“Merciful heaven! What is it?” cried Miss Briggs, as her eyes saw what appeared to be a huge form at the tent entrance.
Both girls ran out at the other end of the tent, then Hamilton White’s rifle spoke, waking the echoes of the forest, just as Stacy Brown ran from his own tent in a terrible fright.
“Oh, wow, wow, wow!” howled the fat boy. “He got me, he did.”
Stacy’s experiment had proved an entire success, and he had fallen a victim to his own prank.
CHAPTER XIII
THE CAMP IS INVADED
“Don’t run. Keep together back of me. Lieutenant, look out for the rear. I’ll take care of the rest,” shouted the guide.
“What is it? Hamilton, what is it?” cried Emma.
“Bears!” answered Grace Harlowe. “I never saw so many in all my life. What does it mean?”
The camp was full of the beasts. They were ambling swiftly here and there, growling, sniffing, pawing, and apparently without fear. This, as some of the party knew, was not like the ways of the black bear. Ordinarily a black bear cannot get away from man quickly enough. Even the discharge of the guide’s rifle did not put the invaders to flight.
“Fire into their legs, Lieutenant,” directed White. “We don’t want to kill them if we can avoid it. Besides, it is against the law.”