“We shot down, suddenly, and lit in the centre of the thicket.  The three rocks moved.  They were three elk—­a bull and two cows—­resting in the bleak forest.

“When we alighted, the elk bull rose and came toward us.  He was the most superb animal we had ever seen.  When he saw that it was only some poor wild geese that had awakened him, he lay down again.

“‘No, old granddaddy, you mustn’t go back to sleep!’ I cried.  ’Flee as fast as you can!  There are poachers in the forest, and they are bound for this very deer fold.’

“‘Thank you, goose mother!’ said the elk.  He seemed to be dropping to sleep while he was speaking.  ’But surely you must know that we elk are under the protection of the law at this time of the year.  Those poachers are probably out for fox,’ he yawned.

“’There are plenty of fox trails in the forest, but the poachers are not looking for them.  Believe me, old granddaddy!  They know that you are lying here, and are coming to attack you.  They have no guns with them—­only spears and knives—­for they dare not fire a shot at this season.’

“The elk bull lay there calmly, but the elk cows seemed to feel uneasy.

“‘It may be as the geese say,’ they remarked, beginning to bestir themselves.

“‘You just lie down!’ said the elk bull.  ’There are no poachers coming here; of that you may be certain.’

“There was nothing more to be done, so we wild geese rose again into the air.  But we continued to circle over the place, to see how it would turn out for the elk.

“We had hardly reached our regular flying altitude, when we saw the elk bull come out from the thicket.  He sniffed the air a little, then walked straight toward the poachers.  As he strode along he stepped upon dry twigs that crackled noisily.  A big barren marsh lay just beyond him.  Thither he went and took his stand in the middle, where there was nothing to hide him from view.

“There he stood until the poachers emerged from the woods.  Then he turned and fled in the opposite direction.  The poachers let loose the dogs, and they themselves skied after him at full speed.

“The elk threw back his head and loped as fast as he could.  He kicked up snow until it flew like a blizzard about him.  Both dogs and men were left far behind.  Then the elk stopped, as if to await their approach.  When they were within sight he dashed ahead again.  We understood that he was purposely tempting the hunters away from the place where the cows were.  We thought it brave of him to face danger himself, in order that those who were dear to him might be left in safety.  None of us wanted to leave the place until we had seen how all this was to end.

“Thus the chase continued for two hours or more.  We wondered that the poachers went to the trouble of pursuing the elk when they were not armed with rifles.  They couldn’t have thought that they could succeed in tiring out a runner like him!