132 DAYS IN THE OPEN 



open. If it should venture out it most certainly 

 would not approach a summer hotel. Granting 

 that some demented specimen might visit a clearing 

 in which is a hotel, it would do so only under the 

 protection of darkness. The stories are evidently 

 mythical. Only a few days later the Higher Critic 

 receives a distinct jar when he is awakened at early 

 dawn one morning by a tapping at his door and 

 hears a low voice saying, " There's a moose in the 

 logan ! " The shadows of night are not entirely 

 gone, but it is light enough to see distinctly the 

 dark object standing in the water and tearing at 

 the lily-pads. A cow ? Too large and too high at 

 the shoulders. A horse ? No horse ever had such 

 ears or such a head. Although the H. C. has never 

 before seen a moose outside of a zoological garden, 

 one glance convinces him that his theory is seri- 

 ously damaged. 



A few days later, as the guests are eating their 

 midday meal, the small boy rushes into the dining- 

 room and shouts, " Moose in the logan ! " In an 

 incredibly short space of time the boarders have 

 exchanged the dining-room for the garden fence, 

 and are looking down upon such a sight as even 

 dwellers in the Peaceful Valley seldom see. In the 

 middle of the logan, and not more than forty rods 

 away, stands a cow moose with her calf by her 

 side. The mother plunges her muzzle into the 

 water in search of food, lifts her head and munches 

 for a time, and then repeats the process. All the 



