Just then Juan called up, “You hit him! You hit him!”
“Sí, sí. I think so too,” Jo Ann replied.
The three listened intently to the snapping of branches and the clatter of loosened stones as the bear made his way up the ravine. When the sounds finally died away, Peggy started climbing down the pole. When she was about halfway down there sounded a loud crashing, and she hurriedly scrambled back up the pole to the ledge.
“I believe the bear’s coming back again,” she cried.
After listening intently for a few moments, Jo Ann said, “No, I don’t think he’s coming back. I believe he’s wounded—badly wounded.” She called down to Juan. “Is it all right for us to come down now?”
“Sí, señoritas,” he called back. “The bear gone.” He waved his hand in the direction of the ravine.
The girls cautiously climbed down the pole.
Jo Ann reloaded her gun and, holding it in readiness, she made her way with Juan and Peggy to the hole the bear had torn in the enclosure.
“Shine your flashlight down here, Peg,” she ordered. The next moment she exclaimed, “Oh, look, here’s some blood! I knew I hit him!”
“You certainly did!” Peggy cried.