is
antlers, as was his manner when encountering foes of his own kind, or
with his knife-edged fore-hoofs, which were the weapons he used against
bears, wolves, or other alien adversaries. Finally he seemed to make up
his mind that Last Bull, having horns and a most redoubtable stature,
must be some kind of moose. In that case, of course, it became a
question of antlers. Moreover, in his meetings with rival bulls it had
never been his wont to depend upon a blind, irresistible
charge,--thereby leaving it open to an alert opponent to slip aside and
rip him along the flank,--but rather to fence warily for an advantage in
the locking of antlers, and then bear down his foe by the fury and speed
of his pushing. It so happened, therefore, that he, too, came not too
violently against the barrier. Loudly his vast spread of antlers clashed
upon the steel meshes; and one short prong, jutting low over his brow,
pierced through and furrowed deeply the matted forehead of the buffalo.

As the blood streamed down over his nostrils, obscuring one eye, Last
Bull quite lost his head with rage. Drawing off, he hurled himself
blindly upon the barrier--only to be hurled back again with a vigor that
brought him to his knees. But at the same time the moose, on the other
side of the fence, got a huge surprise. Having his antlers against the
barrier when Last Bull charged, he was forced back irresistibly upon his
haunches with a rudeness quite unlike anything that he had ever before
experienced. His massive neck felt as if a pine tree had fallen upon it,
and he came back to the charge quite beside himself with bewilderment
and rage.

By this time, however, the keepers and Park attendants were arriving on
the scene, armed with pitchforks and other unpleasant executors of
authority. Snorting, and bellowing, and grunting, the monstrous
duellists were forced apart; and Last Bull, who had been taught
something of man's dominance, was driven off to his stable and
imprisoned. He was not let out again for two whole days. And by that
time another fence, parallel with the first and some five or six feet
distant from it, had been run up between his range and that of the
moose. Over this impassable zone of neutrality, for a few days, the two
rivals flung insult and futile defiance, till suddenly, becoming tired
of it all, they seemed to agree to ignore each other's existence.

After this, Last Bull's sullenness of temper appeared to grow upon him.
He was