154 MOOSWA 



the most wonderful problem he had ever run 

 up against. 



But thinking it over brought no solution ; 

 also his stomach clamoured louder and louder for 

 the appetizing morsel. Rising up, Black King 

 crept cautiously towards the fascinating object. 

 His foot went through the snow crust. &quot;This 

 would n t bear up a Baby Lynx,&quot; he thought. 

 u Neither Fra^ois nor any. other Man can have 

 been near that Meat.&quot; 



He took another step and another, eyes 

 and nose inspecting every inch of the snow. 

 He could almost reach it ; another step, and as 

 his paw sank through the crust it touched some 

 thing smooth and slippery. There was a clang 

 of iron, and the bone of his left fore-leg was 

 clamped tight in the cruel jaws of a Fox Trap. 



Poor old Black King ! Despair and pain 

 stretched him, sobbing queer little whimpering 

 cries of anguish in the snow. Only for an in 

 stant ; then he realized that unless help came 

 from his Comrades his peerless coat would soon 

 be stretched skin-side out on a wedge-shaped 

 board in Fra^ois s shack. Shrill and plaintive 

 his trembling whistle, cc Wh-e-e-he-e-e-, Wh-e-e- 

 he-e-e ! &quot; went vibrating through the still Forest in 

 a supplicating call to his companions for succour. 



Then an hour of despairing anguish, without 



