280 



shoot now or never, began to cover him with the 

 foresight, in hopes of getting one chance of a cross- 

 ing shot. For a second the great beast stood, and 

 half turned towards us, affording a good chance of 

 putting in a shoulder shot. As Ralph instinctively 

 pressed the trigger, ere the bullet reached its mark, 

 the bull turned diagonally away from us. Before 

 he had put down his foremost foot the bullet struck 

 him somewhere, and giving a convulsive spring side- 

 ways, he dashed into the trees and disappeared from 

 sight. 



What Ralph said may be better imagined than 

 described, as we hastened across the open giade with 

 but faint hopes of being able to come up with the 

 wounded beast, which seemed to be only slightly 

 hit. After following his tracks a mile or more we 

 found that he had not broken out of a long striding 

 gallop, and scarcely a blood spot was visible, as is 

 often the case from a wound inflicted with the small- 

 bore rifles, such as a Mannlicher, which, in my 

 humble "opinion, is the chief drawback to these handy 

 little weapons. 



After deciding that our pursuit was hopeless we 

 resolved to retrace our steps, which proved to be by 

 no means an easy undertaking. For during the 

 quest of the spruce grouse, and in tracking the 

 moose, neither of us had taken notice of our bear- 

 ings, and night was rapidly closing in upon us. In 

 addition to which Ralph had lost our only compass, 

 which he carried on a chain that had snapped with- 

 out his noticing the event, probably as we forced our 



