THE SABLE. 105 



Either he had risen and fled forward into the 

 ravine up which we had made our stalk, or else 

 he had entered the small thicket. F. agreed to 

 stay on watch where he was, while I slipped back 

 and examined the earth to leeward of the thicket. 



I had hardly crawled ten yards, however, be- 

 fore the gentle snapping of F.'s fingers recalled 

 me to his side. 



" He's behind that bush," he whispered in my 

 ear. 



I looked. The bush was hardly large enough 

 to conceal a setter dog, and the sable is some- 

 what larger than our elk. Nevertheless F. in- 

 sisted that the animal was standing behind it, 

 and that he had caught the toss of its head. We 

 lay still for some time, while the soft, warm rain 

 drizzled down on us, our eyes riveted on the 

 bush. And then we caught the momentary 

 flash of curved horns as the sable tossed his 

 head. It seemed incredible even then that the 

 tiny bush should conceal so large a beast. As a 

 matter of fact we later found that the bush grew 

 on a slight elevation, behind which was a de- 

 pression. In this the sable stood, patiently en- 

 during the drizzle. 



We waited some time in hopes he would move 

 forward a foot or so ; but apparently he had 



