"If I can get the bed, there ain't any danger of being bothered by snakes and wild animals." Fred naturally pondered a moment as to the best means of climbing into the tree with his gun.

It was full size, and of such weight that he had been considerably wearied in carrying it such a distance, but it contained a precious charge, to be used in some emergency that was likely to arise, and no man was wealthy enough to buy it from him.

The way that he decided upon was to leave the gun against the trunk of the tree, and then climb in the way that comes natural to a boy.

The barrel of course, would bother him a little, but he could pull through very well, and he immediately set about doing so.
As he expected, the gun got in his way, but he managed it very well, without knocking it down, and in a few minutes had climbed high enough to grasp the first limb with one hand, which was all that he desired, as he could easily draw himself up in that fashion.
Fred had just made his grasp certain, when he heard a peculiar yelp, and a rush of something by him.
Not knowing what it meant, but apprehending some new danger, he drew himself upon the limb with a spasmodic effort, and then turned to see what it meant.

To his amazement and terror, he discovered that it was an immense wolf, which had made a snap at and narrowly missed his heels.
It had come like a shadow, making no announcement of its presence, and a second or two sooner would have brought the two into collision.
As Fred looked downward the wolf looked upward, and the two glared at each other for a minute or so, as if they meant to stare each other out of countenance.