Without an instant's pause, he wheeled about; and drove his keen teeth into the rope that bound him to the post.
Lad did not chew aimlessly at the thick tether; nor throw away one ounce of useless energy.

Seizing the hempen strands, he ground his teeth deeply and with scientific skill, into their fraying recesses.
Thus does a dog, addicted to cutting his leash, attack the bonds which hold him.
It was Lad's first experience of the kind.

But instinct served him well.

The fact that the rope had been left out of doors, in all weathers, for several years, served him far better.

Not only did it sever the more easily; but it soon lost the cohesion needed for resisting any strong pull.
The bear, lurching half-blindly, had reeled out into the open, below the knoll.