Might the bears not go out upon the plain?
Perhaps they might go out as far as the spring, either for water, or led by some other want.

But even so, they would then be able to see the hunters coming down, and could easily overtake them before the latter could reach the camp, or their horses.

The horses had been set loose, and were now a good distance off upon the prairie.

There was but little consolation in this thought, and less in that which occurred to them next; which was that the fierce brutes might not be satisfied at what they had eaten, but might take it into their heads to clamber up to the summit in search of more! This apprehension was the most fearful of all--as the boys knew that there was no place upon the table where they could long conceal themselves; and to get down, if once discovered and pursued, would be utterly impossible.
Filled with these appalling thoughts, they crouched upon their hands and knees, now peering cautiously through the leaves of the aloes, and now whispering to each other the various plans of escape that suggested themselves.

But all these plans ended in the faint hope that the bears might make a temporary absence from the ravine, and give them a chance to pass down.