The man thought he had better find out the meaning of this, so he
dropped his gun and crawled out over the marsh on hands and knees. He
had not gone far when he saw an elk cow lying dead in the quagmire.
Close beside her lay a little calf. It was still alive, but so much
exhausted that it could not move. Karr was standing beside the calf, now
bending down and licking it, now howling shrilly for help.
The game-keeper raised the calf and began to drag it toward land. When
the dog understood that the calf would be saved he was wild with joy. He
jumped round and round the game-keeper, licking his hands and barking
with delight.
The man carried the baby elk home and shut it up in a calf stall in the
cow shed. Then he got help to drag the mother elk from the marsh. Only
after this had been done did he remember that he was to shoot Karr. He
called the dog to him, and again took him into the forest.
The game-keeper walked straight on toward the dog's grave; but all the
while he seemed to be thinking deeply. Suddenly he turned and walked
toward the manor.
Karr had been trotting along quietly; but when the game-keeper turned
and started for home, he became anxious. The man must have discovered
that it was he that had caused the death of the elk, and now he was
going back to the manor to be thrashed before he was shot!
To be beaten was worse than all else! With that prospect Karr could no
longer keep up his spirits, but hung his head.
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