By this time the bear had discovered Tom, but, apparently thinking him unworthy of notice, he just growled a little and resumed his post beneath the tree.
“It’s me he wants,” cried the man besieged. “Ugh, you brute! I wish I could wound you mortally, and see your dying agonies.”
The bear listened very complacently, evidently feeling that the advantage was on his side.
“Come, boy, are you going to shoot?” asked the man in the tree.
Tom did not answer.
He was carefully taking aim. He was fully conscious that his own personal safety depended upon the effectiveness of his shot. In fact, his safest course would have been to leave the spot and the beleaguered man to his fate. But Tom was not that kind of a boy. He was bold and courageous, and he would have been ashamed if he had coolly deserted a man whom it was in his power to help, at however great danger to himself.
“At a glance Tom saw the Bear watching the man crouching among the branches.”—Page 217. Tom Thatcher’s Fortune.
So he quietly and carefully took aim, and then pulled the trigger.