"
At a broad, muddy ford they passed an amazing number of tracks,
mostly deer, but a few of panther, lynx, fisher, wolf, otter, and
mink.
In the afternoon they reached the lake. The stream, quite a
broad one here, emptied in about four miles south of the camp.
Leaving a deadfall near its mouth they followed the shore and
made a log trap every quarter mile just above the high water
mark.
When they reached the place of Rolf's first deer they turned
aside to see it. The gray jays had picked a good deal of the
loose meat. No large animal had troubled it, and yet in the
neighbourhood they found the tracks of both wolves and foxes;
"Ugh," said Quonab, "they smell it and come near, but they know
that a man has been here; they are not very hungry, so keep away.
This is good for trap."
So they made two deadfalls with the carrion half way between
them. Then one or two more traps and they reached home, arriving
at the camp just as darkness and a heavy rainfall began.
"Good," said Quonab, "our deadfalls are ready; we have done all
the work our fingers could not do when the weather is very cold,
and the ground too hard for stakes to be driven.
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