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diff --git a/old/66676-0.txt b/old/66676-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index abe1078..0000000 --- a/old/66676-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1518 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The King of the Mamozekel, by Charles G. D. -Roberts - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The King of the Mamozekel - -Author: Charles G. D. Roberts - -Illustrator: Charles Livingston Bull - -Release Date: November 5, 2021 [eBook #66676] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: deaurider, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING OF THE MAMOZEKEL *** - - - - -THE KING OF THE MAMOZEKEL - - - - - The Works of - Charles G. D. Roberts - - - THE HAUNTERS OF THE SILENCES $2.00 - RED FOX 2.00 - THE WATCHERS OF THE TRAILS 2.00 - THE KINDRED OF THE WILD 2.00 - THE HOUSE IN THE WATER 1.50 - EARTH’S ENIGMAS 1.50 - THE HEART OF THE ANCIENT WOOD 1.50 - THE HEART THAT KNOWS 1.50 - THE PRISONER OF MADEMOISELLE 1.50 - BARBARA LADD 1.50 - THE FORGE IN THE FOREST 1.50 - A SISTER TO EVANGELINE 1.50 - BY THE MARSHES OF MINAS 1.50 - CAMERON OF LOCHIEL (_translated_) 1.50 - THE YOUNG ACADIAN .50 - THE CRUISE OF THE YACHT “DIDO” .50 - THE HAUNTER OF THE PINE GLOOM .50 - THE LORD OF THE AIR .50 - THE KING OF THE MAMOZEKEL .50 - THE WATCHERS OF THE CAMP-FIRE .50 - THE RETURN TO THE TRAILS .50 - THE LITTLE PEOPLE OF THE SYCAMORE .50 - - - L. C. Page & Company - 53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. - - - [Illustration: THE KING - OF THE - MAMOZEKEL] - - - - - Roberts’ Animal Stories - - The King of the - Mamozekel - - BY - - CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS - - Author of “The Watchers of the Trails,” “The Kindred - of the Wild,” “The Heart of the Ancient Wood,” - “Barbara Ladd,” “Poems,” etc. - - Illustrated by - - CHARLES LIVINGSTON BULL - - [Illustration] - - BOSTON L. C. PAGE - & COMPANY _PUBLISHERS_ - - - - - _Copyright, 1902_ - BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY - (INCORPORATED) - - _Copyright, 1904_ - BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY - (INCORPORATED) - - _All rights reserved_ - - The King of the Mamozekel - - Third Impression, July, 1908 - Fourth Impression, February, 1913 - - COLONIAL PRESS - ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED BY C. H. SIMONDS & CO. - BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - THE KING OF THE MAMOZEKEL _Frontispiece_ - - “THE CALF STOOD CLOSE BY, WATCHING WITH INTEREST” 17 - - “THE MOTHER MALLARD WOULD FLOAT AMID HER BROOD” 27 - - “BUT THEY FELL SHORT OF THEIR INTENDED MARK” 37 - - “THICK PILED THE SNOWS ABOUT THE LITTLE HERD” 49 - - “WAS OFF THROUGH THE UNDERBRUSH IN IGNOMINIOUS FLIGHT” 71 - - “IT WAS FEAR ITSELF THAT HE WAS WIPING OUT” 81 - - - - - THE - KING OF THE MAMOZEKEL - - - - -I. - - -When the king of the Mamozekel barrens was born, he was one of the most -ungainly of all calves,--a moose-calf. - -In the heart of a tamarack swamp, some leagues south from Nictau -Mountain, was a dry little knoll of hardwood and pine undiscovered by -the hunters, out of the track of the hunting beasts. Neither lynx, -bear, nor panther had tradition of it. There was little succulent -undergrowth to tempt the moose and the caribou. But there the wild plum -each summer fruited abundantly, and there a sturdy brotherhood of -beeches each autumn lavished their treasure of three-cornered nuts; and -therefore the knoll was populous with squirrels and grouse. Nature, -in one of those whims of hers by which she delights to confound the -studious naturalist, had chosen to keep this spot exempt from the law -of blood and fear which ruled the rest of her domains. To be sure, the -squirrels would now and then play havoc with a nest of grouse eggs, -or, in the absence of their chisel-beaked parents, do murder on a nest -of young golden-wings; but, barring the outbreaks of these bright-eyed -incorrigible marauders,--bad to their very toes, and attractive to -their plumy tail-tips,--the knoll in the tamarack swamp was a haven of -peace amid the fierce but furtive warfare of the wilderness. - -On this knoll, when the arbutus breath of the northern spring was -scenting the winds of all the Tobique country, the king was born,--a -moose-calf more ungainly and of mightier girth and limb than any -other moose-calf of the Mamozekel. Never had his mother seen such a -one,--and she a mother of lordly bulls. He was uncouth, to be sure, in -any eyes but those of his kind,--with his high humped fore-shoulders, -his long, lugubrious, overhanging snout, his big ears set low on his -big head, his little eyes crowded back toward his ears, his long, -big-knuckled legs, and the spindling, lank diminutiveness of his -hindquarters. A grotesque figure, indeed, and lacking altogether in -that pathetic, infantile winsomeness which makes even little pigs -attractive. But any one who knew about moose would have said, watching -the huge baby struggle to his feet and stand with sturdy legs well -braced, “There, if bears and bullets miss him till his antlers get -full spread, is the king of the Mamozekel.” Now, when his mother had -licked him dry, his coat showed a dark, very sombre, cloudy, secretive -brown, of a hue to be quite lost in the shadows of the fir and hemlock -thickets, and to blend consummately with the colour of the tangled -alder trunks along the clogged banks of the Mamozekel. - -The young king’s mother was perhaps the biggest and most morose cow -on all the moose ranges of northern New Brunswick. She assuredly had -no peer on the barrens of the upper Tobique country. She was also the -craftiest. That was the reason why, though she was dimly known and -had been blindly hunted all the way from Nictau Lake, over Mamozekel, -and down to Blue Mountain on the main Tobique, she had never felt a -bullet wound, and had come to be regarded by the backwoods hunters -with something of a superstitious awe. It was of her craft, too, that -she had found this knoll in the heart of the tamarack swamp, and had -guarded the secret of it from the herds. Hither, at calving time, -she would come by cunningly twisted trails. Here she would pass the -perilous hours in safety, unharassed by the need of watching against -her stealthy foes. And when once she had led her calf away from the -retreat, she never returned to it, save alone, and in another year. - -For three days the great cow stayed upon the knoll, feeding upon the -overhanging branch tips of mountain-ash and poplar. This was good -fodder, for buds and twigs were swollen with sap, and succulent. In -those three days her sturdy young calf made such gains in strength and -stature that he would have passed in the herd for a calf of two weeks’ -growth. In mid-afternoon of the third day she led the way down from the -knoll and out across the quaking glooms of the tamarack swamp. And the -squirrels in the budding branches chattered shrill derision about their -going. - -The way led through the deepest and most perilous part of the swamp; -but the mother knew the safe trail in all its windings. She knew where -the yielding surface of moss with black pools on either side was not -afloat on fathomless ooze, but supported by solid earth or a framework -of ancient tree roots. She shambled onward at a very rapid walk, which -forced the gaunt calf at her heels to break now and then into the -long-striding, tireless trot which is the heritage of his race. - -For perhaps an hour they travelled. Then, in a little, partly open -glade where the good sound earth rose up sweet from the morass, and -the mountain-ash, the viburnum, and the moose-wood grew thinly, and -the ground was starred with spring blooms,--painted trillium and -wake-robin, claytonia and yellow dog-tooth and wind-flower,--they -stopped. The calf, tired from his first journeying, nursed fiercely, -twitching his