"What do you s'pose?" he asked, looking up in the faces of his companions with a scared expression.
"We s'pose we don't know what made the tracks."
"But _guess_" insisted Bob, with provoking deliberation.
"How can we guess?" asked Jim, impatiently; "if you know anything about it let us know, and if you don't know, say so."
"Those tracks were made by a _big black bear_!"
"Gracious!" gasped Tom Wagstaff, "let's run!"
"I agree with Tom," added Jim, glancing furtively around, as though he expected to see the dreadful beast rush out of the woods after them.
"You're a fine set of hunters, aint you?" sneered Bob; "after coming out to hunt game you want to run when you strike the trail of the very creature you're looking for."
"I aint looking for bears," said Tom, "I haven't lost any."
"And besides," added Jim, "there isn't any fallen tree here where we can crawl under to get out of the way."
"But there's plenty of trees which you can climb--_there he comes now_!"
Tom and Jim each glanced affrightedly around, not knowing which way to run to escape the dreaded brute.
But it was a joke of Bob's, and he made the woods ring with his laughter, while, as may be supposed, the others were in no amiable mood.
"I don't see any fun in that sort of thing," growled Tom.
"You may do like the boy in the fable, who shouted 'Wolf!' once too often," added Jim, ashamed of his weakness.
The next instant Tom Wagstaff shouted: "_There he comes and no mistake!_"
Tom and Jim were standing on one side of the streamlet, facing Bob on the other side, so that his back was turned toward the point at which they were gazing.
The expression on the countenance of the couple was that of extreme alarm, though such a brief time had elapsed since Bob had given them a scare that they had not yet recovered from it.
"You're right!" Jim added, instantly, as he and Tom wheeled and dashed off at the top of their speed through the woods.
Bob was determined they should not fool him. He laughed again in his hearty fashion, throwing back and shaking his head.
"You can't come that, boys!" he called, "it's too soon after my little joke on you."
"But, Bob, we aint joking," shouted back Jim, looking over his shoulder, but still running; "the bear is coming as sure as you are born."
