BUD MOOSE POSES. 



305 



trails in and out, and searched carefully. 

 It seemed impossible they should be so 

 dense as to expect to find me there after 

 the commotion they had made in coming. 

 Suddenly it occurred to me that they ex- 

 pected to find me gone, and were looking 

 for sign in the snow to determine at what 

 point I had left the yard. I dreaded to 

 move lest the breaking crust should warn 

 them of my whereabouts, which might pos- 

 sibly otherwise remain hidden from them. 

 I knew that should they happen on the 

 point where I had started into the snow, 

 there would be no mistaking so plain a 

 trail, and as they seemed to hunt carefully 

 I decided it was time to move. 



"I went as fast as possible, yet making 

 no more noise than necessary. That my 

 judgment was good in leaving when I did 

 was soon confirmed by a victorious shout, 

 'as one who had chanced on my trail sum- 

 moned the others to his side. I heard their 

 answering cries, and knew that all would 

 soon be hot on my track. Ceasing all at- 

 tempts to go quietly, I put my whole en- 

 ergy into speed. It was late, and if I could 

 escape them until dark, I might give them 

 the slip altogether. My course still was 

 downward, although the slope was less 

 steep, but at every jump I went in clear to 

 my belly, and the loose snow under foot 

 was but a poor foundation from which to 

 make the succeeding spring. My progress 

 had been so noisy that I had heard nothing 

 of my pursuers, and after getting well 

 down into the valley I paused to rest. My 

 muscles were not so hard as they had been 

 earlier in the season and I was trembling 

 with fatigue. I had been at rest but a few 

 minutes when I heard the men approaching 

 and learned with consternation that those 

 from whom I had often easily run away 

 were now fleeter than I. Near at hand was 

 a dense cedar thicket; into that I went; 

 turned at bay, and awaited what the future 

 held in store for me. 



"The men soon came up, and I learned 

 that there were 3. Each wore a bag pack 

 on his back ; one carried an axe ; while 

 another had one of those death-dealing 

 metal tubes in his hand. They could see 

 me, but as the man with the tube made 

 no attempt to point it at me, I concluded, 

 and rightly, too, as it proved, that my life 

 was not the object of their search. They 

 tried in a number of ways to make me 

 leave the shelter of the cedars and go into 

 more open woods. If there had been some 

 decent footing, I should have gone out, 

 and in a way the man with the tube 

 wouldn't have appreciated unless he had 

 got his work in quickly. I recognized him 

 as Andrew Douglass, whom I had seen 

 when I was a captive. He was the Nestor 

 of the woodsmen in that section and the 

 supreme authority on game. He suggested, 



to one whom he called Joe, to go in near 

 me, and pointed out a tree which could be 

 felled to hit me and force me to move. Joe 

 replied that he didn't want any bull moose 

 dancing on his snow shoes, and refused. 

 Andrew sneered with disgust and said that 

 were he 10 years younger he would do it 

 without fear. They didn't attemnt the tree 

 method, but threw snowballs and pieces of 

 limbs at me. I was in a rage, but refused to 

 be drawn into a charge. They continued to 

 harass me until sunset, when they departed, 

 going hurriedly down the valley, much to 

 my relief. 



"That night a misty drizzle set in and I 

 started carefully back toward the moun- 

 tain. I went slowly, not having recovered 

 from the day's unwonted worry, and had 

 accomplished only a small part of the dis- 

 tance when day broke. My first daylight 

 meal was not complete when my tormen- 

 tors were heard again coming on my trail. 

 I realized that with the crust still weaker 

 than on the previous day it would be im- 

 possible to r-cape them and no thicket be- 

 ing at hand in which to hide I resolved to 

 allow them to do their worst. Only the 

 man called Joe came near, although I pre- 

 tended to be undisturbed and continued 

 browsing. He had one of those leather 

 covered black boxes such as was once be- 

 fore aimed at me, only his was on 3 legs 

 and stood by itself. I knew this process 

 was harmless and continued eating. Joe 

 covered his head with his coat, stuck his 

 face into the back of the box a minute, put 

 something thin in that part of the contri- 

 vance, and then clicked it at me. 



"Having done this he called the others 

 and when they had come up he directed 

 Andrew to get in front of me and be in- 

 cluded in the performance. This Andrew 

 did, but when he raised that tube until I 

 was looking right into the black hole in 

 the center, my -mane raised and I was seri- 

 ously tempted to jump for him. Joe put 

 his head in the box and directed An- 

 drew to get up closer to me. This he ac- 

 complished slowly and without lowering his 

 weapon. 



" 'Don't you come for me, you old cuss,' 

 he said, 'or I'll put a pill in you that will 

 not digest well. How's this, Joe, am I 

 nigh enough ?' 



" 'No,' Joe replied. 'Get up nearer, An- 

 drew ; hei's tame, and if he does come you 

 can dodge.' 



" 'Consarn him ! I don't like being too 

 sociable with him. He might get on my 

 corns.' 



"They finished their business with the 

 box, but seemed anxious lest the light rain 

 which was falling should interfere with the 

 success of their venture. Before going, 

 Andrew pleaded to be allowed just to nick 

 one of my ears with a bullet so he would 



