14 THE MOOSE 



and at great speed. Reaching the end of the 

 run, the despoiler blocked the exit cleverly, and 

 finding a mouse at home, pressed him down with 

 an odd blow of a quick right hand, after which the 

 luckless atom was devoured. One, two, three 

 successful hunts, and the moose calf passed on. 

 Such ruthless slaughter, though fascinating to 

 watch by reason of its dexterity, made him afraid. 

 What if his turn should come next ! After all, he 

 knew practically nothing of the habits of this lonely 

 male bear, and how far they coincided vidth any- 

 thing he had heard his mother say of the ways of 

 the huge brown beasts he would one day meet in 

 other scenes. She had never seemed to fear her 

 companion of the island. He took comfort from 

 that. 



A light, white vaprous mist enshrouded the 

 lagoon, through which the ducks sped to and fro, 

 hither and thither, in chattering concert. Had the 

 calf been a little older, he would have known what 

 such unusual noise and activity presaged. When 

 ducks are unduly conversational the barometer is 

 falling. 



The short, sharp bark of a fox cut the silence, and 

 as the night closed in the forsaken little one heard 



