84 ON THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS 
the men before he was seen, and turning, with a 
swish of his antlers under the branches, made for 
shelter. Bill was right after him, for by now he 
was big and swift, too. Bill’s mother turned, 
also, but before the second cow could get into 
cover there were three terrific noises behind them, 
and even as he looked back from a corner of his 
eye to see the cow fall headlong, Bill heard a 
strange whistle in the air around him and a ter- 
rifying ripping in the foliage. He put on even 
more speed, and soon the three of them were out 
of danger. But they were only three now. They 
waited for the other cow, but she did not come, 
and presently the bull led the way, with long 
strides, back toward the reservation. They had 
never been shot at there. It was all he could 
think of as a means of escape. 
They reached the reservation fence in a few 
hours, driven on by the sound of guns in the 
woods about them, and discovered the spot where 
they had jumped it a few months before. It had 
not been repaired. In fact, two more parts had 
now sagged over so far that they could step across 
with their long legs, back into the familiar spruce 
