CHAPTER VII 



THE TRAPPER 



" Such a worthy leader."" 



King Henry VI. 



" He was furnished like a hunter." 



As You Like It. 



That extremely severe weather had some advan- 

 tages, the moose, like all the rest of the bush people, 

 knew. In January and February, climax of the 

 Northern winter, when the temperature seldom 

 arose above 50° below zero, the snow ceased 

 to fall, and lay dry as sand, unable to congeal and 

 ball up beneath pad or hoof. The transparency 

 and stillness of the atmosphere was wonderful and 

 invigorating, too, and imparted a very clear-cut 

 effect to all the surrounding country. Each tree 

 standing in a serried rank stood out alone from the 

 mass, sharp etched. The tiniest break in the woods 

 limned its fine outlines in magical array. 



The sky was intensely blue, and almost always 



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