Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1892-02-05


yourself what his horns looked like.
To add to his wicked appearance, he
had evidently been engaged in fight
with some hated rival, for there were
numerous wounds on his body and neck,
from some of which his blood was
still trickling in little streams, making
crimson spots in the snow, and his eyes
were fiery and bloodshot. 1t didn't
take me half an hour to see all this. i
just took it in at a glance, you know.
That took about half second Then
thought l would raise my gun and
shoot him through the heart. Just as
was getting ready to do this, howev-
er, the moose made q lunge at me, and
made lunge in another direction. l
decided to wait and shoot him after
awhile. / skipped airily behind tree.
The moose skipped airily after me and
reached for me with one hoof. The
hoof caught my coat and tore long
slit in it. ! skipped a little faster
fhis was growing interesting. went
lodging about from tree to tree. My
whole heart was in the work, and /
have always been considered an active
man, but ! was hampered by over
sh ues, overcoat and gun. The moose
carried no excess baggage, and besides
he was on his native heath. He was a
greater success at lodging than / was.
''In the midst of our maneuvers we
had como to the edge of the thick un-
dergrowth that bordered the river All
at once n brilliant thought occurred to
me. | would dash down into this thick
underground and the moose couldn't
follow on account of his great height
and enormous horns From this point
Of vantage | could then shoot him.
Selling the first opportunity darted
into the thick underground, running
half bent TO avoid the low hanging
limbs Hearing a rushing noise behind
me glanced over my shoulder, and,
boys, imagine my horror when / saw
that enormous beast, with body cropped
nearly to the ground, coming straight
after me under those very branches
that had to stoop to keep from bang
ing my head against ! knew | was
gone then. said: 'Good-by, Texasr
all to myself, but | just kept running
and dodgiug, anyhow. A fellow might
as well be doing the best he can, even
when he knows it's all up with him.
had my gun all the time. but that
moose had kept me hustling so fast |
hadn't got chance to shoot | never
saw anything so impetous and uncerc-
monious rs that caribou.
The underbrush had thinned out a
little and the moose had got where he
I
chance for running. ] had to begin
lodging again, and ! was so near worn
out that it was getting to be mighty
heavy work. Finally blow from one
of those wicked hoofs knocked the gun
out of my hand and came near knock
ing my hand with it. The sight of a
low, overhanging limb gave me one
more faint hope, and | caught and
swung myself up and sat there, too
weak and worn out to make another
motion il my life had depended on it.
am quite sure / saw a fiendish joy
kindling in the eyes of that moose when
he saw my predicament I think he
patted himself mentally and re-
marked to himself: Aha! Now I've
got himp At any rate, he backed off to
a reasonable distance, much as billy
goat does when it meditates an attack
on small hoy, and then came swift
as an arrow, rising into the air as he
came, preparing to strike me with
those terrible hoofs. had no power
to get out of his way, but he swerved
aside and did not strike me. Do you
know what made him do it? Oh, it
was little thing-the swapping and
barking of little dog at his heels-a
little, plebeian dog. with not even a
hint at pedigree. The moose turned
on him furiously, but the dog skipped
here and there, light as a feather and
always just out of reach, barking de-
fance at his big foe as bravely as
though they were both Of size. Di-