CHAPTER XXV.
ENCOUNTER WITH A MOOSE.
What was a rare thing for Basil to do, he rushed forward withoutreloading his gun. A few springs brought him into the open ground, andin presence of the game. To his astonishment, the bull was not dead, nordown neither, but only upon his knees--of course wounded. Basil saw the"crease" of the bullet along the neck of the animal as he drew near. Itwas only by a quick glance that he saw this, for as soon as the bull saw_him_ he rose to his full height--his eyes flashing like a tiger's--andsettling his antlers in a forward position, sprang upon the hunter!Basil leaped aside to avoid the encounter; and in the first rush wassuccessful, but the animal turned suddenly, and, coming up a secondtime, raised his fore-feet high in the air, and struck forward with hislong-pointed hoofs.
Basil attempted to defend himself with his rifle, but the piece wasstruck out of his hand in an instant. Once more avoiding the forwardrush of the infuriated beast, the young hunter looked around for someobject to save him. A tree fell under his eye, and he ran towards itwith all his speed. The moose followed close upon his heels, and he hadjust time to reach the tree and get around its trunk, when the animalbrushed past, tearing the bark with his sharp antlers. Basil now slippedround the trunk, and when the moose again turned himself the two were onopposite sides of the tree! The beast, however, rushed up, and struckthe tree furiously first with his brow antlers, and then with his hoofs,uttering loud snorts, and at intervals a shrill whistling sound that wasterrible to hear.
The disappointment which the enraged animal felt, at seeing his enemythus escape him, seemed to have added to his rage; and he now vented hisspite upon the tree, until the trunk, to the height of six feet, wascompletely stripped of its bark. While this was going on, Basil remainedbehind the tree, "dodging" round as the moose manoeuvred, and taking carealways to have the animal on the opposite side. To have got into a safersituation he would have climbed the tree; but it happened to be apoplar, without a branch for many feet from the ground, and of too greata girth to be "embraced." He could do nothing, therefore, but remainupon the ground, and keep the tree-trunk between himself and the bull.
For nearly an hour this lasted, the moose now remaining at rest for afew minutes, and then making fresh onsets that seemed to abate nothingin their fury. His rage appeared to be implacable, and his vengeance astenacious as that of a tiger or any other beast of prey. The wound whichthe hunter had given him was no doubt painful, and kept his resentmentfrom cooling. Unfortunately, it was not a mortal wound, as Basil hadevery opportunity of seeing. The bullet had hit the fore-shoulder; but,after tearing along the skin, had glanced off without injuring the bone.It had only enraged the bull, without crippling him in the least degree.
Basil began to dread the result. He was becoming faint with fatigue aswell as hunger. When would he be relieved? When would the fierce brutefeel inclined to leave him? These were questions which the hunter put tohimself repeatedly, without being able to divine an answer. He had heardof hunters being killed by wounded moose. He had heard that thesecreatures will remain for days watching a person whom they may have"treed." He could not stand it for days. He would drop down withfatigue, and then the bull would gore and trample him at pleasure. Wouldthey be able to trace him from the camp? They would not think of thatbefore nightfall. They would not think of him as "lost" before thattime; and then they could not follow his trail in the darkness, nor evenin the light--for the ground was hard as a rock, and he had made nofootmarks. Marengo might trace him. The dog had been left at the camp,as Basil preferred "still-hunting" without him. But in his presentsituation the hunter's apprehensions were stronger than his hopes. EvenMarengo might be baffled in lifting the scent.
The trail was an exceedingly devious one, for Basil had meandered roundthe sides of the hill in search of game. Deer or other animals mighthave since crossed it, which might mislead the hound. It would be coldat night, and much colder next morning. There were many chances that norelief might reach him from the camp. Impressed with this conviction,Basil began to feel serious alarm. Not despair, however--he was not theboy to despair. His mind only grew more alive to the necessity foraction. He looked around to discover some means of escape. His gun laynot a hundred yards off. Could he only get hold of the piece, and returnsafely to the tree again, he could there load it and put an end to thescene at once. But to reach the gun was impossible. The moose wouldbound after and overtake him to a certainty. The idea of getting the gunwas abandoned.
In the opposite direction to that in which the gun lay, Basil perceivedthat there were other trees. The nearest was but a dozen yards from him;and others, again, grew at about the same distance from that one, andfrom each other. Basil now conceived the idea of escaping to thenearest, and from that to the next, and by this means getting back intothe thick forest. Once there, he believed that he would be the betterable to effect his escape, and perhaps reach the camp by dodging fromtree to tree. He could beat the moose for a dozen yards--getting alittle the start of him--and this he hoped to be able to do. Should hefail in his short race, however--should his foot slip--the alternativewas fearful. _It was no other than death!_
He knew that, but it did not change his resolution to make the attempt.He only waited for the animal to work round between him and the treetowards which he intended to run. You will wonder that he did not preferto have the moose on the other side. But he did not, for thisreason--had the bull been there, he could have sprung after him at thefirst start; whereas, when heading the other way, Basil believed hecould brush close past, and gain an advantage, as the unwieldy brute,taken by surprise, would require some time in turning himself to givechase.
