DEATH OF BUD MOOSE 



197 



them; from the other side it would be pos- 

 sible to determine which track was being 

 followed, and, if it were not mine, I could 

 take my time to leave the vicinity. 



The growth in the swamp was thick, and 

 my wide antlers kept striking trees and 

 limbs as I plunged along. When I reached 

 higher ground, I paused to listen for some 

 clew to the progress and direction of the 

 chase. I was surprised to hear no baying 

 of dogs, for, even had I been so fortunate 

 as not to be the object of their cries, yet 

 from my position I should have heard 

 them, had they been following any of 

 my former companions. No sound came 

 to me, however; nor have I since heard or 

 seen anything which would point to there 

 being dogs with my pursuers. I was posi- 

 tive, though, that when I first started I 

 plainly heard the baying of dogs; and the 

 fear that they might be coming on my 

 trail, stealthily and silently close behind, 

 has not been the least of my worries dur- 

 ing the past days. 



I kept on toward the top of the ridge, 

 pausing at times to listen for some sign of 

 being followed. This came to me all too 

 soon. A limb snapped sharply as it was 

 brushed aside in the swamp, and I realized 

 that it was I who was pursued and that 

 my only safety lay in immediate flight. 

 Still up the slope I went, at full sneed, 

 over the summit, and took a direct course 

 for Tumbledown mountain. A small pond 

 intervened at one point, and this I attempt- 

 ed to cross on the ice. Its covering of 

 snow deceived me, and I was but a short 

 distance from shore when the ice broke 

 beneath me and I was plunged into the 

 chilling water. The ice would almost hold 

 me to climb out on, then suddenly would 

 give way and again I would be soused ; 

 but, with never a thought of turning back, 

 I fought my way desperately across and 

 gained the opposite shore after a hard 

 struggle. 



I continued at my highest speed, up hill 

 and down, fording and swimming streams, 

 crashing through entangling blowdowns, 

 and forcing a passage in obstinate thickets, 

 until darkness caused me to go more slow- 

 ly. I was tired, and many times I lay 

 down to rest, only to jump to my feet, 

 startled and trembling at some sound which 

 reached me out of the night. 



The next day I was beginning to get 

 over my fright and to congratulate myself 

 on out-distancing those behind me, when 

 I was warned that they were still on my 

 trail and not far away. I soon reached the 

 first moose yard on Tumbledown mountain, 

 and my warnings sent its inmates fleeing in 

 all directions. I followed one of the fresh 

 trails a way and diverged from it slowly, 

 hoping that my pursuers might mistake 

 my track and follow that of the other ani- 



mal. He would be fresh and in better 

 condition to escape them than I. This I 

 did in every yard on the mountain, and 

 have repeated in other resorts of my kind, 

 but all to no avail. 



To-night, after 4 days of effort to escape 

 by every plan which has suggested itself to 

 me, I can plainly see the glow of the fire 

 around which my enemies are camped, near 

 a little brook I crossed when the sun was 

 less than an hour from setting. Many 

 times to-day I have caught sight of the 

 men who are so relentlessly following my 

 trail. There are 2, and they are coming 

 eagerly forward as if the journey of the 

 past 4 days was but a pleasant jaunt. How 

 weary the miles have been to me to-day ! 

 It has been only with a supreme effort that 

 I have been able to travel faster than at a 

 walk, and then only at long intervals and 

 for short spurts. Were it not that per- 

 haps they will attempt to steal on me in 

 the darkness, I could obtain some much 

 needed rest; but I must keep constantly 

 on the alert. The days have been long and 

 weary, but how much more tiring have 

 been the almost endless nights of watching ! 



It is growing light in the East and soon 

 my foes will be on me. Yes, I can hear 

 them now, and must resume the weary 

 march. I hoped to delude them into chang- 

 ing from my trail to that of another, and 

 for this purpose have sought out yard after 

 yard where my kind were congregated. 

 Failing on Tumbledown mountain, I vis- 

 ited the Moose River range and went 

 through many feeding places ; but my fol- 

 lowers have come steadily on and my sub- 

 terfuge has availed nothing. The exer- 

 tions which I have put forth have caused 

 some of the heavy winter hair to drop 

 from my coat, little by little, and, possibly, 

 it has been this obscure sign on the snow 

 which has aided them in keeping to the 

 right track. Again, my foot has an unusu- 

 ally wide spread, and there may be some 

 peculiarity in its construction which their 

 keen eyes have detected. The dogs which 

 have caused me so much worriment, have 

 not put in an appearance, and I am in- 

 clined to the belief that their presence was 

 an hallucination caused by the excitement 

 of the start. Or was it that the men imi- 

 tated dogs' cries to bother me, just as they 

 have? 



My pursuers are gaining on me, in spite 

 of my best efforts, and I doubt being able 

 to surmount this ridge before they reach 

 that last one. I made a costly mistake in 

 seeking the burned lands where only the 

 contours of the country offer any cover. I 

 wished to take advantage of the easier 

 traveling which they afford, but I realize 

 my error, and to correct it will follow 

 down the next valley until I reach a growth 

 which gives more protection. 



