120 THE STORY OF THE TRAPPER 



up in width what it lacks in length to support the hunt 

 er s weight above the snow. And the toe curve is 

 slight; for speed is impossible on bad ground. To save 

 the instep from jars, the slip noose may be padded like 

 a cowboy s stirrup. 



On the prairie, where the snowy reaches are un 

 broken as air, snow-shoes are wings to the hunter s 

 heels. They are long, and curved, and narrow, and 

 smooth enough on the runners for the hunter to sit 

 on their rear ends and coast downhill as on a toboggan. 

 If a snag is struck midway, the racquets may bounce 

 safely over and glissade to the bottom; or the toe may 

 catch, heels fly over head, and the hunter land with his 

 feet noosed in frames sticking upright higher than his 

 neck. 



Any trapper can read the story of a hunt from snow- 

 shoes. Round and short: east of the Great Lakes. 

 Slim and long: from the prairie. Padding for the 

 instep : either rock ground or long runs. Filling of 

 hide strips with broad enough interspaces for a small 

 foot to slip through: from the wet, heavily packed, 

 snow region of the Atlantic coast, for trapping only, 

 never the chase, small game, not large. Lace ties, in 

 stead of a noose to hold the foot : the amateur hunter. 

 Atibisc, a fine filling taken from deer or caribou for the 

 heel and toe; with askimoneidb, heavy, closely inter 

 laced, membraneous filling from the moose across the 

 centre to bear the brunt of wear ; long enough for speed, 

 short enough to turn short : the trapper knows he is 

 looking at the snow-shoe of the craftsman. This is 

 the sort he must have for himself. 



The first thing, then a moose for the heavy fill 

 ing; preferably a spinster moose; for she is too lazy 



