132 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



ment. His eyes seemed to start from his head, his 

 muscles twitched, his face glowed, he seemed trans- 

 formed in a moment into a different being. At 

 the same time he began with the utmost celerity, 

 but with extreme caution, to descend to the ground. 

 He motioned me not to make any noise, and whis- 

 pered that a moose was coming across the barren 

 and must be close by. Grasping my rifle, we 

 crawled carefully through the grass, crisp and 

 noisy with frost, down to the edge of our island of 

 woods, and there, after peering cautiously around 

 some stunted juniper bushes, I saw standing, 

 about sixty yards off, a bull moose. He looked 

 gigantic in the thin morning mist which was be- 

 ginning to drift up from the surface of the barren. 

 Great volumes of steam issued from his nostrils, 

 and his whole aspect, looming in the fog, was vast 

 and almost terrific. He stood there perfectly 

 motionless, staring at the spot from which he had 

 heard the cry of the supposed cow, irresolute 

 whether to come on or not. The Indian was 

 anxious to bring him a little closer, but I did not 

 wish to run the risk of scaring him, and so, taking 

 aim. as fairly as I could, considering I was shaking 

 all over with cold, I fired and struck him behind 

 the shoulder. He plunged forward on his knees, 



