free from the native, made for the moose,
and savagely attacked his haunches. Seeing that the bull was trying to
regain his feet, I gave him another shot, and running up drove off the
dog.

Now, for the first time, I had a good chance to see my trophy. I knew
that it was a good head, but hardly expected such large and massive
antlers. They were malformed and turned in, or the spread would have
been considerably larger, but even then they went over sixty inches,
with forty-four well defined points. I am quite sure that this was the
same bull that we had seen so often among the alders, and which I had
twice before unsuccessfully stalked.

Our march was delayed until we skinned out the head, cleaned the scalp,
and hung the meat in some near-by trees for future use. It was therefore
late that afternoon when we reached our new camp. We now settled
ourselves comfortably, for we meant to stay in these quarters for the
remainder of the hunt.

The next week my friend Blake joined me, and we scoured the country
around this camp most diligently, but with no further success. Daily we
came upon cows and small bulls, but it seemed as if all the large males
had left the neighborhood. Stamp holes and unmistakable signs of the
rutting season were found everywhere, but with the most careful hunting
I was unable to get another shot.

There were a few bull moose in the dense woods, but not a sufficient
number to warrant the hope of my getting another head such as I had
already shot. At this time of the year moose are such restless animals,
and are so constantly on the move that it is not difficult to
distinguish their presence.

I had now hunted this entire range most thoroughly, and was reluctantly
forced to the conclusion that there were not sufficient signs to warrant
my remaining another month. I talked the matter over with my friend, and
told him that if he cared to wait until the next monthly steamer we
could combine our forces and start into a new country which we knew was
good; but Blake did not want to delay his departure so long, and as he
now decided to return to the coast, I made up my mind to go out with
him, take the steamer to Seattle, and thence go to British Columbia,
where I would finish my long hunt by a trip after Rocky Mountain sheep.

Shortly after this we broke camp and started back to Cook Inlet, which
we reached October 2. A few days later the steamer arrived, and that
same night I was on my way from Alaska.