il, and a hook baited with
some bits of fat pork. It did the business, for the stream fairly
swarmed with trout. Taking three or four trout for bait, I was soon
at work building deadfalls. It was not long before I had three or
four built close up under the banks and behind logs where I thought
the boys would not see them.

I then scampered back to camp and went to cutting wood like a good
boy. I had only just got to camp when I heard a gun shot away up the
creek, and in about an hour Charley came dragging a yearling deer.
Will did not show up for some time after dark, but had nothing,
though he said that he had a fair standing shot at a large buck, but
his gun snapped on him and he lost.

The next morning we were out at the peep of day, each one going his
own way. I went down the creek so that I could take a peep at my
traps. None had been disturbed until I came to the last one. There,
to my satisfaction, I found a mink. As I had passed a small run that
emptied into the main creek I noticed that some animal had gone over
a pole that lay across a little run and partly in the water. The
animal had brushed the snow off the pole in going over it. I gave it
no particular attention, thinking that it was a coon, but when I got
the mink I thought I would go back to camp, make a stretching board
and stretch the mink skin and get a trap and set at the run for the
coon, as I supposed.

I will mention that furs were bringing about the same prices then as
at the present time, 1907, a good No. 1 mink being worth about $10.

Near the camp was a large elm tree that was hollow, and the fire had
burned a hole out on one side up the tree, nearly as high as a man's
head. After I had stretched the mink skin I hung it up in this hollow
tree, and it was a very good place to dry the pelts that I caught.
The boys never mistrusted that I was doing any trapping for small
game.

To get back to my job, I took one out of three steel traps No. 3, and
all the traps that we had brought with us. In fact, the other boys
did not care to trap. When I got back at the run I gave more
attention to the trail of the supposed coon, and discovered that it
was an otter. With greater caution I waded up the run until I found a
suitable place to set the trap, knowing that he would be back that
way again sooner or later.

After setting the trap I climbed the ridge to look for deer and got
two shots during the afternoon but missed both. All came to camp that
n