a pitiable plight. Nellie"s garments were soaked by the water through which she had pa.s.sed, but the heavy heat of the air prevented her suffering from cold, though the clinging garments caused her to feel ill at ease; and, like her tidy mother, she longed to be at home, that she might change them for clean, dry ones.
When Nick found they had to leave the raft, he caught up his shoes, with the stockings stuffed in them, and, hastily tying the strings together, slung them around his neck. He did not forget, in the excitement of the moment, that they were indispensable.
But there was no way of saving coat, vest and hat, without running more risk than any one ought to run, and the lad let them go, hoping that, possibly, he might recover them after a time.
He had scarcely set his feet upon the ground, when he took them off again. The earth was baking hot to the water"s edge, and a live ember, which the ashes concealed from sight, was revealed when the bare foot was placed upon it.
Nick cooled his blistering toes, and then, as quick as possible, drew on his wet shoes and stockings.
"I would be in a pretty fix if barefoot," said he, "I wouldn"t have been able to walk home through these woods for a week or less."
It was plain to be seen that the fury of the conflagration had spent itself, so far as it affected this portion of the wood. That tornado of the flame, which swept everything before it, had leaped across the pond, and was speeding onward until it should die out from want of fuel.
In its path was the blackness of desolation. The trees were still burning, but it was in a smoldering, smoking way, with blazing branches here and there, dropping piecemeal to the ground. The flames, which charged forward as they do through the dry prairie gra.s.s, had pa.s.sed by, and the brother and sister had now the opportunity to attempt to reach home.
But it would be hard to overestimate the distress caused by the atmosphere which the forest fires left behind them. There are many gases and vapors which we cannot breathe; but the trouble about smoke is that although we can manage to get along with it when it is not too dense, it is excessively irritating to the lungs.
Several minutes pa.s.sed, during which little trouble was experienced, and then the two were forced to cough and gasp until they almost sank to the ground from exhaustion. Occasionally the vapor would lift, and, floating away, leave the air below comparatively pure, and then the black and blue atmosphere, heavy with impurities, would descend and wrap them about as with a garment.
"There"s one thing sure," said Nick, when he found himself able to speak with some degree of comfort.
"What is that?" asked his sister.
"This will gradually get better and better."
"I don"t see how it can get any worse," was the truthful answer of Nellie, who felt as though she had stood all she could bear.
Since the danger of being caught in the flames was gone, the two were at liberty to venture in any direction they chose.
"We"ll make the start, any way!" said Nick, with his old resolution of manner; "keep close to me, and, if you see any new bears, don"t run into the woods to hide without saying something to me."
CHAPTER x.x.xVIII.
BEAR AND FORBEAR.
"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 ash.o.r.e.
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 a.s.sail 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 sh.o.r.e.
"The raft must have gone under with the coat, vest, and hat," he said, watching the floating ma.s.s, "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 antic.i.p.ate 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 sh.o.r.e as well as he did, he saw no need of looking downward.
All at once his feet struck a large, soft ma.s.s, 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.