bad medicine," I stitched the edge with a spruce root or wattap, and
soldered it neatly with pine gum flowed and smoothed with a blazing
brand. And then I added the finishing touch, a touch which made the
Indian and the halfbreed shake their heads ominously; I drew two "hoodoo
Moose"--that is, men with Moose heads dancing around the horn.

[Illustration: XVII. Elk on the Yellowstone: (a) In Billings Park;
(b) Wild Cow Elk

_Photos by E. T. Seton_]

THE SIREN CALL

"You put that on before you catch one Moose, Moose never come," they
said.

Still I put them on, and near sundown set off in a canoe, with one guide
as paddler, and my partner in charge of the only gun. In half an hour we
reached a lonely lake surrounded by swamps, and woods of mixed timber.
The sunset red was purpling all the horizon belt of pines, and the peace
of the still hour was on lake and swamp. With some little sense of
profanity I raised the hoodoo horn to my mouth, gave one or two
high-pitched, impatient grunts, then poured forth the softly rising,
long-drawn love-call of a cow Moose, all alone, and "Oh, so lonesome."

The guide nodded in approval, "That's all right," then I took out my
watch and waited for fifteen minutes. For, strange to tell, it seems to
repel the bull Moose and alarm him if the cow seems over-eager. There is
a certain etiquette to be observed; it is easy to spoil all by trying to
go too fast. And it does not do to guess at the time; when one is
waiting so hard, the minute is like twenty.

So when fifteen minutes really had gone, I raised the magic horn again,
emitted a few hankering whines, then broke into a louder, farther
reaching call that thrilled up echoes from across the lake and seemed to
fill the woods for miles around with its mellifluous pleading.

Again I waited and gave a third call just as the sun was gone. Then we
strained our eyes and watched at every line of woods, and still were
watching when the sound of a falling tree was heard far off on a
hillside.

Then there was a sort of after-clap as though the tree had lodged the
first time, and hanging half a minute, had completed its fall with
breaking of many branches, and a muffled crash. We gazed hard that way,
and the guide, a very young one, whispered, "Bear!"

There was silence, then a stick broke nearer, and a deep, slow snort was
heard; it might have been the "woof" of a Bear, but I was in doubt. Then
without any more noises, a white array of shi