196 The Wilderness Hunter 



I made up my mind, from the sound of the chal- 

 lenging, now very near me, that one bull on my 

 right was advancing toward a rival on my left, who 

 was answering every call. Soon the former ap- 

 proached so near that I could hear him crack the 

 branches, and beat the bushes with his horns; and 

 I slipped quietly from tree to tree, so as to meet him 

 when he came out into the more open woodland. 

 Day broke, and crimson gleams played across the 

 snow-clad mountains beyond. 



At last, just as the sun flamed red above the hill- 

 tops, I heard the roar of the wapiti's challenge not 

 fifty yards away; and I cocked and half raised my 

 rifle, and stood motionless. In a moment more, the 

 belt of spruces in front of me swayed and opened, 

 and the lordly bull stepped out. He bore his mas- 

 sive antlers aloft; the snow lay thick on his mane; 

 he snuffed the air and stamped on the ground as he 

 walked. As I drew a bead, the motion caught his 

 eye ; and instantly his bearing of haughty and war- 

 like self-confidence changed to one of alarm. My 

 bullet smote through his shoulder-blades, and he 

 plunged wildly forward, and fell full length on the 

 blood-stained snow. 



Nothing can be finer than a wapiti bull's carriage 

 when excited or alarmed ; he then seems the embodi- 

 ment of strength and stately grace. But at ordinary 

 times his looks are less attractive, as he walks with 

 his neck level with his body and his head out- 



