"Good land! 'twas a queer sight. 'Herb Heal,' thinks I, 'now's your
chance! If you can only manage to nab that moose-head, you'll get two
hundred dollars for it at Greenville, sure!' And mighty few cents I had
jest then.
"I could a'most have cried over my tough luck in not having one dose of
lead left. But the bull's back was towards me. The water filled his ears
and nose, so that he couldn't hear or smell. And he was having a
splendid tuck-in. It was big sport to hear him crunch those lily-roots."
"I should think it was!" burst out Cyrus enviously. "But did you have
the heart to kill him in cold blood, in the middle of his meal?"
"I did. I guess I wouldn't do it now; anyhow, not unless I was very
badly off for food. But I had an old mother living at Greenville that
time,"--here there was the least possible tremble in the woodsman's
voice,--"and while I paddled alongside the moose, without making a
sound, I was thinking that the price I'd be sure to get from some city
swell for the head would come in handy to make her comfortable. The
creature never suspicioned danger till I was close to him, and had my
axe lifted, ready to strike.
Pages:
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231