The nearest was but a dozen yards from
him; and others, again, grew at about the same distance from that one,
and from each other. Basil now conceived the idea of escaping to the
nearest, and from that to the next, and by this means getting back into
the thick forest. Once there, he believed that he would be the better
able to effect his escape, and perhaps reach the camp by dodging from
tree to tree. He could beat the moose for a dozen yards--getting a
little the start of him--and this he hoped to be able to do. Should he
fail in his short race, however--should his foot slip--the alternative
was fearful. _It was no other than death_!

He knew that, but it did not change his resolution to make the attempt.
He only waited for the animal to work round between him and the tree
towards which he intended to run. You will wonder that he did not
prefer to have the moose on the other side. But he did not, for this
reason--had the bull been there, he could have sprung after him at the
first start; whereas, when heading the other way, Basil believed he
could brush close past, and gain an advantage, as the unwieldy brute,
taken by surprise, would require some time in turning himself to give
chase.

The opportunity at length arrived; and nerving himself for the race, the
hunter sprang past the moose, brushing the very tips of its antlers. He
ran without either stopping or even looking back, until he had reached
the tree, and sheltered himself behind its trunk. The moose had
followed, and arrived but the moment after, snorting and whistling
furiously. Enraged at the _ruse_, it attacked this tree, as it had the
other, with hoof and horns; and Basil nimbly evaded both by keeping on
the opposite side, as before.

In a few minutes he prepared himself for a second rush, and once more
started. A third tree was reached in safety--and then a fourth, and a
fifth, and many others, in a similar manner--the moose all the while
following in hot pursuit. Basil had begun to hope that in this way he
would get off, when, to his chagrin, he saw that an open space still
intervened between him and the thick woods, upon which there were only a
few trees, and those so small that not one of them would have sheltered
him. This tract was full two hundred yards in width, and extended all
along the edge of the thick forest. He dared not cross it. The moose
would overtake him before he could get half the way; and he was obliged
to give up th