White Moose 



" Sure. Big spread — so " (he stretched his arms as 

 far apart as he could reach). " All white, like ice 

 in sunshine. Hide, white like snow. Hoofs, white. 

 Muffle, black. Eyes, red like mad dog. If he leave me 

 be, I leave him be. Kespeadooksit " (The story is 

 ended). 



Mossy had a few words with the old fellow in the 

 Micmac language, and then, turning to me, explained 

 that Ma-tee-o did not believe any gun had yet been 

 made that was either accurate or powerful enough to 

 kill the big white moose. He ended by saying that he 

 half believed with the Micmac that there was something 

 both bullet-proof and supernatural about the mysterious 

 animal. As I pressed him for more details he went on 

 as follows: 



" I first saw it three years ago when I was spotting out 

 a piece of hemlock land for the Millers way up the Shel- 

 burne River. It was in December and good snow- 

 shoeing. The beast must have seen me before I saw it. 

 Being pure white with the exception of a black muffle, 

 I did not notice it until it started to trot away. It had 

 a big spread of horns, and they were well matched as 

 near as I could judge. Just as I threw up my rifle and 

 fired, my snow-shoe caught under a bush and I fell. I 

 picked myself up, and stepping into its trail, followed 

 along several rods. Then I found this." 



Mossy pulled out of his pocket a prong from a moose's 

 horn about three inches long. It had evidently been 

 cut off by a bullet. It was as white and shiny as ivory. 

 I examined and handed it back to him with a knowing 

 and meaning leer, which, however, he did not deign to 

 notice. 



He resumed: 



" As the white moose was travelling too fast and 

 probably too far for me to follow that day, I finished 



177 M 



