They had a good view of him now, and they shuddered as they saw what a large and shaggy specimen he was. The bear looked at them too and snarled as if with disappointment at their escape.
“Looks like a nightmare to me,” observed Walter.
“How lucky that Belle saw him first and gave warning,” said Cora. “It would have been nice, wouldn’t it, to have been sitting at lunch and have looked up to see him standing beside us?”
“I know what it means now to have your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth,” said Belle, who was pale and shaken. “I thought I never would be able to scream.”
The bear resumed his shambling gait and meandered leisurely down to the pile of fish.
“The robber!” groaned Walter. “He’ll clean up the pile. To think I’ve been cooking for that old reprobate!”
“You ought to take it as a compliment,” said Jack. “Just see how the old thief is wading into them.”
The fish were indeed disappearing with magical rapidity.
“He’s a magician,” said Jack. “He’s making mutton of fish.”
“It’s well enough to joke,” murmured Bess. “But what will we do if he eats all the rest of our lunch?”
“We’ll have to grin and bear it,” said Paul, whose disposition to pun could not be overcome.
“Perhaps he’ll be satisfied with the fish and leave the rest of the food alone,” remarked Cora hopefully.
“You’re a cheerful optimist,” replied her brother. “You don’t know much about a bear’s appetite. Besides, he must be awfully hungry, otherwise he would run away—bears usually do.”
“Oh, if I only had a rifle here!” said Paul.
“A dynamite bomb would be good enough for me,” growled Walter.
“Haven’t we anything on board we can soak him with?” groaned Jack.
“Nothing much, except some loose bolts and nuts in the locker,” answered Cora, “and they wouldn’t do any good, except perhaps to aggravate him.”
“It might get his mind off the rest of the lunch, anyway,” replied her brother. “Let’s get a handful, fellows, and bombard the old brigand.”
They were all smarting for revenge, and they equipped themselves with the missiles and began to throw. Several of them hit the bear, but he paid no attention.
“We’re too far off,” said Walter. “The force of the bolts is spent before they get to him. Back up a little closer to the shore, Jack, and we’ll have a better chance.”