1 88 The Wilderness Hunter 



Then, as we trod noiselessly over the dense moss, 

 and on the pine needles under the scattered trees, 

 we heard a sharp clang and clatter up the valley 

 ahead of us. We knew this meant game of some 

 sort; and stealing lightly and cautiously forward 

 we soon saw before us the cause of the noise. 



In a little glade, a hundred and twenty-five yards 

 from us, two bull elk were engaged in deadly com- 

 bat, while two others were looking on. It was a 

 splendid sight. The great beasts faced each other 

 with lowered horns, the manes that covered their 

 thick necks and the hair on their shoulders bristling 

 and erect. Then they charged furiously, the crash of 

 the meeting antlers resounding through the valley. 

 The shock threw them both on their haunches ; with 

 locked horns and glaring eyes they strove against 

 each other, getting their hind legs well under them, 

 straining every muscle in their huge bodies, and 

 squealing savagely. They were evenly matched 

 in weight, strength and courage; and push as they 

 might, neither got the upper hand, first one yielding 

 a few inches, then the other, while they swayed to 

 and fro in their struggles, smashing the bushes and 

 plowing up the soil. 



Finally they separated and stood some little dis- 

 tance apart, under the great pines ; their sides heav- 

 ing, and columns of steam rising from their nos- 

 trils through the frosty air of the brightening morn- 

 ing. Again they rushed together with a crash, and 



