He could feel a new stir in the land.

As the moose were coming into the land, other kinds of life were coming in.
Forest and stream and air seemed palpitant with their presence.

The news of it was borne in upon him, not by sight, or sound, or smell, but by some other and subtler sense.

He heard nothing, saw nothing, yet knew that the land was somehow different; that through it strange things were afoot and ranging; and he resolved to investigate after he had finished the business in hand.
At last, at the end of the fourth day, he pulled the great moose down.
For a day and a night he remained by the kill, eating and sleeping, turn and turn about.

Then, rested, refreshed and strong, he turned his face toward camp and John Thornton.