186 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS 



all our fur things, caps and mittens and gloves, once 

 walked about. I wish they could tell us stories about 

 themselves.'' 



" I know a story a sealskin jacket told me once upon 

 a time,'' said Olaf, who had been sitting quietly by the 

 fire smoking his pipe. 



'' A real true story, and will you tell it to us some 

 day?" 



" Surely, yes, and some day soon, for it is a winter 

 story." 



"Come, don't go floating up the Pacific to the fur 

 islands after Seals yet awhile," said the Doctor. " There 

 is one more important fur beast, almost as large as the 

 Otter, but it is not found as far south as here. He 

 loves the dark pine forests that furnish him good shel- 

 ter, as well as a playground, for he spends most of his 

 time in tlie trees, even making his nest in a tree hole 

 in preference to the ground." 



" What is he called ? '' asked Rap. " Is there a pict- 

 ure of one at home ? " 



" Yes, and you will find that he looks something like 

 a cat, and something like a Fox. In the woods and in 

 books his name is Pine Marten, or American Sable. 

 When he is turned into muffs and collars, he has a 

 grander name yet, — Hudson's Bay Sable. He has a 

 very handsome coat, and, like most of his tribe, the fur 

 is finest at the beginning of winter. He has not only 

 under-fur, but two kinds of outer as well, and his back 

 is a handsome mellow shade of brown, in contrast to his 

 dark tail, which is especially valuable." 



"Is the Pine Marten a chicken thief, too, like the 

 Weasel and ]\Iink ? " asked Rap. 



