THE MOOSE 19 



of a cow moose. A fiercer trumpet-call from 

 the mountain-side answered ; then the sound was 

 lost in the crash, the crash of the first two bulls, 

 as they broke out upon the shore on opposite 

 sides of the canoe. 



" We gave little heed now to the nearer play ; 

 our whole attention was fixed on a hoarse, grunting 

 roar uh, uh, uh ! erryuh ! r-r-r-runk-unk ! 

 with a rattling, snapping crash of underbrush 

 for an accompaniment. The young bull heard 

 it, listened for a moment, like a great black 

 statue under the moonlight, then he glided away 

 into the shadows under the bank. 



" The larger bull heard it and came swinging 

 along the shore, hurling a savage challenge back 

 on the echoing woods at every stride. 



" There was an ominous silence up on the ridge 

 where a moment before all was fierce commotion. 

 Simms was silent too ; the uproar had been 

 appalling (vide c with head erect to bellow forth 

 those terrible sounds '), with the sleeping lake 

 below us, and the vast forest, where silence 

 dwells at home, stretching up and away on 

 every hand to the sky line. But the spirit 

 of mischief was tingling all over me as I 

 seized the horn and gave the low, appealing 



