No bear could be expected to withstand such a demonstration. The figure of the yelling urchin, with his head surrounded by a blazing serpent, must have struck terror to his very inmost being. Without pausing to do more than to utter a short growl, he wheeled around and went crashing through the undergrowth as if under the belief that a battery had been suddenly unmasked and was about to open upon him. When he had retreated a few rods he paused to see how matters appeared, when he again beheld the horrid figure closer than ever and drawing nearer every moment. It was appalling, and he plunged away at a greater speed than ever. Ned pursued him until he was fearful of getting so far away from the camp fire that he would lose it altogether. When he paused he could hear the bear still tramping off, as if he already felt the torch blistering his nose. Turning again, the lad ran with all speed to his "headquarters," where he flung down his torch and caught up his gun. "Now I think I've got time to load it," he said, as he began the operation at once, a little alarmed, however, to discover that the supply of ammunition furnished him by Tom Hardynge was growing alarmingly small. He succeeded in ramming the charge home, and then as he placed the cap upon the tube, he felt something of the old confidence that was his when astride the mustang and coursing over the prairie at a speed which no horse could equal. When first charged upon by the monster he had fired with such haste that he had no time to make any aim; now fortified by his camp fire, he meant to improve upon that. Everything being ready, he looked off into the gloom, but nothing was to be seen of the creature, nor did the slightest sound betray his whereabouts. "He'll be sneaking back pretty soon," said the lad to himself, who was resolved to remain on the watch. He was not kept waiting. A minute later he caught the slow crackling and trampling of some heavy creature through the undergrowth, and he was confident that his old enemy was close at hand. The lad sank down upon one knee, so close to the fire that it scorched him, and awaited his approach. But the grizzly had been so thoroughly scared that he hadn't entirely recovered from it. When something like twenty feet away he halted, and evidently began debating whether it would be prudent to approach.