THE MOOSE-CALL. 241 



this time louder with the mouth of the horn free. 

 Twenty minutes passed and no answer came. A 

 third time the call was made, loud and clear, but no 

 answer came. Again the call was given, this time 

 with the full force of the hunter's lungs. It rang 

 out over the forest like a trumpet. 



With the birch-bark cone at his lips, the mouth 

 towards the ground, Brown emitted a peculiar grunt- 

 ing squeal, and as he called he elevated the horn with 

 a spiral motion high in the air over his head and 

 then back down towards the ground, the sound rising 

 and falling and vibrating through the forest. This 

 was repeated three times and then they waited in the 

 stillness for the answer. The noise is the bawl of 

 the cow moose, and is a combination of the prolonged 

 howl of a dog and the lowing of a cow, if this can be 

 imagined. 



The sound penetrated the depths of the forest for 

 miles, and the echoes had barely died away when there 

 came from a far-distant part of the swamp a most 

 peculiar grunting or thumping noise. It sounded 

 something like the rapidly repeated " woof, woof " of 

 a big dog. The sound was continued, the moose 

 gradually drawing nearer and nearer, all the while 

 uttering his deep guttural grunt or bark. It was his 

 answer to the cow, and while he was undoubtedly 

 three miles away when he first heard the call, he went 

 directly to the spot where the two men were lying 

 concealed, almost frozen from their long wait in the 

 frosty swamp grass. Dyche was stiff and numb from 

 his hips down, while Brown was in little better condi- 

 tion. The old fellow was coming, however, and they 



