This roused Tom instantly, and brought back his thoughts to the present.
Whence came the voice?
He could not immediately determine. He looked about him, but could see no person. But he saw something else which sufficiently startled him.
Squatting beneath a large tree was a huge bear, which, from his appearance, Tom instantly recognized as a grizzly. He knew, though he had never seen one before, that the grizzly bear of California is stronger and more formidable even than the lion, being just the sort of stranger which a prudent man would be most anxious to avoid.
Tom started back in alarm, but the bear had not yet seen him. In fact, the attention of the huge animal seemed otherwise directed. He was looking up into the tree.
Following his gaze, Tom solved the mystery of the voice. Crouching among the branches was a well-dressed man, who looked exceedingly uncomfortable.
The bear below was “holding the fort,” and as long as he remained there the man did not dare to come down.
“But why didn’t the bear climb the tree?” some of my readers may be tempted to ask.
For the reason that the grizzly bear, at any rate, when fully grown, seldom or never climbs. He leaves that to the more common species.
As long, therefore, as the besieged party remained in the tree, he was safe. But it was hardly a position in which he could feel comfortable in his mind. Peering anxiously around, he at length espied our hero, whom he had not before seen, and called out: