There was a great crashing as some big animal broke his way through the bushes in front of him. Then came a snarl and a growl that made Skinny's heart almost stop beating. And there he stood, paralyzed, looking straight into the eyes of a bear!
It wasn't any Jake Yost with his boots on wrong, either. It was the real thing, looking as big as the Quaker Meeting House to Skinny, although it was really only a cub, about half grown.
I guess the bear wasn't expecting anybody to call, for he stood there, sort of paralyzed himself, his eyes looking right into Skinny's and one big paw raised to take another step.
Skinny gave a howl and started for the nearest tree, one that was too small for a bear to climb.
Say, if tree climbing had been one of the Scout stunts, Skinny would have won two badges.
It isn't any fun to sit in a tree on a mountain, with a real live bear sniffing around at the bottom and you both getting hungrier every minute.
Skinny knew he was safe as long as he stayed in the tree, but he didn't dare get down while the bear was in sight, and the cub wouldn't go away more than a few rods. I guess Skinny looked good to him, he was so fat.
Dinner time came and went. He was still in the tree and the bear was still fooling around below.
Skinny called for help until he was hoarse, but there wasn't anybody passing at that time of day. Then he began to get mad, and when Skinny gets mad, look out!
"You think you're smart," said he, "but old Long Knife will show you a thing or two."