INDIAN MODES OF HUNTING FOXES. 107 



and bait to overreach the wily old fellow; but 

 in most cases it is time wasted, the fox eating 

 the bait and turning the traps over night after 

 night, much to the vexation of the hunter. 



It is a pretty sight to see a black or silver 

 gray fox jumping in a trap on the pure white 

 snow. I went one time with Wa-sa-Kejic to see 

 his traps in the barren grounds back of the post. 

 I was following in his snowshoe tracks steadily, 

 and we were just topping a small swell in the 

 country, here and there clumps of black willows. 

 All at once he stopped so suddenly in his tracks 

 that I fell up against him. 



"There," he said, '"look at that!" My eye 

 followed his finger, and there, jumping and 

 struggling to get away, was a large black fox! 



"Let me shoot him," I exclaimed, drawing 

 my gun cover as I spoke. 



"Oh, no," he replied, "we will only do that 

 if he pulls himself clear of the trap." And with 

 that he drew his belt axe and walked with a 

 steady step down on the fox. The closer he got 

 the more the fox struggled, but he was well 

 and freshly caught, and the trap held him fast. 



~ Wa-sa-Kejic gave him a tap on the nose with 

 the helve of the axe, which had the effect of 

 stunning him. The Indian then seized him with 

 his left hand by the throat, and with his right 

 hand felt for his heart; this he drew gradually 