absurd stub of a tail, butting at his mother’s udder with -such discomforting eagerness that she had to rebuke him by stepping -aside and interrupting his meal. After several experiences of this -kind he took the hint, and put curb upon his too robust impatience. -The masterful spirit of a king is liable to inconvenience its owner if -exercised prematurely. - -By this time the pink light of sunset was beginning to stain the -western curves of branch and stem and bud, changing the spring -coolness of the place into a delicate riot of fairy colour and light, -intervolving form. Some shadows deepened, while others disappeared. -Certain leaves and blossoms and pale limbs stood out with a clearness -almost startling, suddenly emphasised by the level rays, while others -faded from view. Though there was no wind, the changed light gave an -effect of noiseless movement in the glade. And in the midst of this -gathering enchantment the mother moose set herself to forage for her -own meal. - -Selecting a slim young birch-tree, whose top was thick with twigs and -greening buds, she pushed against it with her massive chest till it -bent nearly to the ground. Then straddling herself along it, she held -it down securely between her legs, moved forward till the succulent -top was within easy reach, and began to browse with leisurely jaws and -selective reachings out of her long, discriminating upper lip. The -calf stood close by, watching with interest, his legs sympathetically -spread apart, his head swung low from his big shoulders, his great -ears swaying slowly backward and forward, not together, but one at a -time. When the mother had finished feeding, there were no buds, twigs -or small branches left on the birch sapling; and the sunset colours -had faded out of the glade. With dusk a chilly air breathed softly -through the trees, and the mother led the way into a clump of thick -balsam firs near the edge of the good ground. In the heart of the -thicket she lay down for the night, facing away from the wind; and the -calf, quick in perception as in growth, lay down close beside her in -the same position. He did not know at the time the significance of the -position, but he had a vague sense of its importance. He was afterward -to learn that enemies were liable to approach his lair in the night, -and that as long as he slept with his back to the wind, he could not be -taken unawares. The wind might be trusted to bring to his marvellous -nostrils timely notice of danger from the rear; while he could depend -upon his eyes and his spacious, sensitive, unsleeping ears to warn him -of anything ascending against the wind to attack him in front. - -[Illustration: “THE CALF STOOD CLOSE BY, WATCHING WITH INTEREST.”] - -At the very first suggestion of morning the two light sleepers arose. -In the dusk of the fir thicket the hungry calf made his meal. Then they -came forth into the grayness of the spectral spring dawn, and the great -cow proceeded as before to breast down a birch sapling for fodder. -Before the sun was fairly up, they left the glade and resumed their -journey across the swamp. - -It was mid-morning of a sweet-aired, radiant day when they emerged from -the swamp. Now, through a diversified country of thick forests and -open levels, the mother moose swung forward on an undeviating trail, -perceptible only to herself. Presently the land began to dip. Then a -little river appeared, winding through innumerable alders, with here -and there a pond-like expansion full of young lily-leaves; and the -future king of the Mamozekel looked upon his kingdom. But he did not -recognise it. He cared nothing for the little river of alders. He was -tired, and very hungry, and the moment his mother halted he ran up and -nursed vehemently. - - - - -II. - - -Delicately filming with the first green, and spicy-fragrant, were -the young birch-trees on the slopes about the Mamozekel water. From -tree-top to tree-top, across the open spaces, the rain-birds called to -each other with long falls of melody and sweetly insistent iteration. -In their intervals of stillness, which came from time to time as if by -some secret and preconcerted signal, the hush was beaded, as it were, -with the tender and leisurely staccatos of the chickadees. The wild -kindreds of the Tobique country were all happily busy with affairs of -spring. - -While the great cow was pasturing on birch-twigs, the calf rested, -with long legs tucked under him, on the dry, softly carpeted earth -beneath the branches of a hemlock. At this pleasant pasturage the -mother moose was presently joined by her calf of the previous season, a -sturdy bull-yearling, which ran up to her with a pathetic little bleat -of delight, as if he had been very desolate and bewildered during the -days of her strange absence. The mother received him with good-natured -indifference, and went on pulling birch-tips. Then the yearling came -over and eyed with curiosity the resting calf,--the first moose-calf -he had ever seen. The king, unperturbed and not troubling himself -to rise, thrust forward his spacious ears, and reached out a long, -inquiring nose to investigate the newcomer. But the yearling was in -doubt. He drew back, planted his fore hoofs firmly, and lowered and -shook his head, challenging the stranger to a butting bout. The old -moose, which had kept wary eye upon the meeting, now came up and stood -over her young, touching him once or twice lightly with her upper lip. -Then, swinging her great head to one side, she glanced at the yearling, -and made a soft sound in her throat. Whether this were warning or -mere pertinent information, the yearling understood that his smaller -kinsman was to be let alone, and not troubled with challenges. With -easy philosophy, he accepted the situation, doubtless not concerned -to understand it, and turned his thoughts to the ever fresh theme of -forage. - -Through the spring and summer the little family of three fed never far -from the Mamozekel stream; and the king grew with astonishing speed. -Of other moose families they saw little, for the mother, jealous and -overbearing in her strength, would tolerate no other cows on her -favourite range. Sometimes they saw a tall bull, with naked forehead, -come down to drink or to pull lily-stems in the still pools at sunset. -But the bull, feeling himself discrowned and unlordly in the absence of -his antlers, paid no attention to either cows or calves. While waiting -for autumn to restore to his forehead its superb palmated adornments, -he was haughty and seclusive. - -By the time summer was well established in the land, the moose-calf had -begun to occupy himself diligently with the primer-lessons of life. -Keeping much at his mother’s head, he soon learned to pluck the tops of -tall seeding grasses; though such low-growing tender herbage as cattle -and horses love, he never learned to crop. His mother, like all his -tribe, was too long in the legs and short in the neck to pasture close -to the ground. He was early taught, however, what succulent pasturage -of root and stem and leaf the pools of Mamozekel could supply; and -early his sensitive upper lip acquired the wisdom to discriminate -between the wholesome water-plants and such acrid, unfriendly growths -as the water-parsnip and the spotted cow-bane. Most pleasant the little -family found it, in the hot, drowsy afternoons, to wade out into the -leafy shallows and feed at leisure belly-deep in the cool, with no -sound save their own comfortable splashings, or the shrill clatter of a -kingfisher winging past up-stream. Their usual feeding hours were just -before sunrise, a little before noon, and again in the late afternoon, -till dark. The rest of the time they would lie hidden in the deepest -thickets, safe, but ever watchful, their great ears taking in and -interpreting all the myriad fluctuating noises of the wilderness. - -The hours of foraging were also--for