AN INTERESTING TRAIL 143 



The danger was too great for me to experi- 

 ment. The proper and only thing to do was to 

 walk faster, and this I did. 



Nothing happened until a steep decline 

 confronted us, and I hesitated for a second or 

 two before taking the first step. A sharp 

 bump from Billie partly lifted me, partly 

 shoved me, down this sharp descent, so that 

 with one arm on each side of the sharp peak 

 I slid about fifteen feet until another rise of 

 the edge gave me a chance to get on my feet 

 again. This novel trail led to a mountain 

 covered with a few inches of snow, and where 

 we first struck it, was a level plot of ground. 

 Here we saw the mute and indubitable evi- 

 dence of a tragedy that had been enacted on 

 this plot not more than an hour before. The 

 snow was beaten down, in a rude circle, by 

 the claws of a large bird and the feet of 

 some animal. Fresh blood was plentifully 

 sprinkled on the snow, and some of the wing 

 feathers of a large bird were scattered about. 

 The feathers of a ptarmigan were also in evi- 

 dence here and there. 



Looking over to the left side of the moun- 

 tain, the trail of a fox was found leading up- 

 hill to the scene of the conflict. The marks 

 of the feet of the fox could be easily recog- 



