MY FIRST ELK. 77 



yards from where we were lying an enormous black bear 

 was busy rooting up among the bushes and feeding on 

 berries, getting into condition for his winter^s sleep. 

 However_, I let Master Bruin go this time, as my atten- 

 tion was fully taken up by the elk. The lord of the herd 

 was calmly stalking about, occasionally taking a look 

 round to see if any danger threatened his harem. The 

 question was how to get the wind of them, as elk are 

 the wariest of the wary ; besides it would soon be dark, 

 and we were at least two miles in a direct line from the 

 camp. After a council of war, I determined to go 

 round about a mile, close by a sort of defile, and post 

 myself for a shot, and send the boy to drive them 

 towards me. I dismissed that worthy with a parting 

 injunction that I would hash him up for supper if 

 he messed the affair at all, and got to my post all 

 right. 



After waiting for an interminable time, as it appeared 

 to me, the leader suddenly threw up his head and looked 

 in the direction I knew the boy ought to be in, and in a 

 second or two the whole band were heads up, sterns 

 down, full tilt down the valley, straight as a line for my 

 stand. On they came like a Balaklava charge in minia- 

 ture, and, resting my carbine on a fork of a bush, I 

 potted the leader dead in his tracks at forty yards. On 

 they came still, and as they passed at twenty -five yards 

 distance I disabled another, and a moment after came a 

 crashing of boughs and underbush as they disappeared 

 through the woods. The whole thing was over in 

 about ten minutes or less. My first shot had raked 

 the stag fore and aft, the bullet entering the poin+ 

 of the shoulder, and coming out just forward of his 

 hip joint. A second shot through the head settled 



