208 THE STORY OF THE TRAPPER 



brute. What part it plays in the life of every ranger 

 of the wilds can best be illustrated by telling how Koot 

 found his way to the fur post after the rabbit-hunt. 



When the midwinter lull falls on the hunt, there 

 is little use in the trapper going far afield. Moose 

 have &quot; yarded up.&quot; Bear have &quot; holed up &quot; and the 

 beaver are housed till dwindling stores compel them 

 to come out from their snow-hidden domes. There are 

 no longer any buffalo for the trapper to hunt during 

 the lull; but what buffalo formerly were to the hunter, 

 rabbit are to-day. Shields and tepee covers, mocca 

 sins, caps and coats, thongs and meat, the buffalo used 

 to supply. These are now supplied by &quot; wahboos 

 little white chap,&quot; which is the Indian name for rabbit. 



And there is no midwinter lull for &quot; wahboos.&quot; 

 While the &quot;little white chap&quot; runs, the long-haired, 

 owlish-eyed lynx of the Northern forest runs too. So 

 do all the lynx s feline cousins, the big yellowish cou 

 gar of the mountains slouching along with his head 

 down and his tail lashing and a footstep as light and 

 sinuous and silent as the motion of a snake; the short- 

 haired lucif ee gorging himself full of &quot; little white 

 chaps &quot; and stretching out to sleep on a limb in a dap 

 ple of sunshine and shadow so much like the lucifee s 

 skin not even a wolf would detect the sleeper; the 

 bunchy bob-cat bounding and skimming over the snow 

 for all the world like a bouncing football done up in 

 gray fur all members of the cat tribe running wher 

 ever the &quot; little white chaps &quot; run. 



So when the lull fell on the hunt and the mink 

 trapping was well over and marten had not yet begun, 

 Koot gathered up his traps, and getting a supply of 