The opportunity at length arrived; and, nerving himself for the race,the hunter sprang past the moose, brushing the very tips of its antlers.He ran without either stopping or even looking back, until he hadreached the tree, and sheltered himself behind its trunk. The moose hadfollowed, and arrived but the moment after, snorting and whistlingfuriously. Enraged at the _ruse_, it attacked this tree, as it had theother, with hoof and horns; and Basil nimbly evaded both by keeping onthe opposite side, as before.
In a few minutes he prepared himself for a second rush, and once morestarted. A third tree was reached in safety--and then a fourth, and afifth, and many others, in a similar manner--the moose all the whilefollowing in hot pursuit. Basil had begun to hope that in this way hewould get off, when, to his chagrin, he saw that an open space stillintervened between him and the thick woods, upon which there were only afew trees, and those so small that not one of them would have shelteredhim. This tract was full two hundred yards in width, and extended allalong the edge of the thick forest. He dared not cross it. The moosewould overtake him before he could get half the way; and he was obligedto give up the idea of making the attempt.
As he stood behind the last tree he had reached, he saw that itbranched, and the lowest branches grew but a little above his head. Hecould easily climb it, and at once resolved to do so. He would there besafe for the time, and could at least rest himself, for he was now weakwith fatigue. He therefore stretched up his hands, and, laying hold of abranch, swung himself up into the tree. Then, climbing up a littlehigher, he sat down on one of the forks.
The moose appeared as furious as ever; and ran round the tree, nowstriking it with his horns, and then rearing upon his hind-legs, andpouncing against the trunk with his hoofs. At times his snout was soclose to Basil, that the latter could almost touch it; and he had evendrawn his hunting-knife, and reached down with the intent of giving thecreature a stab.
This last action led to a train of thought, and Basil seemed suddenly toadopt some new resolution. Leaving the fork where he had perchedhimself, he climbed higher up the tree; and, selecting one of thelongest and straightest branches, commenced cutting it off close to thetrunk. This was soon effected; and then, drawing it along his knee, hetrimmed off all the twigs and tops until the branch became a straightpole, like a spear-handle. Along one end of this he laid the handle ofhi
s knife; and with thongs, which he had already cut out of the strap ofhis bullet-pouch, he spliced the knife and pole together. This gave hima formidable weapon--for the knife was a "bowie," and had a long blade,with a point like a rapier. He was not slow in using it.
Descending again to the lowermost limbs, he commenced makingdemonstrations, in order to bring the moose within reach. This he verysoon succeeded in doing; and the animal ran forward and reared upagainst the tree. Before it could get upon its four legs again, Basilhad thrust it in the neck, giving full force to the blow. The bloodrushed forth in a thick stream, as the jugular vein had been cut by thekeen blade; and the huge brute was seen to totter in its steps, and thenfall with a dull heavy sound to the earth. In a few moments the hunterhad the satisfaction of perceiving that it was quite dead.
Basil now dropped out of the tree, and walking back to where his riflelay, took up the piece and carefully reloaded it. He then returned tothe moose, and opening the great jaws of the animal, gagged them with astick. He next unspliced his knife, took off the gristly lips, and cutout the tongue. These he placed in his game-bag, and shouldering hisrifle, was about to depart; when some new idea caused him to halt, putdown his gun, and again unsheath his knife. Once more approaching thecarcass, he made an incision near the kidneys; and having inserted hishand, drew forth what appeared to be a part of the intestines. It wasthe bladder. He then looked around as if in search of something.Presently his eye rested upon some tall reed-grass that was growingnear. This was just what he wanted, and, pulling up one of the stems, hecut and fashioned it into a pipe.
BASIL AND THE MOOSE BULL.]
With this the moose-bladder was blown out to its full dimensions, andtied at the neck by a piece of thong. The other end of the thong wasfastened to one of the branches of the tree above, so that the bladderdangled within a few feet of the carcass of the moose, dancing aboutwith the lightest breath of wind. All these precautions Basil had takento keep the wolves from devouring the moose--for it was his intention toreturn and butcher it, as soon as he could get help. When he had hungthe bladder to his liking, he put up his knife again; and, once moreshouldering his rifle, walked off.
On reaching the camp--which he did shortly after--the tongue of themoose was broiled without delay, and, after making a delicious meal ofit, the whole party went off for the remainder of the meat. They foundit all quite safe; although, had it not been for the bladder, not muchof it would have been there--as no less than a dozen great gaunt wolveswere seen lurking about, and these would have eaten it up in theshortest possible time. The bladder, however, had kept them off; for,strange to say, these creatures, who are as cunning as foxes, and canhardly be trapped, can yet be deceived and frightened by such a simplething as a bladder dangling from a branch.
The moose proved to be one of the largest of his kind. His height wasquite equal to that of a horse; and his horns, flattened out to thebreadth of shovels, weighed over sixty pounds. His carcass was not lessthan fifteen hundred pounds weight; and our voyageurs had to make twojourneys to convey the meat to their camp. On the last journey, Francoisbrought the porcupine as well--having found it on the very same treewhere Basil had left it!