10 THE MOOSE 



empty cans and camp debris of all kinds. Once or 

 twice a terrific jolt wellnigh dislodged the calf 

 altogether, and then the Chinaman, none too gently, 

 flung him back. 



The men cooked a meal in a filthy pan over a 

 smoky, hastily raked together smouldering fire — 

 moose liver, fresh killed, and the inevitable beans. 



Lying on his rough bed, the calf slept heavily ; 

 he was so weary and distressed and youthful. The 

 gods everywhere are merciful to the young, and 

 give them, because they love them, sleep. 



He wakened with a nerve-shaking start, to find 

 himself an unwilling participator in a swift meteoric 

 rush down-stream in a flat-bottomed boat, whose 

 bows he shared with a pair of dogs, half-malamute, 

 half- wolf, "inside dogs," as they are called when 

 bred in the country, creatures who could not bark, 

 but only howled more drearily than the wolves they 

 so closely resembled. Bidden to leave the young 

 moose alone, they did so under protest, showing 

 their teeth and laying back their wolfish ears 

 threateningly as the prisoner shifted his tied feet 

 ever so slightly, or stretched his cramped neck on 

 the rough gunwale. 



At nights the party landed and camped by the 



