170 THE MOOSE 



temperature, it condensed, and formed thousands 

 of tiny cascades in the rocks. 



Down the moose trail the lumbering bulk trotted 

 purposefully, without so much as a thought to the 

 tragedy of the tundra. 



It was ungallant, it was shameless, cowardly — 

 what you will. Alas ! throughout the whole of his 

 life Moosewa never distinguished himself by stand- 

 ing by the feminine things for whom he had made 

 himself responsible. In a disaster of any magnitude 

 he invariably took the shortest route to safety, and 

 if his cow followed, well and good ; if not, bad and 

 evil — from her point of view I 



The old cow sank lower and lower, until her long 

 head lay outstretched on the water like that of a 

 moose swimming. She had ceased to struggle 

 now, she had sunk too deep. Her legs were securely 

 held dovra in the half-frozen, thick mud. 



Her little sunken eyes swept the waste as though 

 seeking something. Then, soundlessly, she disap- 

 peared. 



That summer, an exceptionally hot, dry one, 

 gave the young bull a glimpse of an insignificant 

 forest fire, the sort of fire Canadians would call a 

 " fizzle." It did not start of itself, as a result of 



