112 SPORT INDEED 



statu quo. " Thomas," I said to myself, " is thee daft 

 or dreaming ? " The question was not an unreason- 

 able one and to satisfy myself whether I was either 

 or both, again I loaded up and again banged away. 

 Before I had time to note the result of the last shot, 

 the guide rushed in out of breath. 



" What are you shooting at ? " he asked. 



" A bull-moose ; there he stands ; don't you see his 

 head sticking out from behind that tree ? " 



"With a loud laugh he replied, " Yes, I see it ; I saw 

 it this morning ; and I would advise you to waste no 

 more of your cartridges on the turned-up root of an 

 old cedar stump." 



A cedar stump 1 Shades of the mighty Nimrod, 

 had it come to this ? Could it be possible that my 

 eyes could see no difference 'twixt a moose's head and 

 a cedar stump ? The guide's pill was a bitter one, yet 

 I swallowed it, and then asked him if he had found 

 the rug. He said no ; that he had looked under the 

 butt of every fallen tree, but couldn't find it. " Well," 

 I said, " I will go and get the rug, and in the mean- 

 time you keep your eye on that root and tell me if it 

 moves." I then left him mumbling something to him- 

 self about the probability of a cedar stump moving. 

 , On my return, I decided that he should go to the 

 lower end of the lake and " call," for if the pair of 

 moose did come in they would be likely to visit the 

 cove. After he left, I looked for the cedar root and it 



