e, Laurence, art unhurt, boy?" exclaimed the old trapper, who
came, breathless, hurrying up the side of the hill. "The brute doubled
cunningly on me, and thinking, from the way he was leading, that he
would pass near where I left you, I took a short cut, in hopes of being
before him. I was nearly too late, and twice before I had fired,
shouting to you to be on your guard. It's not often my rifle has failed
to kill even at that distance."

Laurence relieved his father's anxiety by showing him that he was
unhurt; and greatly to the old trapper's satisfaction, on examining the
wolf, three bullet holes were found in the skin, showing that his
favourite rifle had not missed, although the first shots had failed to
kill.

The prized skin having been secured, as it was too heavy to carry, in
addition to their previous loads, it was hidden, as the traps had been,
in a hollow in the rocks.

"Little chance of its escaping from Indians or wolverines, though I am
loath to abandon it," observed the old man, as he placed the last of a
large pile of stones in front of the cave. "But the snow will be down,
may be this very night, and then it will be safe."

They now proceeded down the valley, and continued on till they reached
the edge of a small wood, where they encamped for the night. For
several days they journeyed on towards the south and east, not meeting,
as they passed over those desert wilds, a single human being.

"Once, when I first knew this region, many thousand warriors, with their
squaws and children, were masters here," observed old Moggs. "But they
are all gone; the white man's gunpowder, and his still more deadly
fire-water, have carried off the greater number. Famine visited them
when they themselves had slaughtered most of the creatures which gave
them food, without having learned other means for obtaining support.
Before that time, neither white nor red trappers had to go more than a
few days' journey from the forts to obtain as many skins as they
needed."

"I wish those times would come back again," said the boy. "For my legs
feel as if they would soon refuse to carry me further."

"Cheer up, lad, we will camp soon, and in a few days more we shall be at
the fort, when you shall have the rest I promised you."

"But you will not quit me then, father, will you?" asked Laurence.

"Well, well, I must buy fresh horses to bring in the skins and traps,
and to prepare for the next season," answered Michael.