2I 3 



taking a twenty-five pound salmon out of his 

 pool after he had been played to a standstill; 

 and how any creature could drag it off through 

 the woods without leaving a plain trail for 

 my eyes to follow puzzled me, and excited a CurihL 

 most lively curiosity to know who he was 

 and why he had not eaten the fish where he 

 found them. Was it lynx or stray wolf, or 

 had the terrible Injun Devil that is still 

 spoken of with awe at the winter firesides 

 returned to his native woods ? For a week 

 I puzzled over the question; then I went 

 back to the spot and tried in vain to follow 

 the faint marks in the moss. After that when- 

 ever I wandered near the spot I tried the trail 

 again, or circled wider and wider through 

 the woods, hoping to find the net or some 

 positive sign of the beast that had stolen it. 

 One day in the woods it occurred to me 

 suddenly that, while I had followed 

 the trail three or four 

 times, I had never 

 thought to examine the 

 tree beneath which it 

 ended. At the thought 



