The Moose 243 



were thinner, and we saw that it was a young bull 

 moose browsing on the willow tops. He had evi 

 dently nearly finished his breakfast, and he stood 

 idly for some moments, now and then lazily crop 

 ping a mouthful of twig tips. Then he walked off 

 with great strides in a straight line across the marsh, 

 splashing among the wet water-plants, and plowing 

 through boggy spaces with the indifference begotten 

 of vast strength and legs longer than those of any 

 other animal on this continent. At times he en 

 tered beds of reeds which hid him from view, 

 though their surging and bending showed the wake 

 of his passage; at other times he walked through 

 meadows of tall, grass, the withered yellow stalks 

 rising to his flanks, while his body loomed above 

 them, glistening black and wet in the level sunbeams. 

 Once he stopped for a few moments on a rise of dry 

 ground, seemingly to enjoy the heat of the young 

 sun ; he stood motionless, save that his ears were con 

 tinually pricked, and his head sometimes slightly 

 turned, showing that even in this remote land he 

 was on the alert. Once, with a somewhat awkward 

 motion, he reached his hind leg forward to scratch 

 his neck. Then he walked forward again into the 

 marsh; where the water was quite deep he broke 

 into the long, stretching, springy trot, which forms 

 the characteristic gait of his kind, churning the 

 marsh water into foam. He held his head straight 

 forward, the antlers resting on his shoulders. 



