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!

"Then we noticed that the elk no longer ran so rapidly. He stepped on
the snow more carefully, and every time he lifted his feet, blood could
be seen in his tracks.

"We understood why the poachers had been so persistent! They had
counted on help from the snow. The elk was heavy, and with every step he
sank to the bottom of the drift. The hard crust on the snow was scraping
his legs. It scraped away the fur, and tore out pieces of flesh, so that
he was in torture every time he put his foot down.