AN ELK SEASON. 159 



the natives of the valley, and very far beyond in my 

 case the power of the alien sportsman. But I 

 followed as fast as was possible to me. So complete 

 and so sudden had been the downfall of the elk to the 

 first shot that I had fancied that he would not travel 

 very far, so instead of hurrying along in his tracks I 

 took things quietly and went at my leisure. But ill- 

 luck was with us, for by some misfortune the hound 

 slipped his leash, and with an echoing bark at every 

 spring he bounded away in pursuit. After this there 

 was no time to be lost, though soon the barking ceased ; 

 but we hastened forward, and, coming over a second rise, 

 heard Bismarck again, but from the sound he appeared 

 to be stationary and was probably baying the elk. By 

 this time it was raining so hard as to make tracking 

 very difficult, and shortly when the barking began 

 again to fade away into the distance, I realised that 

 my chances of seeing the elk again that day were 

 slender ; and, indeed, I did not see him either then or 

 after, though Peder and I searched the woods for him 

 during the following days. As to the bull, in thinking 

 it over it seems likely that the first bullet touched his 

 backbone and creased him, and at the moment of 

 writing he is probably wandering in the forest, none the 

 worse as far as I am concerned. 



After this, for many days to be exact, twelve days 

 and their twin nights we had nothing more encourag- 

 ing to vary our thoughts than regrets for the lost bull, 

 though on one occasion while walking down a forest 

 glade we saw the long, Roman-nosed face of a cow-elk 

 regarding us steadfastly from a little distance. Of 

 course there was no shooting, and the woods soon 

 swallowed her up. Several times in the course of those 



