es, put on fresh wood, and soon they had a fine
blaze. The light flickered over a cabin greatly improved in
appearance and wonderfully snug.

The floor, except directly in front of the hearth, where sparks
and coals would pop out, was covered with the well-tanned skins
of buffalo, elk, mule deer, bear, and wolf. The walls were also
thickly hung with furs, while their extra weapons, tools, and
clothing hung there on hooks. It was warm, homelike, and showed
all the tokens of prosperity. Dick looked around at it with an
approving eye. It was not only a house, and a good house at
that, but it was a place that one might make a base for a plan
that he had in mind. Yes, circumstance had certainly favored
them. Their own courage, skill, and energy had done the rest.

Albert soon fell asleep after supper, but Dick was more wakeful,
although he did not wish to be so. It was the gun trap that kept
his eyes open. He took a pride in doing things well, and he
wanted the trap to work right. A fear that it might not do so
worried him, but in turn he fell into a sound sleep from which he
was awakened by a report. He thought at first that something had
struck the house, but when his confused senses were gathered into
a focus he knew that it was a rifle shot.

"Up, Al, up!" he cried, "I think a cougar has been fooling with
our trap!"

Albert jumped up. They threw on their coats and went out into a
dark and bitterly cold night. If they had not been so eager to
see what had happened, they would have fled back to the refuge of
the warm cabin, but they hurried on toward the snug little hollow
in which the gun trap had been placed. At fifty yards they
stopped and went much more slowly, as a terrific growling and
snarling smote their ears.

"It's the cougar, and we've got him," said Dick. "He's hit bad
or he wouldn't be making such a terrible fuss."

They approached cautiously and saw on the ground, almost in front
of the gun, a large yellowish animal writhing about and tearing
the earth. His snarls and rage increased as he scented the two
boys drawing near.

"I think his shoulder is broken and his backbone injured," said
Dick. "That's probably the reason he can't get away. I don't
like to see him suffer and I'll finish him now."

He sent a bullet through the cougar's head and that was the end
of him. In order to save it from the wolves, they took his hide
from him where he lay, and spread it the next day on the r