He had evidently followed with stealthy steps, the snow acting as a carpet to deaden his heavy footsteps.
My first idea was to give the intruder a dose of cold lead, but that I soon discovered was out of the question, for the bear had calmly appropriated my rifle, which lay beneath his paws.
It seemed to me indeed that his ugly face bore a look of triumph as he crouched over the weapon, and, judging from the blinking of his eyes, he seemed humanly conscious that, having become possessed of my trusty and deadly friend, he had me completely in his power.

To obtain possession of the weapon was out of the question; it would have been fatal to attempt it.
Motioning the woman to seize the child and hurry forward without me, I prepared to rout the enemy by some means other than powder and shot.
What means I intended to adopt I frankly admit I had not the remotest idea.

The incident, so unexpected, so strange, took me completely by surprise, and it was some moments before I recovered my senses and presence of mind.

Then I remembered that grizzlies, despite their huge bulk and ferocious tempers, are curiously alarmed by noise.
I had even heard that they had been driven off, with their tails between their legs, by the mere beating of a tin can.

With this idea in my mind I hastily produced the metal cup of my flask, and striking it furiously with the hilt of my hunting-knife, I continued to produce a din which ought to have taken effect upon my four-footed adversary.