A LOST MOOSE 99 



beau with her, and therefore kept perfectly still so as 

 not to alarm either of them. If the bull wasn't with 

 her he might be somewhere within her call and per- 

 haps would join her. 



It was half-past three in the afternoon when her 

 form was first fully outlined. I stood motionless and 

 she did the same — save once in a while her great ears 

 would be moved a little to catch any strange sounds. 

 The seconds ran into minutes, the minutes into nearly 

 an hour, yet there she stood and in the same pose. It 

 was now so dark that her head, ears and shoulders 

 formed simply a dark, undefined spot. I was com- 

 pletely fagged out and stole softly away. As I left 

 her, she showed no movement of a muscle, and for 

 aught I know, she may be standing there yet. 



With a sigh of relief I hurried back to mount my 

 point of observation because I felt sure that the pair 

 of " wanderers " I was after would pass my way early 

 in the evening. The guide had fixed up a sort of a 

 platform by laying a door across two boxes on top of 

 the sleeping bunks, and this would bring my shoulders 

 upon a level with the sill of the square window in 

 the gable. Mounting the platform, I sat down to 

 await events. They were not long in coming. I 

 soon heard the sounds of heavy " breaking " down the 

 road, intermingled with the tender tones that char- 

 acterize moose courtship. I now moved a little, to 

 bring my left shoulder clear of the opening, and 