the young king, in particular, -whose food was mostly provided by his mother--the hours of lesson and -the hours of play. In the pride of his growing strength he quickly -developed a tendency to butt at everything and test his prowess. His -yearling brother was always ready to meet his desires in this fashion, -and the two would push against each other with much grunting, till at -last the elder, growing impatient, would thrust the king hard back -upon his haunches, and turn aside indifferently to his browsing. -Little by little it became more difficult for the yearling to close -the bout in this easy way; but he never guessed that in no distant day -the contests would end in a very different manner. He did not know -that, for a calf of that same spring, his lightly tolerated playfellow -was big and strong and audacious beyond all wont of the wide-antlered -kindred. - -The young king was always athrill with curiosity, full of interest in -all the wilderness folk that chanced to come in his view. The shyest of -the furtive creatures were careless about letting him see them, both -his childishness and his race being guarantee of good will. Very soon, -therefore, he became acquainted, in a distant, uncomprehending fashion, -with the hare and the mink, the wood-mouse and the muskrat; while the -mother mallard would float amid her brood within a yard or two of the -spot where he was pulling at the water-lilies. - -[Illustration: “THE MOTHER MALLARD WOULD FLOAT AMID HER BROOD.”] - -One day, however, he came suddenly upon a porcupine which was crossing -a bit of open ground,--came upon it so suddenly that the surly little -beast was startled and rolled himself up into a round, bristling ball. -This was a strange phenomenon indeed! He blew upon the ball, two or -three hard noisy breaths from wide nostrils. Then he was so rash as -to thrust at it tentatively rather than roughly with his inquisitive -nose,--for he was most anxious to know what it meant. There was a -quiver in the ball; and he jumped back, shaking his head, with two of -the sharp spines sticking in his sensitive upper lip. - -In pain and fright, yet with growing anger, he ran to his mother where -she was placidly cropping a willow-top. But she was not helpful. She -knew nothing of the properties of porcupine quills. Seeing what was -the matter, she set the example of rubbing her nose smartly against a -stump. The king did likewise. - -Now, for burrs, this would have been all very well; but porcupine -quills--the malignant little intruders throve under such treatment, -and worked their way more deeply into the tender tissues. Smarting and -furious, the young monarch rushed back with the purpose of stamping -that treacherous ball of spines to fragments under his sharp hoofs. -But the porcupine, meanwhile, had discreetly climbed a tree, whence -it looked down with scornful red eyes, bristling its barbed armory, -and daring the angry calf to come up and fight. For days thereafter -the young king suffered from a nose so hot and swollen that it was -hard for him to browse, and almost impossible for him to nurse. Then -came relief, as the quills worked their way through, one dropping out, -and the other getting chewed up with a lily-root. But the young moose -never forgot his grudge against the porcupine family; and catching one, -years after, in a poplar sapling, he bore the sapling down and trod his -enemy to bits. In his wrath, however, he did not forget the powers and -properties of the quills. He took good care that none should pierce the -tender places of his feet. - -Some weeks after his meeting with the porcupine, when his nose and his -spirits together had quite recovered, he made a new acquaintance. The -moose family had by this time worked much farther up the Mamozekel, -into a region of broken ground, and steep up-thrusts of rock. One day, -while investigating the world at a little distance from his mother and -brother, he saw a large, curious-looking animal at the top of a rocky -slope. It was a light brown-gray in colour, with a big, round face, -high-tufted ears, round, light, cold eyes, long whiskers brushed back -from under its chin, very long, sharp teeth displayed in its snarlingly -open jaws, and big round pads of feet. The lynx glared at the young -king, scornfully unacquainted with his kingship. And the young king -stared at the lynx with lively, unhostile interest. Then the lynx cast -a wary glance all about, saw no sign of the mother moose (who was -feeding on the other side of the rock), concluded that this was such -an opportunity as he had long been looking for, and began creeping -swiftly, stealthily, noiselessly, down the slope of rocks. - -Any other moose-calf, though of thrice the young king’s months, would -have run away. But not so he. The stranger seemed unfriendly. He would -try a bout of butting with him. He stamped his feet, shook his lowered -head, snorted, and advanced a stride or two. At the same time, he -uttered a harsh, very abrupt, bleating cry of defiance, the infantile -precursor of what his mighty, forest-daunting bellow was to be in later -years. The lynx, though he well knew that this ungainly youngster could -not withstand his onslaught for a moment, was nevertheless astonished -by such a display of spirit; and he paused for a moment to consider it. -Was it possible that unguessed resources lay behind this daring? He -would see. - -It was a critical moment. A very few words more would have sufficed -for the conclusion of this chronicle, but for the fact that the young -king’s bleat of challenge had reached other ears than those of the -great lynx. The old moose, at her pasturing behind the rock, heard it -too. Startled and anxious, she came with a rush to find out what it -meant; and the yearling, full of curiosity, came at her heels. When she -saw the lynx, the long hair on her neck stood up with fury, and with -a roar she launched her huge, dark bulk against him. But for such an -encounter the big cat had no stomach. He knew that he would be pounded -into paste in half a minute. With a snarl he sprang backward, as if -his muscles had been steel springs suddenly loosed; and before his -assailant was half-way up the slope, he was glaring down upon her from -the safe height of a hemlock limb. - -This, to the young king, seemed a personal victory. The mother’s -efforts to make him understand that lynxes were dangerous had small -effect upon him; and the experience advanced him not at all in his -hitherto unlearned lesson of fear. - -Even he, however, for all his kingly heart, was destined to learn that -lesson,--was destined to have it so seared into his spirit that the -remembrance should, from time to time, unnerve, humiliate, defeat him, -through half the years of his sovereignty. - -It came about in this way, one blazing August afternoon. - -The old moose and the yearling were at rest, comfortably chewing the -cud in a spruce covert close to the water. But the king was in one of -those restless fits which, all through his calfhood, kept driving him -forward in quest of experience. The wind was almost still; but such as -there was blew up-stream. Up against it he wandered for a little way, -and saw nothing but a woodchuck, which was a familiar sight to him. -Then he turned and drifted carelessly down the wind. Having passed the -spruce thicket, his nostrils received messages from his mother and -brother in their quiet concealment. The scent was companion to him, and -he wandered on. Presently it faded away from the faintly pulsing air. -Still he went on. - -Presently he passed a huge, half-decayed windfall, thickly draped in -shrubbery and vines. No sooner had he passed than the wind brought -him from this dense hiding-place a pungent, unfamiliar scent. There -was something ominous in the smell, something at which his heart beat -faster; but he was not afraid. He stopped at once, and moved back -slowly