74 Hunting the Grizzly 



matter even to a son of old Neptune, such as he 

 was, familiar with the conditions of the woods 

 and waters. Whether he should try to recover 

 civilization, or continue to his winter cabin, 

 was the problem that confronted the sturdy 

 trapper; if he returned, his prospects of a 

 winter catch were doomed. After serious de- 

 liberation he decided to go on to his old shack 

 and begin his winter work with such very scant 

 quota of his original provisions as he was able 

 to fish up, and try his luck! His story inter- 

 ested me very much as he described how he 

 shot goat and caribou for his principal suste- 

 nance. The following March he sold his catch 

 for the sum of seven hundred and fifty dollars. 

 While camping on the big portage at this 

 part of our return trip, I was very much sur- 

 prised by having a visitor walk into the camp 

 with the salute, " Morning, Stranger." In 

 answer thereto, I invited him to a seat on a 

 moss-covered log, which he immediately ac- 

 cepted. A typical scion of the forest, clothed 

 in rags, he stood for nothing else than the life 

 he led; his coat hung in shreds about his lank, 

 lean person, a pair of nippers dangling from 



