AN ELK SEASON. 161 



his head Peder at once said " Elg," and intimated by 

 signs that the dog had the scent straight from the 

 animal's body. A good Norwegian hunter can read 

 a great deal from the demeanour of his dog, and can 

 always approximately tell the distance, small or great, 

 from the quarry. I myself learned to do this to some 

 extent with Bismarck, for when close to an elk the 

 hair along his back stood straight up and his tail curled 

 more and more aggressively over his back. 



In the present instance every sign proclaimed the 

 nearness of the elk, and we passed into a pine- wood, 

 treading most carefully. Five minutes' walk through 

 this wood brought us to a little clearing, across which 

 we went quickly and into the shadows on the farther 

 side. We were now in a tongue of woodland that 

 extended out upon the hillside. My attention was 

 fixed upon the hound ; his hair continued stiffly erect, 

 and I made up my mind that the elk was on the other 

 side of a very thick clump just ahead, and, signing to 

 Peder to keep back, I cautiously advanced. 



I was soon aware of something brown on the far 

 side of the bush, and very gently put another foot 

 forward. Probably I have never been in greater danger 

 than at that moment, for I saw suddenly that this was 

 no elk towards which the hound had led me, but another 

 hunter, who was as intent on my progress as I on his 

 stillness. He, as a matter of fact, was in no danger, 

 for he was standing in the open ; moreover, I would 

 never shoot without looking at and getting a fairly 

 good idea of a bull's horns. But the Norwegian was 

 out for meat, and meat alone ; he would have preferred 

 a cow to a bull, and the native hunter is very apt to 

 fire at anything that moves in a bush. The man 



H.C. M 



