98 NEIGHBOURS UNKNOWN 



from the thicket. The bear, shot through the 

 spine with an explosive bullet, dropped in a 

 sprawling heap across the bent forelegs of 

 his victim. Stepping forth into the moon- 

 light, the hunter drew his knife with precision 

 across the throat of the wounded bull. 



Straightening himself up, he stared for a 

 few moments at the three great lifeless car- 

 cases on the sand. Then he let his glance 

 sweep out over the glassy waters and level, 

 desolate shores. How strange was the sudden 

 silence, the still white peace of the moonlight, 

 after all that madness and tumult and rage 

 which had just been so abruptly stilled ! A 

 curious revulsion of feeling all at once blotted 

 out his triumph, and there came over him a 

 sense of repugnance to the bulk of so much 

 death. Stepping around it, he sat down with 

 his back to it all, on a stranded log, and 

 proceeded to fill his pipe. 