toward the windfall, sniffing with curiosity, his ears alert, -his eyes striving to pierce the mysteries of the thicket. - -He moved close by the decaying trunk without solving the enigma. Then, -as the wind puffed a thought more strongly, he passed by and lost the -scent. At once he swung about to pursue the investigation; and at the -same instant an intuitive apprehension of peril made him shudder, and -shrink away from windfall. - -He turned not an instant too soon. What he saw was a huge, black, -furry head and shoulders leaning over the windfall, a huge black paw, -with knife-like claws, lifting for a blow that would break his back -like a bulrush. He was already moving, already turning, and with his -muscles gathered. That saved him. Quick as a flash of light he sprang, -wildly. Just as quickly, indeed, came down the stroke of those terrific -claws. But they fell short of their intended mark. As the young moose -sprang into the air, the claws caught him slantingly on the haunch. -They went deep, ripping hide and flesh almost to the bone,--a long, -hideous wound. Before the blow could be repeated, the calf was far out -of reach, bleating with pain and terror. The bear, much disappointed, -peered after him with little red, malicious eyes, and greedily licked -the sweet blood from his claws. - -[Illustration: “BUT THEY FELL SHORT OF THEIR INTENDED MARK.”] - -The next instant the mother moose burst from her thicket, the long hair -of her neck and shoulders stiffly erect with rage. She had understood -well enough that agonised cry of the young king. She paused but a -second, to give him a hasty lick of reassurance, then charged down upon -the covert around the windfall. She knew that only a bear could have -done that injury; and she knew, without any help from ears, eyes, or -nose, that the windfall was just the place for a bear’s lying-in-wait. -With an intrepidity beyond the boldest dreams of any other moose-cow on -the Mamozekel, she launched herself crashing into the covert. - -But her avenging fury found no bear to meet it. The bear knew well this -mighty moose-cow, having watched her from many a hiding-place, and -shrewdly estimated her prowess. He had effaced himself, melting away -through the underwood as noiselessly and swiftly as a weasel. Plenty of -the strong bear scent the old moose found in the covert, and it stung -her to frenzy. She stamped and tore down the vines, and sent the rotten -wood of the windfall flying in fragments. Then she emerged, powdered -with debris, and roared and glared about for the enemy. But the wily -bear was already far away, well burdened with discretion. - - - - -III. - - -In a few weeks the king’s healthy flesh, assiduously licked by his -mother, healed perfectly, leaving long, hairless scars upon his hide, -which turned, in course of time, from livid to a leaden whitish hue. -But while his flesh healed perfectly, his spirit was in a different -case. Thenceforward, one great fear lurked in his heart, ready to -leap forth at any instant--the fear of the bear. It was the only fear -he knew, but it was a terrible one; and when, two months later, he -again caught that pungent scent in passing a thicket, he ran madly for -an hour before he recovered his wits and stole back, humiliated and -exhausted, to his mother’s pasture-grounds. - -In the main, however, he was soon his old, bold, investigating self, -his bulk and his sagacity growing vastly together. Ere the first -frosts had crimsoned the maples and touched the birches to a shimmer -of pale gold, he could almost hold his own by sheer strength against -his yearling brother’s weight, and sometimes, for a minute or two, -worst him by feint and strategy. When he came, by chance, in the crisp, -free-roving weather of the fall, upon other moose-calves of that year’s -birth, they seemed pygmies beside him, and gave way to him respectfully -as to a yearling. - -About this time he experienced certain qualms of loneliness, which -bewildered him and took much of the interest out of life. His mother -began to betray an unexpected indifference, and his childish heart -missed her caresses. He was not driven away, but he was left to -himself; while she would stride up and down the open, gravelly meadows -by the water, sniffing the air, and at times uttering a short, harsh -roar which made him eye her uneasily. One crisp night, when the round -October moon wrought magic in the wilderness, he heard his mother’s -call answered by a terrific, roaring bellow, which made his heart -leap. Then there was a crashing through the underbrush; and a tall bull -strode forth into the light, his antlers spreading like oak branches -from either side of his forehead. Prudence, or deference, or a mixture -of the two, led the young king to lay aside his wonted inquisitiveness -and withdraw into the thickets without attracting the notice of this -splendid and formidable visitor. During the next few days he saw the -big bull very frequently, and found himself calmly ignored. Prudence -and deference continued their good offices, however, and he was careful -not to trespass on the big stranger’s tolerance during those wild, mad, -magical autumn days. - -One night, about the middle of October, the king saw from his thicket -a scene which filled him with excitement and awe, swelled his veins -almost to bursting, and made his brows ache, as if the antlers were -already pushing to birth beneath the skin. It all came about in this -fashion. His mother, standing out in the moonlight by the water, had -twice with outstretched muzzle uttered her call, when it was answered -not only by her mate, the tall bull, approaching along the shore, but -by another great voice from up the hillside. Instantly the tall bull -was in a rage. He rushed up to the cow, touched her with his nose, and -then, after a succession of roars which were answered promptly from the -hillside, he moved over to the edge of the open and began thrashing -the bushes with his antlers. A great crashing of underbrush arose some -distance away, and drew near swiftly; and in a few minutes another -bull burst forth violently into the open. He was young and impetuous, -or he would have halted a moment before leaving cover, and stealthily -surveyed the situation. But not yet had years and overthrows taught him -the ripe moose wisdom; and with a reckless heart he committed himself -to the combat. - -The newcomer had barely the chance to see where he was, before the -tall bull was upon him. He wheeled in time, however, and got his guard -down; but was borne back upon his haunches by the terrific shock of -the charge. In a moment or two he recovered the lost ground, for youth -had given him strength, if not wisdom; and the tall bull, his eyes -flame-red with wrath, found himself fairly matched by this shorter, -stockier antagonist. - -The night forthwith became tempestuous with gruntings, bellowings, -the hard clashing of antlers, the stamping of swift and heavy feet. -The thin turf was torn up. The earthy gravel was sent flying from the -furious hoofs. From his covert the young king strained eager eyes upon -the fight, his sympathies all with the tall bull whom he had regarded -reverently from the first moment he saw him. But as for the cow, she -moved up from the waterside and looked on with a fine impartiality. -What concerned her was chiefly that none but the bravest and strongest -should be her mate,--a question which only fighting could determine. -Her favour would go with victory. - -As it appeared, the rivals were fairly matched in vigour and valour. -But among moose, as among men, brains count in the end. When the tall -bull saw that, in a matter of sheer brawn, the sturdy stranger might -hold him, he grew disgusted at the idea of settling such a vital -question by mere butting and shoving. The red rage faded in his eyes, -and a colder light took its place. On a sudden, when his foe had given -a mighty