104. THE MOOSE 



He met many of his kind in his rambhngs, cows 

 with one calf, others with two, bulls in every stage 

 of horn development, and tried to establish friendly 

 relations with all ; but his overtures were met with 

 considerable uninterest, an attitude which must be 

 overcome ere the moose yarded up for the winter. 

 Instinct told the youngling that his shrift would be 

 short if he tried to live his hermit-like existence 

 under any but summer conditions. Fate and the 

 wolves had been charitable to him. Better not to 

 tempt either. 



Only that morning a timber wolf had loped by 

 and stopped to eye the moose hungrily, returning 

 again and again to take the measure of his youth. 



The sooner a friendly ally could be found the 

 better. 



As if in answer a bull moose roared close at 

 hand — a grand primeval sound — and next instant 

 stepped majestically out of cover, shaking himself 

 free of clinging pea- vine tendrils. His loose stride, 

 and his head nodding in slow time with the royal 

 swing of his limbs, was arrested as he caught sight 

 of the young Horatius blocking the game trail. 

 His muscles tightened up ; the season for the 

 battling of the moose had come. 



