m with a look of deep interest.

"If I only had my gun here!" thought he. But not having it, he merely
shook his fist at them, stooped down again, and resumed his work. With
Harry's assistance the slabs were placed in such a way as to form a sort
of box or house, having one end of it open. This was further plastered
with soft snow at the joinings, and banked up in such a way that no
animal could break into it easily--at least such an attempt would be so
difficult as to make an entrance into the interior by the open side much
more probable. When this was finished, they took the logs that Harry
had cut and carried with so much difficulty from the wood, and began to
lop off the smaller branches and twigs. One large log was placed across
the opening of the trap, while the others were piled on one end of it so
as to press it down with their weight. Three small pieces of stick were
now prepared--two of them being about half a foot long, and the other
about a foot. On the long piece of stick the breast of a ptarmigan was
fixed as a bait, and two notches cut, the one at the end of it, the
other about four or five inches further down. All was now ready to set
the trap.

"Raise the log now while I place the trigger," said Harry, kneeling down
in front of the door; while the accountant, as directed, lifted up the
log on which the others lay so as to allow his companion to introduce
the bait-stick, in such a manner as to support it, while the slightest
pull on the bait would set the stick with the notches free, and thus
permit the log to fall on the back of the fox, whose effort to reach the
bait would necessarily place him under it.

While Harry was thus engaged, the accountant stood up and looked towards
the foxes. They had approached so near in their curiosity that he was
induced to throw his axe frantically at the foremost of the pack. This
set them galloping off, but they soon halted, and sat down as before.

"What aggravating brutes they are, to be sure!" said Harry, with a
laugh, as his companion returned with the hatchet.

"Humph! yes, but we'll be upsides with them yet. Come along into the
wood, and I wager that in ten minutes we shall have one."

They immediately hurried towards the wood, but had not walked fifty
paces when they were startled by a loud yell behind them.

"Dear me!" exclaimed the accountant, while he and Harry turned round
with a start. "It cannot surely be possible that they have gone in