thrust, he yielded, slipped his horns from the lock, and -jumped nimbly aside. The stranger lunged forward, almost stumbling to -his knees. - -This was the tall bull’s opportunity. In a whirlwind of fury he thrust -upon the enemy’s flank, goring him, and bearing him down. The latter, -being short and quick-moving, recovered his feet in a second, and -wheeled to present his guard. But the tall bull was quick to maintain -the advantage. He, too, had shifted ground; and now he caught his -antagonist in the rear. There was no resisting such an attack. With -hind legs weakly doubling under him, with the weight of doom descending -upon his defenceless rump, the rash stranger was thrust forward, -bellowing madly, and striving in vain to brace himself. His humiliation -was complete. With staring eyes and distended nostrils he was hustled -across the meadow and over the edge of the bank. With a huge splash, -and carrying with him a shower of turf and gravel, he fell into the -stream. Once in the water, and his courage well cooled, he did not -wait for a glance at his snorting and stamping conqueror on the bank -above, but waded desperately across, dripping, bleeding, crushed in -spirit,--and vanished into the woods. In the thicket, the king’s heart -swelled as if the victory had been his own. - -By and by, when the last of the leaves had fluttered down with crisp -whisperings from the birch and ash, maple and poplar, and the first -enduring snows were beginning to change the face of the world, the -tall bull seemed to lay aside his haughtiness. He grew carelessly -good-natured toward the young king and the yearling, and frankly took -command of the little herd. As the snow deepened, he led the way -northward toward the Nictau Lake and chose winter quarters on the -wooded southward slopes of Bald Mountain, where there were hemlock -groves for shelter and an abundance of young hardwood growth for -browsing. - -This leisurely migration was in the main uneventful, and left but one -sharp impression on the young king’s memory. On a wintry morning, when -the sunrise was reaching long pink-saffron fingers across the thin -snow, a puff of wind brought with it from a tangle of stumps and rocks -a breath of that pungent scent so hateful to a moose’s nostrils. The -whole herd stopped; and the young king, his knees quaking under him and -his eyes staring with panic, crowded close against his mother’s flank. -The tall bull stamped and bellowed his defiance to the enemy,--but the -enemy, being discreet, made no reply whatever. It is probable, indeed, -that he was preparing his winter quarters, and getting too drowsy to -hear or heed the angry challenge; but if he did hear it no doubt he -noiselessly withdrew himself till the dangerous travellers had gone by. -In a few minutes the herd resumed its march,--the king keeping close to -his mother’s side, instead of in his proper place in the line. - -[Illustration: “THICK PILED THE SNOWS ABOUT THE LITTLE HERD.”] - -The big-antlered bull now chose his site for the “yard,” with “verge -and room enough” for all contingencies. The “yard” was an ample -acreage of innumerable winding paths, trodden ever deeper as the -snows accumulated. These paths led to every spot of browse, every -nook of shelter, at the same time twisting and crossing in a maze of -intricacies. Thick piled the snows about the little herd, and the -northern gales roared over the hemlocks, and the frost sealed the white -world down into silence. But it was such a winter as the moose kin -loved. No wolves or hunters came to trouble them, and the months -passed pleasantly. When the days were lengthening and the hearts of all -the wild folks beginning to dream of the yet unsignalled spring, the -young king was astonished to see the great antlers of his leader fall -off. Seeing that their owner left them lying unregarded on the snow, he -went up and sniffed at them wonderingly, and pondered the incident long -and vainly in his heart. - -When the snows shrank away, departing with a sound of many waters, and -spring returned to the Tobique country, the herd broke up. First the -dis-antlered bull drifted off on his own affairs. Then the two-year-old -went, with no word of reason or excuse. Though a well-grown young bull, -he was now little larger or heavier than the king; and the king was -now a yearling, with the stature and presence of a two-year-old. In a -playful butting contest, excited by the joy of life which April put -into their veins, he worsted his elder brother; and this, perhaps, -though taken in good part, hastened the latter’s going. - -A few days later the old cow grew restless. She and the king turned -their steps backward toward the Mamozekel, feeding as they went. Soon -they found themselves in their old haunts, which the king remembered -very well. Then one day, while the king slept without suspicion of -evil, the old cow slipped away stealthily, and sought her secret refuge -in the heart of the cedar swamp. When the king awoke, he found himself -alone in the thicket. - -All that day he was most unhappy. For some hours he could not eat, but -strayed hither and thither, questing and wondering. Then, when hunger -drove him to browse on the tender birch-twigs, he would stop every -minute or two to call in his big, gruff, pathetic bleat, and look -around eagerly for an answer. No answer came from the deserting mother, -by this time far away in the swamp. - -But there were ears in the wilderness that heard and heeded the call of -the desolate yearling. A pair of hunting lynxes paused at the sound, -licked their chops, and crept forward with a green light in their wide, -round eyes. - -Their approach was noiseless as thought,--but the king, on a sudden, -felt a monition of their coming. Whirling sharply about, he saw them -lurking in the underbrush. He recognised the breed. This was the -same kind of creature which he had been ready to challenge in his -first calfhood. No doubt, it would have been more prudent for him to -withdraw; but he was in no mood for concession. His sore heart made him -ill-tempered. His lonely bleat became a bellow of wrath. He stamped the -earth, shook his head as if thrashing the underbrush with imaginary -antlers, and then charged madly upon the astonished cats. This was no -ordinary moose-calf, they promptly decided; and in a second they were -speeding away with great bounds, gray shadows down the gray vistas of -the wood. The king glared after them for a moment, and then went back -to his feeding, greatly comforted. - -It was four days before his mother came back, bringing a lank calf -at her heels. He was glad to see her, and contentedly renewed -the companionship; but in those four days he had learned full -self-reliance, and his attitude was no longer that of the yearling -calf. It had become that of the equal. As for the lank little newcomer, -he viewed it with careless complaisance, and no more dreamed of playing -with it than if it had been a frog or a chipmunk. - -The summer passed with little more event for the king than his swift -increase in stature. One lesson then learned, however, though but -vaguely comprehended at the time, was to prove of incalculable value -in after years. He learned to shun man,--not with fear, indeed, for he -never learned to fear anything except bears,--but with aversion, and a -certain half-disdainful prudence. It was as if he came to recognise in -man the presence of powers which he was not anxious to put to trial, -lest he should be forced to doubt his own supremacy. - -It was but a slight incident that gave him the beginning of this -valuable wisdom. As he lay ruminating one day beside his mother and -the gaunt calf, in a spruce covert near the water, a strange scent -was wafted in to his nostrils. It carried with it a subtle warning. -His mother touched him with her nose, conveying a silent yet eloquent -monition, and got upon her feet with no