a
foot off and escape, but this would make us all the more eager to
follow the trail or trap line.

[Illustration: WOODCOCK ON THE TRAP LINE.]

As we had gotten by this time several deer and had caught three bear
(one in one of the deadfalls that I had built the fall before, that
Will Howard called that "dashed dinged riggin'," when he found the
bear in it) we wanted to get them out to Kane, that being the nearest
point to a railroad. We started early one morning, Bill taking an axe
and I carrying the saw, so that if we found any large trees across
the trail that we had cut out the year before we would have the saw
to do it with.

After carrying the saw some distance and not finding any trees of
much size across the road, we left it and only took the axe. We found
but very little in the trail to cut out.

We got to Kane in time to engage a man with team to come to camp the
next day and take out the venison and bear and bring in some
necessary commissaries that we were getting short of. It was only a
few days after this that I found that a bear got in one of the traps.
The trap chain having a swivel that was pretty well worn, broke, and
the bear went off with the trap. I followed the trail until the
middle of the afternoon, when I became satisfied that Bruin was
disgusted with that locality, as he had continued his course nearly
due east without a stop. I could see no signs that led me to think
that Bruin intended to stop for the next fifty miles.

So I gave up the chase and went to camp, getting there long after all
good boys should have been in bed. Bill was up and out at the door
listening if he could hear a gun shot or anything to indicate what
had become of me. We held a council of war before going to bed, and
decided to give Bruin another day's rest or travel, as he saw fit to
do, before we started on the trail. We would go to all the traps that
had not been tended to in the past three or four days and then take
up the trail of Bruin and follow him to the end of his trail, no
matter how long the trail might be.

There was but little danger of the trail becoming snowed under or
lost, as there was nearly a foot of snow on the ground, and the trap
would make a broad trail in the snow, which was quite easily
followed. The next day, as intended, we put in a full day attending
the traps and got some fur, but I do not remember just what. We
started out on the trail of Bruin with a three days' ration of the
usua