Page:Hunting and trapping stories; a book for boys (IA huntingtrappings00pric).pdf/77

 was called and a hasty council of war held. It was decided that two Indians would take one trail, and the man and boy the other trail. It was not long before they came in sight of a fine bull moose. The creature scented them and trotted away at a great speed, but the nimble Indians followed the trail like a pair of wolves. Suddenly they came to a clearing in the forest and saw that their victim was in trouble. The moose had taken to the open and gotten into deep snow. With a yell the Indians bore down upon the animal which was floundering in deeper and deeper. A few struggles, however, brought it where the snow was not so heavily packed and it looked as though the old bull would escape, but the Indians could make faster time over the snow than the moose. They managed to close up the distance until the leading Indian was not more than thirty yards away. He stopped short, raised his rifle, took a careful aim and fired. The bullet went true and the moose tumbled on its side badly hurt. The second Indian came up and put in another bullet. The moose was now furious and struggled to turn on its enemies, but its strength was gone. A third shot killed it.

While all this was going on the man and the boy were running down the dead moose's mate, and finding it hard a task. They cornered their game among the trees. The moose faced them, showing fight. The man fired first and missed his shot, the moose charging at once, but the trees prevented it from reaching its enemies. The boy knew that if the brute was not quickly dispatched it would kill one of them. As the moose turned the boy steadied himself against a tree and took careful aim. He kept his head and did not fire until the moose was within fifteen yards of him, then he let go and immediately slipped behind a tree for protection. The shot was fatal, the moose reared up and then fell dead. The boy shouted in excitement and thereby guided the Indians to the spot. They had been wondering how their guests had fared, and were surprised to find the moose dead. They thought that the best that the man and boy could do would be to tract the beast down until they could come and help kill it. There was rejoicing in camp that night, for two moose killed within an hour is good hunting.

The Indians took their guests through another part of the forest two days later, but they did not come across any more moose.

The boy has the head of his first moose finely mounted and hung in his room at home.