"Doesn't he belong to us, Owen? You killed him."
"That's a question. They wounded him pretty badly—otherwise he would never have stumbled this way."
"I'd claim the game," came from Andrews. "Somebody wounded him, it's true, but they would never have gotten the moose."
Leaving Andrews and Colette to watch the game, Dale, accompanied by Owen, walked back to camp, where he had his wound washed and dressed. The cut was a clean one, for which the young lumberman was thankful. Some salve was put on it; and in the course of a couple of weeks the spot was almost as well as ever.
The shots had been heard by a number of the other lumbermen, and a dozen gathered around and walked to the gully to look at the moose. It was certainly a fine creature, with a noble pair of antlers.
"If nobody comes to claim that carcass you've got somethin' worth having," was old Winthrop's comment. "But some hunter will be along soon, don't ye worry."
Yet, strange to say, no one came to put in a claim, and a few hours later the moose was placed on a drag and taken to camp. All the men had a grand feast on the meat, and the antlers and pelt were sold at a fair price to a trader who happened to come that way. The total amount was put into the cigar box by Owen.
"For it belongs to Dale as much as myself," said Owen. Jean Colette claimed nothing, for he knew that his bird-shot had had little effect on the moose.
Dale was afraid that he would run behind the others in work because of his wound. But such was not the case, for the day after the encounter at the ridge it began to snow and blow at a furious rate, so that none of the loggers could go out. The time was spent mostly indoors or at the stables where the ten horses belonging to the camp were kept. The men were never very idle, for they had their own mending to do and often their own washing. The days, too, were short, and the majority of the hands retired to their bunks as soon as it grew dark.
"This weather will bring out the sleds," observed Owen. "I guess Mr. Paxton will give orders to carry logs as soon as it clears off."