JIM THE TRAPPER OF LAKE CHELAN 53 



land level enough for the purposes of a camp or 

 house. 



It was in such a place that a trapper had built 

 his little log cabin, a photograph of which, repro- 

 duced on page 42, serves as an illustration. There 

 is perhaps no form of playground and romping- 

 place which is more irresistible to a pack rat than 

 a deserted log house, so when I asked 



JIM THE TRAPPER 



where I could procure a live specimen; I was not 

 surprised when he pointed . out the little log 

 house on the shore of Lake Chelan, at the same 

 time saying that he would himself put some traps 

 in the cabin and catch a rat for me. 



I always did hate steel traps; they have such a 

 vicious, cruel look and all the appearance of in- 

 struments made especially for torture. I asked Jim 

 if he could not set a box trap, but he only laughed 

 at my tenderfoot ideas and said he would get me 

 a rat all right and would not hurt him either. He 

 set some unbaited traps in the old fire-place and the 

 second morning when I paddled up the lake to the 

 deserted cabin and landed among the boulders, I 

 could hear the steel trap rattling around the cabin. 



Upon entering the little hut, I saw a large pack 

 rat hopping backwards and dragging the trap after 

 him. Taking the rat and trap to a convenient 

 place, I sat down to make a water color sketch of 

 it. About this time Jim the Trapper came along 

 and detecting a look of pain in my face inquired 



