The end, however, soon came, and shaking themselves together, as may be said, the three came back to the trail, along which they continued their way towards the lick.
They took the same order as before, and all were on the alert. Now and then Jack noticed the shoulders of their leader shaking in a way that told him he was laughing again over the figure cut by Jack when he set out to scare the bull. After a time this ceased altogether.
It was yet quite early in the day, and the boys expected when night came to be a long way from their friends. They would have felt themselves poor hunters if they did not spend a night in the woods, even though within easy reach of home; and since Mr. Burton had given his boys permission to stay a couple of nights in camp, it could be set down as a certainty that they would do so.
The experience of the young hunters on their jaunt through the Kentucky woods proved not only of the most stirring kind, but it was marked by a number of adventures the like of which they had never known or heard of before. Indeed, it may be said that this feature began with Jack's fight with the panthers the night before, when, instead of meeting only one, he ran against two. Of itself this was not so remarkable, but it was the first instance known to him.
The boys naturally felt confidence in themselves, for they were three in number, and each had a good gun. Surely they ought to be more than enough for anything in the nature of a wild animal; and yet, when they least expected it, they ran into a peril of which none of them dreamed.
"My gracious!" suddenly exclaimed Will, turning short around; "here comes a hundred bears!"
Now it is not to be supposed that there was anything like the number which the lad in his excitement declared, but what he did see was enough to terrify any one.
Lumbering along the trail, directly towards them, was a black bear of large size, and there were two at least behind him. These three were discovered at the same moment, and the unusual sight led Will to believe that it was only the head of a procession coming from the salt lick a long distance away.
"Let's take to the trees," said Will, leading the way into the wood. "It won't do to fight all them."
"Hold on," replied Jack, standing his ground. "I didn't come out to hunt game, and then run away from it when found."