Neatly they are set, cunning as an Indian himself; hidden in the
soft slime at the margin if the water runs, waiting with open jaws in
the small runway above the dam where the creatures come out from the
swim. A sleek head lifting above the ripples a scrambling foot or two,
--snap! again the price of a pound and a half of powder, a tie of
tobacco. No footmark must the hunter leave, Ma'amselle, unsplashed with
water, no tainting touch of a hand ungloved on chain or stake or trap
itself. Ah! one must know the woods and the stream, the cold and the
snow and the winds."
"You know them, M'sieu, I have no doubt," said Maren, "for you follow
the trapping trail. And those beautiful silver fox, frosty and fine as
the sparkle of a winter morning? The heavy hides of the bear, soft and
glossy and thick as a folded blanket?"
"All the trap,--unless the latter drops through the flimsy roof of some
well-hidden dead-fall, covered with brush."
The girl was not looking at him, her glance being still on the bustling
camp below. The fingers on her knee were laced tight together.
Now she began to speak in a low voice, deep and even.
"Aye! All you have said is true.
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