Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-12
&LJA.MslEgs.
NOllVER
Gu URWOOD

| the strength that was In his starved body
| revealed itself in n sudden rigid tense
ness as he looked at his mate. Her fore
| feet we're planted firmly to the east; her
slim gray head was reaching out for the
scent; her body trembled.
| Then-su -suddenly-they heard a sound.
| and with a whining cry Kasan set out
| in It's direction. with Gray Wolf at his
! flank. The scent grew stronger and
stronger in Gray VOLTS nostrils. and soon
| II came to Kazan. Tt was not the scent
of n rabbit or partridge. 1t was big
game. They approached cautiously. keep
Ing full In the wind.
! The swamp grew thicker. the spruce
more dense, and now--for 100 yards ahead
Of them-came a crashing of locked and
battling horns. Ten seconds more they
climbed over n snowdrift, and Kazan
stopped and dropped fiat on his belly.
Gray Wolf crouched close at his side,
her blind eyes turned to what she could
smell but could not see.
Fifty yards from them a number Of
moose had gathered for shelter In the thick
spruce. They had eaten clear space an
acre In extent. The trees were cropped
bare as high as thy could reach, and the
snow was beaten hard under their feet.
There were six animals In the acre, two
of them bulls-and these bulls were fight
ing, while three cows and a yearling were
duel Just before the storm a young bull.
sleek. three-quarters grown, and with the
small, compact antlers of 4-year-old,
had led the three cows and the yearling
TO this sheltered spot among the spruce.
Until last night he had been master of
the herd. During the night the older bull
had invaded his dominion. The invader
was four times as old as the young bull.
He was half again as heavy. His huge
palmate horns. knotted and irregular-but
masslve-spoke of age. a warrior of n
hundred fights, he had not hesltated to
give battle In his effort to rob the younger
bull of his home and family. Three times
they had fought since dawn, and the
hard-trodden snow was red with blood
The smell of 1t came to Kazan's and
Gray VOLTS nostrils. Kazan shifted hun
grily. Queer sounds rolled UP and down
In Gray VOLTS throat, and she licked
her jaws
For a moment the two fighters drew a
few yards apart, and stood with lowered
heads. The old bull had not yet won VIC
tory The younger bull represented youth
and endurance; in the older bull those
things were pltted against craft, greater
weight. maturer strength-and n head
and horns that were like batterinE ram.
But In the great hulk of the older bull
there was one other thinE-age. His huge
sides were painting. His nostrils We're rs
wide as bells. Then, as IL some invisible
spirit or the arena had given the signal.
the animals came together again. The
crash of their horns could have been
heard half a mile away, and under 1900
pounds of flesh and bone the younger bull
went plunging back upon his launches
Then was when youth displayed itself
In an instant he was up, and locking
horns with his adversary. Twenty times
he had done this, and each attack had
seemed filled with increasing strength.
And now, as If realizing that the last
moments of the last fight had come he
twisted the old bulls neck and fought
as he had never fought before. Kazan
and Gray Wolf both heard the sharp
crack that followed-as II q dry stick
had been stepped upon and broken. 1t
was February, and the hoofed animals
were already beginning to shed their
horns-especially the older bulls, whose
palmate growths drop first. This fact
gave victory to the younger bull i'm the
blood-stained arena n few yards from
Gray Wolf and Kazan. From it's socket
in the old bulls skull one of his huge
antlers broke with that sharp swapping
sound, and In another moment four inches
of stiletto-like horn buried itself back of
his foreleg. In an instant all hope and
courage left him, and he swung backward
yard by yard, with the younger bull
proddng his neck and shoulders until
blood dripped from him in little streams.
At the edge of the clearing he flung him |
self free and crashed off into the forest.
The younger bull did not pursue, He |
tossed his head and stood for n few mo- |
ments, with heaving sides and dilated |
nostrils. facing in the direction his van
qulshed foe had taken. Then he turned |