Beadle's Dime Novels No. 96: Little Moccasin — page 39: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE MOOFZE. 41 and then there {s no help for it. He must charge, or die in his tracks.” “Charge !—and what is to become of us, pray, if he gets over the bridge ?” asked the captain. ‘“* But he won’t get over the bridge; and, if he alicnild, the dogs will keep him busy till we are treed, and then let him beware !” While he was yet speaking, a very large bull moose, a mag- nificent creature, with antlers overtopping the binches that grew on the river-bank, came with a leisurely trot over the fallen trees and log fences toward the further end of the bridge. There he stopped and took a survey of the neighborhood— the wind was favorable to our hunters, the baying of the dog, if it was a dog, had died away—and threw up his head, as if listening ; and then he laid back his broad antlers, and stood as if preparing for another charge upon the great wil- derness by opening a path for himself ten or twelve feet Wide through the tangled undergrowth. At last, after a little further consideration, throwing. up his head two: or three times, as if not altogether satisfied with appearances at the other end of the bridge, he set his foot upon the log, and snorted, and then took his way over it with a slow, regular trot. Having reached the middle, the two dogs were let loose. Another appeared on the edge of the bank—a small, thievish-looking Indian cur. Fletcher flung himself forward with a scream—Gage followed—the poor animal stood for a moment confused and trembling, and then tried to return upon his tracks—Fletcher fired—the moose reared and balanced for a moment, and then pitched headlong into the gulf below. “ Enough !” said Fletcher—“ we must leave him there, if we hope to get our other business off our hands before night- fall.” “Acreed! Let us finish that job first—but just look 0’ there !” The Indian dog was stealing away with his tail between his legs, and Snapper standing on the butt of the log and yelling after him; while Tiger, being much older and larger, and somewhat more magnanimous, kept up a low, growling underbase till the stranger was lost in the woods. CoOmicbookxs.conn