While the brute seemed to be meditating upon the feasibility of entering, Pomp procured an elephant rifle.
This threw a deadly explosive shell of Frank Reade, Jr.’s own invention. Pomp took steady aim at the brute.
Then he fired.
The shell struck the bear in the chest. It was instantly fatal, penetrating the heart. Pomp had won.
Then the victorious darky thought of his companions.
“Golly! I done fink Marse Frank am habin’ a hard time!” he cried.
This was indeed true.
Professor Gaston was dodging his bear behind an ice column as Pomp had been. But Frank was in hand-to-hand conflict with the remaining two bears.
The young inventor had fired three bullets into the body of one of the bears. But though somewhat crippled, the beast was yet in fighting trim.
And both had come to close quarters with Frank.