196 The Wilderness Hunter 



I made up my mind, from the sound of the chal 

 lenging, now very near me, that one bull on my 

 right was advancing toward a rival on my left, who 

 was answering every call. Soon the former ap 

 proached so near that I could hear him crack the 

 branches, and beat the bushes with his horns; and 

 I slipped quietly from tree to tree, so as to meet him 

 when he came out into the more open woodland. 

 Day broke, and crimson gleams played across the 

 snow-clad mountains beyond. 



At last, just as the sun flamed red above the hill 

 tops, I heard the roar of the wapiti s challenge not 

 fifty yards away; and I cocked and half raised my 

 rifle, and stood motionless. In a moment more, the 

 belt of spruces in front of me swayed and opened, 

 and the lordly bull stepped out. He bore his mas 

 sive antlers aloft; the snow lay thick on his mane; 

 he snuffed the air and stamped on the ground as he 

 walked. As I drew a bead, the motion caught his 

 eye; and instantly his bearing of haughty and war 

 like self-confidence changed to one of alarm. My 

 bullet smote through his shoulder-blades, and he 

 plunged wildly forward, and fell full length on the 

 blood-stained snow. 



Nothing can be finer than a wapiti bull s carriage 

 when excited or alarmed ; he then seems the embodi 

 ment of strength and stately grace. But at ordinary 

 times his looks are less attractive, as he walks with 

 his neck level with his body and his head out- 



