BUD MOOSE BOGGED. 37 
after lily pads and roots, and had started 
for Long Pond bog, to gain which he had 
to cross Spencer stream. He had just 
reached the river at a point where the edge 
of the bank, owing to a long drouth and 
the resulting lowness of the stream was 
shoulder high above the water, and was 
about to plunge in when a slight noise like 
a piece of wood rapping or scraping against 
another was heard directly in front of him. 
The darkness was so intense that he could 
distinguish nothing, but, true to his usual 
habits, he refrained from moving until sure 
his ears had not deceived him. He was 
standing on the alert when suddenly a daz- 
zling light appeared and was flashed directly 
into his eyes. 
For one instant he stood petrified with 
amazement; then calling to life his mome:t- 
tarily paralyzed muscles, but with no 
thought of fleeing from the uncanny light, 
he made a mighty bound directly toward 
the gleaming eye. As he jumped he 
noticed that the light suddenly swerved o 
one side, and he heard a loud exclamation 
from the darkness just beyond it. He rec- 
ognized the voice as that of a man and 
instantly concluded that the flashing light 
was one of the many peculiar appliances 
in man’s endless warfare against the other 
animals. Father struck the water with a 
loud splash and went in all over with one 
foot through the bottom of the frail craft in 
which the, men, of whom there proved to 
have been more than one, had been stealth- 
ily paddling down the stream. With a few 
energetic plunges and kicks he freed him- 
self from the encumbrance on his leg, and 
lost no time in gaining the other shore. 
There he paused an instant and listened 
to the unlucky men who were struggling 
and shouting to one another in the water, 
and who were still talking excitedly about 
their catastrophe when he passed out of 
hearing. He could remember of striking 
none of them when he made his mad leap 
and thinks they escaped with nothing 
worse than a bad scare. 
It has been told to me in later years that 
some animals suddenly situated facing a 
strong light as Father was, will stand as 
if turned to stone and allow those in the 
boat or canoe to approach within a few 
yards, but it is safe to say that particular 
party never again tried to charm a bull 
moose with nothing more powerful than a 
bright light. It took courage to make that 
leap toward the unknown glare, but I am 
confident that under similar circumstances 
I should do as my father did, provided, of 
course, my nerve should prove equal to the 
occasion. 
After joining my father we staid together 
some time and the season passed for me 
most delightfully. Of course nearly every- 
thing was new and strange, and it is diffi- 
cult to conceive the pleasure I derived daily 
from the many wonderful discoveries I 
made and the pride I took in each new 
achievement. Father, notwithstanding his 
great strength and power, was most consid- 
erate toward Mother and me; and with the 
sense of safety we experienced when he was 
near we were a most happy family. How 
well this confidence in his ability was placed 
an incident well illustrates. 
The principal inlet to Horseshoe pond is 
a stream of considerable size, and for some 
distance back from the pond proper the 
water is still and contains some excellent 
summer feeding places. Mother was at a 
bunch of lilies in the stream and close to 
the main shore, while I was in the water 
at the same side, but nearer the pond. 
Father had crossed over and was on the 
strip of land which made down between 
the pond and the inlet, still nearer the pond 
than I was. Not being particularly hun- 
gry I was simply passing the time in the 
cooling water with an occasional nibble at 
some tempting morsel when I noticed what 
I took to be a log floating slowly toward 
me. In a few minutes I was attracted 
again by it and was surprised that with 
no appreciable breeze stirring and with no 
current to aid it, the log had lessened the 
distance between us by half. Mother ap- 
peared to have seen nothing to cause ap- 
prehension, and, not wishing to give a false 
alarm, I persuaded myself that I had prob- 
ably been mistaken in regard to the log’s 
approach and turned my back on it to get 
it from my mind. Suddenly a sharp, low 
“hist” reached my ear, and I whirled to 
find my log right at hand. It was hollowed 
out and in it were 3 humps which seemed 
alive, although perfectly motionless. What 
they were or what their object was in thus 
approaching me I then had no idea, and as 
Mother continued her feeding I was at a 
loss what to do. How relieved I was 
when I saw my father stalk majestically 
from the bushes on the bank between the 
log and the pond. Here was a protector 
before whom not many could stand. 
Slowly and noiselessly’ the log retreat- 
ed until. past my _ father, when it 
quickly turned, the beings in it developed 
more active motions and it glided rapidly 
out into the pond with Father’s huge hulk 
advancing slowly, but menacinely, along 
the shore after it. We went back hurried- 
ly into the thicket, and there I was told 
that the beings were men and what I mis- 
took for a log was a contrivance in which 
they travel on the water. We concluded 
that they had been fishing and having seen 
me had approached until Father’s arrival, 
and his pugnacious attitude had frightened 
them away. What their object was we 
were left to conjecture. During the few 
