They had come to within about twenty yards of the moose when he reached the shore. As he waded out onto the rocks he turned for an instant and stood looking at them as much as to say, “Well, I guess I beat you to it all right,” then turned and bounded away into the thick forest.
“I wouldn’t have missed that for a good deal,” Rex declared as soon as the moose had disappeared.
“You’re lucky,” Bob told him. “It isn’t very often that you get to see one of those fellows now days.”
It was late afternoon and they had nearly reached the upper end of the lake. They had made no stop for dinner but had eaten a light lunch in the canoe, as they wished to make up for lost time. Rex and Jack had, for short stretches, relieved Bob and the Indian at the paddles and, although Rex was not very skillful at it, nevertheless he was rapidly catching the knack and they had made excellent progress.
“Look over on the shore opposite here, Bob,” Jack said suddenly. “See, on that big rock just in front of that tall pine.”
“I see. It looks like a dog.”
“It’s either a dog or a wolf. What do you think Kernertok?”
“Injun no see good enough. Mebby um Sicum. You think?”
“It’s too far away to tell,” Bob replied. “But we’ll paddle over that way and see.”
They changed their course and headed toward the opposite shore.