small eyes
glowed suddenly red with vengeful fury, as he wheeled and gathered
himself, half crouching upon his haunches, to meet the tremendous
attack. In this attitude all his vast strength was perfectly poised,
ready for use in any direction. The moose, had he been attacking a
rival of his own kind, would have charged with antlers down, but
against all other enemies the weapons he relied upon were his gigantic
hoofs, edged like chisels. As he reached his sullenly waiting
antagonist he reared on his hind-legs, towering like a black rock
about to fall and crush whatever was in its path. Like pile-drivers
his fore-hoofs struck downwards, one closely following the other.

The bear swung aside as lightly as a weasel, and eluded, but only by a
hair's breadth, that destructive stroke. As he wheeled he delivered a
terrific, swinging blow, with his armed forepaw, upon his assailant's
shoulder.

The blow was a fair one. Any ordinary moose bull would have gone down
beneath it, with his shoulder-joint shattered to splinters. But this
great bull merely staggered, and stood for a second in amazement. Then
he whipped about and darted upon the bear with a sort of hoarse
scream, his eyes flashing with a veritable madness. He neither reared
to strike, nor lowered his antlers to gore, but seemed intent upon
tearing the foe with his teeth, as a mad horse might. At the sight of
such resistless fury Crimmins involuntarily tightened his grip on his
branch and muttered: "That ain't no _moose_! It's a--" But before he
could finish his comparison, astonishment stopped him. The bear,
unable with all his strength and weight to withstand the shock of that
straight and incredibly swift charge, had been rolled over and over
down the gentle slope of the beach. At the same moment the moose,
blinded by his rage and unable to check himself, had tripped over a
log that lay hidden in the bushes, and fallen headlong on his nose.

Utterly cowed by the overwhelming completeness of this overthrow, the
bear was on his feet again before his conqueror, and scurrying to
refuge like a frightened rat. He made for the nearest tree, and that
nearest tree, to Crimmins's dismay, was Crimmins's. The startled guide
swung himself hastily to a higher branch which stretched well out over
the water.

Before the great bull could recover his footing, the fugitive had
gained a good start. But desperately swift though he was, the doom
that thundered behind him was swifter,