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