In Cowboy Land. 445 



midnight the thing came down through the forest opposite, 

 across the brook, and stayed there on the hill-side for 

 nearly an hour. They could hear the branches crackle as 

 it moved about, and several times it uttered a harsh, 

 grating, long-drawn moan, a peculiarly sinister sound. Yet 

 it did not venture near the fire. 



In the morning the two trappers, after discussing the 

 strange events of the last thirty-six hours, decided that 

 they would shouldei their packs and leave the valley that 

 afternoon. They were the more ready to do this because 

 in spite of seeing a good deal of game sign they had 

 caught very little fur. However, it was necessary first to 

 go along the line of their traps and gather them, and this 

 they started out to do. 



All the morning they kept together, picking up trap 

 after trap, each one empty. On first leaving camp they 

 had the disagreeable sensation of being followed. In the 

 dense spruce thickets they occasionally heard a branch 

 snap after they had passed ; and now and then there were 

 slight rustling noises among the small pines to one side 

 of them. 



At noon they were back within a couple of miles of 

 camp. In the high, bright sunlight their fears seemed 

 absurd to the two armed men, accustomed as they were, 

 through long years of lonely wandering in the wilderness 

 to face every kind of danger from man, brute, or element. 

 There were still three beaver traps to collect from a 

 little pond in a wide ravine nearby. Bauman volunteered 

 to gather these and bring them in, while his companion 

 went ahead to camp and made ready the packs. 



