under the first condition, the hunter is a
fool if he approaches within ten paces of a bayed moose."

"THE OWL" MAKES A KILL

Rising early next morning we made a very small fire to cook our
breakfast and were ready to start as soon as dawn came to light us on
our way. Oo-koo-hoo took great care in loading his gun as he expected
to come upon moose at any time. He placed a patch of cotton about the
ball before ramming it in, and made sure that the powder showed in the
nipple before putting on the percussion cap. And as he took his
fire-steel and whetted a keener edge upon his knife, a smile of
hunter's contentment overspread his face, because he well knew how soon
he was to use the blade. That morning he did not light his pipe as
usual because, as he explained, he wanted to have his wits about him;
furthermore, he did not wish to add to the strength of his man-smell;
and whispering to me he added with a smile:

"My son, when I smell some men, especially some white men, I never
blame the animals of the Strong Woods for taking fright and running
away."

And that reminds me that while we white people consider the negro the
standard-bearer of the most offensive of all human body smells, the
Indian always unhesitatingly awards the palm to the white man, and
sometimes even the Indian children and babies, when they get an
unadulterated whiff from a white man, will take such fright that it is
hard for their mothers to console them--a fact that has often made me
wonder what the poor little tots would do if they scented one of those
highly painted and perfumed "ladies" that parade up and down
Piccadilly, Fifth Avenue, or Yonge Street?

After following the trail for about fifteen minutes, we came to where
the moose had been lying down, and the hunter whispered:

"My son, I am glad I did not smoke, but I am sorry that we camped so
near." Then he added as he pointed to the impression of a moose's body
in the snow: "A moose seldom lies twice in the same place in the snow,
as the old bed would be frozen and hard as well as dirty."

But as we had not made much noise, nor cut any big wood to make a fire,
he was hopeful that our chances were still good; and at sunrise he
concluded that it was time we should leave our sled behind and begin to
track our quarry more cautiously. From then on there was to be no
talking--not even in a whisper. Soon we came upon yesterday's tracks,
then farther on we saw where the moose had circ