She tried to rise, but could get no secure foothold, so she sank and
sank. Karr stood and looked on, not daring to move. When he saw that the
elk could not save herself, he ran away as fast as he could, for he had
begun to think of the beating he would get if it were discovered that he
had brought a mother elk to grief. He was so terrified that he dared not
pause for breath until he reached home.
It was this that the dog recalled; and it troubled him in a way very
different from the recollection of all his other misdeeds. This was
doubtless because he had not really meant to kill either the elk cow or
her calf, but had deprived them of life without wishing to do so.
"But maybe they are alive yet!" thought the dog. "They were not dead
when I ran away; perhaps they saved themselves."
He was seized with an irresistible longing to know for a certainty while
yet there was time for him to find out. He noticed that the game-keeper
did not have a firm hold on the leash; so he made a sudden spring, broke
loose, and dashed through the woods down to the marsh with such speed
that he was out of sight before the game-keeper had time to level his
gun.
There was nothing for the game-keeper to do but to rush after him. When
he got to the marsh he found the dog standing upon a knoll, howling with
all his might.
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