Boy Scouts on Hudson Bay | Page 5

he lowered his head
and just charged us."
"But he took it away with him, as sure as you live, fellows!" gasped
Jimmy, as a sense of his deep affliction came over him. "My dear
sweater that I loved so much."
"Bully for the moose!" cried Jack.
"He'd done us all a mighty good turn, even if he never meant to," added
Frank, "now we've seen the last of that terrible old garment, and
Jimmy'll just have to get out the nice new one he's been carrying in his
bag."
"Just think of the old fool, would you, a-tearin' around the woods with
that red flag hanging from his horns," Jimmy wailed. "Don't I hope it
keeps him wild right along, so that he'll smash into a tree, and break his
blessed neck! But I'm glad he didn't take a notion to carry me off along
with my sweater, and that's no lie!"
The little excitement soon died away. Not much damage had been done
after all by that mad charge of the infuriated bull moose. The rent in the
canvas could be readily mended, and as for Jimmy's loss it was his
companions' gain, so that there would be no lament made save by the
late owner.
"I didn't know moose ever roamed as far north as this," remarked Ned.
"How about that, Francois?" asked Frank, who, it might be noticed,
kept his gun close beside him now, as though meaning to be ready in

case another cause for excitement arose.
"It is not often zat ze bull moose come up here," replied the French
Canadian, in his queer patois; "but sometimes in summer zey wander
far afield. I haf seen ze same so mooch as three hundred mile north
from here."
"One thing sure, there are plenty of caribou around," Teddy went on to
say; "and when the meat's tender, it suits me all right. I'm running
across new things every day up here, and don't feel sorry I came, so
far."
"New things seem to be running across us also," chuckled Frank; "for
instance, the monster that just invaded our camp. But as our supply of
red sweaters has given out now, we'll hope not to have a repeat of that
charge in a hurry."
"Me for a tree if ever I hear anything on four legs heading this way
again!" Jimmy told them. "Why, what would have happened to me if
the old four flusher had set his hoofs square on my stomach? I'd be
feeling pretty punk right now, believe me."
"I think I'll take to the tall timber myself if this thing gets common,"
was what Jack observed. "My stars! but he was a whopper. Looked like
the side of a house to me when he sizzled past, scattering the fire,
leveling our best tent, and kicking up a whole circus with a band wagon
attached."
"What was it we were talking about when we had that unexpected
call?" asked Teddy.
"Ned was telling us something more that trapper we met said to him
about the queer things that happen away up here in this uninhabited
country, which is so different from any other known land. Didn't he say
something about a phantom fleet of vessels that kept bobbing up every
now and then, only to speed away like ghosts. What did you make of
that silly rot, Ned?"

"I've been puzzling my head over it ever since," Ned replied, "but for
the life of me can't make head or tail of the story. I've almost come to
the conclusion that the trapper was a little dippy, and just imagined he
saw those vessels."
"Sounds like it to me, Ned," Jack declared. "Whatever would vessels of
any kind want up in Hudson Bay, if not to fish, or hunt whales, or seals,
or walrus? And why should they flit around like ghosts, as he said?
Chances are the old chap was using up his surplus stock of strong drink,
and saw things where they didn't exist."
"Well, anyway," Jimmy ventured, reflectively, "it's me that hopes we'll
run foul of this same queer disappearing fleet, because if we do it's a
pipe cinch we'll scrape all the mystery off the story. We always manage
that when we start into anything. It seems to be the scout way of doing
things."
"For my part," declared Frank, "I take little stock in that yarn of the
trapper. I imagine it's in a line with the big story of the mine syndicate
that wants to unload on Mr. Bosworth. This is the country for
whopping lies. Everything is on so big a scale up here, you know,
stories have to keep along with them."
"And moose are as big as houses," added Jimmy.
"How is it we don't see you