A BEAR ON FIRE. 19

other side dozens of long black and brown
outreaching noses. Elk!

They had come noiselessly, they stood
motionless. They did not look back or
aside, only straight ahead. We could al-
most have touched the nearest one. They

were large and fat, almost as fat as cows;
certainly larger than the ordinary Jersey.
The peculiar thing about them was the
way, the level way, in which they held their
small, long heads—straight out; the huge
horns of the males lying far back on their
shoulders. And then for the first time I
could make out what these horns are for
—to part the brush with as they lead
through the thicket, and thus save their
coarse coats of hair, which is very rotten,
and could be torn off in a little time if not
thus protected. They are never used to
fight with, never; the elk uses only his
_feet. If on the defense, however, the male
elk will throw his nose close to the ground
and receive the enemy on his horns.
Suddenly and all together, and perhaps