“Well, if you had frozen to that gun of yours we might have a chance. But there it is, lying down on the rocks, not doing us a bit of good. It might just as well be at home as down there. Say—”
Teddy stopped short. Speechless, he seized his brother’s arm and pointed. Roy looked along the side of the mountain, then staggered against the wall.
“Jumping catamounts!” he groaned. “We’re cooked! Another one! Start the slow music, Teddy. This bear’s brought his gang along with him!”
“Oh, cheer up! It’s not a gang—yet! It’s one bear, only one! And that makes two bears, only two! Golly, if we only had a rifle!”
CHAPTER II
The Brainy Beastie
Scuffling rocks down the slope of the mountain in his haste to join his comrade, the second bear approached the ledge. Teddy and Roy knew that the new arrival could not come at them from the side, as the corners of the shelf tapered into the straight wall.
Yet this fact was paramount in the minds of the boys—that two bears were one more bear than one bear.
“Come, join the party,” Teddy said bitterly, as he watched the scrambling approach of the second beast. “The more the merrier. Roy, just tell François to lay another place, will you?”
Roy did not reply, but once more leaned over the edge of the projection. The animal they had first encountered had ceased his ineffectual attempts to reach the shelf, and was calmly awaiting the arrival of his mate.
“The uninvited guest,” Teddy continued, eyeing the oncoming bear with a malevolent stare. “Well, there’s always room for one more. We strive to please.” He raised his voice to a shout. “Hey, amigo, would you mind bringing that rifle with you as you come by? There’s something in it I want to give you. What? Oh, all right. If you want to be nasty about it. The next time I—”