64 THE STORY OF THE TRAPPER 



Then a curious game begins. 



One morning the trapper sees the wolverine tracks 

 round and round the tree as if determined to ferret 

 out the mystery of the meat in mid-air. 



The next morning the tracks have come to a stand 

 below the meat. If the wolverine could only get up to 

 the bait, one whiff would tell him whether the man- 

 smell was there. He sits studying the puzzle till his 

 mark is deep printed in the snow. 



The trapper smiles. He has only to wait. 



The rascal may become so bold in his predatory 

 visits that the man may be tempted to chance a shot 

 without waiting. 



But if the man waits Nemesis hangs at the end of 

 the cord. There comes a night when the wolverine s 

 curiosity is as rampant as his gluttony. A quick 

 clutch of the ripping claws and a blare of fire-smoke 

 blows the robber s head into space. 



The trapper will hold those hunting-grounds. 



He has got rid of the most unwelcome visitor a 

 solitary man ever had; but for the consolation of those 

 whose sympathies are keener for the animal than the 

 man, it may be said that in the majority of such con 

 tests it is the wolverine and not the man that wins. 



