160 MOOSWA 



it home, your leg would go bad before that 



time.&quot; 



Black Fox pondered for a minute, weighing care 

 fully the terrible alternative. On one hand was 

 the risk of leading the Trapper to his carefully 

 concealed home, and months of tortured idleness 

 with the Trap on his leg ; on the other the per 

 manent crippling of himself by amputation. 



&quot; Can you cut the leg off, wise Umisk ? &quot; he 

 asked. 



&quot; I did it once for my own Brother, who was 

 caught,&quot; Beaver answered, simply. 



&quot; Take off mine, then ! &quot; commanded the 

 King, decisively ; &quot; it is the only way.&quot; 



&quot; You 11 bleed to death,&quot; said Lynx, solici 

 tously. 



&quot; Oh, that would be lovely ! &quot; sneered Jack ; 

 &quot; for then we d all choose Pisew as his successor 

 c Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi ! * Excuse me, 

 Comrades, that s an expression Fran9ois uses 

 sometimes when he drinks Fire-water ; it means, 

 a live Slink is better than a dead Hero.&quot; 



When Black Fox gave the command to ampu 

 tate his limb, Beaver ceased cutting the stake, 

 scuttled over to a White Poplar, girdled the tree 

 close to the ground, then, standing on his strong 

 hind-legs, cut the bark again higher up. Next 

 he peeled a strip, brought it over beside the Fox, 



