Badlands Billy 
Of all the dangers to her life she best knew 
traps. 
October had come; the Cub was now much 
taller than the mother. The wolver had seen 
them once—a Yellow Wolf followed by an- 
other, whose long, awkward legs, big, soft feet, 
thin neck, and skimpy tail proclaimed him this 
year’s Cub. ‘The record of the dust and sand 
said that the old one had lost a right front toe, 
and that the young one was of giant size. 
It was the wolver that thought to turn the 
carcass of the Calf to profit, but he was disap- 
pointed in getting Coyotes instead of Wolves. 
‘It was the beginning of the trapping season, 
for this month fur is prime. A young trapper 
often fastens the bait on the trap; an experi- 
enced one does not. A good trapper will even 
put the bait at one place and the trap ten or 
twenty feet away, but at a spot that the 
Wolf is likely to cross in circling. A favorite 
plan is to hide three or four traps around an 
open place, and scatter some scraps of meat in 
the middle. The traps are buried out of sight 
after being smoked to hide the taint of hands 
and iron. Sometimes no bait is used except a 
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