The Professor realized the situation, and immediately reloaded, and calling after Harry, told him that he had a charged weapon. Harry heard, but he was so excited and fearful for George that he could not decide whether to stop or go on. He could see the bear, but George was not in sight.
The Professor followed as rapidly as he could. Harry saw the bear lumberingly cross a large fallen tree and pass on to the right, and thinking George had taken that course, did not wait to go up to the tree. Before the Professor reached Harry, who was now running at right angles to the course of the Professor, George emerged from his place of concealment behind the tree and laughed at the sport, which might have had serious results but for the dead tree.
You may be sure no further effort was made to follow up the bear, and they took up the search for their luggage, which had been left behind. During all this hubbub, Angel had been left with the luggage, and he now appeared along the trees, swinging from branch to branch, uttering the most fearful shrieks and chattering, as he was in the habit of doing when alarmed or excited.
"Something is after Angel; quick!" called out George, as Angel made his way over to him. Harry grasped the loaded gun from the Professor and started toward the direction from which the orang had come, but he stopped suddenly after going several hundred feet.
"The bear has our things." The Professor and George came up, and there, with his powerful claws and massive jaws, was Bruin, devouring their best morsels and playing havoc with the packages that were piled together.
The boys looked at the Professor, and he playfully answered the look by saying, "We really don't want any bear meat to-day, do we?" George thought it was a good joke on the hunters, but Harry was angered. "Let us finish him. See him break that gun?"
The Professor was busy reloading Harry's gun, which he had exchanged with him, and handed it to George. They approached, but not close enough to venture a shot, when the animal deliberately turned away and darted into the bush.
What was left of their luggage worth taking could easily be carried by either of them. Practically all of the food was gone or ruined, and the bear was recompensed for the little inconvenience by the two pounds or more of sugar which was taken.
"Well, boys, everything has its compensations. We have nothing to carry, and traveling will be easy for the rest of the trip. Let us take a good laugh over the experience."
Harry was too much annoyed, first at the failure to hit the brute and then at the mean trick in eating up and destroying their things while they were trying to follow him. The Professor suggested that it would be fun to visit Bruin's house that night when he came home and told his family what a neat trick he had played on some hunters, and Harry laughed, but it was an awfully forced effort.