Landing was extremely difficult because there was no sand beach, and great care had to be exercised that the canoe was not dashed on the rocks and her sides ripped. Both Mr. Evans and Uncle Teddy stepped overboard in water up to their knees and held the boat steady while the rest climbed out onto the rocks. This was an exciting business, for every few seconds a wave would wash up over those rocks, and if the leap was not made just at the right instant, the unwary lander got a pair of wet feet. But that only added to the fun. When all were out the canoe was pulled up and carried back a safe distance and left upside down with the paddles underneath it, so the sun could not shine on them and crack them. Sunshine, which gives life to most things, is absolutely fatal to wet paddle blades.
It was hard walking. The woods were swampy in places and there were very few paths. But almost 50 as soon as they landed they saw signs of the moose. In the soft mud and near the shore were his footprints, and numerous trees bore evidence that he had nibbled their twigs, while there were other marks on the bark which Uncle Teddy explained were made by his striking his antlers against the trunks and branches. Sir Moose himself was nowhere to be seen. His trail led into the woods and they were doing their best to follow. Of course they were making enough noise to scare away a herd of buffalos, but there didn’t seem to be any way to remedy the matter. Hinpoha would shriek when she stepped on a rolling stick, thinking it was a snake, and Katherine was continually tripping over something and sprawling face downward.
“The Argonautic half of the Expedition came up to our expectations,” said Migwan, as they floundered on, “but the Calydonian Hunt seems to be a wild goose chase.”
“Where do mooses stay when they are in the woods?” asked Hinpoha, falling over a root and pausing to rub her ankle.
“On the ground,” said the Captain, trying to be funny.
“How very odd,” said Hinpoha. “I had an idea they climbed up into a tree and built a nest. I may not know much about your old mythology, but I do know a few things about a moose.”
“Maybe you do,” replied the Captain with that 51 maddening twinkle in his eye, “but anybody that calls the plural of ‘moose’ ‘mooses’ couldn’t be expected to know much about them.”
“Oh, well,” said Hinpoha, laughing with the rest, “have it your own way. By the way, what is the plural–meece? Anyway, I wasn’t talking to you in the first place when I asked my question. I was talking to Uncle Teddy, and I’m going to ask him again. Where would you go to look for a moose in the woods?”
“They like shallow water in summer and slow-moving streams,” replied Uncle Teddy. “They wade out and eat the plants growing in the water.”
“I suppose if we see him at all we’ll see him that way,” said Hinpoha. “We’ll probably only get a glimpse of him from a distance.”