An idea came to him. Drawing his little axe, he quickly cut and trimmed a small limb, leaving a fork on the end of it. He put the noose on the forked end and cautiously extended the pole. All the while he was urging on the dog, which now began to jump up against the trunk of the tree. The bear more and more centred her attention on the yelping dog. Her hair bristled, and she growled continually. She bent her head down and got ready to deal the dog a savage blow if he came up the tree. Her posture could not have been better for Charley's purpose. Swiftly but quietly he extended the pole until the noose was just beyond the bear's nose, then lowered it swiftly and pulled back hard on the rope. Luck was with him. The bear, taken utterly by surprise, was fairly noosed before she saw the rope. Charley's sharp jerk to tighten the lasso almost pulled the bear from her perch. She grasped the trunk of the tree with her paws to avoid falling, and that gave Charley an opportunity to tighten and secure his rope. To keep from falling, the bear had to maintain her hold on the tree. Thus she could not claw or bite the rope. "I've got her," shouted Charley. It was true enough. In a moment he was almost sorry that he had her. For Lew could not reach the ground without climbing past the bear, and although the animal was caught by the neck, he dared not trust himself within reach of those fearful claws. It occurred to Charley that perhaps he could strangle the bear, or even pull her from the tree. He did not want to kill the animal lest he get into difficulty with the law and so incur the displeasure of his chief. Nor did he want to tumble her to the ground because that would certainly mean the breaking of his rope and the probable loss of part of it. "What are we going to do, Lew?" he called. "There's a strong limb about four feet above her head," replied Lew, peering down through the branches. "If you could get your rope over that, we could drop her to the ground and strangle her until she's about all in. Then we could cut the rope and beat it." "That sounds all right," said Charley, dubiously, "and I guess we'll have to try it. I see nothing else to do." Fortunately his rope was long. He had taken a turn or two around a limb before making his cast, and he now held the bear taut, with ease. The loose end dangled down the trunk. "I don't know about this," said Charley with a wry face. "It isn't as simple as it looks. I'll have to unwind the rope from this limb and hold it with one hand while I throw the loose end with the other. I don't know whether I can do it or not. And how am I to get the end again?" "Can't you catch it with your pole?" Charley looked at the pole. He had let go of it when he noosed the bear, but it had lodged in a branch within reach. "Here goes," he said. "I'll try."