ON THE RIVER. 247 



manner until about ten o'clock, when they crawled 

 out on the bank and sought a dry spot on which to 

 sleep. As the evening wore on the cloudiness turned 

 to a drizzling rain and then the water poured down. 

 It was a dreadful night, and morning found two be- 

 draggled hunters who were inclined to believe that 

 the world is but a fleeting show. Tired and soro 

 from their exertions in pushing the boat all day and 

 weary and care-worn from a sleepless night in the 

 rain, they allowed the boat to take its own course. 



Occasionally one or the other would dip his pole in 

 the water in a half-hearted way and then lapse into 

 inactivity again. Thus they moved along until the 

 afternoon, feeling that there was nothing to do but 

 get back to camp and secure some sleep. A few big 

 owls sitting on the tops of the trees eyed them in a 

 quizzical manner and appeared to make sport of 

 their dreary condition. Dyche was sore, mentally 

 and physically, and he felt that moose-hunting was a 

 failure, especially in a country where there was 

 water not only under-foot, but overhead, all the 

 time. The season for calling moose was about over, 

 and they had succeeded in getting them to come no 

 closer than the bushes where they could remain 

 hidden. While these doleful thoughts were chasing 

 each other through Dyche 's brain, Brown capped 

 the climax by saying : 



" Yes, a big bull moose is the rub." 



Slowly drifting along, they reached the spot where 



Dyche had had his experience with the calves a few 



days before. As they pushed on through the lake, 



Dyche glanced over into the bushes at which he had 



17 



