18 BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



heavenward, yet he passed slowly along, regardless of 

 scents or noises. The mowers were running with their 

 clatter, and some of them were near enough to observe his 

 movements plainly. 



At first, the ungainly beast was believed to be some 

 prospector's i30or mule seeking water, and then returning, 

 alone, to a probable owner, who was believed to be digging 

 in the gulches above. Day after day the black object came 

 down the mountain with stately tread, and with clock-like 

 regularity. After a week, one of the boys chanced to be 

 in camp while his comx)anions toiled in the hay, and was 

 aroused from his imagined illness by the approach of the 

 Moose to the very camp. There were guns enough in the 

 tent to resist a formidable Indian attack, if proj^erly 

 handled, but the surprised hay- pitcher rushed out with a 

 pitchfork to battle with the Moose. The broad-antlered 

 monarch, however, had no desire to cultivate the acquaint- 

 ance of the sick man, and, with the great speed of his 

 swinging trot, passed on, never swerving from the well- 

 worn trail that he had traveled, perhaps, for years. 



On returning to camp, I was slow to believe the invalid's 

 story; but he insisted, and reiterated, and I was at last con- 

 vinced. The need of meat and the love of sport combined 

 were sufficient to send me even in pursuit of a forlorn hope; 

 so, exchanging the pitchfork for the rifle, I started toward 

 the supposed feeding-ground of the great deer. 



It was in September, 1883. The season was dry, and in 

 that country there were no swamps, even in the timber, on 

 or near the summit of the range, as is usual at the head of 

 water-courses; so I thought it not improbable that a Moose 

 might seek the lake for a feeding-ground. I approached it 

 cautiously, and began to skirt the bank, with eyes and ears 

 strained for the faintest evidences of game. After an hour 

 of hard work, wading and creejjing through willows, around 

 and about the arms and sloughs which crept out here and 

 there from the main body of the lake, I saw a dark object 

 above the flags, or cat- tails, about four hundred yards away. 

 I knew at once it was the game I was in search of; but it 



