udes seem, for hours together, as
if they were empty of all life. It is as if a wave of distrust had
passed simultaneously over all the creatures of the wild. At other
times the lightest occasion suffices to call life out of the
stillness. Crimmins had not sounded more than twice his deceptive
call, when the bushes behind the strip of beech crackled sharply. But
it was not the great bull that stepped forth into the moonlight. It
was a cow moose. She came out with no effort at concealment, and
walked up and down the beach, angrily looking for her imagined rival.

When the uneasy animal's back was towards him, Crimmins called again,
a short, soft call. The cow jumped around as if she had been struck,
and the stiff hair along her neck stood up with jealous rage. But
there was no rival anywhere in sight, and she stood completely
mystified, shaking her ungainly head, peering into the dark
undergrowth, and snorting tempestuously as if challenging the
invisible rival to appear. Then suddenly her angry ridge of hair sank
down, she seemed to shrink together upon herself, and with a
convulsive bound she sprang away from the dark undergrowth, landing
with a splash in the shallow water along shore. At the same instant
the black branches were burst apart, and a huge bear, forepaws
upraised and jaws wide open, launched himself forth into the open.

Disappointed at missing his first spring, the bear rushed furiously
upon his intended victim, but the cow, for all her apparent
awkwardness, was as agile as a deer. Barely eluding his rush, she went
shambling up the shore at a terrific pace, plunged into the woods, and
vanished. The bear checked himself at the water's edge, and turned,
holding his nose high in the air, as if disdaining to acknowledge that
he had been foiled.

Crimmins hesitatingly raised his rifle. Should he bag this bear, or
should he wait and sound his call again a little later, in the hope of
yet summoning the great bull? As he hesitated, and the burly black
shape in the moonlight also stood hesitating, the thickets rustled and
parted almost beneath him, and the mysterious bull strode forth with
his head held high.

He had come in answer to what he thought was the summons of his mate;
but when he saw the bear, his rage broke all bounds. He doubtless
concluded that the bear had driven his mate away. With a bawling roar
he thundered down upon the intruder.

The bear, as we have seen, was in no mood to give way. His