he came back leading his horse, which
always groaned under its heavy load of meat, Henri, being a hearty,
jovial soul and fond of society, usually kept with the main body. As
for Dick, he was everywhere at once, at least as much so as it is
possible for human nature to be! His horse never wearied; it seemed to
delight in going at full speed; no other horse in the troop could come
near Charlie, and Dick indulged him by appearing now at the front, now
at the rear, anon in the centre, and frequently _nowhere_!--having gone
off with Crusoe, like a flash of lightning, after a buffalo or a deer.
Dick soon proved himself to be the best hunter of the party, and it was
not long before he fulfilled his promise to Crusoe, and decorated his
neck with a collar of grizzly bear claws.

Well, when the trappers came to a river where there were signs of
beaver, they called a halt, and proceeded to select a safe and
convenient spot, near wood and water, for the camp. Here the property
of the band was securely piled in such a manner as to form a breastwork
or slight fortification, and here Walter Cameron established
head-quarters. This was always the post of danger, being exposed to
sudden attack by prowling savages, who often dogged the footsteps of the
party in their journeyings to see what they could steal. But Cameron
was an old hand, and they found it difficult to escape his vigilant eye.

From this point all the trappers were sent forth in small parties every
morning in various directions, some on foot and some on horseback,
according to the distances they had to go; but they never went further
than twenty miles, as they had to return to camp every evening.

Each trapper had ten steel traps allowed him. These he set every night,
and visited every morning, sometimes oftener, when practicable,
selecting a spot in the stream where many trees had been cut down by
beavers for the purpose of damming up the water. In some places as many
as fifty tree stumps were seen in one spot, within the compass of half
an acre, all cut through at about eighteen inches from the root. We may
remark, in passing, that the beaver is very much like a gigantic
water-rat, with this marked difference, that its tail is very broad and
flat like a paddle. The said tail is a greatly esteemed article of
food, as, indeed, is the whole body at certain seasons of the year. The
beaver's fore-legs are very small and short, and it uses its paws as
hands to con