246 THE STORY OF THE TRAPPER 



would impede flight. And if the poor gyrfalcon could 

 have seen the mink held by the jaws of a steel-trap, 

 hissing, snarling, breaking its teeth on the iron, spit 

 ting out all the rage of its wicked nature, the bird 

 would have been avenged. 



And as winter deepened, the quality of minks 

 taken from the traps became darker, silkier, crisper, 

 almost brown black in some of the young, but for 

 light fur on the under lip. The Indians say that 

 sakwasew the mink would sell his family for a fish, 

 and as long as fish lay among the stones, the trapper 

 gathered his harvest of fur: reddish mink that would 

 be made into little neck ruffs and collar pieces, reddish 

 brown mink that would be sewed into costly coats and 

 cloaks, rare brownish black mink that would be put 

 into the beautiful flat scarf collars almost as costly as 

 a full coat. And so the mink-hunt went on merrily 

 for the man till the midwinter lull came at Christmas. 

 For that year the mink-hunt was over. 



II 

 Nekik the Otter 



Sakwasew was not the only fisher at the pool below 

 the falls. On one of those idle days when the trapper 

 sat lazily by the river side, a round head slightly sun 

 burned from black to russet had hobbled up to the sur 

 face of the water, peered sharply at the man sitting so 

 still, paddled little flipper-like feet about, then clucked 

 down again. Motionless as the mossed log under him 

 sits the man; and in a moment up comes the little black 

 head again, round as a golf ball, about the size of a 

 very large cat, followed by three other little bobbing 



