108 THE MOOSE 



span, who put up no sort of a fight when the old 

 bull butted in and carried off' the prize. 



He did not hold her long, being divorced from 

 her by the machinations of a mighty moose, whose 

 head carried no horns whatever. 



In size, bulk, and general appearance, he w^as 

 a huge specimen of his tribe, but Fate had docked 

 him of his chief beauty, and by some wound or 

 mischance his antlers had ceased to grow. But 

 there he was, a gay Lothario for all that, with 

 a heart for many cows in the moose world. 



The uncrowned monarch held undisputed sway 

 over a range of his forest kingdom, and his 

 triumphant battle-cry woke the echoes at night. 



Moosewa could hardly believe his eyes when he 

 saw the hornless one drive before him the respected 

 old leader who at least had antlers of more or less 

 business-like appearance. A lunge of the great 

 bull neck, a fierce drive from razor fore-feet, and 

 the old bull fled before the battering onslaughts 

 of his hornless foe, leaving his cow behind him. 



Even whilst he followed, because he could do 

 nothing else, Moosewa scorned his leader now. To 

 be beaten by a beast no bigger than himself, horn- 

 less too ! He had not lived long enough to under- 



