So now I took careful aim between its eyes; my right fingers
closed firmly and evenly upon the small of the stock, drawing back
my trigger-finger by the muscular action of the hand. The bullet
could not fail to hit its mark! I held my breath lest I swerve
the muzzle a hair by my breathing. I was as steady and cool as I
ever had been upon a target-range, and I had the full consciousness of
a perfect hit in anticipation; I knew that I could not miss. And
then, as the bear surged forward toward me, the hammer fell--futilely,
upon an imperfect cartridge.
Almost simultaneously I heard from without a perfectly hellish
roar; the bear gave voice to a series of growls far transcending
in volume and ferocity anything that he had yet essayed and at the
same time backed quickly from the cave. For an instant I couldn't
understand what had happened to cause this sudden retreat when
his prey was practically within his clutches. The idea that the
harmless clicking of the hammer had frightened him was too ridiculous
to entertain. However, we had not long to wait before we could at
least guess at the cause of the diversion, for from without came
mingled growls and roars and the sound of great bodies thrashing
about until the earth shook. The bear had been attacked in the
rear by some other mighty beast, and the two were now locked in a
titanic struggle for supremacy.
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