"I call all the saints to witness that it was a wild bear--a great
wild bear! I thought it was a stump, but just as I struck it a flash
of lightning revealed to my eyes a big black bear standing on his hind
feet, grinning at me, and he gave me a blow on the side of the face,
which has entirely blinded my left eye, and set my ears to ringing
like a thousand bells. Just feel the blood on my face."

[Illustration: A dark encounter]

Glenn actually felt something which might be blood, and really had
thought he could distinguish the stump himself when the wagon halted;
yet he did not believe that Joe had received the hurt in any other
manner than by striking his face against some hard substance which he
could not avoid in the darkness.

"You only fancy it was a bear, Joe; so come along back to the horses
and drive on. The rain has ceased, and the stars are appearing."
Saying this, Glenn led the way to the wagon.

"I'd be willing to swear on the altar that it was a huge bear, and
nothing else!" replied Joe, as he mounted and drove on, the horses now
evincing no reluctance to proceed. One after another the stars came
out and shone in purest brightness as the mists swept away, and ere
long the whole canopy of blue was gemmed with twinkling brilliants.
The winds soon lulled, and the dense forest on the right reposed from
the moaning gale which had disturbed it a short time before; and the
waves that had been tossed into foaming ridges now spent their fury on
the beach, each lashing the bank more gently than the last, until the
power of the gliding current swept them all down the turbid stream.