With the lithe, soft tread that was habitual to him, the young man moved about, examining the condition of the little chamber and its stock of provisions and necessaries, and withdrew presently, to reappear as noiselessly with a tin bucket of water.  This done he replenished the little pile of fuel with an armful of bark and pine cones, cast an approving glance about him, which included the sleeper, and silently departed.

It was night when she awoke.  She was surrounded by a profound darkness, except where the shaft-like opening made a nebulous mist in the corner in her wooden cavern.  Providentially she struggled back to consciousness slowly, so that the solitude and silence came upon her gradually, with a growing realization of the events of the past twenty-four hours, but without a shock.  She was alone here, but safe still, and every hour added to her chances of ultimate escape.  She remembered to have seen a candle among the articles on the shelf, and she began to grope her way toward the matches.  Suddenly she stopped.  What was that panting?

Was it her own breathing, quickened with a sudden nameless terror? or was there something outside?  Her heart seemed to stop beating while she listened.  Yes! it was a panting outside—­a panting now increased, multiplied, redoubled, mixed with the sounds of rustling, tearing, craunching, and occasionally a quick, impatient snarl.  She crept on her hands and knees to the opening and looked out.  At first the ground seemed to be undulating between her and the opposite tree.  But a second glance showed her the black and gray, bristling, tossing backs of tumbling beasts of prey, charging the carcass of the bear that lay at its roots, or contesting for the prize with gluttonous choked breath, sidelong snarls, arched spines, and recurved tails.  One of the boldest had leaped upon a buttressing root of her tree within a foot of the opening.

The excitement, awe, and terror she had undergone culminated in one wild, maddened scream, that seemed to pierce even the cold depths of the forest, as she dropped on her face, with her hands clasped over her eyes in an agony of fear.

Her scream was answered, after a pause, by a sudden volley of firebrands and sparks into the midst of the panting, crowding pack; a few smothered howls and snaps, and a sudden dispersion of the concourse.  In another moment the young man, with a blazing brand in either hand, leaped upon the body of the bear.

Teresa raised her head, uttered a hysterical cry, slid down the tree, flew wildly to his side, caught convulsively at his sleeve, and fell on her knees beside him.

“Save me! save me!” she gasped, in a voice broken by terror.  “Save me from those hideous creatures.  No, no!” she implored, as he endeavored to lift her to her feet.  “No—­let me stay here close beside you.  So,” clutching the fringe of his leather hunting-shirt, and dragging herself on her knees nearer him—­“so—­don’t leave me, for God’s sake!”