t at this
season.'

"The elk bull lay there calmly, but the elk cows seemed to feel uneasy.

"'It may be as the geese say,' they remarked, beginning to bestir
themselves.

"'You just lie down!' said the elk bull. 'There are no poachers coming
here; of that you may be certain.'

"There was nothing more to be done, so we wild geese rose again into the
air. But we continued to circle over the place, to see how it would turn
out for the elk.

"We had hardly reached our regular flying altitude, when we saw the elk
bull come out from the thicket. He sniffed the air a little, then walked
straight toward the poachers. As he strode along he stepped upon dry
twigs that crackled noisily. A big barren marsh lay just beyond him.
Thither he went and took his stand in the middle, where there was
nothing to hide him from view.

"There he stood until the poachers emerged from the woods. Then he
turned and fled in the opposite direction. The poachers let loose the
dogs, and they themselves skied after him at full speed.

"The elk threw back his head and loped as fast as he could. He kicked up
snow until it flew like a blizzard about him. Both dogs and men were
left far behind. Then the elk stopped, as if to await their approach.
When they were within sight he dashed ahead again. We understood that he
was purposely tempting the hunters away from the place where the cows
were. We thought it brave of him to face danger himself, in order that
those who were dear to him might be left in safety. None of us wanted to
leave the place until we had seen how all this was to end.

"Thus the chase continued for two hours or more. We wondered that the
poachers went to the trouble of pursuing the elk when they were not
armed with rifles. They couldn't have thought that they could succeed in
tiring out a runner like him!

"Then we noticed that the elk no longer ran so rapidly. He stepped on
the snow more carefully, and every time he lifted his feet, blood could
be seen in his tracks.

"We understood why the poachers had been so persistent! They had
counted on help from the snow. The elk was heavy, and with every step he
sank to the bottom of the drift. The hard crust on the snow was scraping
his legs. It scraped away the fur, and tore out pieces of flesh, so that
he was in torture every time he put his foot down.

"The poachers and the dogs, who were so light that the ice crust could
hold their weight, pursued him all the while. He ran on