His claws could be heard rattling upon the bark as he sprang upward.

He first climbed to the branch over which the bear-meat hung.
This he shook with violence, looking downward, to see if the suspended object would fall.

Disappointed, he left this after a time, and came down to the other branch, where the lasso was tied in a knot.

Here he again seized the rope in his claws, and shook it with violence, but with a like result.

Although he had the advantage of the wolves in being able to climb the tree, he had not _their_ cunning, else he would soon have let the meat down, by cutting the rope with his teeth.