When the bear began to sniff eagerly, and then dropped suddenly on all fours, as though meaning to hunt for the loaf which had fallen, Billy experienced a feeling of intense relief.
He was actually able to get some momentum, for up to then, while desirous of beating a retreat he had seemed frozen to the ground; he could remember passing through a similar experience when suffering from a species of nightmare.
So Billy fell back several paces, all the while observing the actions of the educated bear as though fascinated.
It would seem that the animal must have been given a loaf of bread tied up in paper many times in the past. Perhaps that was his customary daily allowance. He started to tear the covering away, undoubtedly fully aware of the necessity for doing this before he could get at the contents. And Billy thought he showed almost human intelligence about it, too; in fact, he afterward declared his positive belief that Bruin had deliberately untied the string with his teeth and claws.
At any rate, whether that was true or only imagination on the part of the staring boy, the bear was munching eagerly at the bread by the time Hugh arrived on the spot, which proved how quickly all this had been accomplished.
“What’s happening, Billy?” asked the patrol leader, though of course he could see that the bear was busily engaged with something just then.
“He’s hooked your lovely bread, that’s what, Hugh!” gasped the other, pointing.
“Oh! well, let it go at that,” replied Hugh, with a short laugh. “Seems like a pity to waste Mrs. Benton’s prime bread on such a beast; but since he’s nearly starved, and has got his teeth in the loaf, there’s no stopping him now. But how did it happen you had the bread in your hands, Billy?”
“It was all my fault, I guess, Hugh,” answered the now contrite Billy. “I just thought I’d see how he acted when he got a whiff of that new bread, and would you believe me, he just leaned so hard on his rope that it snapped where it was fastened around the tree. Whoo! if I hadn’t had the good sense to drop the bread I reckon he’d have bitten a hunk out of my leg!”
“But he’s free now, Hugh,” spoke up Arthur. “What can we do about it?”