Had she been a veteran hunter, Nellie could not have made a better
selection, for she was fully twenty feet from the ground, and as much
beyond the reach of the bear as though she were in her trundle-bed at
home.
But the position was a frightful one to her, and for several minutes she
believed the animal would tear the tree down and destroy her.
"I have done all I can for myself," she murmured, recalling the
instruction of her parents, "and now God will do the rest."
Beautiful, trusting faith of childhood! Of such, indeed, is the kingdom
of heaven.
The huge bear, which from some cause or other had ventured from the
recesses of the wood, was but a short distance behind the little
wanderer when she climbed so hastily beyond his reach. He acted as
though he was somewhat bewildered by the unusual scene of a small child
fleeing from him, but nothing is so tempting to pursuit as the sight of
some one running from us, and the brute galloped after Nellie with an
evident determination to capture her, if the thing could be done.
When he found the child had eluded him for the time, he sat down on his
haunches and looked upward, as though he intended to wait till she would
be compelled to descend and surrender herself.
The small tree in which Nellie had taken refuge was several yards from
the edge of the stream, the bank sloping so steeply that the water never
reached the base, excepting during a freshet.
It was a chestnut, whose smooth bark rendered it all the more difficult
to climb, but Nellie went up it as rapidly as a man ascends telegraph
poles with the spikes strapped to his boots.
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