rapidly reloading his gun,
the others doing the same. Off they set along the blood-marked trail,
and, about the end of a mile, Wikonaie gave a shout of joy, for there,
just ahead of him, fallen at the foot of an unusually large tree, was
their quarry, to all appearances dead. Now, for the first time,
Wikonaie showed a rashness which he had not before; for dropping his
gun, and drawing his hunting-knife, he went triumphantly up to the
fallen monarch, and waved the keen steel above his massive antlers in
token of victory.

The next instant, with a roar of startling ferocity, the moose sprang
to his feet, hurling Wikonaie over on his back, right in front of him,
where a single stroke from one of his tremendous forelegs would have
made of the Indian a bleeding lifeless hulk.

Fortunate indeed was the presence of the dogs, Dour and Dandy, as they,
realizing the crisis, sprang at the moose's head with utter
fearlessness, and one of them succeeded in securing a temporary hold
upon the thick neck. This bewildered the monster for a moment, and
that gave Hector an opportunity, to which the boy, all of a tremble as
he was, happily proved equal.

To free himself from the dogs the moose tossed his head high in the
air, thereby flinging Dour to one side, but at the same time exposing
in the completest way his magnificent breast. Hardly pausing to take
aim, Hector fired, and the bullet went straight to the heart of the
noble creature.

With a despairing bellow, almost like a great human groan, he once more
sank at the foot of the tree, this time to rise no more.

How those three rejoiced over their great triumph, Baptiste claiming
that his first shot had been fatal; Wikonaie proud of his little
Ti-ti-pu, now a strong young brave, skilled in the chase, and a man to
be feared in war: and Hector, thankful for the opportunity which had
enabled him to save his Indian friend.

Late as the hour was, they decided to return to Wikonaie's tepee, where
half the night was spent in extolling Ti-ti-pu's prowess and further
cementing the friendship so strangely begun.

And not alone was Hector benefited, but Wikonaie was able to promise
that the settlers could return unmolested to their farms in the summer,
partly because of his own feeling, and partly because the North-Westers
had ceased to bribe the Indians to make trouble, and they required
little persuading to follow the leadership of Wikonaie, their chief.

But the settlers still