meaning. It always meant danger, and never more so than now.

Bounding forward in the direction of the sound, in a few seconds his
eyes fell upon the cause of the disturbance. A great bull moose was
charging, and the object of his rage was the Colonel, frantically
striving to free himself from a tangle of fallen tree-tops into which
he had plunged. That the man had fled a short distance after wounding
the moose was quite evident. But to escape now by flight from that
infuriated animal was utterly impossible. This the Colonel realised,
so his only hope lay in seeking refuge amidst the tops of the fallen
trees. This position, however, was most precarious, for the branches
were half rotten and brittle, absolutely unable to withstand the
terrific goring impact of those wide-spread antlers, impelled by
insensate rage and over one thousand pounds of flesh, bone, and sinewy
muscles.

In an instant Dane comprehended the seriousness of the situation. He
knew that there was no time to lose, so bringing his musket to his
shoulder, he took a quick, careful aim and fired. The great antlered
demon was but a few feet from the tree-tops when the bullet tore into
its side just back of the shoulder. It charged and crashed into the
branches, but where it charged it fell, and after a brief convulsive
struggle remained still. The fighting days of the monarch of the
trails were ended.

Hastening at once to the spot, Dane found the Colonel pinned down
amidst a tangle of branches and antlers, and unable to help himself.
With considerable difficulty the courier at last assisted him to his
feet. Apart from several bruises upon the body, the only injury was in
the left arm, on which one of the prongs had struck a glancing blow.