more sound than if she had -been compact of thistle-down. From their thicket shelter the three -stared forth, moveless and unwinking, ears forward, nostrils wide. -Then a canoe with two men came into view, paddling lazily, and turning -to land. To the king, they looked not dangerous; but every detail -of them--their shape, motion, colour, and, above all, their ominous -scent--stamped itself in his memory. Then, to his great surprise, his -mother silently signalled the gravest and most instant menace, and -forthwith faded back through the thicket with inconceivably stealthy -motion. The king and the calf followed with like care,--the king, -though perplexed, having faith in his mother’s wise woodcraft. Not -until they had put good miles between themselves and strange-smelling -newcomers did the old moose call a halt; and from all this precaution -the king realised that the mysterious strangers were something to be -avoided by moose. - -That summer the king saw nothing more of the man-creatures,--and he -crossed the scent of no more bears. His great heart, therefore, found -no check to its growing arrogance and courage. When the month of the -falling leaves and the whirring partridge-coveys again came round, he -felt a new pugnacity swelling in his veins, and found himself uttering -challenges, he knew not why, with his yet half infantile bellow. When, -at length, his mother began to pace the open meadow by the Mamozekel, -and startle the moonlit silences with her mating call, he was filled -with strange anger. But this was nothing to his rage when the calls -were answered by a wide-antlered bull. This time the king refused to -slink obsequiously to cover. He waited in the open; and he eyed the new -wooer in a fashion so truculent that at length he attracted notice. - -For his dignity, if not for his experience, this was most unfortunate. -The antlered stranger noted his size, his attitude of insolence, -and promptly charged upon him. He met the charge, in his insane -audacity, but was instantly borne down. As he staggered to his feet -he realised his folly, and turned to withdraw,--not in terror, but in -acknowledgment of superior strength. Such a dignified retreat, however, -was not to be allowed him. The big bull fell upon him again, prodding -him cruelly. He was hustled ignominiously across the meadow, and into -the bushes. Thence he fled, bleating with impotent wrath and shame. - -In his humiliation he fled far down along the river, through alder -swamps which he had never traversed, by pools in which he had never -pulled the lilies. Onward he pressed, intent on placing irrevocably -behind him the scene of his chagrin. - -At length he came out upon the fair river basin where the Mamozekel, -the Serpentine, and the Nictau, tameless streams, unite to form the -main Tobique. Here he heard the call of a young cow,--a voice thinner -and higher than his mother’s deep-chested notes. With an impulse that -he did not understand, he pushed forward to answer the summons, no -longer furtive, but noisily trampling the brush. Just then, however, a -pungent smell stung his nostrils. There, not ten paces distant, was a -massive black shape standing out in the moonlight. Panic laid grip upon -his heart, chilling every vein. He wheeled, splashed across the shallow -waters of the Nictau, and fled away northward on tireless feet. - -That winter the king yarded alone, like a morose old bull, far from -his domain of the Mamozekel. In the spring he came back, but restricted -his range to the neighbourhood of the Forks. And he saw his mother no -more. - -That summer he grew his first antlers. As antlers, indeed, they were -no great thing; but they started out bravely, a massive cylindrical -bar thrusting forth laterally, unlike the pointing horns of deer -and caribou, from either side of his forehead. For all this sturdy -start, their spiking and palmation did not amount to much; but he was -inordinately proud of them, rubbing off the velvet with care when it -began to itch, and polishing assiduously at the hardened horn. By the -time the October moon had come round again to the Tobique country, he -counted these first antlers a weapon for any encounter; and, indeed, -with his bulk and craft behind them, they were formidable. - -It was not long before they were put to the test. One night, as he -stood roaring and thrashing the bushes on the bluff overlooking the -Forks, he heard the call of a young cow a little way down the shore. -Gladly he answered. Gladly he sped to the tryst. Strange ecstasies, -the madness of the night spell, and the white light’s sorcery made his -heart beat and his veins run sweet fire. But suddenly all this changed; -for another roar, a taunting challenge, answered him; and another bull -broke from covert on the other side of the sandy level where stood the -young cow coquettishly eyeing both wooers. - -The new arrival was much older than the king and nobly antlered; but -in matter of inches the young king was already his peer. In craft, -arrogance, and self-confident courage the king had an advantage that -outweighed the deficiency in antlers. The fury of his charge spelled -victory from the first; and though the battle was prolonged, the issue -was decided at the outset, as the interested young cow soon perceived. -In about a half-hour it was all over. The wise white moon of the -wilderness looked down understandingly upon the furrowed sandspit, -the pleased young cow, and the king making diffident progress with his -first wooing. Some distance down the river-bank, she caught glimpses -of the other bull, whose antlers had not saved him, fleeing in shame, -with bleeding flanks and neck, through the light-patched shadows of the -forest. - - - - -IV. - - -During the next four years the king learned to grow such antlers as had -never before been seen in all the Tobique country. So tall, impetuous, -and masterful he grew, that the boldest bulls, recognising the vast -reverberations of his challenge, would smother their wrath and slip -noiselessly away from his neighbourhood. Rumours of his size and his -great antlers in some way got abroad among the settlements; but so -crafty was he in shunning men,--whom he did not really fear, and whom -he was wont to study intently from safe coverts,--that there was never -a hunter who could boast of having got a shot at him. - -Once, and once only, did he come into actual, face to face conflict -with the strange man-creature. It was one autumn evening, at the first -of the season. By the edge of a little lake, he heard the call of a -cow. Having already found a mate, he was somewhat inattentive, and did -not answer; but something strange in the call made him suspicious, and -he stole forward, under cover, to make an observation. The call was -repeated, seeming to come from a little, rushy island, a stone’s throw -from shore. This time there came an answer,--not from the king, but -from an eager bull rushing up from the outlet of the lake. The king -listened, with some lazy interest, to the crashing and slashing of -the impetuous approach, thinking that if the visitor were big enough -to be worth while he would presently go out and thrash him. When the -visitor did appear, however, bursting from the underbrush and striding -boldly down to the water’s edge, a strange thing happened. From the -rushy island came a spurt of flame, a sharp detonating report. The -bull jumped and wheeled in his tracks. Another report, and he dropped -without a kick. As he lay in the pale light, close to the water, a -canoe shot out from the rushy island and landed some distance from -the body. Two men sprang out. They pulled up the canoe, leaving their -rifles in it, and ran up to skin the prize. - -The king in his hiding-place understood. This was what men could -do,--make a strange, menacing sound, and kill moose with it. He boiled -with rage at this exhibition of their power, and suddenly took