But all attempts to trap or shoot him were vain, and
their acquaintance might have ended as it began, but for an
accident.
It proved a winter of much snow. Heavy snow is the worst
misfortune that can befall the wood folk in fur. It hides their
food beyond reach, and it checks their movements so they can
neither travel far in search of provender nor run fast to escape
their enemies. Deep snow then means fetters, starvation, and
death. There are two ways of meeting the problem: stilts and
snowshoes. The second is far the better. The caribou, and the
moose have stilts; the rabbit, the panther, and the lynx wear
snowshoes. When there are three or four feet of soft snow, the
lynx is king of all small beasts, and little in fear of the large
ones. Man on his snowshoes has most wild four-foots at his
mercy.
Skookum, without either means of meeting the trouble was left
much alone in the shanty. Apparently, it was on one of these
occasions that the silver fox had driven him nearly frantic by
eating rabbits on the roof above him.
The exasperating robbery of their trap line had gone on
irregularly all winter, but the thief was clever enough or lucky
enough to elude them.
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