230 RECENT HUNTING TRIPS. 



and had got a perfect alignment on the bull's 

 broad chest when it suddenly halted. "We 

 found by actual measurement the next morning 

 that it had onh* been twenty-five yards away 

 from us. It would have come much nearer, 

 Louis said, had it not seen Mr. Sheldon raise 

 his rifle. iVfter a moment of intense suspense 

 there was a loud cHck, and the moose swung 

 round and rushed off through the willow 

 scrub. 



The rifle had missed fire, and my friend's 

 last chance of securing a really fine moose 

 head — and I am quite sure it was a big one 

 — was lost. True, he was able to thi'ow the 

 unexploded cartridge from the breech of his 

 Mannlicher and fire tlu'ee shots at the startled 

 moose as it rushed through the willow scrub, 

 but these were the veriest snap shots, fired 

 more at the sound of breaking willows — for in 

 its flight the moose made noise enoiigh — than 

 anything else, and as far as we could discover 

 the next morning none of them had taken 

 effect. A more cruel mischance than this 

 missfire I have never known, nor have I ever 



