STILL-HUNTING 



119 



til he was only thirty feet away, where he stopped 

 and looked over us. The Indians were jabber- 

 ing excitedly on their perches, just in front of 

 him the dead bull lay, Stone and I were standing 

 in plain view, and yet many seconds passed before 

 he turned and left us." 



Later, on seeking the second moose, whose life 

 was supposed to have ended several hours before, 

 they found that he had disappeared. "There 

 in the grass was the depression made by his great 

 body, and numerous gashes in the earth showed 

 where his antlers had torn up the sod. For a mo- 

 ment we stood dumfounded, then the realization 

 came to us that our friendly visitor was our van- 

 'ished prize!" The hunters hurriedly took their 

 back track, and found and finished the wounded 

 bull in a grove of alders. The moral of this tale 

 is obvious: be sure your moose is dead. 



