he said.

They saw a small snare for rabbits, made by bending over a stout bush,
to which was attached a cord of strong deerskin, cut perhaps from Long
Jim's clothing. This cord was fastened around a little circle of sticks
set in the ground. A little wooden trigger in the center of the circle
was baited with the leaves which rabbits love. When Mr. Foolish Rabbit
reached over for his favorite food, he sprang the trigger, the noose
slipped, caught him around the neck, the released bush flew back with a
jerk, and he was quickly choked to death.

"That's Long Jim all over," said Shif'less Sol admiringly. "I kin see
him in that buckskin cord, them sticks, an' that noose. Too weak to go
huntin', he sets a trap. Oh, he's smart, he is! An' he's been ketchin'
somethin', too. See this bit o' rabbit fur."

"Trust Long Jim to get something to eat," said Henry, "and to cook it
the best way that ever could be found. We must be coming pretty close to
him now."

"Yes, here are signs of his trail," said Tom Ross. "I'd bet my scalp
that he's got a dozen uv these snares scattered around through the
valley, an' that he's livin' on the fat uv the land without ever firin'
a shot. Stop, do you smell that?"

They stopped and sniffed the air inquiringly. A faint, delicate aroma
tickled the nostrils of all three. It was soothing and pleasant, and
they sniffed again.

"Now, that is Long Jim an' no mistake," whispered Shif'less Sol. "It's
shorely his sign."

"Seems to me you're right," Henry whispered back, "but we mustn't make
any mistake."

They crept down the slope, among the bushes, with such care that neither
could hear either of the other two moving. All the while that enchanting
aroma grew stronger. Shif'less Sol, despite his caution, was obliged to
raise his nose and take another sniff.

"It's Long Jim! It must be Long Jim! It can't be anything else but Long
Jim at work!" he murmured.

After ten minutes of creeping and crawling down the slope, Henry softly
pulled aside a thick bush and pointed with a long forefinger.

In a little dip, almost a pit, a long-legged, long-bodied man sat before
a rude oven built of stones evidently gathered from the surrounding
slopes. Within the oven smoldered coals which gave out so little smoke
that it was not discernible above the bushes. On the flat top of the
oven strips of rabbit steak were broiling, and from them came the aroma
which had been so potent a charm in the nostrils of the thre