THE CHASE. 



359 



ping backwards and forwards above the bushes. Another half 

 hour passes in creeping like snakes through the wet bushes, 

 which we can scarcely hope will conceal us much longer. It 

 seems an age, and often, and anxiously, I look at the cap of my 

 single-barrel rifle. I am ahead, and at length judging one hun- 

 dred and twenty yards to be tlie distance, I can stand it no 

 longer, but resolve to decide matters by a shot, and fire through 

 an opening in the bushes of the swamp. Joe understands my 

 glance, and placing the call to his lips, utters the challenge of the 

 bull-moose. Slowly and majestically the great animal rises, 

 directly facing me, and gazes upon me for a moment. A head- 

 long stagger follows the report, and he wheels around behind a 

 clump of bushes. 



"• ' Bravo ! you hit him, you hit sure enough,' shouts Joe, level- 

 ing and firing at the cow- moose, which had unknown to us been 

 lying close beside the bull. ' Come along,' and we all plunge 

 headlong into the swamp. Dreadful cramps attacked my legs, 

 and almost prevented me from getting through, — the result of 

 sudden violent motion, after the restrained movement, in the 

 cold, wet moss, and huckleberry bushes. A few paces on the 

 other side, and the great bull suddenly rose in front of us, and 

 strided on into thick covert. Another shot and he sinks lifeless 

 at our feet. The first ball had entered the very centre of his 

 breast, and cut the lower portion of the heart. 



"Late that night our canoe glided through the dark waters of 

 the lake towards the settlement. The massive head and antlers 

 were witli us. 



" ' Ah, Grandmother,' said Joe, as we passed the indistinct out- 

 lines of the spirit rocks, ' you very good to us this time, anyhow ; 

 very much we thank you, Grandmother ! ' 



" ' It 's a pity, Joe,' I observed, ' that we have not time to see 

 whether the offerings of yesterday are gone or not ; but mind, 

 you go up the lake again to-morrow to bring out the meat, 

 and don't forget your Grandmother, for I really think she has 

 been most kind to us.' " 



All the essential elements for still-hunting the Moose are man- 

 ifested in this single narrative. 



A thorough knowledge of the habits of the animal must teach 

 the hunter where to look for him at certain seasons of the year, 

 or at particular times of the day, in fair or in stormy weather. 

 The superior vision of man over that of the Moose, is more than 

 compensated to the latter by the advantage of his position, being 



