196 Hunting Big Game 



under the water by otter, mink, or muskrat ; 

 consequently they select an island of bare 

 rocks for their roosting place. Returned to 

 camp we soon retired for the night. 



The guide stuck his head into our tent about 

 5 o'clock in the morning and said, " I hear 

 moose down lake." That was enough; the 

 nimrod had on his shoes on short notice and 

 away we went in the direction of the sound. 

 In the distance we could see smoke coming 

 from the. bush; on investigation we found the 

 " thunder " (as the Indian said) had struck a 

 spruce tree, run around the tree down into the 

 moss and set fire to it, and had burned a great 

 deal of the underbrush. As usual we re- 

 turned to camp without seeing anything. 



As we were eating, one of the Indians 

 called, "Look, the partridges!" There just 

 behind the tent were two looking at us, and 

 not more than five yards distant. We all got 

 stones and threw at them, Frank hitting one, 

 when both flew away. The nimrod then or- 

 ganized for a still hunt, and in a short time 

 we were moving stealthily through the dense 

 woods of yellow and white birch, red and 



