324 



THE OLD-WORLD ELK 



with the system of hunting, and suspects an unseen 

 and unscented danger ahead. 



In this instance three drives were undertaken. 

 The amount of territory covered could not have 

 been great, for a late breakfast was served in the 

 woods after the second drive. The narrator 

 referred with some disparagement to the weapons 

 used by the other sportsmen. He had a position 

 on the flank, and three elk, a fox, and a heathcock 

 fell to his gun. The first elk was a spike-horn; 

 the second a cow, limping from old wounds in the 

 legs inflicted by a poacher's shotgun; the third, a 

 bull of undefined character. The latter suc- 

 cumbed to two ii-mm. rifle balls, which, for lack 

 of more rifle cartridges, were followed by a round 

 ball from a shot barrel at thirty paces, and that 

 by eight shot cartridges fired from a knee rest, 

 the elk standing, at fifteen paces' distance. One 

 of the helpers tried to assist with a muzzle-loader, 

 but the gun missed fire; another sent a charge or 

 two of shot at the sorely-harassed animal. The 

 elk, now unable to stand, still held his head up, 

 awaiting the coup-de-grdce. For lack of ammuni- 

 tion the narrator of the story finished him with a 

 thrust of a fourteen-inch knife blade behind the 

 shoulder. Two bullets had taken effect behind 

 the shoulder, and one in the intestines. The 