up -the quarrel of the slain bull. But by no means did he lay aside his -craft. Noiselessly he moved, a vast and furtive shadow, down through -the thickets to a point where the underbrush nearly touched the water. -This brought him within a few yards of the canoe, wherein the hunters -had left their rifles. Here he paused a few moments, pondering. But as -he pondered, redder and redder grew his eyes; and suddenly, with a mad -roar, he burst from cover and charged. - -Had the two men not been expert woodsmen, one or the other would have -been caught and smashed to pulp. But their senses were on the watch. -Cut off as they were from the canoe and from their weapons, their only -hope was a tree. Before the king was fairly out into view, they had -understood the whole situation, sprung to their feet, and sped off like -hares. Just within the nearest fringe of bushes grew a low-hanging -beech-tree; and into this they swung themselves, just as the king -came raging beneath. As it was, one of them was nearly caught when he -imagined himself quite safe. The king reared his mighty bulk against -the trunk and with his keen-spiked antlers reached upward fiercely -after the fugitives, the nearest of whom was saved only by a friendly -branch which intervened. - -For nearly an hour the king stamped and stormed beneath the branches, -while the trapped hunters alternately cursed his temper and wondered -at his stature. Then, with a swift change of purpose, he wheeled and -charged on the canoe. In two minutes the graceful craft was reduced to -raw material, while the hunters in the tree-top, sputtering furiously, -vowed vengeance. All the kit, the tins, the blankets, the boxes, were -battered shapeless, and the rifles thumped well down into the wet -sand. In the midst of the cataclysm, one of the rifles somehow went -off. The noise and the flash astonished the king, but only added to -his rage and made him more thorough in his work of destruction. When -there was nothing left that seemed worth trampling upon, he returned -to the tree,--on which he had kept eye all the time,--and there nursed -his wrath all night. At the first of dawn, however, he came to the -conclusion that the shivering things in the tree were not worth waiting -for. He swung off, and sought his favourite pasturage, a mile or two -away; and the men, after making sure of his departure, climbed down. -They nervously cut some steaks from the bull which they had killed, and -hurried away, crestfallen, on the long tramp back to the settlements. - -This incident, however, did not have the effect which it might have -been expected to have. It did not make the king despise men. On the -contrary, he now knew them to be dangerous, and he also knew that their -chief power lay in the long dark tubes which spit fire and made fierce -sounds. It was enough for him that he had once worsted them. Ever -afterward he gave them wide berth. And the tradition of him would have -come at last to be doubted in the settlements, but for the vast, shed -antlers occasionally found lying on the diminished snows of March. - -But all the time, while the king waxed huge and wise, and overthrew -his enemies, and begot great offspring that, for many years after -he was dead, were to make the Mamozekel famous, there was one grave -incompleteness in his sovereignty. His old panic fear of bears still -shamed and harassed him. The whiff of a harmless half-grown cub, -engrossed in stuffing its greedy red mouth with blueberries, was enough -to turn his blood to water and send him off to other feeding-grounds. -He chose his ranges, indeed, first of all for their freedom from the -dreaded taint, and only second for the excellence of their pasturage. -This one unreasoning fear was the drop of gall which went far toward -embittering all the days of his singularly favoured life. It was as -if the wood-gods, after endowing him so far beyond his fellows, had -repented of their lavishness, and capriciously poisoned their gifts. - -One autumn night, just at the beginning of the calling season, this -weakness of his betrayed the king to the deepest humiliation which had -ever befallen him. He was then nearly seven years old; and because his -voice was known to every bull in the Tobique country, there was never -answer made when his great challenge went stridently resounding over -the moonlit wastes. But on this particular night, when he had roared -perhaps for his own amusement, or for the edification of his mate, who -browsed near by, rather than with any expectation of response, to -his astonishment there came an answering defiance from the other side -of the open. A big, wandering bull, who had strayed up from the Grand -River region, had never heard of the king, and was more than ready to -put his valour to test. The king rushed to meet him. Now it chanced -that between the approaching giants was an old ash-tree growing out of -a thicket. In this thicket a bear had been grubbing for roots. When he -heard the king’s first roar, he started to steal away from the perilous -proximity; but the second bull’s answer, from the direction in which -he had hoped to retreat, stopped him. In much perturbation he climbed -the ash-tree to a safe distance, and curled himself into a black, furry -ball, in a fork of the branches. - -The night was still, and no scents wafting to sensitive nostrils. With -short roars, and much thrashing of the underbrush, the two bulls drew -near. When the king was just about abreast of the bear’s hiding-place, -his arrogance broke into fury, and he charged upon the audacious -stranger. Just as he did so, and just as his foe sprang to meet him, -a wilful night-wind puffed lightly through the branches. It was a -very small, irresponsible wind; but it carried sharply to the king’s -nostrils the strong, fresh taint of bear. - -[Illustration: “WAS OFF THROUGH THE UNDERBRUSH IN IGNOMINIOUS FLIGHT.”] - -The smell was so strong, it seemed to the king as if the bear must be -fairly on his haunches. It was like an icy cataract flung upon him. He -shrank, trembled,--and the old wounds twinged and cringed. The next -moment, to the triumphant amazement of his antagonist, he had wheeled -aside to avoid the charge, and was off through the underbrush in -ignominious flight. The newcomer, who, for all his stout-heartedness, -had viewed with concern the giant bulk of his foe, stopped short in his -tracks and stared in bewilderment. So easy a victory as this was beyond -his dreams,--even beyond his desires. However, a bull moose can be a -philosopher on occasion, and this one was not going to quarrel with -good luck. In high elation he strode on up the meadow, and set himself, -not unsuccessfully, to wooing the deserted and disgusted cow. - -His triumph, however, was short-lived. About moonrise of the following -night the king came back. He was no longer thinking of bears, and his -heart was full of wrath. His vast challenge came down from the near-by -hills, making the night resound with its short, explosive thunders. -His approach was accompanied by the thrashing of giant antlers on the -trees, and by a crashing as if the under-growths were being trodden -by a locomotive. There was grim omen in the sounds; and the cow, -waving her great ears back and forward thoughtfully, eyed the Grand -River bull with shrewd interest. The stranger showed himself game, -no whit daunted by threatenings and thunder. He answered with brave -roarings, and manifested every resolution to maintain his conquest. -But sturdy and valorous though he was, all his prowess went for little -when the king fell upon him, thrice terrible from the memory of his -humiliation. There was no such thing as withstanding that awful charge. -Before it the usurper was borne back, borne down, overwhelmed, as if -he had been no more than a yearling calf. He had no chance to recover. -He was trampled and ripped and thrust onward, a helpless sprawl