They hurt, however, and the bear made a dash at the tree in which his enemy was seated, and began to ascend.
The naturalist, seeing that it would not do to stay where he was, seized hold of a limb above him, and pulled himself up.
Up, up he went, the bear following after, in a great rage. Yard after yard was passed over, and the little man was near to the top of the tree.
He glanced nervously about him, but there seemed to be no escape.
He was on the last limb, and above him was the dead trunk of the tree, and the half-dead limb which stretched out on the bare side of the tree.
What could he do? It certainly looked as though his last moment had come. The bear was just below him and in another moment would be up with him.
It was just at this critical moment that our friends came in sight of the tree, although a good distance off.
At first they knew not what to make of what they saw.
The naturalist was in plain sight, but the bear was on the other side of the tree, and in among the branches, therefore they did not see him.
While they were wondering what was the cause of the little man’s strange actions, they caught sight of the bear.