Then the screw was removed and
put on the other spring; it bent, and the jaws hung loose. The
Indian forced them wide open, drew out the mangled limbs, a the
trapper was free, but so near death, it seemed they were too
late.
Rolf spread his coat. The Indian made a fire. In fifteen
minutes they were pouring hot tea between victim's lips. Even as
they did, his feeble throat gave out again the long, low moan.
The weather was mild now. The prisoner was not actually frozen,
but numbed and racked. Heat, hot tea, kindly rubbing, and he
revived a little.
At first they thought him dying, but in an hour recovered enough
to talk. In feeble accents and broken phrases they learned the
tale:
"Yest -- m-m-m. Yesterday -- no; two or three days back --
m-m-m-m-m -- I dunno; I was a goin' -- roun' me traps -- me bear
traps. Didn't have no luck m-m-m (yes, I'd like another sip; ye
ain't got no whiskey no?) m-m-m. Nothing in any trap, and when I
come to this un -- oh-h - m-m; I seen - the bait was stole by
birds, an' the pan -- m-m-m; an' the pan, m-m-m - (yes, that's
better) -- an' the pan laid bare. So I starts to cover it with
-- ce-ce-dar; the ony thing I c'd get -- m-m-m-w- -- wuz leanin'
over -- to fix tother side -- me foot slipped on -- the -- ice --
ev'rytbing was icy -- an'-- m-m-m-m -- I lost -- me balance -- me
knee the pan -- O Lord -- how I suffer! -- m-m-m it grabbed me --
knee an'-- h-h-hand -" His voice died to a whisper and ceased;
he seemed sinking.
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