meat upon his shoulder.

Now it was a playful and venturesome 'coon that prowled around in the
vicinity of the camp, hoping to pick up some titbits from the supper of
the strange bipeds who periodically occupied this favorite site; then
again it might be a mink come up from the river to investigate what all
this illumination meant; but as the minutes passed Eli remained only
conspicuous by his absence.

Owen had occupied himself in rubbing up several steel traps which the
boys had brought along, thinking they might prove useful in some way;
but which, having been neglected, were inclined to be very rusty.

This was a familiar thing in the hands of the Canadian lad, for many a
time in the days long gone by he 'tended a line of traps in the country
where fur grows longest and best, and mink, otter, muskrat, fisher,
marten, skunk and even raccoon and opossum skins bring a good price.

Cuthbert never lost an opportunity to acquire information, when he could
obtain it at first hand, and hence as they sat beside the fire, watching
the rosy flames dance and play at tag, he put many more questions to the
backwoods boy concerning the secrets of the profession, and learned
various new things that up to this time he had never dreamed existed.

So it is that in knocking about one may discover how limited a
vocabulary has been their portion; and observation with a traveler means
a widening of the horizon that broadens the mind.

Owen was free to explain the numerous methods of capturing the wary wild
animals of his native land; and it gave him the keenest pleasure to
satisfy this desire for knowledge on the part of the new chum who had
been so good to him.

He told of the astonishing care that was needed in order to circumvent
the wise and sharp-scented mink; how the traps were so arranged, as
Cuthbert had seen, that the animal upon being caught would jump into the
water, where the weight of the trap would drown the captive; otherwise
the little fellow in desperation might gnaw his foot off and escape, to
be a cripple the rest of his days, like the one whose foot they had
handled that morning; what bait was used to attract him to the vicinity
of the trap, for an artificial scent has been found marvellously
effective in arousing the mating instinct of the animal and causing him
to venture in places which otherwise he might avoid--all these and many
other things did Owen talk about as he handled the rusty traps; and
Cuthbert sa