Lewis
took to his heels and fled. But the bear ran so fast that Lewis
soon saw that it would be impossible to escape, for the bear was
gaining fast upon him. Then suddenly it flashed across his mind
that if he jumped into the river he might escape. So turning short
he leaped into the water. Then facing about he pointed his halberd
at the bear. Seeing this the bear suddenly stopped on the bank not
twenty feet away. Then as if he were frightened he turned tail and
ran away as fast as he had come.
Lewis was glad enough to escape so easily, and he made up his mind
that never again would he allow his rifle to be unloaded even for
a moment.
Other dangers, too, beset the travelers. One day Lewis and his
companions were following the boats along the bluffs which rose
high above the water's edge. The ground was so slippery that they
could only with difficulty keep their feet. Once Lewis slipped
and only saved himself by means of the pike which he carried from
being hurled into the river a hundred feet below. He had just
reached a spot where he could stand fairly safely when he heard a
voice behind him cry out: "Good God! Captain, what shall I do?"
He turned instantly and saw that one of his men who had lost his
foothold had slipped down to the very edge of the precipice and
was now hanging half over it. One leg and arm were over, and with
the other he clung frantically to the edge of the cliff.
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