n November; I'd wounded a deer, and
sent Crop forward on his trail to overtake and secure him. It was a
big buck, with long horns, and Crop had a pretty good general idea of
what sich things meant. He was cautious about cultivatin' too close an
acquaintance with such an animal, unless something oncommon obligated
him to do so. I heard him bayin' a little way over a ridge layin' gist
beyond where I shot the buck. I warn't in any great hurry, for I knew
Crop would attend to his case, and I tho't I'd wipe out my rifle afore
I loaded it again. I was standin' by the upturned roots of a tall fir
tree that had been blown down, and in fallin' had lodged in a crotch
of a great birch, maybe twenty feet from the ground, and broke off. I
stepped onto the butt of the fallen spruce, and was takin' my time to
clean my gun, when I heard a crashin' among the brush on the other
side of the ridge, as if some mighty big animal was comin' my way. I
walked pretty quick along up the slopin' log till I was, maybe fifteen
feet from the ground, and I saw Crop comin' over the ridge, in what
the Doctor would call a high state of narvous excitement, with his
tail between his legs, lookin' back over his shoulder, and expressin'
his astonishment in a low, quick bark, at every jump, at something he
seemed to regard as mighty onpleasant on his trail. I didn't have to
wait long to find out what it was, for about the biggest bull moose I
ever happened to see, came crashin' like a steam-engine after him. He
wasn't more than two rods behind the dog, and if I ever saw an ugly
looking beast, that moose was the one. Every hair seemed to stand
towards his head, and if he wasn't in earnest I never saw an animal
that was. He was puttin' in his best jumps, and the way he hurried up
Crop's cakes was a thing to be astonished at. The dog didn't see me,
and seemed to be principled agin stoppin' to inquire my whereabouts.
He dashed under the log where I stood, and the moose after him like
mad. He seemed to be expectin' aid and comfort from me, as the papers
say, and was wonderin', no doubt, where me and my rifle was all this
time. I called after him, but he was in a hurry and couldn't stop, for
there was a thing he didn't care about shakin' hands with, not three
rods from his tail. He heard me, though, and took a circle round a
great boulder, and the moose after him, and as he got straightened my
way, I called him again, and he saw me. He leaped onto the log and
came r