"That's true," exclaimed Walter, "and the fact that Genevieve is along
is the best reason in the world for your not bringing a gun. You
better go take it back."
To this Percy strongly objected. He was going out on a sort of a
bear-hunt, and to him half the pleasure would be lost if he did not
carry a gun. I am not a coward, but a boy with a gun is a terror to
me. My expression may have intimated my state of mind, for Mr.
Larramie said to me that we had now gone so far that it would be a
pity to send Percy back, and that he did not think there would be any
danger, for his boy had been taught how to carry a gun properly.
"We are all out-of-door people and sportsmen," he said, "and we begin
early. But I suppose what you are thinking about is the danger of some
of us ending soon. But we need not be afraid of that. Walk in front,
Percy, and keep the barrel pointed downward."
When we came in sight of the house of the three McKennas, Walter
proposed that we make a détour towards the woods. "For," said he, "if
those good women see a party like this with a gun among them, they
will be sure to think it is a case of escaped criminal, or something
of that kind, and be frightened out of their wits."
We skirted the edge of the trees until we came to the opening of the
wood road, which I recognized immediately, and, asking Percy and the
others to keep back, I went on by myself.
"I don't think people would frighten that sort of a bear," I heard
Genevieve say. "He must be used to crowds around him when he's
dancing."
I presently reached the place where I had turned from the road. It was
a natural break in the woods. There was the tree to which I had tied
the bear, but there was no bear.
I stood aghast, and in a moment the rest of the party were clustered
around me. "Is this where you left him?" they cried. "And is he gone?
Are you sure this is the place?"
Yes, I was sure of it. I have an excellent eye for locality, and I
knew that I had chained the bear to the small oak in front of me. At
that moment there was a scream from Genevieve. "Look! Look!" she
cried. "There he is, just ready to spring!"
We all looked up, and, sure enough, on the lower branch of the oak,
half enveloped in foliage, we saw the bear extended at full length and
blinking down at us. I gave a shout of delight.