at he was not really
as wise and discriminating as he looked. I have an idea that when Nature
manufactured him she thought he did not need as much wisdom or as many
wits as some of the other people of the woods, inasmuch as he was larger
and stronger and better armed than most of them. Except possibly the
bear, who was altogether too easy-going to molest him, there was not
one of the animals that could thrash him, and they all knew it and let
him alone. You can often manage very well without brains if only you
have the necessary teeth and muscle and claws; and the old lynx had
them, without a doubt. But I fear that Nature, in adapting a wild animal
to his environment, now and then forgets to allow for the human element
in the problem. Brains are a good thing to have, after all. Even to a
lynx the time is pretty sure to come, sooner or later, when he needs
them in his business. Your fellow-citizens of the woods may treat you
with all due respect, but the trapper won't, and he'll get you if you
don't watch out.

One day he found some more snow-shoe tracks, just like those that the
shanty-boy had left, and instead of running away, as he ought to have
done, and as most of the animals would have had sense enough to do, he
followed them up to see where they led. He wasn't particularly hungry
that day, and there was absolutely no excuse for what he did. It
certainly wasn't bravery that inspired him, for he had not the least
idea of attacking anyone. It was simply a case of foolish curiosity. He
followed the trail a long way, not walking directly in it, but keeping
just a little to one side, wallowing heavily as he went, for a foot and
a half of light, fluffy snow had fallen the day before, and the walking
was very bad. Presently he caught sight of a little piece of scarlet
cloth fastened to a stick that stood upright in a drift. It ought to
have been another warning to him, but it only roused his curiosity to a
still higher pitch, as the trapper knew it would. He sat down in the
snow and considered. The thing didn't really look as if it were good to
eat, and yet it might be. The only way to find out would be to go up to
it and taste it. But, eatable or not, such a bright bit of color was
certainly very attractive to the eye. You would think so yourself if you
hadn't seen anything scarlet since last summer's wild-flowers faded.
Finally, he got up and walked slowly toward it, and the first thing he
knew a steel trap had him by t