San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-07-22

erected the pologue intended for Nadege,
the interior Of which was promptly heated
by means of lamp. They broke the ice of
the kolima to obtain water; this ice was as
yet but two feet thick. A great bivouac fire,
fed with wood furnished by the neghboring
trees, spread warmth about it. The most
important thing now was to put something
comforting and substantial on this fire.
Yegor and Tekel took each a gun and.
preceded by Wab, plunged cautiously, with
watchful eyes, into the bushes and thickets
In search of feathered or furred game. The
Yakoute, with the instinct of the savage.
examined the leaves of the bushes to see il
they did not bear marks of the bites of
deer or elk. Sometimes he paused and
listened attentively, signing to Yegor to re-
main silent and motionless. Wab, like the
docile and intelligent dog it was, held itself
in readiness, its paws uplifted, interro.
eating with a look its master and the Yak.
QUITE.
Tekel suddenly dropped quickly and, hid.
ing behind the trunk of a tree, remained mo-
tonless squatting in the snow. He was evi.
IDENTIFY watching some animal. Yegor, his
finger on the trigger of his gun, stood ready
to act at the first signal.
After minute had elapsed, the Yakouts
arose and signed to his master to follow
him. y
They descended towards the river.
Deer tracksp said Yegor, in whisper,
pointing to imprints on the snow.
Tekel shook his head.
"These are elk tracks" answered he, in .
low tone. 1.-THE hoofs are slender, straight
deeply cleft and united at the top by mem.
brane which permits the foot to spread and
place itself, without sinking, on the fresh
snow or the moist soil"
Yegor knew that elk, like stays, always
go in herds Of from fifteen to twenty. He
ardently hoped that he and his companion
might succeed in killing, at least, one Of
the agile and courageous animals. The male
elk attains the size of an OK, and weighs as
much as twelve hundred pounds. Its huge,
elongated head, terminated by thick and
wide muzzle which gives it the face of an
ass, is crowned with antlers which widen
into triangular top in the form of shovel.
The elk is, after the reindeer, the animal
most useful to the tribes of the north. Its
flesh is smoked and preserved, its firm
and plant skin serves to make garments,
and its hard and brilliantly white bones
are employed to manufacture different in
struments.
Yegor and Tekel had reached a spot where
the very abrupt bank lowered perpendicu'
larly above the river. A hundred yards
from there, they saw through the scattered
aspens and cedars little glade invaded by
blackberry bushes, thyme, red heath and
heath with black berries called chikcha and
bordered with willows. Hidden behind
some eglantine bushes, the two hunters,
who had noticed that all the footprints con.
verged to this point, waited. Suddenly,
Wab gave start and was about to leap, but
Yegor's hand restrained the animal in time.
An elk, of huge proportions, came out
from under the willows, followed by its
family numbering seven-an old female
without horns, two ll-grown animals with
hair already thick, two young animals and
two fawns.
Yegorend Tekel heard the snow crack
beneath their hoofs. The male advanced
first; it stopped at the edge of the forest,
bent down birch tree with its antlers,
broke off the top and ate the branches.
Yegor and the Yakoute, who were not in
the direction of the wind, took advantage OF
this moment to aim their guns and fire sim
taneously.
A flash lighted up the darkness beneath
the branches, Wab bounded forward with
howl, and the female at which Tekel had
aimed fell, uttering a hollow groan. The
full grown animals fed followed by the
fawns. AS to the male which Yegor had
wounded in the shoulder, it ran short dis
lance and then suddenly stopped to attack
those who had attacked it.
But Wab leaped upon it.
Feeling the dogs teeth in its throat, the
elk leaped among the thickest trees, hoping
to make its adversary loosen its hold by
dashing it against the trunks.
The brave Wab would certainl" have been
crushed, if Yegor, starting suddenly for
ward, had not fired a second ball into the
head of the elk, which fell dead.
''The prize is ours !" cried Tekel, running
up, armed with his knife.
"And a magnificent prize it is, tool" said
Yegor, measuring the length of the animal
with his eye.
"We will carry away only the best por.
tions," said the Yakoute, preparing to cut of
the cartilaginous head, which, with the ears
and tongue, is the part preferred by the
people of the north.
This operation finished, Tekel skinned the
animal and cut off its hind legs.
Yegor did the same for the female; and
the two hunters returned ioyously to the en-
campment, where their acquisitions were
very highly appreciated.
M. Lafieur, who had never partaken of
an elk's head roasted on the Goals, prom
ised himself that he would one day regale
his friends with the dish, on his return to