of -unstrung legs and outstretched, piteous neck. It was luck alone,--or -some unwonted kindness of the wood-spirits,--that saved his life from -being trodden and beaten out in that hour of terror. It was close to -the river-bank that he had made his stand; and presently, to his great -good fortune, he was thrust over the brink. He fell into the water -with a huge splash. When he struggled to his feet, and moved off, -staggering, down the shallow edges of the stream, the king looked over -and disdained to follow up the vengeance. - -Fully as he had vindicated himself, the king was never secure against -such a humiliation so long as he rested thrall to his one fear. The -threat of the bear hung over him, a mystery of terror which he could -not bring himself to face. But at last, and in the season of his -weakness, when he had shed his antlers, there came a day when he was -forced to face it. Then his kingliness was put to the supreme trial. - -He was now at the age of nine years, in the splendour of his prime. -He stood over seven feet high at the shoulders, and weighed perhaps -thirteen hundred pounds. His last antlers, those which he had shed two -months before, had shown a gigantic spread of nearly six feet. - -It was late April. Much honeycombed snow and ice still lingered in -the deeper hollows. After a high fashion of his own, seldom followed -among the moose of the Tobique region, the king had rejoined his mate -when she emerged from her spring retreat with a calf at her flank. -He was too lordly in spirit to feel cast down or discrowned when his -head was shorn of its great ornament; and he never felt the spring -moroseness which drives most bull moose into seclusion. He always -liked to keep his little herd together, was tolerant to the yearlings, -and even refrained from driving off the two-year-olds until their own -aggressiveness made it necessary. - -On this particular April day, the king was bestriding a tall poplar -sapling, which he had borne down that he might browse upon its tender, -sap-swollen tips. By the water’s edge the cow and the yearling -were foraging on the young willow shoots. The calf, a big-framed, -enterprising youngster two weeks old, almost as fine a specimen of -young moosehood as the king had been at his age, was poking about -curiously to gather knowledge of the wilderness world. He approached a -big gray-white boulder, whose base was shrouded in spruce scrub, and -sniffed apprehensively at a curious, pungent taint that came stealing -out upon the air. - -He knew by intuition that there was peril in that strange scent; but -his interest overweighed his caution, and he drew close to the spruce -scrub. Close, and yet closer; and his movement was so unusual that it -attracted the attention of the king, who stopped browsing to watch him -intently. A vague, only half-realised memory of that far-off day when -he himself, a lank calf of the season, went sniffing curiously at a -thicket, stirred in his brain; and the stiff hair along his neck and -shoulder began to bristle. He released the poplar sapling, and turned -all his attention to the behaviour of the calf. - -The calf was very close to the green edges of the spruce scrub, when he -caught sight of a great dark form within, which had revealed itself by -a faint movement. More curious than ever, but now distinctly alarmed, -he shrank back, turning at the same time, as if to investigate from -another and more open side of the scrub. - -The next instant a black bulk lunged forth with incredible swiftness -from the green, and a great paw swung itself with a circular, sweeping -motion, upon the retreating calf. In the wilderness world, as in the -world of men, history has a trick of repeating itself; and this time, -as on that day nine years before, the bear was just too late. The blow -did not reach its object till most of its force was spent. It drew -blood, and knocked the calf sprawling, but did no serious damage. With -a bleat of pain and terror, the little animal jumped to its feet and -ran away. - -The bear would have easily caught him before he could recover himself; -but another and very different voice had answered the bleat of the -calf. At the king’s roar of fury the bear changed his plans and slunk -back into hiding. In a moment the king came thundering up to the edge -of the spruces. There, planting his fore-feet suddenly till they -ploughed the ground, he stopped himself with a mighty effort. The smell -of the bear had smitten him in the face. - -The moment was a crucial one. The pause was full of fate. Turning his -head in indecision, he caught a cry of pain from the calf as it ran to -its mother; and he saw the blood streaming down its flank. Then the -kingliness of his heart arose victorious. With a roar, he breasted -trampling into the spruce scrub, heedless at last of the dreaded scent. - -The bear, meanwhile, had been seeking escape. He had just emerged -on the other side of the spruces, and was slipping off to find a -secure tree. As the king thundered down upon him, he wheeled with a -savage growl, half squatted back, and struck out sturdily with that -redoubtable paw. But at the same instant the king’s edged hoofs came -down upon him with the impact of a battering-ram. They smashed in his -ribs. They tore open his side. They hurled him over so that his belly -was exposed. He was at a hopeless disadvantage. He had not an instant -for recovery. Those avenging hoofs, with the power of a pile-driver -behind them, smote like lightning. The bear struck savagely, twice, -thrice; and his claws tore their way through hide and muscle till the -king’s blood gushed scarlet over his prostrate foe’s dark fur. Then -the growls and the claw-strokes ceased; and the furry shape lay still, -outstretched, unresisting. - -For a moment or two the king drew off, and eyed the carcass. Then the -remembrance of all his past terror and shame surged hotly through him. -He pounced again upon the body, and pounded it, and trampled it, and -ground it down, till the hideous mass bore no longer a resemblance to -anything that ever carried the breath of life. It was not his enemy -only, not only the assailant of the helpless calf, that he was thus -completely blotting from existence, but it was fear itself that he was -wiping out. - -[Illustration: “IT WAS FEAR ITSELF THAT HE WAS WIPING OUT.”] - -At last, grown suddenly tired of rage, and somewhat faint from the red -draining of his veins, the king turned away and sought his frightened -herd. They gathered about him, trembling with excitement,--the -light-coated cow, the dark yearling, the lank, terrified calf. They -stretched thin noses toward him, questioning, wondering, troubled at -his hot, streaming wounds. But the king held his head high, heeding -neither the wounds nor the herd. He cast one long, proud look up the -valley of the Mamozekel, his immediate, peculiar domain. Then he looked -southward over the lonely Serpentine, northward across the dark-wooded -Nictau, and westward down the flood of the full, united stream. He felt -himself supreme now beyond challenge over all the wild lands of Tobique. - -For a long time the group stood so, breathing at last quietly, still -with that stillness which the furtive kindreds know. There was no -sound save the soft, ear-filling roar of the three rivers, swollen -with freshet, rushing gladly to their confluence. The sound was as a -background to the cool, damp silence of the April wilderness. Some -belated snow in a shaded hollow close at hand shrank and settled with -a hushed, evasive whisper. Then the earliest white-throat, from the -top of a fir-tree, fluted across the pregnant spring solitudes the six -clear notes of his musical and melancholy call. - - -THE END. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING OF THE MAMOZEKEL *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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