A HUNTER'S CAMP-FIRES 



and the occasional crash of a faUing rotten stub, which the moose 

 knocked over as it forced its way down the mountain-side toward 

 the pond. When the bull, which was evidently a cautious old- 

 timer, was in the woods within a hundred yards of the open, it 

 stopped to listen for suspicious sounds before revealing itself. 



For a chilling, anxious hour the silence was broken only by an 

 occasional low, coaxing grunt from Joe's horn, the muzzle of 

 which he immersed in the water before each attempt in order to 

 partially deaden the commencement of the call. Just as the 

 twilight was thickening and a white mist had started to rise 

 from the surface of the freezing water, without making a sound 

 a cow moose suddenly loomed up through the fog about one 

 hundred and fifty yards across the pond. For fully five 

 minutes it gazed inquiringly in the direction of Joe's last call, 

 and then the head and antlers of the bull appeared indistinctly 

 over the alder-tops behind its mate. 



It was too dark for accurate shooting at this range, but the 

 calling season was too nearly finished to overlook the chance 

 of securing a gOod head. Three red splashes of fire from the 

 muzzle of the carbine lighted up the surrounding gloom, and 

 both moose faded away in the darkness. 



It was too late that night to attempt to circle the treacherous 

 border of the pond, but next morning at daylight both guides 

 and I reached its lower end. We had no sooner stepped out 

 into the open than Joe pointed across the water to where the 

 head, neck, and wide-spreading blades of a bull showed above 

 the alders three hundred yards distant. 



The bull had seen and was watching us, and, believing a bird 

 in the hand to be worth two in the bush, I lost no time in 

 awakening the echoes around the silent pond. iVt the fifth 

 report the bull toppled over and was lost sight of among the 

 alders. 



Both guides hurried back to camp for axes with which to 

 construct a catamaran to cross to the opposite side. Three- 



